Donkey Grooming

The Weather has been fantastic, I was busy earlier today, but still got a chance to go out and tie the donks and give a quick brush and clean their front feet. I've been working with Daisy, she's been really iffy bout her back feet, so right  now I'm just picking them up and rewarding her for good behavior, I think next time I will clean them out. She just gets so tense, so I've been going back to basics with her.

Loved brushing Rocky - after he got over the brush LOL, he wasn't sure what to make of it at first. He stood there like a statue while i gave a him a quick groom. I cleaned his front feet with no issues, I'm going to wait til he gets used to me a bit before i try the back. I know he's sticky on his left hind, which I believe is the same side Daisy is sticky on. We'll get there pretty soon. I just want him to know I'm his friend and I won't hurt him.

He also got to see the manure fork and wheel barrow, he wasn't too sure about all that, but he didn't bolt or anything crazy.  I love that it's dry out and I can get back to my daily poo cleanings, I hate when it's rainy and it's soggy out.

Here's pics from today!! (feeding was uneventful again lol)

ground tying! RAD

yesterday at lunch I went out to give Daisy's feet a quick hoof cleaning & brush down. I didn't really feel like tying her up, so I just 'ground tied' her - I put the halter on, but didn't actually tie the lead rope to anything, I just let it hang to the ground. I cleaned all four feet with NO problem!! she didn't budge an inch!! oh it was amazing! :)

Also noticed that the turn out is helping - she is starting to keep her hoof wall on the front feet, she's not pawing nearly as much as she used to. good news! woo hoo!!

she was good for a quick brush down, but I warn ya! for some reason right now brushing a fuzzy donk creates static electricity!! I shocked her on the nose when I went to kiss her! I felt so bad!!

obstacle course!

haltered Daisy up for a short run through the obstacle course, I haven't really worked with her much since before I went on vacation. So I made it a point to keep this session short.

Pulled out a tarp & spread it out with a tire on each corner to keep it from flying away - it's pretty breezy here today. set up the remaining 4x4 poles I have which is two LOL, set up the tires so that if she attempted to avoid the poles she's have to go over tires which = not as fun/easy.

She immediately sniffed the tarp as soon as I laid it out. I set up the poles so that one end was on the tire and the other end is on the ground. First I asked her to cross the poles, she did great. I really made sure I was giving her lots of praise for any amount of try - since I kinda start forgetting since I expect more from her & foreget to keep up the praise. then we moved onto the tarp, she sniffed, I asked, she refused & went to the next side. She realized that I didn't move & still wanted her to 'come' with me. As soon as shes put a foot on it I praised her. I let her sit & think about it, which wasn't long. then I asked her to cross it. She did so willingly!

praise, praise, praise.

I asked her to come with me back to the poles, she then started to 'donkify' me by pushing into me with her jaw. I told her to whoa, but she continued to push into me. for some reason my immediate response was to grab the lead rope from the opposite side of her head & apply pressure in the direction she was pointing her head ( i had to reach over her back/neck to do this), not sure if it was the right thing or not, but it worked. Her reaction was almost 'whoa! what the heck' - during this time I was telling her to quit it, before i did the reach over. LOL.

After that she didn't really try it again, I guess she's just always testing the water! back over the poles we went, this time it was even better - she was kinda weird about her legs last time, this time she was nice & balanced. I turned her around and asked her to walk between the poles. then to whoa, then to back a couple times. She did all of it, kinda got stuck on *back* but she eventually remembered what I wanted.

Back over the poles, then to the tarp, this time NO hesitation!! did the poles, then the tarp, then the poles, and we were done. I was randomly asking her to whoa, then back, then walk off in between the obstacles.

pretty good short session!!
I think it really helps that she has access to that area all the time now, becuase now she's not so worried about eating when we're out there :)

This afternoon we did some brushing, just a quick once over, she was great. Except for the part where i accumulated some static electricty & shocked her when I went to kiss her on the nose!!
Rubbed a bit of hoofmaker on her front hooves, and then wormed her - which was followed by a peppermint!! OOH!!

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.

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!!

ah the first post.

Ok, lets see, I'm making this to track the progress with my Donkey, Daisy. She is a 5 year old Jennet, from the BLM. I dont know much about her from her previous owner, other than she lived in a 12' x 12' pen for the last two years.

I'm not sure why I bought a donkey. I love all equines, I've met very lovely donkeys. She seemed like such a sweet girl when I went & looked at her & I was sure I could provide her with a happier home. And quench my need of having an equine companion - something I've wanted ever since I could remember.

Today Daisy's pen is 4x larger than her previous one, complete with lots of fresh water, hay, a jolly ball & even some home made toys hanging for her to play with ( i.e. washed out laundry detergent bottles with some rocks for shaking, hanging by some twine). I catch her almost on a daily basis playing with both of her toys. She also has access to a salt/mineral block.

She redesigned her pen a week after she got her, by chewing two very large holes in the side of the shed. She said she needed a better view & a vent for the breezes. I actually believe her. Since then she's stopped her renovation on her shelter & seems content. ( the shed is very old by the way).

So far we've went on a couple walks, the last one was better than the first. She didn't quite drag me down the road as much as the first time. She leads well & I call her a very 'forward' donkey, she doesn't mind going for a stroll. Contrary to the old image people think of where the donkey is planted & the human is at the other end of the lead rope pulling with all of their strength.

She is 100% ok with her front feet being handled, we're working towards the backs through grooming. When I went & picked her up, she would NOT let me get near her back end to pick up her feet. I was pretty insistant on seeing that it could be done. When the previous owner wouldn't not do it either I asked her to get one of her friends to do it. Which she did. A lady came over & managed to get one of her back feet up.

I can touch her pretty much all over with a carrot stick. Ive used a rope once or twice to rub her midsection. But so far she still objects to me brushing her midsection. We'll see if she's just not used to it, or just being a donkey & saying 'I dont wanna'

So far I've had a lot of support from a Yahoo group called EARS4fun2. They're a great group of people over there that truely love their donkeys. A awesome source for information.

My short term goal at the moment is to get her ok with having her back feet handled so we can get her trimmed.

Long term goal: riding & driving ( as per her previous owner she supposidly knows this, but I could not get her to demonstrate it, then later on she said that she had never tried either with her, so we'll just assume that she's never had any training).

And so far despite when she's being a butt head - those moments where she just lets me hug her head & love on her, makes it all worth it.

I'll be adding more background info as I go. and as I remember!! haha!

I also wanted to add that I am not a trainer, of anything. i just love equines & like to work with them. I'd rather work with my animal myself & really bond with her, rather than send her out to a trainer. :) thats just me.