Sunday, May 4, 2008

A Sunday morning surprise

I sat out with the burros this morning, drinking my coffee and thinking back to how much progress Alan has made in overcoming his fears. Five weeks ago, I couldn’t put a hand on him. Yesterday, after I groomed him, we went for a long walk in the pasture, stopping every now and then to work on picking up his feet. Each time we stopped, I picked up a different foot. He had been letting me pick up his front feet for the past few weeks, but yesterday marked the first day I could pick up and hold his back feet. Our farrier will be stunned when he comes back at the end of the month.

So this morning as I sat there, with George on one side and Alan on the other, I thought, “no time like the present. Let’s show you guys how to load into the trailer.”

I backed the trailer up to the small corral and opened the doors. And here’s what happened next.

6 comments:

  1. Wow, Linda - what you have done with Alan is so impressive. What a great day and a great loading experience! We haven't done this with Rafer Johnson yet, but once he is done with his gelding recovery, it will be time.

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  2. Wow - Impressive! That was the most beautiful and gentle trailering experience I've think I've ever witnessed.

    Horses are always coming and going from Shiloh's barn. Most of them are not willing to go into the trailer and are 'cowboyed' in. I'll be sharing your blog with those cowboys. Thanks for sharing.

    Harmony,
    Janet

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  3. Thanks for watching this, Billie and Janet. I knew from the minute I opened the trailer doors that George and Alan would hop right in - the question was, could I run into the house and grab the camera fast enough? With burros, the key to everything seems to be trust - it they trust you, they trust you. Period. Once you've earned it, and as long as you do nothing to refute it, they will do anything you ask.

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  4. That is too cute! They were just so curious,comfortable, and trusting in this situation. And I'm sure they were wondering if there was a yummy treat awaiting them in that big metal box, too! ;)

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  5. You obviously love your burros very much - thank you for being around to take care of these gentle creatures! And for sharing their lives with us.

    Take care

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  6. Ok, I am very impressed...very very impressed with the way this was so gentle and simple and allowed the donkeys to do it on their own.
    It probably helps that you use a stock trailer that they have more room to move about in.
    And I think you have smart donkeys, too.
    I hope you don't mind that I share a link to your video/blog on mine. I know of some friends and my neighbor who might benefit from this. Wow!

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