This weekend's trimming

So the girls got their pedicure this weekend. Daisy was excellent as usual, but this time we didn't separate the girls, or tie them LOL. Just started trimming away, that way Martha could be close to the sight & sound of the grinder. Daisy was done in a flash, so why my trimmer distracted her, her husband & I started on Martha.

We don't tie Martha when we work with her, she seems more relaxed knowing she can move around if she gets scared.  She's so good with her front feet now. I don't even have to remind her anymore, she's getting awesome manners about it.

but the REALLY awesome part is we used the grinder on her for the first time!! before we just rasped, I thought he was going to bring out the nippers, but she handled the noise of the grinder really well when it was Daisy's turn. I think it also helps that she gets to watch Daisy, and Daisy isn't upset or scared with this loud thing being put on her hooves. so she got her first REAL pedicure!!  Its so exciting!

Last month, we managed to pick up both back feet with the aid of a soft cotton rope. She did really well, kicked out a bit, but they were really piddly and with not much intention. So we decided to go and see if she'd let us pick them up by hand. K got back there and was giving her some good scratchings, she seemed to really enjoy it, all those places a  donk can't quite reach.

Then!! YES a back foot in a  human hand, with no resistance!! Of course the whole time I was clicking the crap outta her, and she got a big cookie after each foot. So as far as she's concerned, let the human do what they want, cookies are tasty.

So if that wasn't enough! K decided to go back ( by this point he had picked up both back feet by hand!!) and rasp a little, and she was GREAT!! Each back foot got rasped on & handled, I was sooooo proud of her!!

Later on, I had to go pick up more puppy food. While we were there my BF picked up a toy for the girls that I've been eyeballing for months - it's one of those stall snack balls, with the apple treat holder and the ball hanging off the bottom.  I was very excited & immediately put it up when we got home. Daisy went to town on that thing! OMG, poor Martha couldn't even get close to it!

We had some errands to run, so we went out, we got back, and I was shocked to see that Daisy ate the WHOLE treat!! GAH!! brat! I bet Martha didn't get one lick!! Needless to say I haven't put the second treat in it yet. Hmmm. trying to figure out a way to still put it out there, but make it so Daisy can't eat the whole thing in one sitting. I don't think they test alot of 'equine' toys on donkeys!! LOL donkeys make it happen!! Determined little fuzzbutts!!

So Here's miss D getting her pedicure - untied, just standing there cuz she loves K, and she knows he has cookies.

I gotta get some of Martha uploaded.....

Miss D's 'angry face' lol She tries so hard and all it does is make me laugh!!

todays stuff....

Cleaned out Daisy's hooves, she was very good, no resistance at all today. she got one pellet for each hoof. maybe that helped?? LOL a little incentive for being a good girl.

then I haltered Martha, who was in the stall, she was very good, let me put it right on her. Then i used the carrot stick to start touching her legs. Going very slowly and praising her when she let me put it on her legs. She did step back a couple times but nothing big, she soon let me touch them with no resistance.
I gave her breaks in between. i'm going very slow with her. She seems to get overwhelmed easily if you go to fast or ask too much.

She then was standing in the doorway of the stall. I petted down her left front leg a couple times praising her for when she stood still and accepted it. I was very soft with her. Then one time she picked up her leg, so i gently held it for a second, gave it back and praised the crap outta her! LOL. I did it a second time but held the leg a little bit longer! I praised her for the smallest amount of try.

I repeated it on the right front leg, i didn't get to hold it, but she got rewarded each time she let me pet it down to her pastern. Kept it all short, soft and lots of praise when she did well. I think she's getting it.

good day with the donks.

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!!

Hoof progress

9.19.09 Trim

Daisy was a bit of a butt head a couple times, but we took lots of breaks & got the job done. She's really come a long way already with her hooves. I think they're looking great!!

so here's some pics of her feet after her trim!

pics from 'training' day

gotta have it least one hoof pic, front right.

grazing break during a training session.

Hosing off Daisy's hooves

As you can see, my donkey REALLY hates water LOL. she's terribly disturbed by this whole experience. LOL

Walk 8.4.09

Last night Daisy was great on her walk, she got to walk past her first dog!! It was a corgi, so not a big overly excited dog. She seemed interested been was perfectly ok continuing on the walk. I let the girl walking the dog know that daisy hasn't walked past a dog yet & that I was just going to calmly walk by her. Just like you would with another dog.

She was great. Ever since we stopped in at my neighbors house, she always wants to stop there. Its kinda funny. Its like she's saying 'hey we went in there before, are we going now??'

she got to walk over her obstacle course on the way out & on the way back in, she did great. She got really excited on the first one and almost jumped over it, then veered off around the side. crazy donk. She got her feet cleaned out when we got back, she so good about it. She doesn't do the fast leg jerk thing like she had done a couple times with the trimmer. weird.

Her new bit came today, its a french link full cheek snaffle. I think she'll like it better than the D-ring snaffle. Full cheeks are great for beginning with a bit.

Hoof trimming 8.1.09

Daisy had her second trim this last weekend. She did great. She did get a little impatient at the end, but she was manageable. :)

She got peppermints for good behavior, which she LOVED!
starting to really get somewhere with the trimming. Last time the hardly took anything at all off the backs, this time they were able to really work on them. She even got some flare taken off the right hind - so much that the hoof almost looks normal! Its amazing.

she still has really dry feet - soaking with the hose was recommended.

here are some pics

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.

Hoof Trimming, Session 1

Daisy got trimmed this last Saturday. Overall she did a fantastic job. She only had a little tiff with the trimmer one time, and he was just cleaning her foot, not trimming yet!! LOL.

They did abrasive trimming on her, which is basically like an angle grinder. She was so good about all the noise, she didn't move at all.

her back feet are weird, they showed pink spots very quickly, he had hardly started on them. So we decided to stop & get some more advice on it & just wait for the next trim. She also has some flaring on the back feet, but really only on the inside, which is just weird. We're waiting to find out if maybe she foundered at one time, or is it just because she hadn't been trimmed since last fall. Also you have to add in that in her previous living situation she couldn't move much. Not good for foot health.

I'm hoping its the latter. I'm starting to take her on walks to work down her fat pads, my trimmer said that she does have significant fat pads & it might take 9 months or so to get them worked off. So walks it is, maybe some driving, or obstacle courses around the pasture.

She will definitely need multiple trimmings before her feet are right. She also moves well & doesn't indicate that she's in pain at all, and she doesn't lay down frequently.
They also said her hooves were fairly dry, so i need moisturize them a bit. I hosed her feet down that day, then went and picked up some 'hoofmaker' creme.

Here are some 'after pics'