It has been a very busy last few days here on Critter Farm! On Saturday, we drove out to bring BLM Burro #5918 home:
She is definitely not as wild as I had anticipated. This little girl haltered up and trailer loaded with very little complaint - and required only a bit of feed-bag waving by my friend Heather for momentum:
Her paperwork tells us she was born in a BLM corral in California, where she had some - but limited - contact with people. She seems to handle new situations with cautious curiosity:
Can you imagine walking by this crowd? Yet she handled it with the utmost grace:
Stopping briefly to introduce herself:
...before continuing on to her
It seemed fitting to remove her BLM number tag the moment she was safely home:
Her eye contact is intense, to say the least. She seems to always have something she wants to tell me:
On Sunday, she received her new name - purely by chance. What began as a panicky phone call to my friend, Carson at The 7MSN Ranch, to discuss herd dynamics and aggression, ended as a discussion on the difficulty I was having choosing a name for my visiting burro.
Carson, in her most matter of fact voice said to me, "Do you know what name I thought of for her when I saw that very first picture of her?"
"Tell me," I pleaded.
"Buttercup, Princess Buttercup, from the Princess Bride," Carson responded.
The moment she said it, I knew it was absolutely the right name.
And not only does the name fit her to a "t", when I played Buttercup the theme song from the movie, she was enthralled:
I'm so glad you are blogging again! I Love reading Carson's blog everyday....now I have 2!
ReplyDeletePerfect name for this pretty girl! And so fitting that Carson helped to name her. I got happy chills when I read this post and am so happy to be following it!
ReplyDeleteI love her.
ReplyDeletethis puts a big ole grin on my face!
ReplyDeleteAw! Princess Buttercup! I love her name. She looks like she will be a hard one to tame. (sarcasm) Good luck to you and Buttercup
ReplyDeleteI can't handle those eyes and those ears. I love how she's got one ear on the herd and one ear forward in the seventh picture. How funny that she has her own walk-on song.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely perfect! And you are now her Ashley. :)
ReplyDeleteprince buttercup...perfect. how will you ever let her go?
ReplyDeleteprincess...when will i learn to proof read!
DeleteShe is so pretty. Buttercup is a great name! She does look like she is wanting to tell you something, keep "listening" I am sure you will hear it at some point :O).
ReplyDeleteYou do know that she needs a soundtrack for her freestyle class, right? Sounds like you might already have one picked out. :-)
ReplyDeleteI do, indeed, Heather! I've got all sorts of plans. :-)
Delete:-)
DeleteOh, and FYI, you keep the Neck tag. You don't have to, of course. But it is kind of a badge of honor. It's proof that you tamed a wild donk. That's why each trainer takes their own off. Daisy's is hanging on my wall next to a picture of us and our ribbon from last year's competition. It's my bit of Daisy that I get to keep forever because I took her number, gave her a name, and made it possible for her to have a real home.
ReplyDeleteYou're doing the same for Buttercup. It's an amazing privilege to be able to give that gift to another living being. Because of what you're doing, Buttercup won't spend her life as #5918 in long term storage, she'll be someone's beloved companion.
I missed Daisy terribly for the first couple of weeks after the competition. But then the pictures started to get posted on FB of people loving on Daisy and talking about how cool she was. That's when I was able to make my peace with the fact that she had a better life than even I could give her. My contribution was to make that possible for her. Now, because I was able to let Daisy move on to a new life, I can do the same thing for Benji. And next year, I'll do it again for another donk. And that is what it's all about. :-)
Princess Buttercup looks right at home. And WHAT a pretty face on her! Bonus.
ReplyDeletehttp://lifeatthe4shoes.blogspot.ca/
Sweet Princess Buttercup is indeed beautiful burro! It sounds like you two are off to an excellent start. I'm so glad you are blogging again!
ReplyDeleteNot exactly wild, pretty poised. But then Princess Buttercup would be. Adored by all her subjects.
ReplyDeleteI love her name. I came over from Carson post today and will be here a long while. i am reading all about Buttercup and love the name
ReplyDeleteThe name fits her. I think she will be very good addition to your livestock. I hope she will be comfortable with your farm and I hope you will take good care of her.
ReplyDelete