Taco
Taco was rescued by a couple from the Swan Valley in northwest Montana, who found this sweet 5-year old burro in awful neglect, along with his 17-year old mother. Their hooves hadn't been trimmed in so long that they curled up. They were crawling with lice and their hair was falling out. Both burros were filled with intestinal worms. And because Taco grew up with untrimmed hooves, his legs are each slightly misshapen -- but fortunately he is not disabled.
After getting the two burros prompt medical attention, Taco's rescuers decided to keep his mother and called us to see if Taco could come to the sanctuary.
Since Taco was semi-wild and very mistrustful of humans when he first arrived, much of our effort has been spent on "gentling" him and building trust.
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The only way to get close enough to hold Taco by his halter was to gently snare him in a rope; each of us would hold one end of a long rope and walk towards him on either side, until we had his chest in a "V" and looped the rope over his neck. At that point Taco would allow us to walk up and clip a lead on his halter. This daily "catch-me-if-you-can" routine went on for four months, before he finally let his guard down and began to trust us.
