Melody, how can I teach my donkey to walk on the halter and lead and not pull back or refuse to move his feet? I am frustrated. Sherry, AL

Hi Sherry,

Donkeys are not horses with long ears. Donkeys are not flight equine, donkeys have personalities just like people extrovert more go than whoa and introvert more whoa the go. Donkeys need to see a reason for each and everything they do and their safety and self-preservation is number one. Learning how to tame and train a donkey is vital to your success as traditional old cowboy horse training will not work on a donkey. Donkeys will lay down when overwhelmed and not get up or they can fight back but all donkeys can stop walking when scared or not understanding what we want them to do.

Why is the donkey refusing to walk on the halter and lead line pulling back? Taking a donkey out for a walk without doing basic training foundation work in Donkey 101 Video On Demand https://donkeywhisperer.com/product/donkey-training-101/ is like driving a motor vehicle with no breaks, steering, or control of acceleration.  Please do not feel like you are the only person to encounter this issue with donkeys. This is a common issue and is easy to fix if you are willing to learn using proven short exercises that work. I train the owner or caretaker how to tame and train donkeys worldwide.

Sadly, people get into a hurry when trying to teach anything new to a donkey. Some people think quick tricks are the best like placing a rope around the butt, or another person pushing while the person with the lead line is pulling and adding a chain to the flat halter.  This exercise creates a memory of pain and distrust as there is no relationship its simply being a bully while adding pain. In fact, it makes teaching the donkey to lead more difficult as donkeys store everything good and negative in their memories for life. The next time the person takes the donkey out they will have a hard time catching the donkey as the memory is pain. The donkey does not want to feel this pain again. Never use pain or force to teach a donkey as the donkey is one of the most intelligent animals God created, the donkey will never forget you betrayed him or her. Learn how to be a fair leader with a plan and remember you own a donkey.

Donkeys are born with the gift of self-preservation. Horses are flight equine meaning if I am afraid I had better fart, poop, and run to not be killed or hurt. The mule (mom is a horse and dad is a donkey) is used in the Grand Canyon as the mule will not spook and jump off the wall. Self-preservation from the donkey. The donkey will always check at least three times or more anything new to ensure it is safe before moving a step forward.

The relationship is number one between donkeys and humans. If we do not take the time to build a foundation built on trust, timing, and words (walk-on, whoa, over, back-up, foot) along with good experiences the donkey will keep the memory of refusing to follow you as a fair leader. I highly recommend my courses Donkey 101 & 102 Video On Demand with my E-books to print out.

Stay On Donkey Time ®

Melody Johnson

Donkey Whisperer Farm ®