Zonkey Training: Touching the Un-handleable Equine
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- Опубликовано: 17 ноя 2024
- Rescued equines need plenty of help to build trust in humans, whether they've never been handled or have suffered abuse. Reward-based training is the best tool I've ever come across for doing this and I've worked with hundreds of rescued horses over the years. Even so, these two stripy girls challenged my training...
Zambi and Zee, two rescued zebra x donkeys, came to me for 2 months training. Nobody could touch them and, with their best interests at heart, another trainer had lassoed them in a round pen to get headcollars onto them. Needless to say, they were now more fearful about being touched than ever. So, they came to me. Here's my story of my time with these two very different girls and the training I used to get through to each of them.
You can see the full story of my training with Zambi and Zee in the CT Club. Plus, members get access to our forum and live Q&A sessions so head over there if you need some guidance and support working with a frightened, wild or un-handleable equine.
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It would be really interesting if you could make a video talking about the type of personality (compared to donkeys) zonkeys tend to have. As it seems to me, they tend to inherit the wild personality of zebras. Thanks for sharing this amazing video. 💐
2 months into 9 minutes!! lol!
Seriously, Great Job!
Much Patience... good for your furry friends.
Happy! Stress Free!
Cheers!
Thanks so much!
This is amazing!!
iv been working for over a year on getting my Zonkey trained started with trust building exercises hand feeding playing and just spending extended time with him after I saw it pay off by him coming one day and resting his head on my shoulder and nuzzling me I knew it was time to start teaching instructions
i really love the way you train them
Amazing animals. I have to wonder at whether the Zonkey is doing part of the training here. The fact that she allows touching with a covered hand is proof that she is making a fine distinction. Clearly, she knows there is a hand inside the cloth, but she's forcing the handler to jump thru hoops to get contact. I find that both amusing and eye-opening. I've always believed that equines are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. I'm re-evaluating my entire view of the animals around us.
Video
Great to watch, incredible job!! 👏
great work! i was so engrossed watching this i didnt want it to end1
I felt the same way!!
You’re an amazing trainer! I love watching your videos!
Thank you! I'm so pleased you're enjoying them - I love making them :-)
this is remarkable. Great job!
is there an update on how they are doing?
In all honesty I teared up watching this-just wow, so cool!
Fantastic!
Wow well done!
Superb👍🙌👏👌❤🇵🇰❤
What are you using to feed her? I want to learn to use this technique, but don't want to offer them too much sugar. Thanks for the video!
Do you find, in general, that working on an equine's right side is harder, more flighty? Over my years of training I see a lot of this so wondered if working on the bigger zorse's left side would be slightly less stressful? Love your work, doing a fabulous job ;)
Hi Shelley, in my experience, it depends more on the individual horse's prior experiences. Many horses have much more handling done from the left side, since people are taught to lead from the left, tack up on the left etc, so they often feel more at ease with humans on that side and can then be flightier when being handled from the right. However, if that handling has been highly aversive, then they're often much more relaxed when handled from the right side. I find this is often the case in many rescued horses because humans on the left side = fear, but the right side can be a relatively blank slate. This can be really useful for training. One horse I had, had been ridden in a badly fitting saddle for years prior to coming to us. She was very reactive about being tacked up from the left side, but totally relaxed when tacked up from the right (in a comfy, well-fitting saddle of course). There have also been some interesting studies showing that horses tend to have a preferred eye with which to investigate scary things. Some studies seem to show that more horses prefer to investigate spooky things with their left eye, whereas others that it's more evenly split between horses. So, again, it comes down to the individual. But, it's always a good idea to train everything from both sides and note any differences to both help, and to work on. Thanks for your comment!
to think of what they must have been through (and the way they associate/d most humans with..) Hannah ji en.wikipedia.org/wiki/-ji what you achieved IS a feat, commendable and indeed Zambi and her friend/Sister were blessed (and so are you) to have each other! all these being pack creatures.. it is actually traumatising for any of them to not have a herd or rest of them. that is why.. if they (donkeys) are alone or just two or three, then they are kept with goats, lots of goats. at-least someone to get along with and socialise!
Love this so much! *:D