Sarah and Abraham...

Sarah has been here at FairWinds for almost two weeks.  The first day she was here she kicked Abraham, hard, several times. After a while they settled down, and began to graze, side by side.  Sarah discovered the donkey cozy. She seemed to like what she saw, the deep, clean shavings, the airy windows, the tasty salt lick.  She refused to let Abraham in. He was confused.  But after a few days, they seemed to reach a truce. She let him into the cozy, and they began to go everywhere together.

We had our wonderful veterinarian out and she gave Sarah an exam and the vaccinations she needed.  We gave her worm medication. Today the equine dentist came out to "float" her teeth.  If you are not familiar with the mouths of horses and donkeys, the teeth sometimes develop sharp "points" where they wear unevenly.  The points rub against the inside of the cheeks when the animals eat. The dentist uses special files called "floats," and vigorously rubs the files against the sharp spots to smooth them down.  He uses a variety of different files to achieve different results.  At some point he slides an interesting sort of halter over the animals head, which has stainless plates that separate the front teeth. A ratchet system gradually opens the horse or donkeys mouth so the dentist can access other areas of the mouth.  It all looks quite uncomfortable.  My horse, Chanel, was a pro at having her teeth floated, and always stood perfectly still and behaved like a lady.  I had no idea how the donkeys would act. I don't believe either have ever had this particular experience before, and though they are small, they are wickedly strong, and I could just imagine them refusing the service and behaving badly.

Here is the bucket filled with dental tools.

The dentist is a true professional. He started out by saying hello, handing out some pats and scratches.

He gently introduced a float, and Sarah, who was first in line, took it all like a champ. Even the big stainless thing that held her teeth apart. 

Abraham was a little bit more of a challenge. But the dentist was totally calm and patient, and soon won him over. The dentist said that Sarah was a "peach," and that Abraham was a smart boy. 

There were cookies handed out all around, and a brownie for the dentist.  The donkeys teeth will be good for another year or so. I was really proud of how well they did, and am glad they will be more comfortable now. Here they are, side by side, as they almost always are now.  They are becoming friends. The story continues.