Let me introduce you to my crew...

 This is Spike, my solid Paint gelding.  He was given to me by Jim Murray of NJM Shorthorns.  Although several have wondered at the wisdom of a "free horse", he is a great horse.  It took me a bit to realize that he is all huff and bluff on the outside and a softie inside (much like Jim!).  Spike got me started in Parelli Natural Horsemanship (frankly he scared the bejeepers out of me for the first month) and we haven't looked back since. We started incorporating Clicker Training to help make the new stuff clearer to him and it has proven very successful.  I shouldn't be surprised because if Spike were human, he'd be on the side of the road with a sign around his neck that says "Will Work For Food".

Meet HC Sweet Impulse - better known as Tango.  She is a QH, now 5 years.  She is my thinker and she is way too confident for my own good!  What else can you say about a horse who, the very first time she saw a lawnmower refused to take her nose away when I started it - and couldn't have cared less when it roared to life.  Ooyy am I in for an interesting time with her!  I've always said Tango is like molasses on a cool day and Spike is like water down a slide.

In this picture, she is barely 2 years and has just seen the teeter for the first time. She calmly put one foot in front of the other all the way up, down and over. 

Elizabeth.  Sweet Elizabeth.  She came from Ontario in the same trailer as Spike, which could explain why she doesn't care for him.  She is a large Standard donkey with the spotted gene. 

Elizabeth is my heart girl.  Although she is stoically terrified if I have anything resembling a stick in my hand, she is still the one who comes to give comfort when needed. I trust that with time and patience, I can help her get her confidence back. 

Betty is one half of the Flintstone clan.  She is a red roan mammoth donkey approximately 11 years old.  She is going to be helping to halter break the cattle but judging by their first attempts (they did it when they were younger apparently), we'll need to get halters that don't tighten.  They could put a team of pulling Belgians to shame.

I am fast becoming a really patient person - LOL.  But as they say - Donkeys and mules MUST be trained the way horses should be trained. 

Wilma is the other half of the Flintstone Clan.  She is also a mammoth and appears to be more red roan dappled than solid roan.  She is the more cautious of the two but also the sharper.  Hopefully both of these girls will be bred in 2009.  I will post more pictures as time permits.

Thank you for letting me share my crew with you.

Chris Alexander