From: Vicki/ladywife <ladywife@b...>
Date: Mon May 29, 2000 2:04am
Subject: Magic Rope Trick
Here is the recipe for the magic rope trick that
teaches him there is
something invisible gluing his feet to the ground when he is tied.
one apple sliced into 16 pieces or one handful of carrot pieces
one donkey
one sturdy, close-fitting halter
one 6 foot COTTON lead rope with a bull snap
one 10x10 sturdy treeless enclosure (4 pipe corral panels set up in your
front yard)
one lawn chair
one glass of iced tea
Scatter the apple or carrots pieces throughout the enclosure.
Put the halter on the donkey.
Attach the lead rope to the halter.
Put the donkey in the enclosure.
Put the lawn chair under a shade tree where you can watch the donkey.
Sit down and sip your iced tea.
As the donkey lowers his head to pick up a piece of treat he will step
on
the rope. If he tries to yank his head up when he discovers he can't
move
forward, he will see there is no one nearby that could be holding him.
He
wants the treats so eventually he will figure out he has to move his feet
before he can move forward. This teaches him respect for the lead
rope.
This is a passive resistance method of letting him teach himself it is
useless to fight the rope. As long as the end of the rope is not
attached
to anything there is little risk of him getting his legs tangled in it.
Leave him in the enclosure dragging the lead rope for at least 30 minutes,
longer if you see he is still fighting the rope.
This is the best method I have found for teaching a donkey to stand quietly
when tied. In the hundreds of times I have used this method I have
never
had a donkey get tangled in the cotton lead rope. I
never leave the donkey
alone and I keep a sharp pocket knife handy
in case he does find a way to
get tangled up.
Vicki/ladywife
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