2023-04-01 Starting with the lead rope
The halters are accepted. Now we start working with the lead rope. Today it was about the clip and being able to touch the donkeys under the chin, put a little feel into the halter, and so on.
We are now also really seeing the differences in how each donkey learns and accepts and relaxes into something.
Astuce needs a gentle touch, but not a touch that is stealthy. When she turns away, if you mirror her she comes back straight away. You can put an arm over neck like a big hug and put the halter on softly. If you keep peaceful with her, or give her soft loving touches or scratches she remains peaceful and relaxed herself. She is very polite around food as well.
Anah is very different. She needs to have her say, but this is not so much a No as a ‘I will accept this but only as long as I get a reward’. When we take things up a level and ask her to do a bit more before the reward, she at first gets pushy, but then figures it out. Anah also likes to go away and think about things a bit after each new learning experience. This is good as this is how she works out that everything was okay, and it is how she registers her new memories about something. She is learning a lot now and the key with her is keep things playful, but be firm about rewards for something, not just because they are there.
Anah also allowed me to scratch her down her neck for the first time today. She will take that away and think about it too. She is a fast learner and is very engaged in the process intellectually. Astuce is more accepting so we need to be aware of the more subtle conversations with her.
2023-04-02 Testing something with the lead rope
We can halter easily now so the next conversation to have with Anah and Astuce is the rope, and following a feel. Mostly I prefer to use an invisible lead, but we need to have a positive understanding of any pressure from a rope on the halter. Today I experimented with putting a string through the halter loop and holding both ends. When Anah walked away I stayed where I was and let one end of the string go so it would slip out of the halter, enabling her to find her own safety if necessary.
I learnt something from cats about enabling an animal to find its own safety and wanted to put this into practice with the donkeys. Why do we think an animal is safest with us? Personally I feel safer not being on the end of a rope attached to a large prey animal when it is frightened. The animal has its own innate instincts, which it follows better than us, when it is danger.
The idea though, with the donkeys was to enable them to know that I wasn’t going to hold on to them if they wanted to leave. They would feel a little bit of pressure on the halter but then they could choose to stay or leave. It is up to them. Anah was happiest with this. Astuce was more wary. I suspect Astuce has had more pressure from a rope and halter than Anah because Astuce is more inclined to ‘surrender’ than Anah.
Anah also followed a feel on the lead rope easily when I asked her to follow me, although I didn’t really put any pressure on the rope, just asked her to follow, which she did, and I just held the rope. Pressure is really unnecessary if the animal trusts you and has a reason to be with you.
We will follow this idea and see where it leads. Nothing is set in stone and everything is possible. We will just follow the donkeys lead.
2023-04-03 Learning the individual personalities
Both Anah and Astuce are happy with having their halters put on now. Both in different ways. Now we are putting a rope on them, but basically just then following their lead and allowing them to leave. We do this by enabling the lead rope to slide out from the halter if they get frightened, or want to go and process something, or just don’t like the feelings we are sharing.
The idea is that they sense that we are listening to them, and also that although they may feel restricted they are not. Ultimately we would prefer they felt safer on the lead rope when with humans in their environment. Then they will stay and just ask the human the question ‘What do I do in this situation?’.
We spend time going present and regarding with the lead ropes on. Astuce really senses Esthers present moment and loves to share that with her. It is stronger through the lead rope, so now ‘regard’ will need to be practiced. Regard is when we ‘think’ about the animal, and tell ourselves what they are doing (e.g. she raised her head; her ears flicked around; her tail swished; she picked up a leg; she moved away; she moved towards me; she blinked slowly; she dropped her head; and so on. When she comes back to where she was when you started ‘regarding’, then you go present. When she moves again, you regard. It is important to make sure you are not leading the movement, but just watching and listening, and acknowledging what is happening.
For Anah the lead rope is a big step. She had a rope on for a long time which would get caught on things, or tangled under her feet, etc. she wouldn’t let anybody near her to take it off, so she has memories of ropes to change. On many ocassions we are noticing that Anah needs to leave and work through something, figure it out, process it. This is okay. She rarely goes very far, and usually later she comes back to confirm what she learnt. It is so important to let her do this, and not interrupt her process. It is not important to know what she is processing or why, just enable it.
Astuce released a lot, or as much as she could with the halter on. Thats okay because she will yawn even wider when the halter is off. She is releasing any anxieties around the halter and rope, she is accepting Esthers present moment, and she is releasing whatever she needs to let go of. This could be linked to Anah’s worry about ropes to. Everything is linked. And again, we do not need to know exactly what it is all about, just celebrate it softly.
There was some interesting conversations between the goats and the donkeys at one point. The goats seemed to be helping Anah stay with it by keeping her in the area. Then there was a bit of pushiness between the goats and the donkeys and this was so that Anah could feel that we humans would let her make her own decisions, and also a learning point for Esther to enable Astuce to leave when she asked. Everything is a learning point and nothing is ever wrong.
Note for Esther and David : Look for all the licking and chewing in the video from both donkeys. Licking and chewing is acceptance of the feeling around them. It is their way of acknowledging what is being shared with them, and accepting it. Notice when it happens and see if you can see what you were doing. Videos can be great learning tools.
2023-04-04 Changing memories in the enclosure
Today we worked in the enclosure with the gate closed. This is where the donkeys have previously had some experiences with control by humans and we are working at ‘changing memories’.
All animals have memories like we humans do. They associate certain events with how they felt and their response becomes a habit. The trouble with memories is they are not in the present moment. They are not true at this moment in time. They normally have some sort of drama attached to them, and their will be feelings associated with the memory. When these feelings are unhealthy, such as fear and anxiety, the best thing to do is to work at replacing the memory with something new. So the event may be similar but now we replace the feelings of fear with feelings of peace. It takes patience and persistence but is worth it, when suddenly your animal becomes happy with something they were previously unhappy about.
Anah is really gaining confidence now, and also engaging in some play with humans. Astuce is still a little wary but her confidence will come to her with time.
2023-04-05 Working with touch – slowly..
This session was about being comfortable with people around their bodies, and touching their bodies. It was a start but their is a way t go with this yet. We also worked with the halter, the lead rope, enabling them to leave when they wanted to, etc. We are using treats for reward along with huge thank yous, showing our gratitude when the donkeys offer something.
Tomorrow is the farrier. We are not yet in a good place for the ‘doing’, but we are in a good place to see the reactions and remain peaceful.
2023-04-06 Farrier day
Unfortunately we did not get anywhere with actual trimming but that is okay. We learnt a lot. Neither donkey will willingly allow anyone near their feet. This is a memory that needs changing. They have been forced into having trimming done and when feet are not in good condition, when trims are done then can be a few days before the feet settle into calm again. Think of it like having physiotherapy. The body can feel worse for a couple of days after before the good effects start to come in.
The donkeys do need trimming so a decision has been made to use a mild sedative type drug that blocks the fear response (Relaquin). This will enable the farrier to make the trim a good experience while the humans keep peaceful. A new farrier has been taken on to do the initial work due to a level of experience with rescued and badly treated donkeys. The whole experience will provide a different memory to be developed. A few times of this, reducing the dosage each time will help us and the donkeys work towards a long term peaceful solution. This is what holistic solutions are all about. Working with all parts of a problem and finding a whole solution that will enable a positive outcome.