Teaching to give to pressure?

[jayne]

Hi Folks....

I have a 13 week old standard donkey jenny who is just wonderful. So willing to please and a little bit of devil in her too! She does most everything I ask of her so far. She's great with lifting up and holding all four of her little hoofies, loves scratches and brushing, can touch her everywhere, and can halter her just fine. Leading, however, is another matter. If I loop the lead rope around her little donkey butt cheeks and give a little tug (after I put a little pressure on her halter first with no response) she will lead with fits and starts. But she just does not 'get' the idea if I give a little tug on the halter that she should come with me. She is not being defiant, as she looks at me like 'What?'. Her momma leads like a gem, keeping her ears right at my shoulder no matter how crazy I walk. I'd sure like to get her baby to this stage at some point!

So I read somewhere recently that the best thing you can do when bringing up a baby is to teach them to 'give to pressure'. I'm not sure exactly what this means, but I tried to put some pressure behind the baby's ears, where the halter would go, and all she did was press against me. I was prepared to let up the pressure the second she gave in, but that didn't happen.

So would there be someone on here who would be willing to share with me what this means and what to do with this 'bad' baby!? Thanks in advance for your help.

Jayne

(edited for syntax errors)

 

[HobbsFarm]

[SIZE=12pt]I would like to hear some opinions and/or advice on this subject as well...lol. My year old jack will not lead. He just won't go. :no: But he's only been haltered a few times. My six year old jenny leads fine, but when she's ready to be on the other side of the pasture, she takes off running and she takes me with her. I've got rope burns on my fingers right now from when she did that to me a couple of days ago. I've got to learn to just let go. I was embarrassed to ask anybody because she just runs over me! Working with her isn't like working with my horses...lol! Shannon

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[rabbitsfizz]

OK I have never raised a Donkey foal but I shall answer anyway as I cannot see they would be two planets away from a horse foal.

My foal a month older is not leading any better than this so I would stop worrying and keep doing what you are doing.

I do know Donkeys can be a LOT smarter than horses and, correctly raised, a lot more willing to go along with what you want....but not necessarily easier to "train" per se.

I think in a little while you will actually see the light bulb go on over her beautiful ears and she'll go "Oh, is that all" and that will be it.

Unlike my little stinker of a foal who just has NO intention of learning and is out to get me cross- that is one argument he is NOT going to win- unfortunately for him his nose is just TOO kissable for me to get mad at him!!

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

Probably the fastest way to train a donkey to lead is to have someone lead "Mom" with you following with "Baby" on a lead. But if that dont work-- First,your donkey has to learn to trust you completely, then you have to prove to them you have the patience to last forever, and wont give up , and on top of that you wont lose your temper :bgrin , then-- start by teaching your donkey to stand tied, (make sure its a very sturdy post, you dont want the donkey to pull it out of the ground :bgrin ) after he has learned to stand good, and you no longer use your tie post, you can just stand by his side, with your back towards his hips, and pull on the halter, as soon as his head starts to turn and he gives his nose to you release the pressure. Just keep doing this over and over until you see that he is giving you his nose easy.He is understanding what you are asking him to do and learning to yield to pressure at the same time. After he has this downpat :bgrin do it again, but this time DONT realease the pressure--he probably wont move but his weight will shift, THEN release the pressure. Keep doing this until you get a step, the two, and so forth. You and your donkey will be going in circles but he has learned to yield to pressure and respond. Make the circles bigger and bigger until your going in a straight line. If he starts to bulk go back to a circle--he'll get tired of the circle and WANT to follow, at the same time your discouraging his balking reflex, and hes learned your patient and presistant!

: When working with donkeys its best never to stand right in front of them..they dont like to be intimidated, so stand to the side and keep your hands at shoulder level, the training will go much faster. Backing with donkeys isnt always the easiest to train, they just dont like to do it. Best I have found is just to put a little bit of pressure above the sholder point, eventually they get the hang of what is being asked of them, and will do it. But for some reason --they just dont care to back up :bgrin Hope this helps you. Corinne

 

[HobbsFarm]

[SIZE=12pt]Thanks Corinne, that makes a lot of sense.

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: Baby steps, baby steps...

: Shannon

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[PaintedPromiseRanch]

wow Corinne what good and detailed advice! :aktion033: :aktion033: i am going to copy and save to my file i keep for when newbies ask me stuff...

one thing i always remember and repeat to people is something i saw in a Brayer a couple years back, they had an article on leading a donkey, and they had two pictures that really stuck in my mind: a picture of a horse, with a wagon superimposed over it... and a picture of a donkey, with a wheelbarrow superimposed over it. they said you CAN'T PULL a donkey... they have to think it's their idea. one trick we use is, one person leading, and a second walking behind them, waving arms, clicking noises, whatever it takes. one thing that seems to get our donks going is making a "fart" noise with your lips (sorry don't know how else to describe it :lol: i've tried reaching back with a crop when i am alone and popping them a little on the hiney, but they don't respond well to that :no:

but when they don't want to go and you really need them to, it just

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