Welcoming a new farrier

Excitement was in the air this morning:

Chester was excited because I put his halter on and he thought I was taking him to graze on the back lawn:

Kai was excited because the donkeys were locked in the barn, allowing her to eat her breakfast without any d.d.d.'s (doofy donkey disturbances):

George and Honey were excited because 1) George had just filled his belly with some delicious kibble and 2) Honey was finding some enormous, juicy worms right outside the barn door:

Beau, who hadn't been paying any attention, was wondering why everyone was so excited:

And I...well, I was excited because I was finally able to find a new farrier (who just happens to have his own donkeys) to replace my other farrier who quit very unexpectedly on me:

Honey positioned herself as close to us as possible without actually being in the stall with us:

Justin-the-farrier was absolutely amazing with my boys. He insisted on "introducing" himself to the donkeys first, talking with them and giving them pats. He even brought his own bag of baby carrots.

Beau and Chester were in the same stall when he got there and, when I went to move Chester out so he could work on Beau. he said, "Aw, leave him. He'll be fine." And you know what? The donkeys LOVED being together for their trims. This was easily the most mellow hoof trimming experience since I have had Beau and Chester:

Granted, I've spent more than a year working with Beau to have him comfortable with foot work, but Beau was so incredibly relaxed the entire time. Justin clearly had an air about him that the boys felt very safe with. Another noteworthy point is that Beau didn't need me to stand and comfort him. I was on the other side of the stall pretty much for the duration - a milestone:

I have to say, if I gauged the atmosphere correctly in that 12x12 stall, I might go so far as to say the boys enjoyed today's pampering:

And look at these good-looking feet!
Beau's front feet:

Back feet:

Before Justin left, he pulled out his calendar book and scheduled our next appointment. He was calm, he was kind, he was knowledgeable, and he was organized. Yay for new farriers who have all the right stuff!