Video taping your work

It's a quiet Christmas morning ... crisp and chilly outside and the ground has hardened somewhat underfoot - good news from the spongy, soft footing that the many days of rain created.  The day promises to be sunny! 

Two days ago, another sunny day, I got out my video camera with plans to make a little movie about walking out from the property with a donkey.  In everything the donkeys and I do, I try to set the environment for success.  That means that I gather what I need and plan things to minimize stress and confusion.  Going in and out of a gate where there are other loose animals is just one of those situations that can create jostling and where I might be tempted to hurry the donkey along and push the others back, either physically or verbally.  I try to avoid all that!

So I bring my donkey into a small separate paddock where the others can't try to follow and then lead her down a narrow walkway/ corridor and off we go.  But I have to go back and close the gate to the corridor,
which means teaching the donkey to stand and wait for me in an environment where she is free to head off into the big world on her own!

Many small steps involved, built on Alexandra Kurland's foundation lessons and I set up my video camera to capture this with Rose.  But I'm not going to post the video yet because I learned SO much from watching the short clip, that I want to redo it! 

Mostly I observed my own body language - we give off numerous cues to our animals all the time, and they should be intentional!  I saw where my food delivery (reinforcement) was not as precise as it should be  - Rose's head was turned or she was stretching her neck, putting her off balance.  Sounds like no big deal perhaps, but my goal is for clean, clear communication and a beautiful balanced partnership with my donkeys!

Video-taping yourself at work with your animal is SO incredibly valuable (I should do it more often)

And I will ... watch for it soon!  

In the meantime, happy holidays, peace and happiness to you and all your animals!

Dark, short rainy days

I am in the barn at 6:30 AM (give or take 10 minutes!) and it's dark.  The donkeys are always so glad to see me and it's mutual!  Rolling out of bed in the dark, bundling up and heading out into the (usually) pouring rain is not top of my list for things to do first thing in the morning but so far, I am always happily and warmly greeted by my furry friends and glad to be in our cozy barn with them.

On days when it's clear, it's quite magical to be up and out into the crisp, star-filled early morn - sometimes a glorious moon still shining.  And I'm glad for the opportunity, glad for the night sky, glad to witness the dawn and the gradual return of daylight.

But daylight is in short supply these days as we near the winter solstice.  Today it seemed never to get light!  I was back in the house by 7:50 AM after feeding and barn chores and it was still murky.  The day felt gloomy and short with numerous bursts of tumultous rain.

At 4 PM, I decided the donkeys needed a walk before standing all the long night in the barn and breezeway, so I strapped on my clicker training treat pouch as their "cue" that we were going to play.

Four sets of ears suddenly perked up and they eagerly followed me out and into the paddocks.  We walked, stopped, backed up and practiced a few head-downs too.  Mostly I kept them moving, albeit carefully as the ground is wet and slippery.

This is a huge bonus of clicker training:  the eagerness shown by the animals you are working with.  So this can translate into a willingness to do all sorts of things, walk in the rain, load into a trailer, stand for various husbandry things, etc.

I was so pleased that my four donkeys got a bit of exercise today - we all felt better as a result!

Dawn ...

Thanksgiving weekend ... we are adjusting to the shortening of the daylight but I'm outside for morning feed in time to see the dawn, ... thankful!

 

 

 

A wonderful donkey journey linked here

A friend recently sent this link to me and I have watched it several times.  Each time I have tears in my eyes - it's partly because this is something I have longed to do (on a smaller scale that is!) for many years (and probably never will, sigh) and also because the accompanying poem expresses her sentiments in an honest and passionate way.

Have a look:

http://www.upworthy.com/to-prove-humans-could-be-happier-with-simpler-lives-she-came-up-with-an-elaborate-experiment?c=ufb1


Then have a look at:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hannahme/seaside-donkey-1000-miles-around-wales-with-a-donk


If you're interested in more, there's also a Facebook page and soon a film and book!  This journey seems to have inspired many people.

Sluggish ....

Oh dear, I've been busy of late - proposals due, choir practice, studio time, a small house reno, winter  ... you know the scoop.  And the donkeys, well they have been bored!  It's so silly I think - I mean, there are FOUR of them - can't they entertain themselves or am I anthropomorphizing again?

They have become sluggish - hauling themselves around, eating fences, braying, moping ... AND playing on my guilt (read, I am not allowed to have a life that doesn't include their highness'!)

So - New Year's rez - MORE WALKING!  It's not just the donks that need outings, I do too!  Just had a birthday, just been diagnosed with osteoporosis (minor, wake up call) so more walking it IS, starting tomorrow!  One donkey per day goes for a walk with me - one hour +

Can I do it ...?

Morning warmth

It's very chilly and frosty this morning, just a mere -1C but still ...!  And I'm just back inside with a steaming cup of coffee after an hour or so in the barn.  Out at first light, I look for their shadowy figures by the fence, waiting for me. 

They see the light go on in the house - signalling that I'm on the way.  I slip in through the feed room door and turn the barn lights on, chasing out the gloom and filling the barn with a glow from bulbs that brighten slowly .  They slip in through the opening from the breezeway, expectant and content in the routine of morning.

What amazes me is the warmth I receive from these donkeys. Tender-hearted, "glad to see me," comforting warmth from these animal friends.

I always linger, looking for more chores to do so that I can be part of their early morning satisfaction and it's a mutual exchange, me puttering, them munching ... the happiness and warmth that comes from friendship and trust.

The New Year ...

We have many wonderful things to be grateful for, not least of these are my four donkey friends. May we all continue to lead healthy, happy lives with many adventures.

My new year's wish is that we have deep compassion for animals the world over.  May we understand that we humans are animals too and must share this precious planet.  May we listen, move thoughtfully and create partnerships and trust.

To everyone reading this blog, Happy New Year!

Time for donkeys

Well I have been so busy and now that my art exhibition is up, I am taking a bit of time to rest. Well, not exactly (did I say rest?) There's a ton of stuff to do around here!

Today I got all the Spring bulbs planted but there's a long list.  That list includes getting back to some regular donkey clicker training!  yesterday I spent the whole afternoon with "the herd" and it was great!  Did sessions with each one individually.  Heather won my "star of the day" award - she was just awesome on our walk.

Late last night though when I went out for the last feeding, I noticed Rose favouring one hind hoof - i.e  not putting her full weight on that foot.  Hmmm ... so this morning, I was worried about what condition I'd find her in.  Same thing.

Out comes the Epsom Salts and the soaking tub, the poultice, the duct tape and the cotton batting.
She was such a sweetie and suffered through my lousy job at slapping on a poultice for the day.  But out she went, clearly more comfortable with her hoof padded.  I decided to close off some paddocks though, so everyone stayed off of sticks and stones and other debris in the woods.  They had plenty of area to roam though where the footing was flatter and softer.

By mid-afternoon, Forrest arrived and I decided we should take Dorica and Siog out for a walk and leave Rose and Heather parked in front of some straw in the trough.  Siog was very full of herself though and was really prancing about.  Once home, she took off in a full gallop, kicking and snorting (oh for that illusive camera!) Dorica joined her, rearing, tearing around and neck-biting - we got quite a show!

Rose is somewhat better this evening.  I cleaned all her feet, then removed the daytime poultice and applied some Tea tree + Calendula oil.  I'm still debating what to do later - soak or not, poultice or not.
Pros and cons to both. I might just cushion her hoof with a maxi pad and wrap it for the night as it didn't feel hot earlier. Hopefully my wonderful farrier will come soon and see what's what.

Fog and mushrooms!

We are well and truly fogged in here!  The forecast says the fog is supposed to lift and give way to sunny  afternoons but no way!  It's a thick enveloping blanket.  Gloomy and damp feeling.

Poor donkeys seem to reflect the mood.  They spend much of the day up in their forest paddock. It's a small climb but the difference in elevation seems to make it it a tad less foggy.  However with the damp Fall comes .... mushrooms!  Eeee gad - they pop out overnight in amazing variation!  I am quite familiar and comfortable gathering chanterelles and oyster mushrooms (yummy!) but do we have those .... No!

Instead we have a melange of unidentified specimens - orange, brown, beige, white and red.  Every morning I crawl around looking for the overnight sprouting of new fungi but there's no way I am able to find them all.  And the donkeys seem to want to EAT them!  Or some of them ...

There has been some diarrhea lately and yesterday I looked out from my studio and noticed that while everyone was grazing, Siog looked positively miserable - head drooping and just ... yucky.  So I grabbed her halter and took her out (that's always the first thing I try and this is a good way of data collecting, in my opinion.)

Once out, she perked up and seemed absolutely fine, even trotting and eating the roadside brush with gusto - phew!  But again today, diarrhea (sorry for the graphic detail!)  I have started to give a small mash with ground flax, a vitamin powder and a day or two a week, I add psyllium.  So hopefully IF they are eating some mushrooms, this will help.

Meanwhile, I have finished the work for my up-coming art exhibition, except for minor details and packing it up.  Next weekend, I am teaching two workshops, then off to the show!

Back home and lots to tell!

Back from merry old England and the trip was wonderful!  Have to say though, that I missed my critters a whole lot, try as I did not to think about them!  They all fared well but apparently became gloomier and grumpier the longer I was gone (this reported by care-givers and hoof pickers!) 

Siog in particular, is kind of a one-person donkey - she's really attached to me but can be aloof with people she doesn't know - well, she has been all over me, draping her head over my shoulder whenever I bend down to scoop poop and standing really close to me!  Dorrie too, was in a bit of a funk and I had a twinkling of worry for the first day I was back.  But she's fine now and forgives me, I think!  They are all too plump though, which I attribute to the Fall growth we've had - grass that's probably full of sugar!

Now the rains have come (already!) and the ground is soggy, the skies grey!  I am SO NOT READY for months of this!!!

Anyway, back to the trip - the highlight was meeting my cyber-space friend and fellow blogger,
FH from http://www.muleteers.com/ - and her animals and partner!  That was beyond wonderful!
FH is top donk at the UK Donkey Sanctuary and has been my go-to person for all things relating to donkeys for the past 7 years.  During that time, we've exchanged many emails and been fans of each other's blogs.  She gave me a tour of the donkey sanctuary and it was the most beautiful and impressive place you can imagine.  I haven't up-loaded my photos yet but they will follow.

We jumped on and off of trains and toured the country-side and towns (well, some parts!)  England is so old compared to the west coast of Canada - the stone walls, hedge rows, narrow pathways and buildings from the 1500's were amazing.

On our last weekend, there, I attended a conference in Yorkshire on equine clicker training - 2 days of my favorite topic!  Details coming in a subsequent post!  It was put on by http://www.hannahdawsonequine.co.uk/conference/  if you want to read more.  Now I have some art deadlines looming, but I will report back with photos and notes about the conference.

Oh and here's the video I submitted (in a HUGE hurry) before we left.  It's by no means perfect and I see many ways to improve but enjoy, it was fun!

Hay time again

Spent the day cleaning out the hayloft in preparation for the new crop.  I have 34 bales left plus about an equal number of barley straw so that should see us through the next few months.  I never feed freshly baled hay until it's a few months old and then I slowly mix it with the old stuff over a week or two.

The hay elevator is in place (love my hay elevator!) and now I must find the helpers!  I'll get some local island hay but most of it will come from Vancouver Island, about an hour away.  Every single strand has to be covered before they'll let you on the ferry.

Finding the perfect hay for donkeys has proved to be a big challenge.  It should be coarse in texture, low in protein and sugars, not too many seed heads, nicely dried.  Most of this, you really can't tell by looking - the texture and number of seed heads yes, sort of,  but not the protein or other feed values or the level of sugars and starch.  Very few hay farmers are willing to have their hay tested before they sell it off, so it's buyer beware.  But once you have a couple hundred bales stored and you find out it's not what you want ... then what?  The hay buyer's - donkey feeder's dilemma!

Anyway, I look forward to getting the new crop in as there's nothing more satisfying than a full hayloft, except a full woodshed!

Eleven years ago today ...

May 13th marks the anniversary of my partnership with donkeys!  In 2002, this little guy hopped off of a truck from Alberta and landed in our newly fenced little paddock:

He was 13 months old, had been orphaned at birth and had a terrible case of upward fixation of the patella ligaments in both hind legs.  Poor little dude!  He was hard to handle, taught me SO much.

After 3 1/2 years of trying to strengthen his legs and quad muscles, we realized that the climate on the rainy West coast was making life harder for him, so with a heavy heart, we sent him down to California, to the dry sunny desert that was Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue.

He did beautifully there and eventually outgrew his condition, although his conformation will always be gimpy.  He now lives in Oklahoma with a gelding his own size and a loving owner.

I always think of Hedley, especially on May 13th ... when my life changed forever!

It's World Donkey Day!

Take a moment today to celebrate these wonderful animals

and support the many donkey sanctuaries 

and donkey rescues around the world.

http://donkeysdeservedignity.weebly.com/how-to-help.html 

Current estimates are that there are in excess of 44 million donkeys in the world. 90% of them are living in industrialized countries where their life expectancy is around 11 years.

 

Wet, wet wet ...

At least it's warmish - pineapple express time here on the coast.  The donkeys are very wet but dry out somewhat overnight.  Cleaning hooves daily but I'm worried they are taking up too much moisture.

Ah well - there's always a trade-off!  At least the donks aren't cold and don't mind being out during the day between torrential down-pours so they're moving around.

Sun in the forecast for the next two days though and the vet is scheduled to rasp Siog's teeth tomorrow morning.  Hopefully it will be a short easy session for Siog and not give her a sore mouth.

Today I began giving her two things to help regulate her hormones given my concern about her irritability during her heat cycles,  I'm working with an equine herbalist/ homeopath on this and we'll see what the vet has to say tomorrow.

The frogs in the marsh are waking up and starting to croak and the sea lions have gathered to wait for the herring run.  Sounds that neither Rose nor Heather have ever heard before!

Fabulous donkey day!

The school has started a new program, partnering with willing people in the community.  Kids get to choose from a wide variety of activities for one hour, once a week.  They're trying this for a month to see how it goes.  We have a small but enthusiastic group of kids interested in learning about equines, so yesterday, half of the group went to visit a Halflinger pony and the other kids came here, kindergarten and Grade Two as the school is wanting to mix up the ages.

Although there were only a few kids (just a grand total of 30 in the whole school!) I was wondering how we would manage with four donkeys.  My lovely 10-year old "assistant" plus one teacher were here also.  I wish I could have taken photos but the school has a policy about posting on-line without parental permission, so you'll just have to imagine the excited faces of the kids!

Luckily the rain let up and we were able to be outside.  We attached two lead ropes to the donkeys so that one child and one adult could lead a donkey together.  Siog was a bit wary at first and took herself a safe distance away but eventually came round to show off a bit over jumps.  She and Dorica were keen to demonstrate how they have learned to walk and trot on either side of me, turning around trees and doing figure eights, stopping when I ask them to, etc.

Rose and Heather are so friendly and the kids loved hugging them.  They learned some terminology and safety and we all had a great time.  When they had gone, Forrest and I took Rose and Heather on their longest hike yet, through a new trail.

Next week, we get to repeat the session with some of the older kids.

Four donkeys are BLISS!

I so love having four donkeys!  It's such a pleasure to watch their interaction and comfort at being in a little group (dare I say "herd?")  It's really a joy in my life and probably a good thing that I don't have room for more!

New donkeys, setttling in ...

Rose and Heather have been here three weeks now.  They continue to settle in, but slowly.  An experienced "donkey friend" once told me that it takes donkeys six months to a year to actually settle in to a new environment and feel completely comfortable.

During the past ten years I have witnessed this process - it's not that the donkeys act or behave strangely, but the levels of "settling" are palpable and hard to describe.  You'll notice something ... maybe the way they respond to something or greet you, how they enter the barn (or don't!)  or how many times they lift their head while eating - there are so many subtle changes if you are observant.

Yet, these small behaviours are clues and I take note.  I am careful (or try to be) to not add additional stress.  One of the first things we learn as positive reinforcement trainers is: set up the environment for success.  This means - look around - what could go wrong? - what might cause distraction, antagonism,
create an aversive situation?

So when integrating new donkeys, I try to keep this in mind, especially around feeding time.  Feeding time is important and delicate to my way of thinking.  The last thing I want is colic!  I used to clean hooves, groom and generally make my presence felt while the donkeys were eating, thinking, this is just routine and they have to get accustomed to all that is going on ... no more!  Now I try to leave them alone while they are eating and not mess around.  Let them eat peacefully.  Let them work it out, although I am careful to "set the environment for success!"  Meaning at least 1 more pile of hay than the number of donkeys ... 4 donkeys, 5 piles of hay, or 6 ... so if one gets bumped, she can move off and still eat.

Rose and Heather are experiencing a lot of new things and I see they are still adjusting.  They had been living with a number of jacks who brayed during the night.  Those sounds are gone.  No barking dogs either, but deer and raccoon moving through the underbrush at night.  Lights from houses and buildings are different, different patterns, different shadows - the coastal trees look and smell strange compared with the Okanagan.  There is fog here at this time of year and rain - all different.

So I watch and take note - it's very interesting!  Donkeys are adaptable and eventually Rose and Heather will call this home.  For now, they are still visiting!

Sudden weather change

Well we went from a gorgeous clear sunny September to being suddenly enveloped in fog, wind and rain!
I am so glad that Rose and Heather had a least a week to settle in before the sudden shift, but I wish it had been longer!

Everyone seems to be getting along and Dorrie is back to being her sweet self.  Siog occasionally chases Rose, like she used to do with Deenah but then she had started that with Dorica when it was just the 2 of them, so perhaps I'm reading her wrong.

My biggest challenge right now is feeding!  I can't wait for everybody to be eating the same hay and to be
comfortable with the slow feeder hay bags.  I am still slowly mixing the hay that Rose and Heather came with, with the local hay I have been feeding. Dorrie & Siog have figured out that there is something sweeter and richer on offer but I don't want them to eat this new hay, so I have to separate the two new donkeys from the 2 old donkeys and it's a bit awkward. But that will change soon, by the end of the week  I think I will have transitioned everybody over.

Heather is catching on to the hay bags really well but not so Rose - and she is the least dominant so easily gets dislodged.  I have to monitor each feeding time to make sure that Rose gets enough.

The type of hay that one puts inside a slow feeder hay net is important too.  You need something coarse that will poke out of the holes, not a soft hay that sits in a clump in the bag, especially as the bag empties.  So I notice that as I add more and more of our local hay, the easier the hay bags are becoming for Rose and Heather to manage!

Right now I have some roofing guys working on the new barn enclosure.  They are installing gutters and flashing so that the entry way won't be a waterfall like it was a few nights ago!

In the meantime, I am offering lots of hay and straw, as these sudden changes in weather can cause some upset.  I want everybody to have lots to eat and be content!

New addition to the barn's breezeway!

Road Trip to visit possible new donkeys!

I am planning to head off on a 4 day road trip on September 1st to visit donkeys in BC's beautiful Okanagan Valley.  Phew - exciting and also scary! 

Part of me longs to add two more donkeys so that both Siog and Dorica have age mates and so that I can leave some at home while heading out on long or short walks with just one donkey beside me.

Another part of me balks at the added chores, worry and responsibility!  But I think I've got it in me to do this one more time.

I've made contact with some amazing people, all of whom have several donkeys, some for sale.
I have so loved meeting "donkey" people during these past ten years!  I've been welcomed by so many fine folks and the ones I'm about to meet just prove the point - people have invited me into their homes and are willing to share their knowledge, even if I don't end up buying a donkey from them.

I'm going to be choosy - these are all minis I'll be seeing, as there are NO small Standards out there as Far as I can tell, within a day's drive of here!  I'm looking for great conformation, personality and health ...
wish me luck!