Donkey tries to win herself some horse friends

It’s not easy being the new girl on the block. Sweetheart the donkey moved in with two other horses not long ago.

Donkey tries to make friends with horses

She kept thinking about how to make friends with the neighbors, but nothing really jumped out at her. Then, suddenly, the perfect solution dawned on her. She’d provide a public service! She’d help clean out the food dishes in her new pasture! Surely such an act of generosity would win her the adoration of all.

For some strange reason, Incitato the horse didn’t want any help cleaning out his food dish. And since Incitato was the dominant one in the bunch, Sweetheart figured it wouldn’t be smart to push the issue, even if he was wrong. If you upset the head honcho on campus, life becomes nothing but work, work, work.

Persistence is key

Bryce the horse, however, was a prime target for her plan of selfless clean-up duty. Funny thing though, Bryce didn’t seem interested in her food-dish-cleaning volunteer work either. With Bryce, however, Sweetheart decided to stick it out a bit longer. She was determined to make some friends, by gum, and such a noble goal was worth a little persistence.

She’d offer to clean out the food bowl, he’d push her away. She’d offer again, he’d push her away. She’d offer again and grab an ever-so-teeny mouthful … and he’d begrudgingly let her. Thus the dance continued. And thus it has kept up ever since.

Sweetheart realizes those teeny little mouthfuls of food aren’t much, but they do add up eventually. Soon, she hopes, Bryce will thank her for lightening the burden of dish duty one snitch at a time. After all, if you can’t count on your neighbors for a helping hand now and again, who can you count on?

Adopt an equine pal.

Photo by Molly Wald