Halters and Feet

Fancy and Dan

The girls were in a spirited mood today. I guess all that rain has them frisky! We got over three inches in Brazos County, so El Rancho might have gotten more. This is the heaviest rain we've had for a while, so we went out to see how things look. As we drove onto the land, we noticed the lack of donkey prints!!! Hmmmm. So, we set off to track them.

When we passed pipeline road, I saw something move just outside my vision range, so I turned that way and went to the water trough in that clearing. No hoofprints! The ground was soft, so there should be prints! Finally, when I was almost back to PR 4041, we found a track and followed them back to the truck! hahaha on us. Funny donkeys.

After messing around with us, they all took a good roll in the sand. ....

Dan took his new tool trailer up to the cattle guards and installed the four foot walk gate. I kept the donkeys occupied while he was working. We actually did get some work in. First, I pulled out a lead rope and showed it to the donks and the let me drag it all over their bodies, including faces and ears. Good to go! We wandered around a bit, then I brought out a red halter. Fancy, being an attention hog, wanted to eat it, but didn't complain or move away when I put it on her. All three wore the halter for a few minutes without complaint. I need to find some proper donkey halters as the small horse halter is not proportioned correctly-- too big in the nosepiece area. I had tried a yearling size and it was too small to go around their throats. All three seemed okay with this turn of events. I was also able to lift a front foot on each donkey, at my request, without having them tied or haltered.

 I figured we'd had enough lessons for the day, so we took a walkabout, sampling all manner of plants, both living and dead. Then, something spooked Fancy and they began running and kicking. They ran through the brush, through the woods, down the creek, through the picnic area, and repeat. My thundering herd of donks are quite speedy! I was quite entertained watching them kick up their heels and kick each other while at a full gallop.

That Fancy. She's definitely a camera hog, too.  She's just a rambunctious teenager, but she's starting to grow on me. She looks like a big teddy bear with those silver-rimmed eyes, but she's always testing to see if I will let her nip me (I won't).  I caught myself calling her Brownie more than once today, so she might become a Fancy Brownie.

Next Saturday is vaccination time, so hopefully the work in gaining their trust will be rewarded!