George and Alan – The Greatest Hits Album

Today is the one-year anniversary of George and Alan's arrival at the 7MSN Ranch. While we're out celebrating with carrots, carrots and more carrots, we present for your enjoyment a pictorial review of the last 12 months.

Some of you who have been following this blog from its inception may recall Rancher-woman's motivation for adopting two BLM burros. She had applied to be on the CBS program Survivor and was not chosen. The burros were her consolation prize to herself. She arranged the adoption over the internet with the BLM office in Canon City, Colorado, then she and Smooch took a road trip to pick them up. Click here for the unabridged version.

The Canon City BLM facility was located at the state prison. See this handsome cowboy? Prisoner. The story of my life...married, gay, or felon.



The first time Rancher-woman got a good look at George and Alan was when they were in her horse trailer. And it was love at first sight.



Even after nine hours on the road, George and Alan were in no hurry to leave the trailer once they arrived at their new home. They were a little skeptical of this new world they would be stepping into.



But by the next morning, they figured out that the room service was decent, the food was pretty good, and maybe they could get used to this place.



George was a friendly little guy from the minute he stepped off the trailer. Rancher-woman could touch him, stand near him, and even hug him. Alan was another story. He was curious, but there was no way he would let any human get close.

Rancher-woman kept them in a quarantine pen for several weeks. When she released them into the corral the first time, she got a glimpse of all the fun to come. They ran laps, chasing each other and leaping into the air with abandon.




After a few months of over-the-fence contact with the horses, it was finally time to let all the boys out in the pasture together. Hank let everyone know he was in charge, and there were no altercations.



Rancher-woman's new hobby became hanging out in the corral, waiting to see what George and Alan would get into next.



The new herd dynamics presented endless photo opportunities.



By the end of winter, Alan remained as curious as ever, but much to Rancher-woman's dismay, she could not get close to him or handle him as she could George.


Alan needed his hooves trimmed and his spring vaccinations, so Rancher-woman had to come up with a plan to tame the wild beast. She decided to give clicker-training a try, using an old glove she named Chuck as her training tool.



Almost overnight, Alan transformed from his wild self to Rancher-woman's shy little best friend.


George and Alan thrive on each other's company and are an endless source of entertainment, playing Jollyball...



...dancing with the cone...



...and starring in their own burro ballet.



And they learned to love modeling whenever Rancher-woman pulled out her camera.





They taught themselves to load into the trailer (click here for the video), and put on a brave face for their first trip to the vet.



Come on, George. Can we gather 'round for a group hug and anniversary picture?



Ok, so this is our half-assed attempt at a family portrait on this very special occasion.


Thank you for following our journey. We look forward to sharing our next year's adventures with all the new friends we've met through this blog.