Tucker

I've been stealing a little time here and there lately to go out and work with Tucker.

I have so much fun working with him. Not only is he smart, but I think he's just the cutest little guy. In some ways he's like a giant fuzzy stuffed animal... His coat is thick and fluffy, and the snow white fur on his chest and belly is especially soft. He's finally grown calm enough to allow some hugs, which is nice... he's an animal that just looks huggable.

It's hard to believe how well he's been doing lately. Even when I don't get out to work with him as often as I'd like, he remembers so much of what we've done in the past that we can just pick up where we left off.

He's starting to show affection now too. Sometimes when I'm giving him a good scratch on the neck he'll stretch that huge head of his up to mine and nibble on my hair, or on the collar of my coat. The first time he did it I wasn't sure it he was being nice or trying to bite me, but I decided to trust him and discovered that he isn't trying to bite... just doing some friendly nibbling. I wonder if he sees it as some kind of donkey/human mutual grooming.

I'm still working on getting him used to having weight on his back, and am starting to think I should direct his training towards the idea of him being a pack burro some day. Donkeys live so long (30-35 years easily) that most of them have several homes during their lifespans, so it's important for them to be the kind of animal that CAN find a new home... Tucker's wildness (when we got him) seriously limited his chances for a good home. A trained donkey is MUCH more desirable than a wild one.

So I worked more today on leading him around with a little weight on his back, and he did really well. He tried to pull away a couple of times but his pulls are more tentative now than they used to be, and if I catch him quickly, and pull him back around firmly saying "no!" he'll stop. This is a great improvement over his former habit of jerking away so suddenly, and with so much force that he'd leave rope burns on my hands (through my gloves!) as I tried, usually unsuccessfully, to stop him...

He did so well today, working in the small pen, that I took him out (still all "tacked up") into the main pasture where R was riding Murphy. I decided to see how Tucker would do following Murphy (like a pack burro would follow the lead horse). Tucker was amazing! He followed Murphy without pulling away once, and even let me lead him back into the small pen while R took Murphy in a different direction. What an awesome little donkey...

He still has a long way to go (at some point I MUST teach him to load into a horse trailer... ), but it's great to see progress...

Maybe this will be Tucker's job some day...