Misty's Perfume Drives Donkey Crazy

I had to spend my birthday driving 6 hours to Val D’Or for a business trip, so I made up for it the following night by singing karaoke with family at Lock 17. Needless to say, I was pretty pooped the following morning.
Donkey foiled my plans for a sleep-in. Apparently he felt like celebrating the beautiful sunny morning by chasing pregnant sheep all over the field, tackling them and biting their ears ‘til they bleated for mercy.
I got up to see what all the ruckus was about, and ten minutes later I was out in the pasture in my yoga pants, lumberjack shirt and rubber boots, chasing Donkey with one of the Farmer’s golf tee posts. I never caught up to the beast, but it was good exercise.
The horse decided the sheep-chasing game looked fun, and decided to join Donkey in the pursuit.
Suddenly Donkey caught a whiff of Misty’s special perfume, and stopped cold in his tracks. He sidled up beside her, and gave her a quick nip on the neck (must be where she dabs her cologne). She whipped her head around and nipped him back. Then she stood stock still, patiently waiting. Donkey looked at me. Then he looked up at Misty’s hind end. Waaay up. At 17 and a half hands, she is a bit tall for a wee animal like Donkey to mount. He tried anyway. And promptly fell off. He’s been fixed, but I highly doubt he would be successful in creating little Donkey-Belgians even if he was fertile. He just isn’t tall enough (and I’m not sure if that is even possible). But he was certainly willing to try.
I went back into the house and marked the date on the calendar. In 21 days, I will check to see if Misty is once again wearing the perfume that makes Donkey a little crazy. Well, crazier than usual. We have a tentative date booked to get Misty bred. We thought that might be a reasonable solution to filling the empty stall where Ashley used to be. And it will give Misty a new life experience.
The Farmer says it will save him having to come up with a birthday gift for me next year. I might just go out into the stable one day next spring and see a foal curled up on the hay.
Our ewes are ready to lamb any day now. Some of them are beginning to resemble barrels on stilts. Their bellies are so big; I wouldn’t be surprised to see quadruplets appear. I must stock up on self-feeding bottles and milk replacer, in case some of the moms are not able to feed for one reason or another. But our hay was pretty good this year – what little we had of it. The milk should be fairly nutritious and plentiful as a result.
The sheep were able to head down to the pasture early this year. Our unseasonably warm spring has brought fresh, irresistible shoots of green grass. They are nibbling it down faster than it can grow, and starting to crane their necks through the fence to the yard. Twice already I have woken up to find Donkey and Misty grazing on the front lawn. Houdini and friend have apparently discovered that if they push together on the sliding barn door with their noses, it will eventually slide open. Must remember to put a bungee cord on that door or I won’t have a garden this summer.
I’ll be happy when this spring fever is over and everyone is calm and reasonable again.