oh dear....Donkeys!

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bex1984

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In the last couple of weeks 2 very cute donkeys have moved to the yard where Murphy lives. Unfortunately Murphy thinks they are long-eared fire-breathing monsters and he will not go anywhere near them, and is reluctant to even walk past the barn they are in (whether they are in there or not).

They walked out of the barn about 20 metres ahead of us a few days ago, and I couldn't get him to move forwards at all after that (even when they had gone away from us and out of sight) - I had to get off and drag him.

This is unprecendented behaviour for Murphy - he is probably the least spooky horse on the yard but while every other horse either likes the donks, or took an initial dislike and then got over it, Murphy seems to be getting more and more terrified.

Any suggestions for helping him get over his fear?!
 
Oh bless him, lol, but early days yet, he'll realise in time there is nothing to be fearful off, I wouldn't force the issue as you may make it worse, just give him time and use other horses to give him confidence to go by them.
 
One of my horses was just the same when we got a donkey. I started off by touching the donkey then going to him so he could get used to their smell. And worked up from there with the desensitizing. It didn;t take long.
 
Hi. We have the same problem, our two non spooky cobs who will hack past the llamas up the road are terrified of the donkeys down the road! The donkeys are beach donkeys that spend the winter grazing down the road from us, the woman with the llamas can't get her horse to turn left out of her drive due to the donkeys, she said she spends all winter getting her horse used to the donkeys and then they go back to the beach for the summer!
 
I have helped quite a few people get their horses used to donkeys. In short, just keep them near, seperate fields, opposite stables, etc, and they will soon be accepted. Has never failed yet.
 
Maybe Murphy has heard the statistic about more people a year being killed by donkeys than are killed in airplane crashes!!
Dangerous things you know, those donkeys.
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Donkeymad said:
I have helped quite a few people get their horses used to donkeys. In short, just keep them near, seperate fields, opposite stables, etc, and they will soon be accepted. Has never failed yet.
Click to expand...

Also try and work on you nnot making it an issue. "Donkeys?What donkeys?"
 
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