We put the burro brothers in a stall yesterday afternoon so I could work with Nigel.
The next time our farrier visits will be a year to the day short one week of when Fergus and Nigel came to Morning Bray Farm, and Nigel needs a pedicure.
We still haven’t managed to get a halter on Nigel because he’s extremely hand shy when it comes to having his face touched.
He loves being scritched everywhere else, but please don’t touch his face, he says.
Fergus did a smashing good job of being a supportive brother though.
He even brought out his best goober face to make Nigel laugh. Fergus learned well from Bernard, don’t you think?
All things considered, I called our session a success because I was able to clean out Nigel’s eye boogers for the first time. ♥
Morning Bray Farm 
March 7, 2011 at 5:25 am
I love to see Nigel’s progress. You are doing a great Job with him!
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March 7, 2011 at 6:03 am
Whoohoo! I don’t know which is more exciting – being able to touch his face or cleaning out the eye boogers.
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March 7, 2011 at 6:47 am
Sometimes it’s hard to be brave.
When I got Buzz, who was a year old at the time, he was afraid of things with wheels (like bicycles and wagons) and boys.
Hmmmm………………………..
I started carrying treats on walks. Sophie was seven and had lived with us since she was 12 weeks old. SHE wasn’t afraid of that stuff, so she was a good role model.
With dogs, anyway, peer pressure is powerful. If you don’t step up, your stinky sister will get *your* treat!!!!! We slowly got closer and closer to those scary wheely things, until he could take a treat right off ’em, and eventually he forgot he’d been afraid.
I made a point of finding nice boys who would kneel down and give treats and talk softly. At one point we went to a large family reunion. The teenagers decided Buzz was a good indication of whether they were boys (scary!) or men (not scary), and enjoyed finding out that they were men….
Over time, with many treats, Buzz left most of his fears behind, just as Nigel is doing.
🙂
Sending warm Courage thoughts at Nigel, and reminding him that he is safely at home, even though some scary stuff happens once in a while.
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March 7, 2011 at 6:54 am
Sweet Nigel. Will he let you scritch him with the halter? Maybe seeing/knowing won’t eat him will help a tiny bit.
I always used to think that head shyness was learned because of some incident in the animal’s life. I guess now I know different.
Good luck with your shy boy. One eye booger at a time. 🙂
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March 7, 2011 at 7:23 am
I love the way you’re taking your time w/him. Hooray for all small victories! Give him a “scritch” from me.
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March 7, 2011 at 7:29 am
Gee, they look like such babies!
How nice that Nigel’s face is bright and shiny clean now!
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March 7, 2011 at 7:46 am
Cleaning eye boogers is a BIG step! Way to go, Nigel….and Justina!
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March 7, 2011 at 8:36 am
I love the way you are so affectionate with your burros.
Nigel looks nice as always!
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March 7, 2011 at 8:49 am
Nigel has come a long way Justina. Just the fact that you were able to clean out his eye boogers is proof. He is such a sweet, handsome boy!
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March 7, 2011 at 9:01 am
Yay, Nigel! What a sweet fellow he is. I wonder what goes through his mind. He seems like a deep thinker, that one. Fergus is a fabulous friend.
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March 7, 2011 at 9:12 am
Yay for trust-building! Gosh, do I know how wonderful these milestone moments feel!
Congratulations. 🙂
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March 7, 2011 at 11:04 am
What a sweet pair of boys they are. I love what a goofball Fergus is 🙂 And Nigel’s serious little face melts my heart. Great great day and what joy to clean those little eye boogers out!
I am about to start some clicker training with my herd. I am going to begin with my most trained/mellow horse so that I can get through my learning curve with her 🙂
I have done lots of clicker training with my dogs and I love it. I got a book recently to help guide me through clicker training with horses so that I don’t create treat monsters!
I’m hoping that Chloe, my wild mustang sweetheart, will love clicker training and that we will progress this year so that I won’t have to depend so much on my trainer.
I wonder if Nigel could benefit from that?
Please blow him a kiss and tell him that he has the most adorable eyes ever 🙂
Sue
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March 7, 2011 at 11:55 am
I love seeing Nigel progress! Will he let you rub him with a rope? It might help in haltering him if he will accept a rope being rubbed on his neck, and then his face.
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March 7, 2011 at 2:00 pm
You and Fergus did a great job!
Nigel seems to observe everything that happens around him. They look so sweet side by side!
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March 7, 2011 at 2:38 pm
The boys are wonderful, and I know how much each little advance means to you. No, I don’t have horses or donkeys – I have to follow you and Carson to get my fix on equines – but Emma the Calico Queen was a rescue I adopted 3.5 years ago. I’m still amazed when I think of all the small changes – from sleeping under the bed, then the foot, then eventually on top of me! – that have occurred. She still doesn’t like to have her face touched, but I can rub and scritch her every other place, including the top of her head and under her chin. She was living in an alley when her rescuers found her – I’ll never know what her life was like then.
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March 7, 2011 at 3:00 pm
I really enjoyed seeing the brothers!
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March 8, 2011 at 8:19 am
Nigel looks like he needs a hug. Awwwww….
Suzanne
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March 8, 2011 at 10:34 am
Nigel is so fortunate that you are both so patient with his special handling needs. Paco was terrified of men for the longest time, and will tolerate the vet, but I can tell he would rather be somewhere (anywhere else) during that time. After four years Paco is finally at ease with the farrier.
Keep up the gentle good work!
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March 8, 2011 at 10:41 am
Just lost my first comment.
It took Paco years before he felt comfortable with men (vet and farrier). He came from Oklahoma and we think he was “cowboy’d pretty roughly before they dumped him with the kill buyer.
All that to say keep up the good work and gentle handling, it will pay off for lucky Nigel
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March 8, 2011 at 11:44 am
Such lovely, intent ears.
Yay for cleaning eye boogers. Feel free to come clean up Purrcy at any time.
You know, since you have the knack of it and all.
Has it really been almost a year???
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