A horse is built to run. A donkey is built to stand and think about it. You have met Hector. This is the other half of his field.
Here is the thing nobody warns you about a parade horse. Hector stood through the King's Troop and the massed bands and a nation's worst day without shifting a hoof, and he will still, in a quiet Welsh field, levitate sideways at a pheasant coming out of a hedge. A carrier bag on the wind is, to a horse, a clear and present danger. The guns were a job, and the job had rules. The hedge has a pheasant in it and no rules at all, and so the flight animal underneath the seventeen years of training remains, on the matter of pheasants, entirely undefeated.
Nelson does not look up.
Nelson has never looked up. A donkey does not flee, it assesses, and it assessed the pheasant long ago and found it beneath comment. People call that stubbornness. It is an animal declining to spend adrenaline it sees no reason to spend.
And here is the domestic arrangement, which anyone who has kept the two together will know on sight. Nelson is a third of Hector's size and entirely in charge. He eats first. He picks the dry spot. He decides when they move. The black charger who carried the weight of the state stands by, with enormous patience, while a small grey donkey finishes the good hay.
The one thing that reliably undoes Hector is Nelson leaving the field. Five minutes, a foot trim, a vet down the lane, and the great composed horse comes apart at the gate, calling and calling, because a horse is herd to its bones and has decided that its herd is one unbothered donkey.
Nelson, for his part, despises rain. A desert animal washed up in Denbighshire, he stands in the shelter looking martyred while Hector grazes out in the wet, waterproof and serene.
Two opposite natures, each propping up the other exactly where it is weak. The horse who fears small things and the donkey who fears nothing at all. It works. It was always going to.
Hippos like Fritz have dichromatic vision, which means that they see in two colors. They also have a set of built-in goggles: a clear membrane covers their eyes for protection while still allowing them to see when underwater.
In a 1997 episode of Baking with Julia, Julia Child was visibly moved and wiped away tears after tasting Nancy Silverton’s brioche tart with pears poached in wine.
She was so impressed by the tart’s perfect texture and flavor that, in a phrase that went down in history, she called it “a dessert to cry over,” while praising Silverton’s mastery of the art of baking.
Three rare giant otter pups have begun swimming lessons at the UK's Chester Zoo. Led by mum Bonita and dad Manu, the rare pups were picked up by the scruff of their necks and popped straight in at the ‘deep end’. The triplets have been tucked away in their den for the first few weeks of their lives. Now, at 15 weeks old, the youngsters have been introduced to life in the water.
due to recent disappointing events i am throwing it out there that i am frankelda is releasing on netflix on june 12th (!!) and is the first indie stop-motion film to be fully made in mexico 😙
Looking in the archives you discover Hookland has suffered falls of glass, falls of fish and even falls of toads. There have been rains of blood, showers of nails. Being a county metrologist seems an exciting profession, but one which should involve danger money. – #MattAdams
Balzak turned 10, and this 3,000-pound birthday walrus brought full Kenough energy to the celebration! 🎉 From cool enrichment treats to a party packed with beachy birthday vibes, Balzak celebrated his big day in true walrus heartthrob style. Ken would definitely approve. 💙
Goodnight from Dan Meeks and his pet rat Arthur, bombsite camping in Ashcourt’s deepest crater as they watch for fire fates in the flames. Goodnight from Jen Sykes, unable to dismiss the feeling everyone at the party is looking at her newly webbed fingers. Goodnight from Hookland
@RealEmirHan It kills me every time I see the hurt the actors describe they went through. Bc this film is still one of my favorites to illustrate first love.