Meet Grey
“I’ve found a horse, RON. You can ride!” cries JAK.
JAK has the star role in JAK-73 chasing freedom. RON is his mentor and companion.
The previous day, RON had slithered down a hilly slope and his knees were in a sorry state. Being able to ride might be just what he needs …
“I’ll show you the horse first. It’s reasonably easy to approach but backs away from being touched.”
Seeing the animal grazing up ahead, RON spoke softly. “It’s probably never heard a human voice or seen a human being before you, lad. If we feed it grass perhaps it will come to accept us.”
“And follow us,” said JAK, grinning. “By the time we reach the shed I want to be stroking it.”
“Knowing the way you have with animals you probably will. Only this isn’t a horse, JAK. It’s a donkey.”
Did JAK say shed? The shed is his fantastic find! It is well disguised with plant growth and holdsan uncounted number of items to make life easier for the characters in JAK-73 chasing freedom. It even has a cart in which they can put things they want to take on their journey. RON explodes with enthusiasm about the cart!
“These are solid rubber tyres. They don’t puncture. And this is called a donkey cart!”
Grey the donkey is in JAK-73 chasing freedom to pull the donkey cart. Maybe the world's most well-known fictional donkey is Eeyore with a role in stories by A. A. Milne alongside Pooh Bear. Names of fictional donkeys include Kicker, Wonky and Smart Ass.
A donkey or ass belongs in the Equidae family that includes horses, zebras, and species known only by their fossils. Today’s family members are in the genus Equus. While donkeys and horses are different species, they can mate. A male donkey and a female horse produce a mule. A male horse and female donkey produce a hinny. Donkey young are foals, a female donkey a jenny and a male donkey a jack, a.k.a. an ass.
Pooh Bear’s friend Eeyore is a gentle animal. Are real donkeys gentle? Even if tame and calm, a male donkey, a jack, can be rattled p.d.q. (pretty darn quick). Anger can be frustration. To show anger a jack may swivel his ears back and forth and paw the ground looking as if he is ready to charge. If you see a hind hoof lifted and ears pinned back do not go behind him! Definitely keep away if he shows his teeth.
Grey is not aggressive. He has a lot of freedom, is well fed, and easy to love.
Check the Internet for ‘donkeys’ and ‘mules’ and it will tell you they are smart animals.
Folk say as stubborn as a mule and a donkey can certainly look stubborn. If it stops while walking, it may be sussing out what it sees ahead, thinking what choice of action do I have - in donkey lingo - before it decides on action. It may freeze, as if it is playing Simon Says. Freezing makes it look stubborn.
Its first option may be flight. A donkey can run for about 100 metres at up to 24 kilometres an hour. Perhaps that is what happened to the author of JAK-73 chasing freedom. When Jean was ten years old she had a ride on a donkey at a seaside town in England. Her donkey took off up the sandy beach, racing as fast as it could!
A donkey will usually stop after those 100 metres to check things out again. This lets the rider stick it out or dismount p.d.q. Thankfully Jean was not put off donkeys and we readers get to meet Grey.
How happy are donkeys?
Donkeys are happiest when they are with other donkeys. When Grey comes into the script of JAK-73 there are people and falcons, hustle and bustle, and even more people. In time more falcons, chickens, rabbits, ducks, geese, cows, horses, and who knows what else may arrive! Grey is a very happy donkey.
As part of her role in JAK-73, MIN cares for Grey, a task that could last years. Donkeys can live to over 30 years old. The oldest donkey in the Guinness World Records is Suzy. She died at a proven 54 years of age.
Anger and braying can go together!
When a donkey is upset, the sound it makes is called braying. If you’ve never heard a donkey bray, go on line and listen.
JAK began training Grey. While whispering to hold the donkey’s attention, he fitted a yoke and harness he had made from rope. “But he won’t back into the cart’s shafts, RON, so can we put the cart onto the donkey? If I stand outside the yard fence and use Grey’s harness to pull his head over the top rail while I whisper to him and hold him, can you and MIN ease the cart’s shafts on without touching him until they must touch him? That might work.” …
The companions slept until Grey began braying.
“Anyone from here to the South Pole will hear him,” groaned RON.
“MIN and me will deal with it,” said JAK.
But can they take him out of the shafts? Will Grey stand being put in them again? Read JAK-73 chasing freedom and find out.
Keeping warm
JAK-73 is set half a century into the future and the climate has grown warmer. Grey doesn’t need a shelter like today’s home-trained donkeys, such as those at Windermere Donkeys in Tauranga, New Zealand.
For over 30 years, Olive Love has looked after donkeys without a home at her home in Windermere, Tauranga.
Go on-line and tap in ‘Windermere Donkeys’ to see them.
Or tap in ‘donkeys’ and ‘New Zealand’ and find other placesto check out. Happy reading!
The Donkey & Mule Society of NZ promotes the well-being of donkeys and mules. See http://www.donkey-mule.org.nz
