The Donkey's Midwife

"Do you suppose the mare feels anything when the foal nurses?"

"Sure, although I don't know if it's really a feeling. When a foal nurses, that's what makes the mare continue to produce milk. If the foal doesn't nurse, she'll dry up."

"I wonder if she's as sensitive as I am. It always made me have this tight feeling right here."

Dora touched the bare skin between her low cut shorts and the tank top that barely covered her breasts.

"I wonder if she feels the same thing."

"If you're asking if she has contractions, yes she does. That's what shrinks everything back to normal size, just like it happens in humans."

Dora giggled.

"I didn't have anything that needed to shrink, but it sure did feel great. I miss that feeling."

About a week later, Julie called me again. I answered and asked what she wanted. Julie giggled.

"It's Dora the Explorer and she wants you to explore one of her mare's uh...lady parts. I think she'd rather you were exploring hers."

All Dora wanted was for me to check on a mare to make sure she was in season. Well, I'm pretty sure Dora wanted me to check her out as well. She was wearing a different pair of little shorts and a tight T-shirt. The T-shirt was tight enough it was pretty obvious she wasn't wearing any sort of a bra, and the shorts...Dora kept finding excuses to bend over with her back to me.

First it was to pick up a curry comb someone had left on the floor in front of Guinivere's stall. Then it was to brush some wood chip bedding from the toe of her red running shoe. When we stopped in front of Siobhan's stall, Dora just had to bend over and pick up a rope lead and halter that were on the floor. I'd never seen anything on the stable floor before. Dora's stable hands always kept everything clean and neat.

Every time Dora bent over, her shorts tightened up in her crotch. There wasn't much to the shorts in the way of legs, and when she did it was plain to see that Dora wasn't wearing much in the way of panties either. One shaved, puffy lip kept peeping at me when she bent over.

I checked Siobhan's temperature and then looked under her tail. She was swollen, and while I was looking, she opened and then closed her vulva. It's called "winking" and mares only do that when they're about ready to breed. I put Siobhan's tail back down.

"I think maybe in another day you can try her with your teaser. She's almost ready now."

Dora grinned.

"Poor Rowdy. She'll try to kick him if she's not ready, but he won't get to do anything if she is. I feel sorry for him. It's a good thing women don't just want a man for one or two days a month. Men would be horny all the time."

She chuckled.

"Well, I guess men are horny all the time anyway, but that's good too because some women are the same way. I'd never make a man go away if he was interested even a little."

I figured the way Dora's nipples were making two bumps in her tight T-shirt meant she was horny right then. I'll admit it was tempting, but that sort of thing would get around. Some of my women clients would feel uneasy being around me after it did and there were a few I was pretty sure would ask Rex not to send me out again.

It seemed like an actual call the day she said all her horses needed to be wormed. That's something that has to be done every six months. Most horse owners do it themselves though because it's easy, but then, they usually don't have to worm twenty-nine animals. It's just a shot of paste in the horse's mouth and it's done. That's all I was going to do, and I figured on about two hours for twenty-seven horses and two donkeys. It took almost three, but they were a fun three hours.

When I got there, Dora was laying on a chaise lounge in front of her house. I saw enough skin I knew she was wearing a bikini. I just couldn't see it very well. After she walked across the drive in her flip-flops with rhinestones on the straps, I could see it wasn't very big. Dora grinned.

"It was such a nice day I thought I'd get some sun. My stable boys have gone for the day. I'll help you out...if you'd like that."

Dora helped hold each horse while I shot a measured dose of wormer in its mouth. They didn't like the taste of the worming medicine much even though what I used was flavored with apple. As a result, they'd try to lift their head to get away from the syringe when I stuck it in the gap between their front and back teeth. Dora was holding the lead rope, so they'd pull both her arms up.

Dora's bikini was one of those that doesn't really have much cup to the bra cups. It wasn't meant to lift, but Dora didn't really need much lift because her breasts weren't all that big. It was made to cover, but it also didn't cover quite enough. She was showing the outer curve of each breast as well as some nice cleavage between them. When her arms went up, so did her breasts, and when they did, the darker skin of her nipple beds peeked over the top of the cups.

If I hadn't been trying to get the worming paste in each horse's mouth without getting it all over me in the process, I'd have reacted a lot more strongly. I didn't really want to bed Dora, but I'm not immune to a pair of nice soft breasts.

I'm not immune to a nice female ass either. Dora had picked up a sack of horse treats from her feed room and carried it along as we went stall to stall. Once I'd wormed a horse, Dora would bend over from the waist, pull a treat out of her sack, and give it to the horse. The horses liked their treat. I liked the way the little bikini went down enough to show me her crack and the soft little cheeks hanging out from under the bottom when she bent over.

Warlock was a big, strong, stallion who wasn't interested at all in taking his medicine. I'd almost get the syringe in his mouth and he'd toss his head away. He was strong enough he'd almost lift Dora off her feet as she held his halter rope. On one of those head tosses, he jerked Dora hard enough both breasts slipped out of her bikini. Dora had some really nice nipples.

Dora just grinned, said, "hold him for a minute", and stuffed her breasts back in the bikini. Then we started over. It took me ten minutes and five more times for Dora to stuff her breasts back in her bikini to get Warlock wormed. Then we did Azmodeus and Rowdy. Azmodeus wasn't quite as tall as Warlock, but he was every bit as strong, and he didn't like the wormer either. Dora had to stuff one soft breast or the other back in her bikini top four times before we were done. Rowdy was as gentle as a kitten, took his medicine quietly, and chortled when Dora held out his treat.

The two donkey's were easy. Sebastian didn't like having his mouth pried open, but I'm strong enough he didn't have any choice. He liked his treat though. Sara was also easy, and when I finished with her, she munched her treat too.

Sara looked a little more filled out then when I'd seen her last. I asked Dora if she'd been bred.

Dora grinned.

"Yep. Sara came in heat and Sebastian knew just what to do. I watched them and it was so cute. He nuzzled her just like Warlock and Azomdeus do to the mares and Sara sort of squatted down and moved her tail to one side. Sebastian mounted her then and stuck her. It didn't last long. He just jerked a lot and then shook his tail before he got off her.

"Sara acted just like my mares. She just stood there and let Sebastian do it, and then went on eating her hay. You'd think she'd at least have looked happy. I'd sure have been happy if some guy had done that to me. I'd have asked him to do it again."

What Dora was not so subtlety hinting at was something I couldn't do, so I changed the subject.

"How far along is she?"

"About three months."

"Well, feed her like usual for another six, then give her a little more, say maybe half a cup at each feeding. She's young and healthy. She probably won't have any problems."

The next eight months went by about the same way. I treated several cows for various things, helped a few farmers birth a few calves, and castrated a hundred and seventy young pigs that would end up being hams for dinner the next Christmas. I also paid a call to Dora's stable at least once a week.

When the days stayed warm, she was always dressed in something that showed me a lot of her breasts and ass. Once the weather got cooler, she'd dress in really tight, really low cut jeans and really loose tops. Instead of bending over with her back to me then, she'd bend over with her front to me, the top would fall open and I'd be looking at either a sexy lace bra or just her naked breasts. She'd always make some sort of comment that really meant, "I'd like you to take me right here in the stable." I ignored the comments, but I couldn't ignore her body.

It was five 'til five one Friday night that she called again. Julie had changed out of her scrubs and was ready to go home, but she answered the call. She listened for a minute or so, then put her hand over the phone mouthpiece.

"It's Dora, and she sounds worried. She says she's in Lexington looking at a horse and one of her stable boys called her before he left. Her donkey is trying to foal, but she's having trouble."

"Tell her I'll be there as soon as I can. I may need some help. Wanna come along? It'll be interesting."

Julie grinned.

"You're asking me out on a date to see a donkey? I'd hoped for something a little more romantic."

"Well, you're always saying you get bored sometimes. I guarantee you won't be bored."

Julie shrugged.

"All I was gonna do was go home and watch TV. I suppose I can come along."

The stableboy let us into the barn and said he had to leave. When I opened the door to the big birthing stall beside Sebastian's, Sara was standing there and straining. I turned to Julie.

"Something's gone wrong. Hold her head while I check her out."

I put on a long sleeve glove and lubed it up, then started trying to get my hand inside Sara enough to feel what was going on. I should have felt two front legs and a nose. I felt only one leg, and I couldn't get my hand in any further. By the time I worked my hand and arm in enough, the foal would probably be dead.

If Sarah was having problems, it probably meant the foal wasn't in the right position. In horses, pushing the foal back in and getting it in the right position was backbreaking work because the mare didn't understand she should stop pushing. I'd have to push against the contraction and then when the mare relaxed, push harder to force my hand deeper inside her. The good part was there was a lot of room to work. I couldn't get my big hand inside Sara enough to do more than tell me what was wrong.

I looked at Julie. The look on her face told me she was worried. It was then the idea hit me. Julie might be able to do what I couldn't. She'd helped me with dogs giving birth a few times, so she'd seen what would have to be done, and she had small hands and arms. I decided to ask her.

"Julie, you've helped with some dogs and cats at the clinic. Think you could be midwife to a miniature donkey? I think the foal is turned wrong, and I can't get my hand in far enough know for sure or to do anything about it. If we can't get the foal straightened out, we'll lose the foal."

Julie stood there with her mouth open for a second and then gasped.

"You want me to stick my hand inside her? I wouldn't have any idea what to do."

"Yes you do. It'll be just like that german shepherd bitch last month. I used forceps then, but what has to be done is the same. Your hand and arm are probably small enough to fit. I can talk you through what to do once you're in there. Just take it easy when she's having a contraction, but push hard when she relaxes."

"I don't know. I might hurt her. I wouldn't want to do that."

"You won't hurt her anymore than she's already hurting. She needs help, Julie, and by the time I get my hand in far enough, the foal will probably be dead."

The long sleeve glove was way too big for Julie, but that was a good thing because it meant her hand and arm were a lot smaller than mine. I lubed it up once she had it on and then showed her how to hold her fingers to start them in.

Julie said, "Oh God. I hope I'm doing this right", slipped her fingers in and started to push. She was inside Sara a little when Sara had another contraction. Julie gasped.

"Wow, she's squeezing my hand really hard."

"Yes, the contractions will be strong, but when she stops, you can gain another inch or so by pushing in hard and fast."

Several minutes later, Julie looked up at me from where she knelt behind Sarah.

"I feel a leg. I think it's a back one because I think I feel a tail too."

"Good. Push it back inside as far as you can."

After another contraction and some hard pushing by Julie, she said, "OK, now what?"

"See if you can find a nose, and when you find it, move your hands down the head and neck until you feel front legs."

I could see the look of concentration on Julie's face as she felt around inside Sarah. After a few more minutes, she looked up and grinned.

"I found a nose and two legs. They're really tiny. What now?"

"OK, you need to pull those front legs out a little and make sure the nose is on top of them."

Julie struggled for about five minutes before she looked up.

"I think I have everything where it's supposed to be."

"Then pull on those legs, but just hard enough to keep them coming out. When she relaxes, they might slip back. Let Sarah do most of the work. Just make sure that nose stays on top of the legs."

Over the course of about half an hour, Julie's arm slowly came out of Sarah a little at a time. A few minutes later I saw Julie's hand holding two legs, and a few seconds later, a nose. We were about done.

Sarah knew that too. She grunted as she strained hard and the foal's head emerged. Julie still had its front legs and sat down to help pull. Sara pushed hard again, and the foal fell out in Julie's arms.

Julie chuckled.

"My, you are a tiny little thing, aren't you, and look what you did to me. I'm all wet and icky. What am I going to do with you now?"

I laughed. Sara had turned around and was nuzzling the foal in Julie's lap.

"Sarah knows what to do. Just lay the foal down and let her do it."

We stood there in the stall while Sarah licked the tiny little foal. I did take a look to make sure the cord had torn like was supposed to and wasn't bleeding, and then looked at the placenta to make sure it was all out of Sarah. Everything looked ok, so I painted some antiseptic on the stub of the cord and then grinned at Julie.

"It's a girl."

Julie grinned back and then laughed as the foal tried to stand up. She fell down, but kept trying, and after a while was standing up on very shaky legs. Sarah sort of grunted, and the little foal began trying to walk. It took her a while and she fell down several times, but she finally got to Sarah's flank and poked her little nose at Sarah's udder. A minute later she was sucking away.

Julie didn't say anything for a while. She just stood there grinning as the foal's tail began to wag. Then she looked up at me.

"Is it always like this?"

"Well, usually they don't need help, but yes."

"She's just adorable."

"She wouldn't be if you hadn't done such a good job. I couldn't have done it. My hand wouldn't fit."

"It was kind of fun. Will they be all right if we leave them?"

"Sure. Sara expelled the placenta. I checked it and it's all there. The foal is already sucking, so she'll be fine too. How about if I buy you dinner? You sure earned it tonight."

"Oh, I'm such a mess, I couldn't go anywhere."

"Well, we'll stop by a fast food place and pick something up on the way to the clinic. You can clean up and change back into some clean scrubs before we eat."

Julie changed and then we ate the chicken dinners I'd bought. She kept going on and on about how cute Sarah's little jenny was and how she'd felt when she'd caught her. I knew how she felt because I still felt that way every time I helped birth an animal.

When we finished, I said I should probably call Dora and tell her what happened, and I wanted to use the clinic phone so Dora didn't have my cell number. Julie just grinned.

"You say she always shows you lots of skin. If she had your cell number, she could ask you out there when it's not business and you could be seeing more of her, so to speak."

"No, thank you. Dora's enticing, but she'd not really my type."

"Oh...what is your type?"

"Well, it's hard to explain, but it's not Dora. Dora travels in a different circle than I ever could. You saw her stable. It's like some I saw in my residency in Lexington. The horses are treated like royalty, but they don't need all that. They just need good feed and clean water and a place to get in out of the weather. That fancy stable is just a way to show off how much money Dora has.

"I haven't been to one of Dora's sales, but if they're like to ones in Lexington, they're more of a big cocktail party where some horses also get sold. Some of the buyers don't even know what a good horse is. They take their trainers along to make the decision while they sip cocktails, eat little sandwiches and brag about their horses.

"I like animals, but I like them because of what they are, not because they show people how rich I am. I figure if I did anything with Dora, I'd be like one of her horses. She'd like what I did for her, but she wouldn't really appreciate me for what I really am. I'm not saying I'd want a woman to thank me all the time, but it would be nice to know I'm not just another addition to her stud."

Julie smiled.

"I'd never thought about it that way, but I see what you mean. I just thought you liked going out there."

"I like the income, but it would be better if Dora was a little more down to earth like the farmers in the area."

"So, what type of woman would be your type? Maybe some woman who grew up on a farm and understands about animals?"

"Yes, she'd be a woman I'd probably like being with."

Julie smiled.

"I grew up on a farm. We just raised chickens, but it was still a farm."

}{

I called Julie on Saturday morning to ask if she was all right. She just laughed.

"Well, my arm is a little sore, but that's all. Why?"

"Well, I thought since we only had take-out chicken last night, you might like something fancier. I was thinking someplace in Nashville."

"You're asking me for a date?"

"Well, yes. Is that all right?"

She chuckled.

"It was telling you I'm a farm girl wasn't it? I thought that might do it."

"No, it was the way you helped me with that foal. The farm girl thing was just an extra incentive."

Julie sighed.

"If I'd known that's all it took, I wouldn't have tried so hard to look sexy in my scrubs. Let's not go to Nashville though. Any restaurant in Dickson will be fine and it'll save you some money."

We had dinner at the Cracker Barrel in Dickson that night. I learned enough about Julie that I asked her out the next Saturday too. On our third date, I kissed her at the door to her apartment and asked her to go out again. She put her arms around my neck.

"Maybe I should cook dinner for us here instead. Think you can handle a farm girl's cooking? Maybe you'd like to handle the farm girl a little too. I think I'd like that."

It was a year before I asked Julie to marry me. I was still in debt, but by then I couldn't stand the thought of not being with her all day and night, every day and night. I explained my financial situation before I let her say anything. When I was finished, Julie smiled and put her arms around my neck.

"Randy, my mama and daddy started out with almost nothing. Mama said it was hard, but it brought them closer together. I don't care that we won't have a big house and a new car. All I care about is you. We can live on what I make so you can pay off your loans faster."