back seat passenger

What a weekend! I don't even know where to begin. . .Equine Affaire or the trip home. 

I choose the trip home. While Equine Affaire was fun, the trip home is something that will never be forgotten. 

Jaime, Kyle, Haley, and I had went to EA together. We woke up Sunday and headed down to the fairgrounds to spend a few more hours at EA. I had wanted to go to the stalls where all the horses are kept (especially the Haflingers) and the others wanted to do a bit more shopping. 

But on the way, we saw a truck and trailer that had pulled into an empty corner with the hood up. Kyle is a huge truck fan and knows a lot about diesel engines, which this truck had. So we stopped and Kyle offered to help. The trailer appeared empty, but the longer Kyle talked truck talk to the guy, the more Jaime, Haley, and I realized that the trailer was not empty. It contained:

Baby!!

Mama

Minis!

More minis!

Even more minis!

Minis!! Mini donkeys, mini ponies, and a mini baby and mama! The truck and trailer has come up from an auction and was headed home with the minis. Pretty soon it became apparent that the truck was not going to start, something with a computer chip and other truck speak I am not familiar with. So Kyle used his AAA to get the truck towed to the nearest diesel engine fixer upper shop. The guy had called a friend to come get him and the trailer. 

Jaime had decided that she wanted a mini donkey. Kyle said no, but Jaime is pretty persistent. Needless to say, we somehow ended up like this:

Yes, that is a donkey in the back seat of a truck.

Meet Shady! She is a seven month old jenny who is super sweet. She is even registered. Jaime got the papers!

Shady came with a bandana and the  business card of the farm where she was bred in Texas.

Jaime named her so because it was a pretty shady corner of Columbus we were on and the whole thing seemed a bit Shady. Shady rode in the back seat of the truck with us until we got to the nearest Tractor Supply store.

Shady allowed herself to be lifted in the back seat and was very good in there. I opened some treats I bought for Shyloh at EA and attempted to feed her some. At first, Shady wouldn't take them. But eventually I got her to eat a few and she really liked them. I think this solidified our relationship, because Shady seems to really like me. I tried a peppermint after that and this is all Shady did with it:

Just held it. 

Once we got to TSC, of course we had to take Shady in with us.She was very well behaved and got lots of attention from everyone at the store. Jaime and Kyle picked up a large dog crate, a Western saddle blanket to put on the floor of the crate, and a new halter for her. I bought her some treats.

On our way in the store!

And we're in! The TSC employees said they never had a donkey in the store. Dogs, pigs, and goats, but we were the first donkey!

We put her in the bed of the truck in the crate and made our way home. Shady was very good. She caused quite a stir on the freeway! We were having a blast seeing everyone's reactions as they passed us by. Some people saw there was a donkey in there from a while away and took pictures. And some people didn't realize what she was until they were going by. That was the best and had us cracking up at their reactions.

We stopped once to get food and when we climbed out of the truck, Shady brayed for us! Super cute! She was quite the hit at that truck stop! Everyone who was coming and going stopped to look and point at her. 

How cute is this baby long ears?

We took her to Kyle's parent's house (which has the mini ponies, and a separate enclosure, just for Shady). When we took her down from the truck, I said to be careful around the dogs, since donkeys generally do not like dogs. There are about five dogs at his parent's house. 

Well. . .Shady brayed at the minis, which came running up to the fence line, then made her first kick attach at poor Daisy.

This dog is such a sweetheart with her mushed up face!

Daisy barely got hit, but came running to me, like help!! I'm so hurt. Secretly, Daisy is my favorite of the bunch. Then a little dog got the wrath of a Shady kick. Oops. . .After that, I offered to take Shady to her new home.

To get to the pen, I walked through a ton of mud, courtesy of the rain we had been having, and my feet came out of both of my shoes. Ugh. Shady got excited when we were getting close to the minis and began to trot and bray. . .so so cute! I couldn't be mad.

She has fresh water now, not that water. The minis are so interested in her!

I also got shocked by the electric fence via the water hose when I was giving her fresh water. Kyle's mom gave Shady some hay and she tuckered in while the minis watched from the other side of the fence. Shady needs some groceries and wormer, she looks to have a little rain rot, and she needs a good bath and I think she will be good to go! Her hooves look pretty good and she did let me pick them up. She even let me straddle her and pull the hip number sticky glue out of her fur. She is going to be a great little donkey, maybe even learn to drive when she gets older. 

Loving these long ears!

What a fun weekend! How many people have went to help a truck in need and ended up with a mini donkey that rode in the back seat?