Good article

I came across an article in this months ‘Carriage Driving’ magazine which is about horses, but I love the trade cart set ups and enjoy reading them getting very het up in the letters section about rein handling, week after week 😀

Anyway, this article is about driving donkeys, and myself and bivol were recently discussing that both of us and another ox person I know all prefer oxen and donkeys over horses. This article describes the difference between donkeys and horses in driving, and I feel that you could happily substitute the word donkey for the word ox in this article – I struggle to articulate the difference, but I feel this article does it!

For example:

“When driven correctly, a donkey will work out how to do its job for you. You give the commands and plan out its course intelligently, yet the donkey must be given the responsibility for taking its steps. It needs to be involved in decision making or it simply will not move freely. The experienced donkey which knows its job will become very light in the hand, and will respond to a contact as light as the weight of a rein.”

“If you drop contact with a novice donkey it will quickly lose forward momentum and often break pace or deviate in its direction”

“Unschooled donkeys resist driving in three ways. Firstly they refuse to go forward, secondly they refuse to steer. Thirdly they try a combination of the two. The first evasion si dealt with by creating more interest for the donkey. Find out what it enjoys, gain forward momentum by taking it on walks, climbing hills and longreining…”

“Once the donkey becomes experienced it becomes crucial not to patronise him with the training above. Just as pupils in a school hate to be taught what they already know, donkeys like to show you what they can do, and like to learn new challenges. Once a donkey responds to all the stages above you start to see how little you need to do to get a response.”

“The point made is this: that once a donkey is experienced he needs to be given the responsibility to to complete the work with minimal interference. It is their intellectual freedom that inspires thier physical ability”

“Donkeys need relationship in order to perform tasks well;……You need to think before acting upon problems when working within a relationship with a person: the same is required of the donkey. This is where a donkey becomes a real blessing, as it will work for you as you learn to respect its intellectual ability, listening as well as communicating as you do with a close friend.”

So well done to Debs Street, who’s put into words what I could not!! This is what I have found in driving and working oxen in general down to a ‘T’!