When I first called Matthew Ross and asked him to come and trim our donkeys’ hooves, he politely said he didn’t really do donkeys and couldn’t take Lulu and Fanny on. I thanked him and hung up. On an impulse, I called him back and said we had a number of mutual friends and they would testify that Lulu and Fanny were sweet and agreeable creatures and would be no trouble.

I’ve been through this before, people are eager to rescue donkeys but know little about them. Sometimes lambs get stomped and killed, people get bitten and knocked over. Donkeys have been through a lot in their history, many are wary of humans. Ours are not.

I urged him to come and take a look at them.

Matthew agreed to give it a shot and came over, and he did find that our donkeys were sweet and loveable, he said they were the nicest donkeys he had ever trimmed.  Matthew had been through a lot, he has been kicked by donkeys, bitten, even had one sit on him while he was trimming their hooves.

Our donkeys behaved like the affectionate creatures they are and stood patiently still while he worked on their hooves.  Red sat nearby quietly and Gus came and checked out the new scene. Maria had a pocketful of cookies to keep them happy.

Matthew loves his work  and there is a polite but no-nonsense air about him, he was in and out in 20 minutes. I’m glad he gave us a second chance.