DefinitelyDressage.com

Did you know that I acquired an donkey?
I picked up a potential older gelding at the local auction house, the horse did not sell in the sale so he went to the ten pen. I only saw him ridden but he seems fairly mild mannered and I hope will be a worth while barn horse.

Anyway, I also picked up an about 11 / 12 hand donkey. He has a rather strange spotty marking on his shoulder that my friend said looks a bit like a funky A.

So we nicknamed him, Funky A, but his real name is Altair.

Altair enjoys visiting me at the fence,



He and the gelding are still in quarantine, but I will bring them to the barn next week, and have a better idea of what kind of handling they have. I just thought you might enjoy the pics

I named the gelding Vega, anyone know who Deneb, Vega and Altair are?

here is Vega.

They are 3 bright stars. Hope your 3 turn out to be the same!

OMG they are adorable! Those ears!! Vega is handsome and looks like a kind gentleman.

Susan

Those stars are among the 58 stars of the heavens that were/are used to navigate on the high seas:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_s ... navigation

Now days, very few navigators know how to swing a sextant arc to determine the height of a star leave alone do the calculations to establish a line of position (LOP) on a chart. They just look at the GPS input to the navigation computer (charts are no longer printed on poster sized paper, they are sent to the ship as PDFs). It took at least three stars to establish a "fix" of one's position on the ocean. A "Day's Work in Navigation" included morning stars before sun rise, morning sun line, Local Apparent Noon (LAN), afternoon sun line and evening stars at twilight. I was the ship's Navigator on two different Navy ships, one was a large amphibious warship and the second was the Battleship New Jersey.

And to be honest, I probably would require a week's worth of review to re-learn myself. <G>

I must admit though, I've never had much luck with long ears. The couple I've worked with and I had immediate personality conflicts. Probably two alpha personalities. <BEG>

I love them both. So glad they landed softly from that auction. What is the "ten pen"...is that the kill pen? They both look so sweet...best wishes for them to transition well into their new life.

Awwww they are both lucky boys!! What cuties. I once met a horse named Altair. Back in the late 90s Beth Underhill's top show jumper was a bay named Altair. I got to give him a carrot. I always thought he would have been a fantastic dressage horse as well.

Enjoy your new boys!

The number 10 pen is the name given to those who are not purchased, are cheap enough to make meat profit, and not considered likely to attract higher price at another auction. So yes, if they are still in the ten pen by weekend they go on the slaughter truck. If they are sound, trained and registered, they usually make the 5 pen, which is resale, or re auction.

Glad this pair landed on their hooves! Donkey looks like a bit of a character

Why are donkeys so darned cute????? I like Vega's eye--he is going to be a good boy.

Love the looks of both of them! One is cute and the other looks wise and kind. Glad you got them.

The donkey is beyond cute, and looks like a real character. Glad they both landed softly. Fingers crossed that the gelding works out well as a schoolie.

Wows, what a pair. You are a friend of animals, Chisamba.

Cute!!! Great names too.

Chisamba wrote:The number 10 pen is the name given to those who are not purchased, are cheap enough to make meat profit, and not considered likely to attract higher price at another auction. So yes, if they are still in the ten pen by weekend they go on the slaughter truck. If they are sound, trained and registered, they usually make the 5 pen, which is resale, or re auction.

So glad you came along for them. The 10 pen sounds like a very sad destination.

Oh my goodness, what a joy it will be to be greeted by that long-eared face every day! A friend has one and says they are air ferns and hers needs a dry lot, cannot go out to pasture with the horses. I'm curious what your experience is. I thought of getting one but can't imagine keeping him cooped up while the ponies get to roam free.

goneriding wrote:Oh my goodness, what a joy it will be to be greeted by that long-eared face every day! A friend has one and says they are air ferns and hers needs a dry lot, cannot go out to pasture with the horses. I'm curious what your experience is. I thought of getting one but can't imagine keeping him cooped up while the ponies get to roam free.

I have so many air ferns that my donkey has plenty of company in the dry lot.

Aww I love them! Please tell us more about Vega when you start playing with him.

LeoApp wrote:Aww I love them! Please tell us more about Vega when you start playing with him.

Vega had two shoes on, one front and one hind, and was way overdue for a trim, the farrier came and trimmed his feet, he was quite good and seems to have good feet, however there was a bit of a chunk of hoof gone on the bare foot, and a bruise, so right now he is footsore. I removed the two shoes he had and I left him barefoot, so I am not sure if it was the correct decision. after a few days soaking and Venice turpentine i will review the decision.

Thanks for saving these two, how adorable are they?!

Altair is so cute and looks like quite a character. Looking forward to seeing what you do with Vega!

He's so colorful! Love the themed names too. There's a donkey that shares a paddock with Pallie sometimes but he's not nearly so colorful. He is a big sweetheart though (as long as you don't ask him to do anything too strenuous! haha)