Liskeard Show 2012 - a great family day out
Donkeys prove their worth
W
HAT can you do with a donkey? Well - most things that you do with
a small horse you can do with a donkey; you can drive them and ride them and show them at local shows - here at Liskeard especially.
What else can you do with them?
You can use them to run your nursery. Americans use donkeys as companions for horse foals at weaning time.
They run the donkey with a mare and foal prior to weaning and the donkey stays with the foal when weaning takes place.
The foal takes a steadying influence from the donkey and looks to it for support.
Donkeys readily come to people; a foal will copy and as a result will become confident in the presence of people.
You could use them as body guards. On the wide and rolling prairies of Central America donkeys make surprisingly tenacious guard animals; they will take care of an entire herd of cattle, sheep or goats, even guard horses.
They bed down with the flock at night protecting them against predators and voice a warning at any strange sound. They will chase a predator and trample it if it gets too close.
The Sumerians (2600 BC) used their fierce donkeys in chariots to charge and trample their unfortunate enemy beneath their hooves.
Like many British donkey owners you could drive one. Donkey driving is safe and, as they are rarely shod, quiet.
Acceleration is steady and progressive and top speed is reached at the canter (galloping is not on their agenda). This inspires confidence, perfect for a beginner and most importantly, there is less fear of a run off as a
donkey’s first reaction to fright is to freeze - reassuring on today's busy roads.
Driving a donkey you are in good company. Jane Austen, Ettore Bugatti, Elton John, Alexandra Bastedo have all driven them. Queen Victoria started driving donkeys at sixty-eight. Jacquot became her favourite mode of transport and travelled everywhere with her.
Motoring aficionado Jeremy Clarkson is another donkey owner. Writing in the Sunday Times of his love of them he wrote: ‘I rang the donkey sanctuary this week and asked them to identify the point of a donkey.
‘They sent me a leaflet saying you can teach them to drive. But this seems like an act of desperation, nobody has ever used a donkey as a chauffeur - I love them more than dogs. I love them more than I love lots of people I have three, Geoffrey, Eddie and the beautiful one I call Kristin Scott Donkey - my donkeys are an antidote to the television nonsense I live with every day.’
You can of course ride your donkey, so can your children.
A little different from riding a horse with finer shoulders and a lower head carriage
it’s little like riding a bicycle - without handle bars.
A sitting trot is smooth and comfy but a rising trot can feel a little unsafe but it does feel as if they have enough power in reserve to go on forever - the recommended maximum rider weight for the standard British donkey is eight stone.
If you don’t want to do any of the above just come and see us with our donkeys in the Countryside area; you can talk donkey, feel donkey and watch donkey - and I guarantee that you will feel all the better for it.
Tony Butler Tel:
(01579) 345024 (Liskeard) Ltd
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taylorsliskeard@supanet.com
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