“Grief can be a terrible weight for any creature to endure, and at the same time, it telegraphs to the world the power of a love once shared.” – Barbara J. King, author of How Animals Grieve
I am a firm believer that animals feel strong connections and feel grief when they lose a loved one. I’ve seen it enough times to know it is true. That is why I felt such a strong connection to Lacey and wanted to help her right away.
Lacey, the seventeen year old miniature horse, had lived for the last four years with her donkey friend, Bert. When Bert died suddenly, Lacey’s parents contacted the Sanctuary and asked if we would help. Lacey was alone, and they were worried that she would be lonely and grieving. We knew right away that we needed to help her.
We picked Lacey up and introduced her to the other sanctuary animals the same day. She was interested in the other minis, but immediately was drawn to the donkeys. Lacey needed donkey friends, and the sanctuary was the perfect place for her to find them. Puddy, our chocolate standard donkey, took a special liking to her and the two of them are never far apart now.
Lacey went through a grieving process that included going and standing by herself a lot. Puddy was such a sweet donkey, going to check on her regularly and stand with her. After about a week, Lacey began to come out of her grief and interact more with the other animals, although Puddy is still her favourite. We monitored her closely to make sure she was still eating, and we spent a lot of time with her too, just sitting with her and petting her.
We are so happy that Lacey is one of our lovely ladies now. She has a sweet personality and loves kisses. She not only gets a lot of them, but she also gives kisses too. She will wiggle her lips on your cheek to kiss you back. She is a gentle soul, but has her own brand of pony attitude. She likes to be a bit bossy with the other ponies, but watches herself around Pancakes because he won’t let her push him around. But 90% of her time is spent with “her donkeys” as we call them now. She just loves the longears. They can even get her playing sometimes, although she isn’t overly keen on playing rough with the boys.
Lacey loves her special supplements that she gets and likes to hang out with Echo when the donkey boys get too boisterous. She can often be seen sunning herself in the pasture and likes to lay flat out in the hay with Echo. We are so happy we were there to help Lacey get through her grief and return to being a happy little lady.