Both Everdene and Oak were born at Far From after their respective mothers Flow and Phylis arrived pregnant. Both mothers came to us malnourished and despite our best efforts, did not gain enough weight to be considered healthy. The extra nourishment they received during pregnancy went straight to the foals and both were born with Ballerina Syndrome (meaning they gradually stand on their tiptoes). This is uncommon in foals with underweight mares, but we did our best to help them as much as possible.

Everdene was born first to mother Flow and was a full-figured foal – so fat and fluffy, the vet described her as a ‘stuffed toy!’ Lavished with attention from day one, Everdene shares her mother’s confident and bossy nature, always greeting other members of the Far From family and quickly welcoming newcomers. However, she is also exceedingly stubborn – on walks with Everdene we’ve had to get down on our hands and knees and beg her to follow us!

At less than 6 months old, Everdene had to have both legs operated on due to her Ballerina Syndrome. Her and Oak are so inseparable that he had to walk her into surgery!

Oak was born a week after Everdene, to mother Phylis. We arrived in the stable to find Oak born and mum in a fluster. They needed human intervention with feeding. It became apparent that Phylis was rejecting Oak – when I was in the stable with them, she was relaxed, and would get stressed if I left. She couldn’t mentally cope with Oak and needed help. The donkey sanctuary was there every step of the way and to our amazement, four days in, she started feeding him! This was a huge step but was all that Phylis could manage. She never groomed him, loved him, or taught him anything. In her eyes, that was my job, but she fed him for me. Oak was not allowed to stand near her unless he was feeding, and this resulted in Oak starting to ‘zone out’ in the stable. His developing brain was not being stimulated, and we knew it needed stimulation.

I went to the stable every 2 hours day and night and sat with him for 45 minutes at a time. I would cuddle, groom, and play with Oak – anything to stimulate his little brain and encourage normal donkey behaviour. 3 years on and Oak is very much still my little boy. He’s a unique soul and though he has his mother’s nervous nature, he comes across as confident as is now a typical stroppy adolescent boy! He is a huge drama queen – once, we had to call out an emergency vet because someone had left the barn light on overnight. Oak couldn’t sleep because of it and looked like he was on death’s door the following morning. Talk about giving us a scare!

Oak didn’t suffer as badly as Everdene with the Ballerina Syndrome, and our wonderful farrier managed to nurse him to health using special shoes. We are so grateful for the time and effort put into Everdene and Oak’s recovery by the farrier team. They are both a perfect example of why paying for a master farrier is essential to the welfare of your equines.

Oak has recently been diagnosed with COPD and is gaining weight. We currently have the situation under control and we’re keeping him comfortable and happy. It has been a bit of a blow, and you can’t help but wonder if it’s due to the difficult start he had in life.

Everdene and Oak have an extremely special bond. Just like their mothers, they can’t be separated. The four now run together and have stables right next to each other. You can often see them cantering around the field following one another and you’ll frequently hear them telling the entire valley that I haven’t let them into their stables as early as they would desire it.

Everdene and Oak are named after the main characters in Thomas Hardy’s novel Far from the Madding Crowd. As you may have guessed, Far From takes its name from the same place. We’re very proud of our 2 beautiful, cheeky donkeys and we’re sure you’ll love them too.