The working donkey is a valuable addition to any farm. Especially a farm looking to be more ‘green’ and organic. Get your ass to work is not only a look at how your donkey can help you on a farm but its a look into history and a long time equine trainer’s methods.
The Working Donkey
If you are looking to drive and especially do farm work with your donkey, I highly recommend this book, Get your Ass to Work.
I’ve probably read thru it 3 times now… and no, I do not agree with some of his training methods, but I don’t have to agree with everything to learn something!!
I start training with a base of +R methods and I wouldn’t use a lot of the training tools he recommends. I have an entirely different and unique approach to training donkeys, but I still learned and enjoyed this book very much!
For Donkeys, work has to be something they want!
Quote from the book I love and made a note of:
An Arkansas logger once advised me, “In that big timber, sometimes just let’em pull the length of the log and let’em rest.”
If pushed beyond their limit, their body actually fails them, and they become discouraged and lose all heart for pulling. Make them rest longer than they want sometimes, so that they remain eager to press forward and overcome the challenge. Pulling should be something they GET to do, not something they have to do. ~Dick Courteau
YES! They GET to pull…
I often take this approach with riding too.. I want them to love it, look forward to it and enjoy it. So I do things to make sure they will like it and I ease into how long they carry a load. I want them to feel accomplished and be rewarded for it, too.
Advice for My Working Donkey in Training
While working with Jasper on getting him to overcome his big driving set back, I’ll definitely keep this in mind.
Jasper can get easily discouraged about things.. he shuts down and pouts. Once the pouting starts, if I push him, he digs in worse or he bolts. If I don’t let him get discouraged, he will have a better chance at success.
Need Help Training a Working Donkey?
Then you should check out my patreon Donkey Training Membership Group! The largest online library of donkey training videos! Plus ebooks and PDF guides to help you along the way to being successful with your donkey!
You might also like my Youtube Channel playlist of Driving Donkey Videos
and this article on driving training Driving a Donkey {Video Series from Start to Cart}