December 14, 2014

Reinforced picking up feet and trailer loading with Quinella. We’re still working on catching her in larger areas and getting her really comfortable with being handled by different people.

November 22, 2014

Reinforcing picking up Quinella’s feet outside her stall. She is comfortable picking them up inside her stall but gets worried sometimes outside her stall so we are going to start practicing in different places around the ranch.

November 18, 2014

Took some video of our morning routine. When everybody is hungry they are pretty happy to see you and its a great time for handling / socialization. Quinella and Utopia are going to a pasture situation so we have been practicing getting them used to being caught in groups as well as alone. By themselves in a 12×24 they are easy but with others in a 24×48 they are still deciding if they want to be caught! In the evening we practiced leading and picking up their four feet.

November 14-17, 2014

We’ve been practicing with Utopia and Quinella getting them used to some of the things they’ll experience in their new home like being caught in a large pasture rather than a smaller stall. We’ve been working on catching them when they are together and separated. We’ve also been practicing both Joe and I picking out their feet so they get used to being handled by different people. I took some video this morning which I’ll upload this evening (left the camera  at home). Mornings are carrot / socialization time and the girls are doing great about approaching us instead of us having to go get them.

November 6, 2014

Continuing to work on picking up feet and haltering. She makes progress every day!

October 20, 2014 

Today we worked with Quinella on picking up her front feet. She is still apprehensive but getting better. We also worked with her on simulated haltering.

October 19, 2014 – OFF

October 18, 2014

Worked with Quinella on picking up her front feet this afternoon. She was apprehensive at first but by the end of her training she was able to pick up both front consistently without the rope. She will need reinforcement but she is off to a great start!

October 16, 2014

Worked with Quinella on approach and retreat this evening. She is now much more comfortable being approached and pet. She is also slowly starting to learn that she likes carrots!

Arrival – October 15, 2014

New load of burros came in today. We worked with Quin on haltering and lots of approach and retreat. Really sweet jenny. She’s a little scared but we are sure our stock of carrots will bring her around!