Hello Hattie

Apollo went home today; I decided that since he was only here short term and was making life difficult for Tanner, it would be best to take him back to Lupine Farm. LF's owner-extraordinaire Emily thought that since Apollo was used to normally being the bottom dog, perhaps the new-found power over Tanner went right to his head!

But of course we can't have Tanner being lonely, so a new permanent member of Blonde Bomber Acres arrived today.  Meet Hattie!

Hattie is an adorable one-year-old standard donkey who was previously living with sheep. Donkeys are usually social animals that like to be around other equines, so she seems pretty pumped to be with Tanner. She was following him all around, nipping at his blanket to try to get him to play and snoozing in the afternoon sun with him.

For his part, Tanner seems entirely a-ok with sharing hay and a paddock with Hattie.

I was a little concerned on how Hattie would react to the dogs since donkeys are well-known guardians against wolves and coyotes and the like. The dogs sure didn't know what to think about this tiny equine...Hobbes circled her for a little while, then starting nibbling on her back leg (I have no idea why he thinks this was acceptable), but Hattie didn't even bat an eye.

Ever since my friend Alex met Petunia the Donkey at Lupine Farm, he's been a little obsessed with donkeys.
Here he is giving Hattie head scritches!

When I told my mom that I was looking into getting a donkey, one of her first questions was, "Is this the start of a slippery slope into animal hoarding?" Which is a legitimate question. However, I do believe that I have not yet started the official slide down that hill since the number of animals remains the same. For now, anyway....