Has anyone ever heard of this training method…where a donkey is teathered to a horse (for a few days). Specifically a horse that has no respect for other horses/people in it’s herd. The donkey is supposed to teach the horse some humility.
I think maybe it takes the horse down a notch in how it percieves it’s place in the herd…
Has anyone ever done this or seen it done? Does it work? Sounds like old timey methods to me.
Yes, I have seen it done and it was done to a big disrespectful bullish yearling filly that I sent out to specifically have that done. With the party that I know, it is basically a way to halter break weanlings. He even did it with a 4H steer that a kid could not get broke to lead. It is very effective, but the burro has to be trained for it. They are in a fair sized pen with feed at one end and water at the other.
Should probably add that the horse is tied to a neckstrap or sometimes a surcingle on the donkey. The donkey is not tied to the horse…if you can see the difference.
This is a older method, not seen much anymore. I first saw it on ranch, where young horses were pretty large, not much handled before weaning. Donkey will out tough the led animal, whether equine or bovine. I have most often seen it done with a breastcollar, surcingle arrangement, so less chance of injury to donkey. First couple days the donkey may get dragged around, led animal usually gives up after that, donkey is then in charge. Led animal learns to drink and eat when the donkey allows it. Donkey may do a lot of kicking, depends on how trained it is.
Those who use the donkeys say it is the very best way. Even a small child can lead that calf or steer. Colts don’t pull back, ever.
I just think there are better ways to train on young horses. I would worry about neck and spine injuries. They happen easily when colts fight the rope pull with head halters. Once you physically damage them, there is no going back. Lots of horses have been trained with the donkeys, done well later. You just don’t know how many had problems later. Cattle either. I think training method is rather hard on small donkeys, all that jerking about. It is a method that served it’s purpose then, we should have figured some improved methods by now, moved on from then. I would not use this method now, for any who needed halter training.
I’ve heard of it. I tend to be negatively disposed toward it only because of the people who have enthusiastically recommended it to me as a training method. They tend to have other training methods of which I disapprove, so…
I’ve certainly read about this method to teach a horse to lead. It was in this book: http://www.rods.com/p/1986,306_The-Horsemans-Scrapbook.html which is one hell of an entertaining read. All sorts of cowboy methods to get stuff done :lol:
Well… many, many years ago on the ranch out in CA we used this method. Had a dear jack named Wilbur and he was an expert at halter breaking and putting manners on the youngsters. He really seemed to enjoy his job.
We’d handle the babies when they were with their mommas, but after weaning they’d be turned out with the cattle on a section of land up in the mountains. When we brought them in as long-yearlings some of them had forgotten their early training and Wilbur was great at ‘reminding’ them.
We didn’t just throw them out tied together but put them in a small pen right behind the house where I could keep an eye on them. No one ever got hurt - particularly me! I weighed a lot less in those days and sure wasn’t up to hanging onto a big, strong, rambunctious colt with no respect!!
It’s a lot different when you’ve got 20 or so yearlings to start by yourself so I always took particularly good care of Wilbur as he was worth his weight in gold as an Assistant Trainer! :yes:
Tie a donkey to my horse?!
Whatever did the horse do to deserve that? :winkgrin:
I’ve heard of it. Its ridiculous and is the tool of folks who know no better! If you’re lucky you end up with a horse that is “cowed” in spirit. Which is not what I would ever want in any circumstances.
If unlucky, an injured (or dead) donkey and horse.
You want a horse to work with you NOT a donkey, so its best to train it yourself. Not force something on it.
Thomas, I can assure you that none of those ranch horses were cowed in spirit! It would be impossible to work cattle all day on such a horse… and those yearlings all went on to be great ranch horses.
[QUOTE=Thomas_1;2898194]
I’ve heard of it. Its ridiculous and is the tool of folks who know no better! If you’re lucky you end up with a horse that is “cowed” in spirit. Which is not what I would ever want in any circumstances.
If unlucky, an injured (or dead) donkey and horse.
You want a horse to work with you NOT a donkey, so its best to train it yourself. Not force something on it.[/QUOTE]
Sorry - I don’t agree. I saw this method when I was a little girl. My great-granddad used to do this when needed.
I think the first time I saw it was when he used it on a mustang he had gotten who was virtually wild. I don’t know where that mustang came from, but he was WILD! The mustang was named Duke, and the donkey was Jasper. He put those two together and Duke figured out pretty quick that if Jasper didn’t want to go somewhere that Duke wanted to go, it wasn’t happening. On the flip side, if Duke didn’t want to go where Jasper wanted to be, tough…Duke ended up getting taken there against his will. Eventually, he figured it all out.
Duke was never “cowed” and always had plenty of spirit…he just knew he couldn’t make the world move to his whims and, according to my great-uncle, was the best dang horse they ever had.
Oh - and since by my calculations, great-granddad would have been about 93 years old when he was “training” that mustang, I’m kind of glad he let the dang donkey do the hard part.
A lot of ranches out west still do this. I know of one in Texas that doesn’t handle any foals until they’re 2YO, and the first thing they do is tie them to a donkey. It isn’t ridiculous, but really quite clever. The horse is being trained by a trusted animal that isn’t going to abuse it, but not put up with any shenanigans either. It also teaches the horse to walk thru water, take water at every opportunity and learn to chill when there really isn’t anything to be scared of. It’s a wonderful way to teach them to tie and lead and the horses go much more willingly for a fellow herd animal than they ever do from a biped when learning to lead. After a couple of days, horses that have never been touched by humans quite willingly go with humans and usually hop on the trailer at first asking. There’s a lot of wisdom is some of the old cowboy methods that has nothing to do with brutalizing a horse. You do yourself a disservice by judging something you haven’t seen first-hand.
There was an article in TB Times about farms in KY using this method (note, on weanlings and yearlings) and a farm that kept donkeys to rent out just for this reason.
You have to use common sense of course. You wouldn’t tie a small donkey to a huge vicious stallion. But by the time they are huge (vicious or not) somebody should have trained them long ago!
the old ways
I like Ashemont’s version of the tale and I think a reliable quiet donkey large enough to take the abuse makes a lot of user friendly sense. There are other methods I have heard used which I would like far less.
For instance, the old tie them to a tire which is tied to a tree method of teaching them to tie, I would like a whole lot less for instance. Imagine the poor horse when he pulls back and sees that tire raise into the air. Panic time!!! Major Stress!!!
%These are somewhat boot camp methods but the donkey I think has its merit if used properly, on many levels of respect.
the old ways
I like Ashemont’s version of the tale and I think a reliable quiet donkey large enough to take the abuse makes a lot of user friendly sense. There are other methods I have heard used which I might question far more.
For instance, the old tie them to a tire which is tied to a tree method of teaching them to tie, I would like a whole lot less for instance. Imagine the poor horse when he pulls back and sees that tire raise into the air. Panic time!!! Major Stress!!! And that cowboy method of tacking them up tying the head around to about six inches from the girth and leaving them out in the pens to flip around and fall over sometimes three and four at a time, as a method of “taking the buck out of the babies” before getting on, and doing it particularly with a bit in the mouth…a few of those resulting with tongues half torn off. That is one training method I think should be outlawed, and sadly I have seen it used.
These are somewhat boot camp methods but the donkey I think has its merit if used properly, on many levels of respect. For any of you using this method, would love to see a UTube Demo which you might consider calling " Boot Camp for Outlaws"!!!
One of my uncles, a genuine “cowboy” who worked on some of the biggest name West Texas ranches, and was later the sheriff of Matador, TX, once gave me a really NICE QH broodmare, not broke to ride, but who had been taught to lead by the donkey method. Believe me, you could dance a JIG, and that mare would NEVER allow the lead rope to tighten–it was quite extraordinary, actually! She was in NO way ‘cowed’, believe me; in fact, she was a rather opinionated, but tractable mare who produced VERY high quality foals(none of these ‘inflated-looking’, straight-pasterned, tiny-footed creatures identified as QHs that are so often seen nowadays…)-and she was of excellent quality herself.
In my many years with horses, I have seen some abominable practices, often ‘identified’ with ‘cowboys’–but long ago came to realize that there were many who were genuine HORSEMEN among the ‘cowboys’–and many ‘Yay-hoos’ who might be described as 'cowboys, but who would never have been included in the ranks of the ‘real thing’… mainly because they could not differentiate cruel practices from those which, when carried out properly, worked well to a desired end, and did NOT cause harm nor suffering to the horse.
Margo in New Mexico
I’ve heard of it. Have to say, it’s a lot smarter than the other “old-timey” method I’ve heard of: tying them to a tire and letting them drag it around. That is ridiculously stupid and would only teach the horse to pull. The donkey thing at least sounds somewhat logical – I can believe that it would work.
I did it…and Im glad I did it!!!
Well, after reading all the post, much research, soul searching and talking to trainers of all walks…an nearly getting killed by my 17h 2yo percheron filly who doesn’t respect my space…I did it. I sent her off to a trainer that utilizes a donkey combined with other methods and daily handling. His donkey is experienced and trained to do this with the right tempermanet (well…he is a donkey after all). And in 30 days, I got back a happy, well mannered, horse. Oh, yeah…she does occassionally still try to push us around and attempts her old bossy habits, but with the skills that the trainer taught me when I picked her up, I can quickly, firmly and nicely put her back in her place. Neither the donkey or the horse were harmed in anyway.
The donkey…what a great guy!
So, if you got something too big to handle, too illmannered, too pushy and too dangerous…go see the donkey!
Donkeys are true horse whisperers. They speak the lanquage perfectly.
I saw a 15 HH Mamouth jenny that trained heavies. She never scared or hurt one either.
rh
[QUOTE=Sithly;2912995]
I’ve heard of it. Have to say, it’s a lot smarter than the other “old-timey” method I’ve heard of: tying them to a tire and letting them drag it around. That is ridiculously stupid and would only teach the horse to pull. The donkey thing at least sounds somewhat logical – I can believe that it would work.[/QUOTE]
Not even close. Since the tire never wears itself out, the horse learns that resistance is futile, so don’t bother resisting. Why do you tie up to a hitching post? Because resistance is futile.
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