Relations

The relationships between the donkeys and the other animals on the farm are fascinating and endlessly interesting to watch.  The relationship between them and Tessa is generally one of friendship.  Tessa LOVES her donkeys, but is sometimes befuddled by them.  She acts both motherly and slightly possessive and she occasionally tries to gently boss them around.  They accept her mothering, are disdainful of her possessiveness and they just flow away from her bossiness like water, completely ignoring it.  They welcome her company and attentions, but don't mind going off on their own either.  Their independence is a foreign concept to a horse and generally confounds her, leaving her figuratively scratching her head.

Tanner and the donkeys have a wary respect for one another.  They get along fine as long as each party respects the firmly established treaty line, otherwise known as the fence.  If a donkey puts a nose under the fence, Tanner will snap at it.  If he crosses into their territory, they push him out.  Both snapping and pushing are done with no actual violence but a great deal of intent.  Border Collies and donkeys have a great deal in common.  They will never be friends, but they are not enemies.

And then there is the relationship between them and the cat, Moss.  This is perhaps, the most complicated relationship.  Donkeys have a reputation for chasing and stomping cats and I can see that.  I do not think it is an inherent dislike of cats, but rather an extension of their territorial and protective natures.  I also think it is a manifestation of how they perceive things.

Donkeys and horses have very different eye site then we humans do and it isn't just because their vision is primarily monocular.  While their vision is acute, especially their distance vision, their ability to focus between near and far is very slow and is more a factor of where their head is rather than changes in the eye itself, as it is for us.   A horse who is trying to focus on something will often raise and lower its head very quickly, trying to find the right height that will bring the object into focus.  Their close-up vision is poorer and it is more difficult to bring small, close objects into focus, especially if their head is up and the object is on the ground.  This seems to be even more of an issue for donkeys and they rely far more on scent and sound than on vision to recognize things close up.

If you take all of that into account and think about cats and dogs from a donkey's point of view....is it any wonder that they so often object to having small carnivores darting about under their feet?  However, donkeys are also highly adaptable, sociable creatures.  Given time and familiarity, even cats can become friends.

There is also Moss herself to consider.  She has been here for 3-4 years now, but she came out of a situation of real neglect and poor care.  She was once run over by a truck and at another time, stepped on by a draft horse.  She does seem to have some genuine neurological issues and she was quite feral when she first came here.  Her neurological issues have improved some with good care and plentiful food, but she is....uhmmm, odd, to say the least.  She craves company, but is afraid of it.  I can pick her up and pet her now for short periods, but she doesn't know quite how to deal with it.  Regardless, she has formed a genuine attachment to the donkeys.  She always likes to sleep near them and, whenever Ramsey is laying down, she rubs up against his nose and tries to cuddles with him - something he tolerates with amazing gentleness.  Emma does not like her doing this to herself, but will often pet her as you saw in the video.

That doesn't mean that there aren't frequent misunderstandings between cat and donkeys, they do not speak each others language.  She once tried to use Emma's leg as a scratching post, a memorable occasion which resulted in ME getting a fractured nose.  There are also times when the donkeys will chase her out of their space.  This used to puzzle me because I couldn't figure out why they would go from being the best of friends one day to the cat being enemy-number-one the next.  I finally noticed that this always occurs whenever a stray cat (always un-neutered toms of course) stops by for a visit.  Moss hangs out with the strays and then donkeys don't recognize her because she smells different.  Once the toms move on and moss smells like herself again, they accept her back into the fold.

I find it all endlessly fascinating and I never cease to marvel at how much all of these animals have to teach us.