Meet Hoorah

Hoorah’s Story

Hoorah is one of only a few mini donkeys at Oscar’s Place. We welcomed him to Oscar’s Place in March 2023. He came from a home where he lived with a horse, but their owner could no longer take care of them. So she rehomed her horse first, and then two weeks later, she rehomed Hoorah to us.

But during those two weeks of separation from his horse companion, Hoorah was barely eating. He spent his days pacing back and forth because he had lost his friend of over 20 years and didn’t know what was happening.

When Hoorah arrived here, that behavior continued. He was very nervous, kept pacing, and refused to eat. We have a standard quarantine procedure when we take in a new donkey in order to keep the rest of the herd healthy. But we decided to integrate Hoorah into the herd quicker than we normally would because we needed to try to find him a companion. If we waited, things would likely take a turn for the worse.

To our joy, during the evening of Hoorah’s first day in a bigger pasture, Ron was doing his evening rounds and saw Thor hanging out with Hoorah in the corner of the pasture. Amazingly, Hoorah was eating!

Our team watched the pair over the next 24 hours. Everywhere Hoorah went, Thor followed. So we put Hoorah and Thor back in quarantine in our owner surrender village, and they finished it together. Hoorah began to adjust to his new life at our ranch—with his new buddy Thor by his side. His pacing immediately stopped, and his eating immediately resumed. All it took was a friend.

We hoped that Hoorah and Thor would become a bonded pair, but over time, it became clear that they were more pasture companions than truly bonded. Still, Thor played a crucial role in helping Hoorah adjust to his new life.

Because Hoorah is around 25 years old and requires more specialized care, we’ve since moved him to our senior pasture. He’s thriving there. It’s a calmer environment better suited to his age and pace. Sweet and affectionate, Hoorah loves getting cuddles and pets from staff and volunteers. Hoorah may be one of our smallest donkeys, but he has one of the biggest hearts. He will live out his golden years at Oscar’s Place.