Annie Brown's blog

It may be hot and sunny at the moment, but our in-house maintenance team have designed and manufactured the framework and wooden slats for panels to be fitted to the sides of one of our more open plan donkey housing areas at Trow Farm.

I went to see Billy yesterday because a banana I had brought in for my lunch had been sitting on my desk over the weekend and was very brown and smelly - just the way Billy likes them! I found him resting in Cottage Shelter with the other riding-therapy donkeys who were not on the rota to give rides and was very pleased to see me with my offering.

Bathing and shampooing the donkeys once they have been clipped has proved an effective method to minimise their lice burden and means that we have not had to use chemicals on them with the aim of gradually lessening the resistance to the drugs that the lice have shown.

Earlier this month I visited our Derbyshire Centre to see how Chris Pile and his team were coping with the 37 donkeys in their care. Last we heard they were snowed in with temperatures of minus 16 degrees.

Andrew who works at Woods Farm is very fond of Big Alice – what a lovely big donkey she is!

Big Alice came into the Sanctuary in 2006 after it was decided that she was not suitable for giving rides to children on the beach. You may remember that I told you about her last year.

Andrew who works at Woods Farm is very fond of Big Alice – what a lovely big donkey she is!

I couldn't resist popping over to see Billy after he moved to our sister charity, the Elisabeth Svendsen Trust for Children and Donkyes, to begin his training to become a riding therapy donkey for children with special needs.