Daisy and Amanda are a mother-daughter pair of miniature horses. We came upon them while searching for donkeys, actually, but the moment we met them we knew they would be a perfect fit for our animal family.
After acquiring dozens of birds, we thought that some hoofed animals might be a helpful and fun addition to the rancho. Our initial plan was to get donkeys - rescues of course! We found a lovely little rescue called Fairy Tale farms, who advertised some rescued donkeys available. We made the short drive to the farm and found that there was only one donkey available (a couple of other pairs had been spoken for just prior to our arrival!) and we really didn't feel comfortable taking a single animal. We know how much the social interactions of daily life are important to these creatures, so we really wanted a pair or a trio.
"We don't have a pair of donkeys available, but we do have this mother-daughter pair of miniature horses..."
Two years prior, Daisy and dozens of other horses were aboard a truck headed to a slaughterhouse, when the truck was intercepted (peacefully and legally!) by a rescue group. When Daisy arrived at Fairy Tale farms two things became immediately clear:
She was blind in her left eye (apparently a veterinary mishap)
She was PREGNANT!
Amanda was born at the rescue, and bonded closely with her mother. Daisy and Amanda never left each other's sides. Amanda essentially functioned as the eyes for her half-blind mama. Many animals form bonded pairs but this was a very Very VERY tight bond. For YEARS this pair was passed up by potential adoptive families due to concerns about Daisy's vision issues and Amanda's clinginess to her mama... but these features did not deter us. In fact, their bond, the unique features, their story of perseverance and love was truly inspiring. We knew immediately upon meeting them that they would live happily ever after with us.
