On this sunny morning, I took some super photographs and this short video clip of our Founder, Dr Elisabeth Svendsen, MBE meeting with the beautiful little nameless foal for the first time.

As you may know, we are running a competition to give this little chap a worthy name and the best photo I took will be framed and signed by Dr Svendsen as a prize for the lucky winner of the competition.

For those of you who don’t know, The Donkey Sanctuary was founded in 1969 by Dr Svendsen who has had a passion for donkeys since a young age. She was rescuing donkeys that were in terrible condition and by 1973 had 38 donkeys in her care. The profits from her hotel business were literally being ‘eaten’ by the donkeys and with an ever-growing equine family she decided to register The Donkey Sanctuary as a charity to help raise money specifically to look after the donkeys.

In June of that year, she received a phone call from a solicitor explaining that she’d been left a legacy from a lady who had cared for donkeys at a Donkey Sanctuary near Reading in Berkshire. The legacy was 204 donkeys and they were to be shot if she couldn’t accommodate them.

This was a turning point in Dr Svendsen’s life as she agreed to take on the donkeys. She also inherited thousands of pounds of debt from the Reading sanctuary. Little did she realise that over 40 years later, The Donkey Sanctuary would be the largest in the world that looks after the care and welfare of donkeys and mules and over the years, has provided sanctuary from suffering to many millions of these humble creatures.

The following video film clip is simply of Dr Svendsen chatting and playing with the foal. Sometimes, less is more and I hope you enjoy it.