This was the first introduction session with these two lovely donkeys. The video is clips from the session which was mostly me sharing the present moment and regarding to get to know the donkeys better.
The donkeys names are Anah and Astuce. Anah came to Esther with a friend Belle a little under a year ago, but Belle died very soon after arriving, so Esther found Astuce, and Anah and Astuce are now firm friends.
Anah was not well looked after by her previous owner and he said she hadn’t had her feet trimmed for at least two years. The donkeys are 11 and 12 years old.
Anah avoids being ‘caught’ and they have only managed to get a head collar on her once, and she had the front long bits of her feet trimmed off but they are still needing a lot of work. Also David said that he approached her once with a branch that she could eat the leaves off but she ran off terrified, so he thinks she may have been whipped at some point, or hit with a branch.
Astuce has now also become shy of having a head collar on, following Anah I believe.
Anah has a lot of curiosity and she wants to be friendly, but is wary of being caught. Astuce is a lot shyer and more introverted, but I sense more confident in himself.
Esther and David have agreed to allow me to do a few sessions just to get to know the donkeys and their behaviours, as I haven’t spent much time with donkeys, and then we will do a full consultation later.
Esther and David have been following the video course for a few months, and the donkeys now come to humans, but as soon as you move towards them they take off.
The small video clip shows firstly the two donkeys coming into the present moment a little, after about 30-40 minutes, and we established that this was the distance they felt most comfortable, so our starting place. I also asked Esther to show me what happens when she approaches them, and also their response to the head collar. Anah is the one that approaches me when Esther shows her the head collar, and this is quite an interesting conversation, like she is saying ‘yes, I have a problem with head collars but we can work with that if you help me’..
It is going to be an interesting journey and lots of learning points.