I had a wonderful time with Seymour tonight. All clicker training was done, dinner was delivered via training and hay nets were hung and there was a lovely warm low lying autumn sun that Seymour was snoozing in, that he was glowing in, his hair was shining like fine expensive silk. Everyone else was busy.
I pulled up a stool to admire him from afar, watch the others and soak up the general ambiance of the last bit of the day and lowering autumnal sun.
But Seymour believes in admiring up close apparently and strolled up to me slowly while I was admiring the others. I felt eyes on me and found Seymour parked right in front of me.
I alternated between admiring the view, (he is pretty handsome) and poking out a finger to see what he thought of it. He let me touch his face, his eyes and even his nose and lips. He even started to play with my fingers and mouthed them with his lips and teeth, that’s a first. He lifted his head and I could literally see his incisors and his tongue and touch them, another first. He must be a mind reader, because the dentist is coming tomorrow!!
I looked away for a while and I was watching Dorothy lying down to give her sore foot a rest, when Seymour stepped forward and was even closer to me. It was nice and companionable and I loved it, because I love him.
I was then engrossed in watching Kaspian and Paddy graze and felt a warmth on my shoulder and realised Seymour had stepped sideways to get closer and was leaning in to me. He then brushed my shoulder with his cheek and neck, another first. I twisted around to see his face and saw a sleepy half closed eye.
I didn’t dare touch him and break the spell and he stood there, leaning lightly against me. It was like a gift, a donkey magic gift! He was showing me he trusted me, that he wanted to be with me and that he felt safe with me. I don’t think there’s a greater gift from an animal that was scared of people and actively disliked people, who would drive them out of his paddock! He wanted to be with me, he chose to be with me and he actively touched and engaged with me. I did nothing and he gave me something, something special.
I admired the sun shining off his fluffy hair that was preparing for the cold weather. It shone like silk and was velvet to my touch. I admired his beautifully trimmed hooves, all neat and tidy, not quite perfect thanks to years of neglect, but a shining example of a lost soul resurrected. I admired his legs and ran my hands down to feel his muscle and bone and the silky hair that had regrown over his previously scab infested legs. I stroked and tickled him in the soft spots between his legs, in his elbow and the soft underbelly, where the hair was so soft and fine and so special, only to be felt by the most trusted of friends.
I looked back into his eyes again, into the depths of those deep brown eyes, into those imperturbable depths, into one of the wisest creatures I have ever met. One of the most communicative and yet secretive and emotional and yet he has the potential to be so distant. But not anymore. Now he is like a magnet to the flame. He wants to connect, to touch, to be with and to breathe together. I let out a lot of deep sighs and let go of a lot of the burdens I was carrying and Seymour was there with me, to witness and to help me release the worry and pressure of the world. Not to carry them of course, but to ease their passing and bear witness.
Seymour helped me instead of me helping him. Yet another gift.