A Visit to the Donkey Sanctuary

This past Sunday, I met up with some girlfriends for a fun-filled bachelorette party for our friend Fleur. Rather than the usual bar night, it was a day of animals, crafts and games that wrapped up with a lovely dinner out (plus a nut-free gluten-free cake!)

 

We started the day with a drive out to a place I’d never even heard of before. Fleur is a real animal lover, so we went to The Donkey Sanctuary in Guelph, Ontario. It opened in 1992 and has more than 60 donkeys, 3 goats and a sheep.

 

These donkeys have it made – they’re well cared for, can roam through endless pastures and get lots of love from the many volunteers who give their time.

 

Of course, every bride needs to get dressed up for her bachelorette party, even if it is to a farm. Eve had a full wardrobe planned out – complete with t-shirt, boa and crown. Every time a blue feather came loose from her boa, we were all running after it!

 

The first donkey we met was Summer. At 43, she is the oldest donkey at the sanctuary.

 

I never realized how affectionate donkeys can be. They really seem to enjoy it when you pet their head or scratch behind their ears. If they want you to scratch their back, they’ll move along you until your hand is where they want to be scratched – just like a dog.

 

These two donkeys, Tibet and Donkeschoen, didn’t want to miss out on the attention too.

 

Katy is a miniature donkey who came to the sanctuary with her mate Peter and their offspring, Marci and Gemini. They came to the sanctuary from a farmer out in B.C. who took great care of them, but was retiring and didn’t know what to do with them. Now they can all stay together here at the sanctuary for the rest of their lives.

 

We were able to get there in time to listen to a talk given by one of the volunteers. There was so much about donkeys that I didn’t know. You can tell that all the volunteers truly love being there and working with the animals. They were all eager to share their stories and tell us about each donkey’s personality.

 

When the talk started, some of the donkeys come over to join in and get some scratches.

 

One even walked right through the talk, so that he could get to the people on the other side.

 

They happily obliged him.

 

The sanctuary is a big property, with this newer barn, which separates the males and the females, as well as an older barn for animals who need special care. Some of the donkeys that go there have been neglected for a long time and need to be rehabilitated.

 

There are signs everywhere warning you not to feed the donkeys, as they’re on a strict diet of straw and hay. If donkeys eat a rich diet of too much grass, then they can become obese, which leads to hoof problems.

 

There are almost 250 different breeds of donkeys – I never realized that they even had breeds! Once you see so many donkeys together at once, you notice that there are many different looks. Some had large spots, some had dalmatian-like spots. Others were dark brown with white marking and many were different shades of grey. The ones that have the subtle stripes on their legs and back (like above) are actually related to zebras!

 

Their coat is soft in some places and rough in others. The sanctuary is open for Sundays in December to allow visitors to come back and see them in their big fluffy winter coats. Apparently you can hardly recognize them.

 

There were also several mules (male donkey breeds female horse) and hinnies (female donkey breeds with male horse).

 

We were lucky enough to meet little baby Ruby, born on July 25th, 2013.

 

At just a month old, she was all ears and legs.

 

 

 

My favourite was Bob Ray. He is a bit of a star around the sanctuary, having participated in 8 performances of a summer production at the National Ballet of Canada.

 

While walking around the sanctuary, Eve had ladies we met write marriage/love advice on the back of Fleur’s shirt.

 

It was fun to see all the different quotes that people put on there.

 

As a gift to Fleur, everyone chipped in money and we sponsored a donkey in her name. She ended up selecting Joey, a 22 year old donkey with poorly neglected hooves. The volunteers all had lovely stories to offer up about how friendly he was and how she’d made the right choice.

 

 

 

The grounds surrounding the sanctuary are so quiet and serene.

 

We had a picnic lunch there before we made our way onto the next event.

 

 

Eve brought all the ingredients for us to make a homemade hand salve using herb infused olive oil and beeswax. I’ll be sharing the recipe with you soon!

 

It was fun to all take a turn adding in the herbs and smelling all the different scents – lavender, St. John’s wort, calendula, comfrey and tea tree oil.

 

 We also made out own epsom salts using fresh herbs and essential oils.

 

Eve’s final craft for us was for everyone to decorate cards and write a letter inside them for Fleur to open at some time during her first year of marriage. What a thoughtful idea to give her little reminders all year long of friends who love her.

 

We capped off the night with a lovely dinner out – filled with lots of great stories and laughs.

 

Congratulations Fleur! Here’s to many years of happiness.