It would probably be best to measure if possible. Donkey tends to have a larger nose than horse of the same height. You want halter fitting nicely, not baggy loose or real snug. A cotton rope to lead with, will probably be easier on your hands if she pulls. A note of interest, is that horse feed and sheep feed, should not be used between species. Horse feed mixes and mineral blocks contain copper, which is needed by equines. Sheep can not tolerate copper, should not have access to it. Sheep feed you purchase, has things that equines should not be allowed to eat. Sheep need plain white salt, or minerals with NO copper. So don't let the wrong animal eat the other animals feed. This would be why a sheep feeding area that donkey cannot get into, might be something to consider. Just feeding plain corn and oats to each animal is acceptable, but they each need the minerals too. A mineral block up high on the shed wall for donkey could work, with sheep minerals in the sheep ONLY feeding area so donkey can't get in there. Donkey is big enough that a sheep size gate hole, will probably keep her out if it is solidly built above for height. Donkey will need yearly vaccinations, which you can purchase and give yourself, to save money. Recommended are Rabies, Tetnus, West Nile for sure. She may need two shots to start, if she has never been immunized. Then just a booster yearly. We give the three Es, WEE, VEE, EEE, flu and killed Strangles. Flu and Strangles usually come from contact with other Equines, that she may not have. The Es are fly, mosquito transported, and do pop up occasionally, especially in Florida, southern states. People can get the Encephylitus, though not common, so I always vaccinate for it. Kid down the road got it from an unvaccinated pony, died, though that was many years ago. She may need hoof care, if she can't wear them off on rough ground, covering lots of distances. As she advances in training, you can try working with her, picking hooves up daily as part of grooming routine. Still, some kindly donkeys are BAD about hooves, have to be sedated and tied, to be safe for a Farrier to trim them. Our local sheep folks got BLM donkeys for herd protection, always get them sedated for their twice a year trim. I know a Vet who got his scalp peeled, 30 stitches, because donkey was not sedated enough. They are REALLY flexible, and DO KNOW EXACTLY how hard to kick, where to aim for. Vet was up by the shoulder, leaning to get a front hoof. Little donkey, but DID NOT want him touching her after the first shot, so she nailed him. Donkey should LOVE getting groomed as she learns how much fun it is. With her rough coat, the coarser, stiff bristles seem to be a popular choice with donkeys. Bristles get right to the skin. They also like the round rubber Grooma curry brushes. Lean into it, they lean back, seem to enjoy it immensely. I go lightly on ear brushing, but try to accustom them to ear touching, make it enjoyable. Brushing chest, belly, girth area if safe. Some people put up stiff floor broom heads on a sturdy post, so donkey or horse can rub against it themselves. Donkeys seem to ALWAYS like getting itched, will create a rolling spot. A load of sand dumped in the paddock or pasture, will put her in donkey heaven, and you can call it the A** Hole! Around here the gnats always congregate in equine ears, make them scabby. I rub inside lightly with vasaline every few days to keep the blood suckers out. Animals get to liking ears rubbed and cleaned of insects. Chest area, bellybutton areas also get chewed, so I vasaline them too. BE CAREFUL to see if she is accepting of being touched there, don't get hurt. She can kick forward of her shoulder point, and sweep backward, covers a LOT of area. Standing close to her body, you won't get the full impact power, so think of that too. Maybe your area doesn't get the gnats so she won't be bothered. Some Southern folks say their donkey get lower legs chewed by flies and bugs. Have to keep it greased with stuff to close the sores that get created. Every area has it's problems. Getting your ground training done, should help the respect in many ways. We use the hiss, it is a special noise, horses know what hiss means. I carry the whip, they give me space with it, as they congregate in a group to come in, follow me around the field checking fence, checking me for treats or head rubs, see if they can go for a ride. Avoiding each other, they might forget to pay attention to me as they clown around. I need that space for my safety. A whip is an aid, you extend your reach with it, to keep out of kick or bite range. You can use it to tap one end of horse over, keeping the other end in place. Same with donkey or mule, tap them to move away from whip touch. Flick is not severe, but next step if one is crowding, ignoring your directions. Donkeys and mules are not dumb, but they don't think as we expect them to in reactions. So trying to ignore directions or outwait you, see if you give in and forget about direction, is one of their methods. Waiting on the donkey to respond, is the reward for them being slow. Pretty soon donkey thinks that you EXPECT to give direction 3 times before discipline. That IS HOW you have now trained her. Kind of like kids! I have not seen them hold a grudge or loose trust with whip tapping, making them respect your spaces. Lead herd animal make them respect her! No respect is when you allow them to push you around, create a monster with no manners. Glad you have dog training, it helps you see herd dynamics. Web sites can be very helpful in spreading information.

Referring back to the original post, I do think that what tholbrook's SD did ---lying to authorities about her Dad & SM in a potentially very damaging way--- was terrible. It absolutely must be made clear to her that such behavior is unacceptable and that there will be serious consequences when it happens. But I think where you're hearing some divide is over what exactly those consequences should be. Some think it means SD should be banished from the house forever. I and a few others disagree with that. At least at this point. Yes, what SD did was extreme... but it must be properly understood and dealt with for what it was. Everyone on this board I think can more or less agree that she did it for negative attention. Some see that in itself as an offense, the needing of attention. Others see it as a call for help or some other means of resolving the situation. Here's what I think could be appropriate consequences for what she did: -make her write a formal apology letter to the authorities, admitting she lied and apologizing for wasting their time. (If she lies again to them in the future, have her next apology published in the local newspaper.) -make her volunteer every single weekend in a battered women's shelter for a while so she sees what abuse actually looks like and that it's not a thing to lie about. make her tell the employees at the shelter why she's there volunteering so they can help educate her. -make her do her own documentation every day that abuse is not taking place. have her photograph her arms, legs, face and neck every day with the absence of bruises and maintain a folder on the computer with these photos. have her conduct her own daily search of the house, corner to corner and write down every detail in a notebook. -buy her a big fat textbook on abuse and neglect and have her read it cover to cover and quiz her on it. Make the questions as picky as you wish. Until she gets 100% answers correct she will have to re-read the book and be re-quizzed on it every week. -make her go to counseling. make her keep a journal about what she's learning about herself and her feelings and why she felt a need to lie. Don't read it, but set aside an alloted hour each week that she is to do nothing else but write in her journal. You can sit on one side of a big room like the living room while she sits and writes on the other side, or in an adjoining dining room or whatever (so you're not on top of her but you can see if she's writing or not.) Whatever she wants, as long as she's writing something. even if it's total vitriol about you, it will at least be venting and purging it out of her. Then, later she can look at it and see how much anger she has inside and how upset it's making HER as well. -in the meantime, continue to treat her as you had in the past, without making any to-do or guilt trip over it, so that she can see how good she has it and how much of a hassle she caused for herself by lying about mistreatment. Teens will and do lie. Teens do crave attention. Many teens go through phases where they feel as though they absolutely despise their parents, even in the best of situations. Again, what tholbrook's SD did was beyond what the "average" teen might do. If I was in tholbrook's shoes, I'd be livid and deeply hurt myself. But again, the question is what truly is the most appropriate and effective way of dealing with what has been done. In my opinion, simply washing hands of her and shipping her off somewhere else is not going to solve the problem. And even if the thinking is it will at least get her out of your own hair, there is no guarantee that she won't continue to slander you from afar. I won't debate whether some people truly are just bad to the bone... I'm sure some are. (Hitler comes to mind.) But with a minor especially, it's more often the case that such extremes of behavior like this sort of lie is coming from a place of extreme fear, pain, desperation or emptiness. It may not even have anything to do with her parents, but something in her life is causing her to feel that such a lie was the only way to get some need of hers met. If you can try to see beyond your own hurt to see that and address it with SD, you may be able to have a positive impact on who she becomes as an adult, because she is very much still being formed... Basically she just needs to be shown that lying is no way to deal with your problems, and that there are consequences as well as alternatives. On the other hand, if OVER TIME and DESPITE YOUR BEST EFFORTS to talk to her and despite all warnings you give her of a specific appropriate consequence of her doing such a thing again she continues to do it, at that point the idea of switching houses might be in order. But it should be an absolutely last resort, and I think at least her dad (if not you too) should try and maintain some amount of neutral contact with her throughout.

Vee, yes they were born to herd...not with their eyes but with their teeth!!!! However, they are smart little rascals and can learn "household manners" with some effort. We only rescue corgis now...our old man, Jay, is 14 and would have failed severely as a working cattle dog I'm afraid. He only bites FOOD!!!! :^0)))) Our latest, Brady, is with us (at 8) because his family took in 4 grandchildren (4,5,6 and 6) who roughhoused as you can imagine those 4 would and Brady thought it was open season on herding them ... hence nipping at the heels/rear ends!!!!!! The first morning we had him and I took them on their first-of-the-day "constitutional" up the road, even on a long line he tried it with Jay. With ONE lesson of harshly-spoken NO WE DON"T DO THAT... he quit. When he tried it the next morning and I yelled HEY!!!! LITTLE MAN... he hasn't done it since, though it's in his nature and he dearly loves to charge the critters on the porch knowing there is a screen door there. HAHAHHAA... they are lovely "little dogs in big-man clothes". The trick for the most part is not letting them get away with something to begin with... in our relaxed life, not with the true working, herding corgi. Would love to have seen that little guy hanging onto the kine tail!!!!!!!!! smile

A few years ago I was given a gift certificate to a nursery for Mothers Day. ( I'd just moved houses.) One of the things I picked was a helenium with brown blossoms. It's drought-tolerant, and I guess I thought it it would look restful next to a more vibrant-colored bloom. From a distance, it just looks like a dead spot. It is inoffensive and in theory deserves a chance to live. Plus I have that issue of it being a gift. I'm probably too much of a softy to have a really nice garden. I think I'll move it to the other side of the garage, where my eyes won't fall on it so often. -Judy