Blossom arrived  in the same state as most donkeys turn up, terribly thin, her feet were badly neglected and she was lame, on top of that she had some of the worst rain and wind scald we had seen.

The farrier came and trimmed her feet, he couldn’t find an abscess so to investigate further we had her foot x-rayed which showed she had a rotation (Pedal bone) rotates due to laminitis, Cushings, (these are the main reasons) for a rotation.

But there was something else, a constant grinding noise in her mouth, when the vet looked she had a large back tooth moving around, easy to fix, he removed her tooth, and said “she will Blossom now” hence where Blossom got her name.

Despite everything we did there was something wrong with Blossom, it took Heidi to tell us, Blossom was nearly blind, and Heidi had taking over as her “seeing” eyes

That explained why Heidi was constantly at her side, Heidi guided Blossom into the field, back out, into the stable yard, if Blossom lost her way she stands and waits, the many videos I have took and posted on FB of Heidi leading Blossom. It explains why Heidi was right next to the vet watching everything he did to Blossom while removing her tooth

She still takes care of Blossom, but now she has help, Pickle is Blossom’s other guide donkey if Heidi is not around.

It is amazing the trust Blossom has in Heidi and how Heidi knows she has to help, it is very humbling.

We are slowly winning the battle of Blossom’s feet, our farrier here (Martyn) made corrective shoes for Blossom’s hind feet, they have helped enormously.

Despite the problems Blossom has she loves visitors, she will stand and let children brush her she follows them around, our regular visitors know to talk to her, so she knows where they are

To say we are proud of these donkeys is a massive understatement.