SPECIAL TO THE PVT Dusty Blue stands with his owner, Bob Crock (holding the the Grand Champion Buckle won by Dusty Blue in his first show) and his trainer, Tom Shiloh. Advertisement

Dusty Blue is no run-of-the-mill jackass.

An adopted animal originally from Ridgecrest, Calif., Dusty Blue won Grand Champion All-Around at the recent Bishop (Calif.) Wild Horse, Donkey, and Mule Show. And that was after only five months of training, and his very first show at that.

Dusty Blue is a wild donkey that was adopted by Bob Crock from Bureau of Land Management land when he was two years old. Crock said that when they first adopted Dusty, he was "wilder than wild."

But it would appear that Dusty, now 7, has settled down a bit.

Tom Shiloh, a horse and mule trainer who runs Performance Horses, trained Dusty Blue. Shiloh said that normally an adopted donkey has to be trained a little at a time, focusing on each class of competition separately. He said that it usually takes about a year for a donkey to earn grand champion in a competition. But after five months, Shiloh said of Dusty Blue, "You name it, he does well-groomed and well-mannered they are; and halter, which involves the animals' physical appearance; as well as several other events including barrel racing.

In order to achieve the title of Grand Champion All Around, Dusty Blue placed in each of the classes and had the highest overall point tally.

"As far as training donkeys and mules, he's probably the smartest donkey I've ever trained," said Shiloh. "He's a thinker."

Shiloh said that they had to keep teaching Dusty new things because he learned each task so quickly that he'd get bored.

"He was so willing, we just kept going with it," said Shiloh. "We were working on three or four areas at a time."

Then, after his first win, Dusty Blue did it all over again, taking the title of Grand Champion at the Nevada National Wild Horse Association show in Las Vegas Oct. 7 and 8.

To earn this second title of his short, but already prestigious career, Dusty Blue placed first in four categories and second in three others.

Dusty Blue will be taking some time off for the winter, enjoying long rides with Crock in the mountains.

Candidates night

The Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Disabled American Veterans will hold a candidates night at 6 p.m. Saturday at the VFW Post, 4651 S. Homestead Road.

RSVP to Bernie Cusimano, DAV commander, at 209-5085 or Tom Vick, VFW commander, at 209-4736 or 727-6072.