We went down to Dos Cabezas, Tuesday to pick up the jack. We tried to think of everything, ropes halters, corral panels, & of course treats. Our 4 wranglers showed up on time & off we went. The closer we got the worse the weather got. Windy, cold & even trying to rain a little bit. I called Mae to give her time to get him in the pen. When we got there, he was still out running around, & by now it is actually raining. We sat in the vans till it stopped, & even though it was still cool the wind died down. We could tell right off that he didn't see the pen as a safe area. We also could tell that he knew the acreage much better than we did. Six people spread out over acres & acres wasn't doing much. He finally went up in a corner, where there was lots of poo, which meant he saw that as a safe area. He let me get within about 50 feet of him & wasn't particularly upset with me there.
Joe got the idea that we could bring up the corral panels & slowly make a pen around him. The donkey stood there & watched all of these people build a pen around him. I was amazed. Once we got the pen built, John got the van & stock trailer, & backed it up to an opening in the pen we built. We started making the pen smaller & smaller & all of a sudden he stuck his nose in the trailer, stepped up & went in. Just like that! I think we all were shocked. He seems very gentle, just hasn't been handled.
Yesterday was "G" day. I called the vet clinic to tell them, that he wasn't wild & that we probably wouldn't need the dart gun. Figured they would appreciate not having to dread coming out here so much.
They used the middle gate of the trailer to squeeze him, so Nancy could give him a shot. He wasn't really thrilled with this situation & although he didn't kick at anyone in particular, he did kick out real quick a couple of times. Once the shot started to make him goofy, we opened the back of the trailer & he backed out into the pen. Didn't take long for him to go down, & then the fun started.
I hate gelding them, it such a primitive method, but it has to be done. This was right after he went down &
they were getting ready to start the surgery. I have pictures of the actual surgery, but I don't think it's necessary to show them. John won't even stay in the area when the scalpel comes out. (G) As you can tell from the picture below, it doesn't bother the other donkeys at all.
It was rather uneventful, although like many donkeys he took a lot of drugs to keep him out. Which means it takes awhile for him to c
ome out of it. This is a picture of him & Shawn when he was still trying to get his sea legs back.
Today he has been laying down a lot & isn't interested in eating or drinking much. He doesn't have a lot of swelling, so I guess that's good news. I hope by tomorrow he will feel better. I'd like to be able to hose him down, but he's not the least bit interested in me or anyone else getting close to him. I can't blame him at this stage.
On the way home I came up with the name Paladin, a good strong name for a real pretty guy. I think it will fit him just fine.
Joe got the idea that we could bring up the corral panels & slowly make a pen around him. The donkey stood there & watched all of these people build a pen around him. I was amazed. Once we got the pen built, John got the van & stock trailer, & backed it up to an opening in the pen we built. We started making the pen smaller & smaller & all of a sudden he stuck his nose in the trailer, stepped up & went in. Just like that! I think we all were shocked. He seems very gentle, just hasn't been handled.
Yesterday was "G" day. I called the vet clinic to tell them, that he wasn't wild & that we probably wouldn't need the dart gun. Figured they would appreciate not having to dread coming out here so much.
They used the middle gate of the trailer to squeeze him, so Nancy could give him a shot. He wasn't really thrilled with this situation & although he didn't kick at anyone in particular, he did kick out real quick a couple of times. Once the shot started to make him goofy, we opened the back of the trailer & he backed out into the pen. Didn't take long for him to go down, & then the fun started.I hate gelding them, it such a primitive method, but it has to be done. This was right after he went down &
they were getting ready to start the surgery. I have pictures of the actual surgery, but I don't think it's necessary to show them. John won't even stay in the area when the scalpel comes out. (G) As you can tell from the picture below, it doesn't bother the other donkeys at all.
It was rather uneventful, although like many donkeys he took a lot of drugs to keep him out. Which means it takes awhile for him to c
ome out of it. This is a picture of him & Shawn when he was still trying to get his sea legs back.Today he has been laying down a lot & isn't interested in eating or drinking much. He doesn't have a lot of swelling, so I guess that's good news. I hope by tomorrow he will feel better. I'd like to be able to hose him down, but he's not the least bit interested in me or anyone else getting close to him. I can't blame him at this stage.
On the way home I came up with the name Paladin, a good strong name for a real pretty guy. I think it will fit him just fine.
No comments:
Post a Comment