Donkeys

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July 11, 2011

To the river and through the woods

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: Big Red, Ellsworth, riding donkeys, riding Ellsworth, Trail riding |
[19] Comments

On Saturday morning, Don and I loaded Ellsworth into the trailer and headed down to see Ryan for a lesson and a trail ride. (Ellsworth walked right into the trailer with no aids, by the way.)

Once we arrived, we started by warming Ellsworth up in the round pen.

And then headed out on the trail. Me on Big Red and Ryan on Murphy.

Ellsworth was a star. Since the trail we took is closed to vehicles, Ellsworth had to step over a metal fence bar about a foot off the ground at the beginning of our ride. Good boy! I can tell you without a doubt there’s no way he would have done that five weeks ago.

Ellsworth walked strong and tall and I couldn’t stop smiling.

We walked down the canal path for about 20 minutes, then into the bosque a short distance to the river.

It was surreal to be sitting atop Big Red, quietly watching and enjoying the beauty of the Rio Grande.

And to think, this is just the beginning!

I ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ Ellsworth.

July 6, 2011

Discovering a new meaning for Christmas

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, Friends and Family | Tags: Christmas, Debbie, Don, donkeys, New Mexico |
[24] Comments

We wrapped up a wonderful visit yesterday with Don’s sister, Debbie.

From the moment she arrived, she dug in to help with chores around Morning Bray Farm.

The first morning she was here, Debbie and I hung out in the corral waiting for presents from all the boys.

For the record, two hours is a long time to wait for a donkey to poo.

You know you have an awesome sister-in-law when she’s willing to ride in the car on the way to the vet with five bags of donkey poo in the back seat.

On Sunday afternoon, Debbie taught us how to make margaritas from scratch.

That was serious fun.

She spent a lot of time talking with the boys.

And loving on Nigel.

We even did some sightseeing.

Debbie is one of the loveliest people I know and having her here was a gift. So much so, it felt like Christmas in July here.

Speaking of Christmas, Debbie discovered a new meaning for it during her visit. Christmas in New Mexico also means both red and green chile on your breakfast burrito.

July 4, 2011

The Morning Bray Farm patriots

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, Friends and Family | Tags: 4th of July, Carson, donkeys, Independence Day |
[16] Comments

Happy Independence Day to all of you from all of us at Morning Bray Farm. ♥

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Thank you to Aunt Linda for taking such beautiful pictures of the boyz while she was here for our annual crab feast on Saturday. ♥

June 29, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: Big Red, Ellsworth, riding donkeys, saddle training donkeys, training donkeys |
[14] Comments

June 28, 2011

What we’re all spending a lot of time doing lately

Posted by Morning Bray under Dogs, Donkeys | Tags: dogs, donkeys, heat |
[12] Comments

If you had stopped by to visit Morning Bray Farm anytime over the last several days, you would have seen a lot of this going on.

As little as possible. It’s hot.

♥

June 23, 2011

A week of firsts

Posted by Morning Bray under Burros, Donkeys | Tags: burros, donkeys, Ellsworth, Nigel, Patrick |
[15] Comments

We’ve had a wonderful week of firsts at Morning Bray Farm.

On Saturday, Ellsworth rode with his new headstall, bit and reins for the first time. One day later, Patrick was wearing his first fly mask and loving it. Then, on Monday, Ellsworth and I had our first riding lesson together. We even got him ever so briefly up to a trot.

Despite all of the excitement and activity here, Don and I always make it a point to spend time with every one of our critters every day… even if just for a few one-on-one uninterrupted minutes.

For the very first time on Tuesday, Nigel let me really brush him. We’ve brushed him before, but he never allowed us to brush him for more than a few minutes… and definitely not all over.

This time, Nigel allowed me to brush him until the comb ran cleanly through his hair… about 20 minutes. We took a medium-sized dog’s worth of hair from him.

I throw the boys’ hair over the fence so that the birds can nest with it, and so Bernard doesn’ t eat it.

Yesterday, Nigel graduated to a dandy brush and the FURminator. Again, he stood quietly while I brushed and brushed and brushed him.

It looks like he has a gorgeous black coat underneath all of his old, dirty hair.

Being that Nigel is four years old this year and this is the first time he’s accepting regular grooming, we can’t wait to see what the boy underneath really looks like.

Beautiful, for sure. ♥ ♥ ♥

June 21, 2011

Not to be outdone

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: Bernard, Ellsworth, lunging donkeys, training donkeys |
[11] Comments

There’s lots of donkey training going on ’round here these days.

Not to be outdone by Ellsworth, Bernard insisted on having his own session with Ryan on Saturday.

Ryan pointed out there are two reasons a donkey won’t do what he’s asked.

One: Because he doesn’t want to. Ellsworth generally falls into this category. Ellsworth is one to do things on his schedule; at his own pace.

Two: Because he doesn’t understand what you’re asking of him. Bernard generally falls into this category; he always wants to work and seeks to do what’s asked of him. You know that Barnyard lives to be the center of attention.

Once he got it, Bernard was awesome. He switched directions at the drop of a hat and moved toward and out from us as requested. I think he would have lunged all day long if we had asked.

Ryan also pointed out that because we’ll be driving Bernard rather than riding him, our ground work with him will be even more important.

All the while, Big Red looked on. As an awesome big brother… watching out for his best friend.

♥ ♥ ♥

June 20, 2011

Lessons for Big Red – Week Three

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: Big Red, Ellsworth, riding donkeys, saddle training donkeys, training donkeys |
[21] Comments

Just like that, our boy is now a man.

Big Red got his first headstall, bit and reins on Saturday.

Ryan selected an eggbutt snaffle bit to get Ellsworth started.

Ellsworth took to it like an old pro.

I’m so proud of him.

A few adjustments were necessary, but as always, Ellsworth was very patient.

♥

Lessons for Big Red – Week Two

Lessons for Big Red – Week One

June 14, 2011

Lessons for Big Red – Week Two

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: Big Red, Ellsworth, riding donkeys, saddle training donkeys, training donkeys |
[17] Comments

Do you know the feeling you get when you realize you’ve made a really good decision?

Hiring Ryan to train Ellsworth this summer was an excellent decision.

On Saturday, during Ellsworth’s sixth lesson, Ryan took Ellsworth on his very first trail ride.

With Ryan’s experience and confidence guiding him, Ellsworth did a phenomenal job.

Ryan has a knack for knowing what Ellsworth needs and what he’s ready for.

Perhaps it was the antics of Ellsworth’s brothers on Saturday that prompted Ryan to take Ellsworth off the property for his maiden ride. Check out the peanut gallery:

Ellsworth clearly responds to Ryan’s consistency, perseverance and patience. For example, getting Ellsworth to cross over these logs has always been a big challenge for us on our walks.

On Saturday, Ryan had Ellsworth walking over them inside of five minutes.