Samson

After several weeks of planning and hard work by Dave getting a run-in shelter ready, Ken and Karen brought Samson the miniature donkey to live with us. They bought him as a foal seven years ago, and I think they were sad to see him go, but also relieved to know where he would be living. Their alternative was to take him to auction, which they were reluctant to do.

"What do you know about donkeys?" you may ask. Well, as it turns out, almost nothing. We bought a book at Orscheln (the local farm store) and we refer to it constantly.

"Why in the world did you buy a donkey?" you may ask. We decided it would be a fun experience for our grandchildren. Samson came with a saddle and we tried it out for the first time today. We need some practice. We did OK with Austin riding, but then we put Sam on Samson's back and things didn't work so well. Sam is heavier, and I think we didn't get the saddle on right. When we tried to fix that Sam got his foot stepped on--which he believes was deliberate on Samson's part. It was downhill from there. Sam tried to make up with Samson by giving him an apple, but it turns out that Samson does not really care for apples. He loves pumpkins--so if you live near us let me know if you want me to pick up your old pumpkins when you are done having them sit on your porch. I can get rid of them for you.

Our grandson Sam made a little sign to welcome Samson to live with us. It is taped to the pen. He thinks it is kind of cool that his name is the same as the donkey's. I am not sure he still feels that way after his experience trying to ride him today.
To add insult to injury, Sam's friend Parker also got a ride. He rode bareback and it was pretty exciting when Samson took off at a trot and Liz and I had to pull him off Samson's back! As I said, we have a lot to learn.