#DONKEY HALTER

[donkeywhisperer]

Premium Adjustable Soft Yacht Rope Donkey Halters On Sale

Our premium adjustable soft yacht rope Donkey Halters with matching lead lines are on sale. They are made to fit miniature, burro, or standard-size donkeys. Donkey Training Sale Video On Demand: Donkey 101, 102, Trailer loading, and hoof abscess training with an E-book are all sold with lifetime access and are video-on-demand. Trainer Melody Johnson can be taken to the farm using any smart…

[hedgehog-moss]

Here are 7 little facts about my donkey and how his summer is going :)

1. I received an anon the other day asking if Pirou was still a working donkey who carries my firewood for me, and the answer is yes. I've been cutting some branches from the big cherry tree that fell down the other day, and Pirlouit has been valiantly carrying them to the woodshed—fun fact, for this activity he likes to wear his ears like this:

Probably because this T position is reminiscent of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, which is how Pirlouit perceives himself as he carries heavy logs for me. He's willing, but his martyrdom should be acknowledged.

Here's Poldine acknowledging it with a nose kiss, because Poldine.

I stopped so they could have their little chat.

2. Pirou has been chatting with a lot of new friends lately—we met these horses on a walk and he was so happy to stop and touch noses with them while making equid noises. Llamas are good with the nose-touching but their llama noises are just less interesting to Pirlouit. He had such interested ears here! "Finally a serious grown-up conversation"

We also met this goose during the same walk and Pirlouit was a lot less eager to go say hi to her. The goose was yelling threats at us and we prudently stayed away, and Pirou was clearly thinking "this bird is doing a better job at protecting her home from intruders than Pandolf ever could" (it's true, Pan assumes intruders are friends until proven otherwise)

3. You'll notice that there are houses in this pic! Our walks got longer and longer until one day we went all the way to the village (it took 1 hour 20min at Pirlouit's leisurely pace). I was so proud of him. I've been trying to convince my friends to go to the village on donkeyback (this requires two people, because you can ride Pirlouit but you can't tell him where to go unless there's someone holding his rope and leading the way)—my friends were reluctant because they still sort of perceive Pirou as the feral animal terrified of everything that he was when I got him. They know he's made a lot of progress but going to town on donkeyback still seemed foolhardy.

So we've been riding Pirlouit in the woods, in familiar environments, and we also went to town with him but without riding him. He was amazingly calm and brave! There's a river that cuts the village in two and the first time we went, we stopped before the bridge, since it's pretty narrow and cars would have to drive very close to Pirlouit, we didn't want to risk it. We just went to say hi to the librarian who lives on the right side of the river, but since Pirlouit was very serene, we did cross the bridge the second time.

He did not care at all about cars driving very close to him (he had one familiar human on either side of him and the drivers were very considerate and went slowly), which emboldened us to stop for a drink on the terrace of the coffeeshop on main street (< also a narrow street with cars driving by quite close to Pirlouit). There was just no problem at all, Pirou let total strangers rub his forehead and was more interested in iced tea than main street traffic.

It was a hot day and we gave him all the ice cubes from our drinks and he chewed them enthusiastically.

4. We made a stop at the pharmacy on our way home because we had another 1 hour 20min walk ahead and I had a blister, and the pharmacist noticed my donkey parked outside his shop and in a determined tone he said, "I want to try something." He took one of the donkey milk soaps from the overpriced-Provence-soaps-for-tourists display and opened the door and offered it for Pirlouit to sniff.

... I'm not sure what he was expecting—for my donkey to go "ohhh this smells like Mother's milk and aloe vera 🥺"—but unfortunately nothing happened.

(4. bis—Sorry, this 4th fact was anticlimactic.)

5. Pirlouit is now the proud owner of a surcingle. Not for equestrian vaulting and not for his log-carrying job because I don't know if it would be solid enough for the weight of a bag full of logs, but I'd like to tie bags or baskets to it to take Pirlouit grocery shopping, now that I know he's okay with going to town :) He even seems to enjoy the adventure, and the attention he gets from children.

And actually I shouldn't write off equestrian vaulting because Pirou is also remarkably chill with weird things happening on his back. I used to be very careful to climb on his back in a quick & fluid way so he wouldn't spook (because he used to! a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil used to spook him!) but now that my friends are riding him I can confirm we've reached a point where you can climb on Pirlouit's back in any way you want and he'll just be like "...... sure"

6. I almost forgot to mention that Pirou turned 15 last month, according to his ID papers :) Donkeys have a longer life expectancy than horses, they can live 30-40 years on average so he's still a young lad really. Happy 15th birthday Pirlouit :)

7. I wanted to conclude with a nice aesthetic pic of Pirou's shadow on the road during all those walks, like I did with Poldine, but unfortunately donkey shadows do not have the chic je-ne-sais-quoi of llama shadows. Pirlouit looks like a hammerhead shark wearing a tiny fez and that's not his fault.

[canteringdreams]

Sherman

trail-running donkey

[harvestheart]

Sweet Donkey with flower garland and halter

[heavenlayt]

Title: Love on the air!

Omega!Aemond Targaryen x Alpha!GN!Reader

➳You were an alpha who led a peaceful life in the capital of the kingdom of Westeros. Your job as a farmer guaranteed enough money that you didn't have to worry about financial problems, but it also didn't make you someone important in the social hierarchy.

➳You recognized that you were a nobody and you were fine with that.

➳ Living in the countryside was all you wanted and you couldn't see yourself leading a different life than you were used to.

➳Part of your job was to take merchandise to the city's central fair and negotiate with merchants, and today was no different.

➳Or so you hoped.

➳You decided to travel in the wagon driven by Vhagar and Caraxes, two donkeys that you kept on the farm as substitutes for the horses that were too expensive to keep, which made the journey take longer than it should have.

➳Absent-mindedly eating stale bread, you didn't see Vhagar break free of her halters and run down the stone road as if possessed by the devil.

➳When you realized that Caraxes was braying alone in response to his companion's flight, you reacted quickly and left all your merchandise behind.

➳Finding Vhagar was more important.

➳It was not difficult to find the poor donkey in the crowd of stallholders, as the animal left a trail of destruction wherever it went.

➳Vhagar ran fast, but you ran faster.

➳You were about to grab the tormented donkey, but a pedestrian stepped in front and was run over with everything. A crowd quickly formed around you as you tried to contain the animal alone.

➳It was difficult, but you did it.

➳Helping the victim was the right thing to do, but when a heavy silence formed around you, you thought it was too late for that and you would be arrested for the crime of murder.

➳It was as you turned that the blood drained from your face and you realized the true crime you would be convicted of.

➳It wasn't just any pedestrian.

➳You had just run over the one-eyed prince of Westeros, Aemond Targaryen.

➳The only omega of the royal family.

◇─────◇─────◇

Note: this is the most nonsensical shit i've ever written but y'all can read it too lol

[theworldismyoysterandiamthepearl]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Zoo New England (@zoonewengland)

Our Poitou donkey foal has a name! Let us formally introduce... Obi. That's short for Obernai, which is a city in France. Our animal care team selected the name as a nod to the French roots of the Poitou donkey.

With fluff that defies autofocus and a sweet nature, Obi continues to thrive behind the scenes at the Children's Zoo at Franklin Park Zoo. He's learning how to step onto a scale to be weighed, how to wear a halter and walk like a gentleman, and he's a pro at drinking milk prepared by his dedicated care team.

from https://www.instagram.com/zoonewengland/

[fruitless-vain]

Aversive dog trainers are clowns, but thankfully it's going out of fashion and most things I see personally are positive.

But frickin horse people man, most of them are aversive and your laughed at if you try to do positive reinforcement. Came across a video of something 'training' a foal to lead by tying it to a donkey and people were praising them because they used a harness on the donkey instead of a halter i guess?

I find dog stuff to be changing online to be more positive but out in the real world I see far more aversive trainers and methods being used than anything else. Definitely still making far more strides in the right direction though

Horses are definitely struggling to catch up with things but at least we’re seeing some change for the better with more liberty work being accessible online as well as things like bitless bridles being used in the olympics this year! But yeah they’re definitely overrun with outdated methodologies and you’ll see far more stressed tf out horses than relaxed ones in any given sporting event

[asixteenthrosecc]

50+ Horse CC items! genetics, clothing & accessories + more🔎🌾🐎

watch here ▶️

links after the cut

genetics

default skin - foal

side ears

donkey ears

okapi ears & head

more elegant unicorn horn

ctesias unicorn horn

asymmetrical hooves

gradiant hooves

cloven hooves

asymmetrical feathering

subtle feathering

hair

retextured tail + mane

oereo hair swatch

flickers manetail

short mane edit

longer mane & forelock | 1 2&3

longer mane & forelock straight

longer straight hair - foals

longer wavy hair - foals

flickers foal mane

sleipnir mane

longer tail - foal

short tail

short tail (2)

deer tail

clothing

simple halters

simple snaffle bridle

dressage set

earthy woven halter

western skies saddlepad

sporty solids saddlepad

sheepskin saddlepad

dressage saddle

simple western blankets

kids saddle & pad

kids western saddle

accessories

fly mask

more flower crowns

antlers for horses

halter accessories

better leg wraps

no saddle

brushes & stencils

speckle brush set

pixel pony stencil

champagne delight shine stencil

walnut hill shine brush

glittering skies shine

roaning stencil

mix n stamp 1&2

warmblood brand stamps

I do not claim or own any of the cc mentioned in today's video! Thank you to all of the amazing creators 💚🐎🌾

[donkeywhisperer]

Rope Halter Vs Flat Halter

Many equestrians have stopped using the flat nylon halter made with nylon and metal on the face, known as the flat halter. Donkeys naturally push into pressure, the flat halter helps the donkey push more. Sadly many of the donkey shows are using a flat halter with a chain under the chain. In the horse world this is called a stud chain. The rope halter requires nothing this extreme to teach and…

[hedgehog-moss]

Yes, my donkey situation really wasn’t promising 4 years ago! It was impossible to go anywhere near Pirlouit when I first bought him, he’d just run away and hide at the sight of humans (whereas Pampy could be haltered without a fuss). When he had that injury a few weeks after arriving here and nobody could catch him to clean the wound I thought he was going to die, it was awful. I contacted every vet I could (and it was one of them who told me “well either the wound heals on its own or the donkey dies, not much to be done”), and a donkey sanctuary, and a nature reserve in the region that has wild mountain goats, to ask if (and how) they catch their wild goats in case of disease, and I had the mason build a chute for the corral but couldn’t get Pirlouit in there... It was so stressful, and in the following year I spent so much time trying to get Pirou used to a) my presence, b) the halter, c) other humans, just so vet & farrier visits would be possible. But I didn’t think I would be able to do much with him beyond that, and definitely never thought I would ride him! 

I think he either grew up as a feral donkey, left to his own devices in his pasture with very little contact with humans, or was badly treated in some way. I remember making a relieved post maybe 3 months after I got him, saying I was now able to sit in his vicinity and sometimes after half an hour he’d come and let me pet his nose. Which was huge progress! But any sudden movement and he’d be gone, and I couldn’t just walk up to him, he only came near me when I was squatting or sitting down and if I stood up no matter how slowly, he’d run away. It felt a bit hopeless at times.

We’re good friends now but he’s still quite scared of everything and everyone—cars especially. For the past year and a half I’ve been taking him on little walks along the road (like in this video) and gesturing at drivers to drive past us very slowly. Occasionally someone we knew stopped to chat and Pirlouit would get a chance to gingerly sniff the car and realise it isn’t an apex predator with a donkey-based diet but just a big metal box. When it comes to riding him, we started inside the tiny corral where he couldn’t escape and start running and throw me head-first into a thorny bush, then when I was reassured that he had more or less predictable reactions when I was on his back, I started riding him in the pasture, then in my woods where there’s no chance of encountering anyone. This month was my first time riding him out in the real world—we met strangers! And a tractor! And chickens he doesn’t know! It was all very scary but Pirlouit got through it bravely :)

@the-puffinry​ This is the pic I was talking about where he looks like a stuffed toy <3

[dabiconcordia]

Llama Days

Because today I walked a llama back home, I have a new standard for all my coming days. Just minutes with the llama made this one a poem of kindly wonders, long-necked woolly praise.

I'd been raking leaves, bent forward, head down, eyes on my country acre, so that when I raised them and saw at my driveway's end a llama standing tall there, checking me out,

I was all stammer and gawk and disbelief until I thought of Leon, my neighbor half- a-mile away, whose land was mostly zoo, menagerie, whatever, I called him Doo-

little, the animal doctor himself, though Leon was no vet, just one big heart for anything that walked on paw, web, or hoof-- goat, peacock, sheep, horse, donkey, mink, hare, hart.

But llama? I'd never noticed one before, though no doubt my surprise at seeing him was matched by his at seeing me--or more than matched, he being lost, freedom become

a burden twice as bad as any bars, so much so panic struck and he turned back, high-stepping it onto the road, two-lane, tarred, and I saw the headline, "Llama killed by truck."

Dropping the rake, I raced to rescue him, who now stood frozen, straddling the centerline, looking this way and that; oh, too much room, too little clue. I had to herd him to Leon.

With slow approach and arms a traffic cop's, I eased him into action in the lane leading to llama-chow and fell into step beside him; well, sort of, his two to my one.

I talked him down the road, an unbroken string of chatter my invisible halter and rein: “Howyadoin? Where'd you think you were going? A little farther now, big guy. You'll be just fine.”

Luckily, no car came to make him bolt, though I almost wished for one, wanting someone to see us, like old friends out for a stroll, shoulder to shoulder in the morning sun.

Once we got close enough to what he knew, he was gone, down the right driveway this time, and I was left alone to wave goodbye: “You take care now.” His thanks silent. “You're welcome.”

I don't expect the llama to escape again. Leon 's repaired a fence, no doubt, or gate. So I know tomorrow I'll have to find my own, invent one, a facsimile, and I can't wait.

Already I see him coming like a dream, disguised as odd events, encounters, small dramas worth at least a laugh. Let “He walked his llama home” be my epitaph. I wish you lots of llamas. By Philip Dacey

[theoriginalmarke]

GOODBYE WEDNESDAY

We're heading out shortly. Goodbye, Santa Barbara!

The bikes are at a friend's house. I'm getting new bids and he'll supervise the transporter when the time comes to pick them up. This takes a huge load off our minds. He won't read this because he doesn't get online, but: Thank you, brother.

The extra day was actually a blessing. We got more cleaning done, Kitten had to do a little more work at the office, and one of our seasonal neighbors arrived yesterday from up north. We helped her unload the horses, ponies, and donkeys and got some kisses from her Great Dane.

I also have new scars from two of the horses trying to turn me into a MarkE sandwich. My buddy Turbo started rubbing his head against me, then the other horse I was holding started on the other side. Next thing I know they are squishing me between their big heads and one of the halters ripped the skin on my arm. Brats.

Anyway, the roof rack is loaded already and there's a few more odds and ends to load then we'll try to herd the cats. The BFFs Jackie and Becca have a dog crate and Raja has a large carrier. The poor babies are gonna hate it.

Now if you'll excuse me, it's time to bid adieu. Thank you everyone here who has befriended us, helped us, mentored us, and supported us. This is an amazingly beautiful place to live, and we'll never find anyplace with views like we have every day at this home.

There's wonderful memories of hikes, camping, dogs, cats, bunnies, horses and other critters. There's hosting an open mic. Some of the best motorcycle roads in the country are in this area.

Most importantly, it's where Kitten and I were together. I love you, baby. MWAH!

Next stop: St. George, Utah. Y'all have a great day.

[eilinelsghost]

Tagged by @melestasflight to share the last sentence - or last six sentences - that I've written. Since I'm awful at sharing only one sentence ever, we'll go with the six sentence option (and a bonus added at the start so you know what on earth they're talking about).

It's been all TRSB all the time for the last month, so I'm pleased to report that at long, long last we are finally back to Atandil:

Finrod laughed as he embraced him in turn, then the mirth mirrored onto his own features. “And how are my donkeys?” Belen laughed. “Not half so indulged, and thus are far more diligent vassals.” He glanced up at him as he stepped back, the grin still beaming. “Though I still bring them apples on your behalf. Honeg waits at the edge of the fold each evening—looking for you, I’d guess—and I pass him an extra when the others aren’t looking.” “Dear Honeg…” Finrod smiled. “I shall bring him a basket full of them when next I visit, and a halter fit for the little lord of his kind.”

Tagging with zero pressure @that-angry-noldo, @searchingforserendipity25, @outofangband, @welcomingdisaster, @sallysavestheday

[blackroseraven]

We have some jennies are the barn for some reason. I do not know why there are donkadonks there but I always like donkeys, especially jennies.

It was pretty humid this evening, but Quattro was happy to get himself running. Unfortunately, I cronched one of my own balls and knocked the wind out of myself and we weren't able to ride. Quite as much as I had hoped.

A rare and costly miscalculation.

But uh. Quattro was happy, and that's what matters. Got him to touch the cone afterwards, and then we went in. Girl gave me beady eyes as she was leading Daydreamer outside because Quattro was tromping along ahead of me without a halter or anything.

then um not five minutes later Daydreamer chucked her off, ran through the gate and into the barn, and I ended up having to calm him down and fetch him.

yep.

Like I know I seem like an idiot most of the time but, like, I'm responsible for myself. I recognize what can happen. I pay attention to myself and my horse, even when I look like I'm just being a daft idiot floating along, I'm always worried about this or that going wrong. I extend Quattro trust because I feel confident in what he's going to do and how he's going to behave.

But you have to keep your eyes on yourself, what you are doing, and not what other people are doing. Let people do their own thing and be responsible for themselves, and you be responsible for yourself so you don't end up unable to look someone in the eye when they bring your horse back to you.

It's a hard lesson to learn, but a really important one. First we have to take care of ourselves, and then we can worry about each other.

[dreaming-of-spots]

I'll preface this by saying I do pretty much 100% R+ with my dog and 50/50 R+ and pressure/release (with ample verbal praise and scratches) with the horses. The only time I'll ever escalate to P+ is if there is immediate physical danger. But I don't think it's 100% a 1-to-1 for domestics simply because if you're working with a large animal in a zoo or aquarium setting, you're pretty much always working in protected contact. The animal cannot physically reach you. When I'm working with a horse, or a donkey, or a cow, there is nothing preventing that animal from running directly through me if they get freaked out or decide they want to. You're also pretty much never, with the occasional exception of ambassador animals, going to put a halter (or collar) on a large zoo animal and be walking them around outside of their enclosure in a space where they could feasibly get loose and run into a road.

For the amateur trainer (which is most people who have horses and similar animals) using pressure/release, it's almost impossible to create a pushy, nippy, sometimes-dangerous animal as long as you pay attention to the amount of pressure you're using, but it's very easy to do that with R+. Not saying you can't or shouldn't use it, but it's something that, imo, requires supervision and instruction from a professional trainer until you at least have solidly established personal space and food manners. (Dogs and small animals are a little different in that it's substantially less dangerous for them to be in your personal space if they get overexcited- you can go back and correct that issue after it happens without the risk of getting seriously hurt).

Learning anything about marine mammal training will make you re-evaluate so much of your relationship with your own pets. There is so much force involved in the way we handle domestic animals. Most of it isn’t even intentional, it just stems from impatience. I’m guilty of it myself!

But with the exception of certain veterinary settings where the animal’s health is the immediate priority, why is it so important to us that animals do exactly what we want exactly when we want it? Why do we have to invent all these tools and contraptions to force them to behave?

When a whale swam away from a session, that was that. The trainer just waited for them to decide to come back. If they flat out refused to participate in behaviors, they still got their allotment of fish. Nothing bad happened. Not even when 20-30 people were assembled for a procedure, and the whale chose not to enter the medical pool. No big deal. Their choice and comfort were prioritized over human convenience.

It’s almost shocking to return to domestic animal medicine afterwards and watch owners use shock collars and chokers and whips to control their animals. It’s no wonder that positive reinforcement was pioneered by marine mammal trainers. When you literally can’t force an animal to do what you want, it changes your entire perspective.

I want to see that mindset extended to our domestic animals.

[donkeywhisperer]

Fall Is Time To Reflect

The Donkey Whisperer Farm ® has had a year of milestones! Truly blessing after blessing as we prayed, planned and worked really hard on each project. Our little farm business has been building custom fit donkey, mule, pony, and even Zonk halter/lead lines hand made with soft yacht rope worldwide. We now sell riding reins .  The big news! The Donkey Whisperer Farm Donkey Miniature and Burro…