Woodstone Prairie

…of pictures yet?

I hope not, because I have a few more…

This past weekend was a fun, but busy one for us.

It started with M and R planning a camp out in the big pasture. R and I shared one tent, M had another. It was a beautiful evening, and the kids did really well. There was some concern over coyotes, but we never heard them and I knew they wouldn’t bother us anyway.  It did get very cold by the middle of the night though, and with each hour that went by the ground seemed to get harder and rockier. I didn’t sleep much, but it was fun.

Here’s our little campsite as the sun was going down…

And the campers…

And yes, both R and I slept in that little Fisher-Price tent… it’s taken me days to recover! :)

Then on Sunday we had some very exciting company. Some folks from Longhopes Donkey Shelter came over to help us with Tucker.

 I’d talked to Kathy, the founder and director of the shelter, several times about our donkeys… getting advice and trying to learn more about the best ways to take care of them. The kids and I visited the shelter a few weeks ago, and were hugely impressed with the work they are doing to save these wonderful animals. 

I came home from that visit with some DVD’s about donkey training and lots of enthusiasm. I’d been working with Tucker, trying to gentle him, but the progress I was making was very slow… And each time M had a rough spell and I couldn’t get out to work with Tucker for a few days we’d lose the progress we made. So I called Kathy and asked for some help.

She and Chuck, the trainer who works with her donkeys (and who was the trainer on the DVD’s I’d been complusively watching!), drove over just a couple of days later.

It was absolutely incredible watching Chuck work with Tucker. There was never any force or fear used, but by the end of the day Tucker was accepting touch, wearing a halter, starting to learn to lead, had his vaccinations, had his teeth checked, and had gone through some de-spooking exercises.

Chuck worked with Tucker for 5 hours on Sunday, stopping only for a quick lunch, while Kathy checked Tilly out, gave her some needed vaccinations, and checked her teeth (she’s going to come back and float them for me). We also shaved Tilly’s neck where her BLM brand is and Kathy is going to try and track down when and where she was rounded up (just for curiousity’s sake).

Here are some pictures of Chuck working with Tucker…

Chuck “walking down” Tucker, at this point Tucker won’t even allow him to get close to him or touch him.

 Just a short time later… accepting touch.

 Fast forward a couple of hours (and some endless walking on Chuck’s part) and Tucker is finally accepting the halter! This is a huge milestone for him. Later, by checking his teeth, they determined that Tucker is 5 years old…  and in all those years he’s never been trained, and probably has never even been handled.

 Fast forward an hour or so, starting to learn to lead…  Chuck is still just as relaxed and calm as when they started, even though he’s been working with Tucker for hours by then, and it was almost 100 degrees out!

 Fast forward another hour or so, doing some de-spooking…

 Isn’t this just an amazing little donkey? Even Chuck and Kathy were surprised at how far he came so quickly!

Tucker REALLY didn’t want to walk over that tarp. He eventually did though, but it took a lot of coaxing and patience on Chuck’s part. (Tilly is checking out what they are doing to her boy, and probably counting her blessings that it’s him and not her having to walk across that scary tarp!)

My little “wild man” isn’t looking quite so wild anymore, is he?

Anyway… I can’t remember when I’ve had a more fun and interesting day. It was fascinating to watch Chuck and Kathy with our donkeys, I am so thankful that they came and spent the day with us.

I’ve worked with Tucker a few times since then, and he’s allowing me to touch him, and put the halter on. I’m working a little on leading and having his legs touched (so eventually the farrier can trim his hooves!)

The kids and I hope to start volunteering at Longhopes, and R may soon be riding donkeys as part of her volunteering! (And if you are looking for a very deserving non-profit to make a donation to, Longhopes is it… check out their website, they are doing some very good work over there!)

So anyway, that was our weekend… It was a lot of fun, but it’s also kind of nice that there isn’t much of anything on the calendar for this week…

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edited to add: I heard back from Kathy today about Tilly’s BLM brand. It turns out she was rounded up in March of 1995, in Nevada. At that time she was a three year old (so she’s 16 now, a little older than we thought). She was adopted by someone in NE. and it’s anyone’s guess what happened to her after that. Here’s part of Kathy’s email:

“So think of poor Tilly. She was born wild, and was rounded up at age 3. She was probably in a couple of holding facilities before being shipped to Nebraska, then somehow got to another owner in Colorado and now to you. And you wonder why she is so calm and happy having the home with you? She is glad to have landed in a safe place.”

We’re all very glad she “landed” here too!