2013 Donkey Gelding/John

Christmas is picky about who he trusts so building trust is selective and slow at times. He does not trust just anyone so this is a key point if someone "chooses" him but he doesn't choose them back.  He doesn't get aggressive, but he won't let them close, either.  He typically doesn't care for brushes, but does like getting scratched, but only in certain areas (neck, chest, butt).

 He needs help with having his feet picked up by different people and allowing people to handle his legs (for wound care - he's had problems with biting flies in the past). He also needs help accepting needles - he had a bad experience with a veterinarian in the past as well. Christmas would make a GREAT companion for trail walks!  This would also involve building communication and signals between himself and a person. 

​Christmas is part of a research herd associated with Equine International as part of an ongoing collaborative effort to facilitate research in the field of equine therapy. This herd's behaviors and responses to humans have been part of longitudinal research studies in equine wellbeing/welfare and equine-human interactions that will play a significant role in the research collaborations with Project ComeBack and serve as controls and comparisons for the dedicated PCB herd (which will create more robust findings for this work). 


Christmas is fully sponsored by Equine International.