August 25, 2007 – With the farrier cometh his wife Eli and their new baby, Monelike. I love that Eli and Ken bring her to work, so to speak, and the donkeys loved her, sniffing, nosing her and happily submitting to a ride. I love these gentle and intuitive creatures and not for a second was I anxious about putting a baby on any of their backs, even jammed in a small barn enclosure with four donkeys, a dog and three humans, something I would not have felt a few years ago. Donkeys enter the moment, even when they don’t really like it, and they don’t really like having their hooves trimmed.  Ken and Eli also are bringing her into the world in a way few urban and suburban kids get to do. Here, the donkeys come to check her out and Monelike pulls on Lulu’s tail. Nobody minds. Ken and Eli have been coming to trim the donkey’s hooves for years now, and I consider him a friend, and he has come running in many a tough spots, donkey-wise, but I’ve never seen them both to happy. The donkeys like Ken a lot, and put up with his gruff and loving direction.

 
To catch a donkey by the tail