Driving Mr. Ben

A friend of mine loaned me a harness and cart for Ben.  The Harness needs to go to the harness maker for some adjustments to make it fit a donkey properly...

If I make the crupper fit, then the britching doesn't.  If I make the britching fit, then the crupper is too short.

I finally took the brow-band off altogether because it was too tight for Ben's wide brow and oh-so-delicate and dainty ears.  We wouldn't want to pinch the ears.

But it is good enough for a little jaunt and I was determined to take my new driving donkey out for a ride before the vet comes on Thursday to work on his foot.  The canker is not yet making him lame and exercise is good for the foot so there is no reason I can think of not to.  I have no idea when or if he will be driving again so I was, by God, gonna take him out.

I know the cart needs a paint job.

I know I forgot to run the lines through the saddle rings.

I know the harness isn't quite right.

And I know that Ben is an awfully nice, well-behaved donkey.  So good that we just went out and down the road and drove into the sunset.

Care to join us for a moment?

Driving Lessons

I've been trying to do some driving lessons with Emma again.  We hadn't been making much progress due to a combination of lack of time and Emma being convinced that driving is a waste of time.  The big difference in driving horses and driving donkeys that I see is that horses will always move forward.  As long as you have forward motion, it can eventually be directed.  

Emma is pretty darned sure she doesn't need any direction.  She is also quite convinced that forward motion should be used to go from one bit of yumminess to another.  I can see why all the donkey driving advice I have seen starts out with, "start in an arena where there are no distractions".  We were both getting a bit frustrated so I set it aside for a while to ponder the situation.  

I decided that my two biggest issues were food distraction and lack of forward motion and finally came up with a plan to address both.  To address the issue of forward motion, I took the donkeys for a walk in the woods which is their favorite activity. Once we were out on the trail, I attached my lines to Emma's halter and "drove" her down the trail.  She loves being out in the woods and is always eager to head out so I had plenty of forward to work with.  At first, I just followed along and tried to anticipate her direction.  I would then "ask" her to turn that way.  Eventually, I started asking for real and she finally got the idea. 

My second solution is a bit of "terrible awfulness" according to Emma....

I took her out ground driving with a grazing muzzle on. 

"Please, somebody help!  Call the Humane Society, this just isn't right!!!"

We still have a long way to go, but we are making progress and Emma is still taking to me despite the injustice.

By the way, for those of you who were impressed with my "sunflowers" and my superwoman gardening ability.....I do hate to disillusion you, but, um, those aren't sunflowers and I am so not superwoman.  In fact, most days I am SO not superwoman that I feel like I might actually be made out of kryptonite.  (Did I spell that right?) 

The goldenrod and Asters are in full bloom at the moment.  Around here they completely take over every bit of poor soil and or untended ground and are considered a semi-noxious weed.  When i bought this 20 acres of land, the only portion not completely covered in goldenrod was the 3 acres of woods.  I've been trying to kill it off ever since.  The stuff is great for honey bees and generally means the difference between life and death for them so I do appreciate it and it is pretty for a while....

...but I would dearly love to mow it all down.  The stuff Emma is wading through was mowed down twice this year.  The shear abundance of the stuff all around me is the byproduct of continued tractor issues and lack of weed-eating.  Definitely not superwoman, but thanks for the thought:)

"Don't listen to Ma bloggy peoples, I rather like a nice fresh goldenrod blossom now and then."

Driving Miss Emma

I've been on the lookout for a harness for Emma for ages now with no luck.  However, there are a group of Amish who have moved into an area not far from here and one of them has opened a harness shop.  When I was on vacation a few weeks ago, we all took a drive over there and I ended up ordering a harness for Emma; $260 for a brand new, hand made, Beta harness.  Seemed like a good deal.

Emma is dubiously willing.

"Oh Ma, now what?  You've been out wandering around without supervision again haven't you?"

"Here Em, let me help with that...I could have that off in no time..."

"Ma, are you sure about this?"

"It all looks good Em, except for those blinders...I did tell him to make the browband longer to make room for your big brain, but I don't think he remembered to make the blinders wider.  I'll have to see what can be done about that, maybe we won't even need them.  You do look awfully cute regardless."

"Hrmph.  If I wear all this stuff, do I get to go eat on the lawn?"

"Ummm, no. Sorry.  Don't worry though, the pipsqueak's days of lawn grazing are numbered as well.  You won't have to suffer alone."

"Gosh Em, you've already got the downtrodden, overworked look down pat and we haven't even managed to walk in a straight line yet, let alone do any work."

"What do you expect Ma?  Everyone else is out eating yummy grass and here here I am, listening to you natter on about all the wood you want me to move and chain harrowing and LAWN MOWING!  Seriously, they get to stand around eating and I have to listen to all this nonsense about how to make me work at GETTING RID OF the grass.  Really Ma, have you totally lost your mind?"

"Maybe so Em, but we'll have fun looking for it.  Giddyup!"

Driving Practice

OK Ian H., we're almost ready for those volunteers!

The knot in the sled rope is just propped inside the neck rope.  If anything goes bad, it all just falls apart.

My hi-tech harness making...a length of flat-braided nylon rope with a ring in one end and the other coarsely tied off.  It will come apart if it got caught or in case of panic.  On the other hand, if the tied end is folded up on itself and tied off, you could probably tow a car with it.  Lets you do a variety of things for about $2.00....

and it can be made to fit little brown pipsqueaks too.