Daisy loves garbage cans

tonight on our walk with Daisy, my BF picked up a garbage can from my dad's house. When he first grabbed it Daisy was a bit startled, but did the slight 'jump in place' thing, then she was immediately interested in it. I suggested maybe he walk in front with it - i figured walking behind might freak her out. So he starts walking, i waited a second so he could get a head start. I circled Daisy around & she immediately wanted to go after the garbage can!! It was so funny, she had her front lip hanging over the lower & it was 'tense' looking. LOL. I almost thought she was going to jump on top of it!! it was pretty hilarious, she was walking behind it trying to get her head over it ( thats what it looked like any how). Steve stopped & we let her sniff it some more. by that time we were home, so i brought her in the yard. I couldn't believe how interested in she was!!

another really neat thing is that we were walking past a side street/driveway and she was really interested in that direction. So I let her look a bit, then a little while later I saw a car coming down the road. She heard it & it was neat to see her almost say 'something's coming!'

she did it again when we stopped by the neighbors house, she didn't want to go out to the road yet & kept looking down the road in the direction we were just coming from - another car! Smart donk.

she was very good, she doesn't try to veer off to eat grass that much anymore - I'm try to teach her walking is for walking - its our 'work' time, not eating time. She was walking pretty brisk tonight, more so than our last walk.

Every once in awhile she'll try the whole - raise her head and try to push me off to the side, and I just tell her 'we're not doing that' and redirect her. then she stops. she'll do that whole thing maybe once every walk. Always testing LOL.

Abrasive donkey hoof trimming

Here's the abrasive method of trimming donkeys. I do not recommend going out & doing this yourself with out training with a qualified farrier familiar with abrasive trimming.

This is the way that Daisy gets trimmed.

Daisy's new halter

Just got done tying this. First one I've made of this version - with the fiador knot at the bottom. Turned out ok - looks like the throatlatch could be longer. I'm just happy it fits her!!!


chasing the kitty

Daisy magnets. LOL

I made some Daisy magnets!!
I have them on my etsy page.

if you would like to see them click on the links below!!

Daisy 'SMILE' magnet

Fuzzy Donk Magnet

How to trim a difficult donkey - Videos

I attended a hoof clinic this past weekend, these are some videos I captured of how to deal with a difficult donkey.

Rope for Daisy's new halter

Hoof Trimming Clinic

Yesterday I got to attend a Donkey Hoof Trimming clinic. Its was a great experience, I got to see some difficult donkeys be handled well. A scotch hobble was used on the kickers.

These donkeys originally were great with their feet, but had a experience with a BAD farrier - from what it sounds like the farrier actually hit these donkeys or mistreated them in general. But it made them sour to having their feet to be handled - they went into was defensive mode when it was time to handle their feet. They're proof of rough handling/mistreatment can make an animal 'bad' or act worse - which usually ends up in more abuse if kept with the same trimmer. This is a man made problem. The animal acts up so the farrier gets angry ( which you DO NOT do with donkeys!!) and abuses the animal making things much worse. and it progresses. Many farriers will not deal with donkeys, mostly because they think they're like horses, which they're not. You can't force or scare a donkey into anything.

So I got to see how to help the animal overcome its fear while making sure the human is out of harms way.

I didn't get much pictures of this little gelding, but here he is after his session getting trimmed & standing quietly.






Here the guy isn't making her kick, he's asking her to pick up her foot using the rope as an extension of his hand. This is her kicking out in disagreement. he's not being forceful with her at all. The whole time he worked with her he was very low key, calm, patient & NEVER got upset, angry or agitated. Notice he's using his free hand to help keep the donkey from entering his space & getting close enough to land one of those kicks.





Here's what i call the *rodeo* ( this was a lucky pic btw) Here the Jennet is having a little melt down & trying her hardest to evade the trimmer or possibly kick him. This jennet is known to crowd you & squish you up against anything that she could.


after working the scotch hobble, the trimmer has gotten her to realize that it's ok to have her feet touched.

donkey obstacle course

Went to my local tire shop & got a bunch of old tires to make Daisy an obstacle course! here's what it looks like right now. I had to put the ends of the poles on the ground, when they were both on the tires it was a little overwhelming to her. She'd get her front feet over & was really hesitant about the backs. Dropped them down & she walked over the low ends willingly.



and this is what Daisy looks like today, shedding out nicely.

another reason i love my donkey.

it amazes me still how loving donkeys are. How much they want to be with you. I love being able to go out & just love on Daisy. Standing at her window talking to her, giving her kisses & ear scratching. I had no idea how sweet these animals are.

shedding progress

Daisy is starting to shed out alot - her shoulders are pretty smooth, half of her neck, her head, an d a couple spots on her rump.

a little donkey drawing :)

did this on the outside of a usps flat rate box, a great lady loaned me her donkey video.

Saddle Weight...

Knowing that I'm very close to Daisy's weight limit, I weighed her saddle, I had no idea how much it weighed before.




not bad!!

Hot Donk

weird donkey!! it's over 100 degree's out and she wants to take dust baths!!



gettin up!!

grooming, saddling, bitting up, walk 7.12.09

Daisy was so much better on Sunday about being groomed, she didn't paw, and wasn't evasive, like she usually is. I think we're making progress in that department. She's starting to realy shed out on her shoulders & rump. Still very fuzzy in the middle. It was nice that she was so good, it really let me work on getting her brushed out well.

She was excellent for saddling & bridling. In this session I bitted her up - I'm not sure if thats the correct term. But i adjusted the reins ( leather with a rubber stopper on the end - ran under the stirrups, and up over the seat of the saddle), so that in her normal relaxed standing position, there is no pressure on the bit. Pressure only engages when she drops her head. the idea is to let her figure out on her own what the pressure on the bit means & how to realease it. I let her walk around & figure it out for about ten minutes. I think she was getting the idea of it by the end, in the beginning there was alot of 'oooooh i wanna eat that, gah!! can't reach!!!' actions going on.

Next session i'll be working on the sides, one rein with pressure to teach her to flex & give to the pressure.

I took the reins off & we went on a walk. I think this may have been our best walk yet. She was so relaxed, and wasn't rushing ahead or veering off towards grass. It was a great walk - very relaxing. I think having her bridle on helped - she was thinking about the bit in her mouth more than other things.

People on my road - some of them - dont really understand that they should wait til I have her off the road before they go by. I even had one lady keep advancing towards me even though I had my hand up trying to signal her to wait. This time I was trying to get Daisy off to the side of the road - and the guy just couldn't wait, so he drove by. So daisy had a car come up from behind & drive around her, while saddled & bridled. She didn't do anything! i was pretty impressed, the last time a car came up from behind her she was like 'whoaa!!! whats that back there!!' and picked up her pace quite a bit. This time it least the guy was driving slow!

then back to the pasture, Daisy was unbridled and allowed to graze with her saddle on. Then it was time to unsaddle & clean her feet. She was really good. I could tell a couple times she got just a bit tense - the dogs were barking at something, so I'm sure she was wanting to see what was going on. But no kicks or nothing - got the feet cleaned & hoof maker applied. I know she needs another trim soon.

I get to attend a hoof clinic in two weeks where I'll get to see a couple different donks get trimmed - most likely with the abrasive method. It ought to be fun. Interested in meeting other donkeys to see how much their personalities differ. I have a feeling that I'm going to appreciate Daisy even more - I'm sure they'll have a 'difficult' to trim donk there. maybe. lol
I will def post pics of that, maybe even some video.

Modified pony crupper

Nylon crupper with extra holes to fit daisy

Budweiser donkey

Nice & dusty!!

Daisy Montage video. funny donk

Link to another donkey video

this is Ginny - who I met at Horse Expo '09
giving riding lessons on Ariel I believe.
http://www.mustangs4us.com/burro_riding_lesson.htm

Links to more donkey pictures :) & live webcams!!

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~keysoe/photos.htm

http://www.dakotadonkeys.8k.com/photo3.html

http://www.midrivers.com/~rmsdonkeys/just%20pictures.html

here's fun stuff! Donkey webcams! No Daisy doesn't have one.........yet. LOL
http://drupal.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/mainbarnwebcam1

http://drupal.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/mainbarnwebcam2

Daisy 7.5.09

for some reason my vid didn't render at 16:9, still trying to figure out why. In my editing program it's 16:9 throughout. Hmmm...
anyways, here is Daisy from today!!

Daisy HD test

a little clip of Daisy, I was trying to get her to do her 'wuffle' noises. All i got was a sqeak & a sneeze! LOL

today's progress 7.1.09

Not much going on today, Daisy got to graze on our now dry pasture. I mowed the other day so there is even less for her to eat. For an overweight donkey, that's a good thing. She enjoyed her time out. I can tell when she's feeling pent up, she'll bray even more to let me know 'hey I wanna go walk around'. I was out trimming tree branches, so she had some tasty leaves/branches to munch on.

got her tied, cleaned her hooves with NO problem ( its still amazing to me!!), each foot got a good dousing of Hoofmaker. Then the brushing, I started on her right side & she was pretty darn good. No moving around, no pawing, no nipping attempts. I got quite a bit of hair off of her, right now it's really coming out. I almost have to clean the brush with each stroke!

Then there's the left side. For some reason she isn't too keen on getting this side brushed. Right away she starts pawing & trying to nip me. I think something bad happened to her on this side. I just kept at it, telling her good things. Even letting her take some of her nipping frustrations out on the shedding comb ( its one of those circle type with the fixed wooden handle). I guess what I'm saying is that I didn't get mad. I don't know why she has issues on that side, but I just keep going nice & soft & reassure her that nothing bad is going to happen.

Its just ironic - I thought to get to the feet I'd have to get through the brushing. With her that isn't true. I can touch her on her left side, but for some reason she just does not care to be brushed on that side & has no problem letting me know.

I think through our grooming we might find out why she does that, maybe there's some emotional baggage from her previous home, or maybe she has an injury or somthing that I haven't found yet. I'm thinking its the first one. Even my trimmer noticed that she's pretty head shy - so she's been slapped around in the past. I try to keep my physical dicipline to an absoulute minimum. Most times she's smart enough to get the message by a look & vocal tones. Donkey's are alot more intune to your body language & voice than you would think.

I totally believe in cleaning hooves before & after each outing/session. If I didn't clean her hooves after her walk the other day, she probably would still have that little white rock lodged in her frog today. clean the hooves!!