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Demented Donkey Dame
ParticipantI have to make a trip this direction and I may just plan it around this event…. anyone else thinking of going?
ParticipantTeamdonk just finished doing three parades in three days.:) I have to say you really need to have everything as perfect as you can before you even think about parades. Combining people and animals is so dangerous. The larger the parade the more alert you have to be for potential problems. By the third day the boys had it down to where they were really calm, the second day not so good in one area. 😮 There are photos and stories on the blog and some nice team pictures also http://www.2011teamdonk.wordpress.com just keep going back through the posts.
We had candy being thrown from the float in front of us and tiny little ones were often right in front of me where I could not see them… hate stuff like that. Especially when you have a revving engine behind you that scares the heck out of the donks. One day the egg toss was not cleaned up very well and the boys did not want to enter that block, I thought they were going to go through the crowd or jack knife the buckboard but they did finally straighten out and go forward. I had to really hang on and talk them through that block, they trust me and listen but it was stressful. Fourth of July always brings out the fireworks so make sure your animals are about bomb proof. We had two jets fly over the parade but they came and went so quickly it really was a non issue.
Parades are tough, I love the tiny little ones like the one Robert and I did in White Bird, that was fun! We have five parades under our belts for this year. Here’s a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiF355x3NIQ of Teamdonk’s first parade as a team and the light colored donkeys very first parade. We are to wards the end of the video and it can be fast forwarded if you like. You will know us by the sounds of our hames bells. We hope to be there in 2011 with a Teamdonk #2 and the buckboard. Depending on how haying goes by July 16th. It’s a good one for a first time event, gives us a starting place. I may use one of the been there done it guys with a new one that has not seen a parade but has been driving in White Bird.
Just be safe everyone when you do parades or any public appearances.
ParticipantLots of great responses… thanks everyone! The ring is probably 3 inches and I’ve used it for the seven years I’ve been driving with no problems. I think what I’ll do is to wrap the buckle where it caught in black electrical tape on the donkey/team that it happened on. Then pay close attention to see if it looks like it is going to happen again.
John, I think going to the heart ring is a good idea. I have seen others who just drive with a ring as they don’t care for the heart weight bouncing off the lines. WOW hanging up three times is just not good!!
quote: Hope you’re still up for the playday – now being advertised as “Moonshadow’s Mule Madness and Mayhem”, although other draft animals are also welcome
Absolutely! Am hoping to bring all four down to do four abreast play, sounds like too much fun!
I have three days of parades ahead of me starting today. It’s Idaho’s oldest Rodeo and this year is the 100th celebration so it’s a biggie! Better get to rollin’… like no more time to waste… have a great fourth everyone!
Participant@near horse 27874 wrote:
Dang – just how old are you?
Hey didn’t your momma tell ya it’s not polite to ask a lady or a Demented Donkey Dame her age….. silly me… I see the wording was a tad bit off!
I’m hoping to get up your direction next week. My daughter has an appointment at the Appaloosa Museum, maybe we’ll swing thru Deary I always love that drive.Participant@Rod44 27882 wrote:
Nice to see donkeys working!
Thanks… seems to me I have seen a video clip of a young team out in a field you posted… could be wrong but I’m thinking that was yours. They are great working critters and so nice to get along with. I hope to do much more with mine in the future!
ParticipantI believe the large donkeys here are just starting to become popular as riding, driving and farming animals. With their gentle nature, trainability and less spook than a horse the older generation have begun to see their value. The mini donkeys are just right for small acreages to keep mowed down and be fun loving pets. Of course we have many inbetween sizes that can be used as guard or companion animals if properly trained to do so. They are not horses and do keep one on their toes trying to out think them or at least process thoughts like a donkey!
ParticipantI would love to contribute if this applies to my working donkeys? Or are you just after draft horse information?
Participant@Ixy 27822 wrote:
Love this and…they are huge! we rarely get donkeys that big in the UK
That is my understanding also and it is a bit surprising to me. Our first donkeys came this way on Columbus’s second voyage in 1495.
Great Britain and Europe also contributed to the first donkeys which I always assumed were large. President George Washington was gifted with a 15 hand Andalusian jack by the King of Spain and from France he received another excellent jack. Each came with two large jennies and that is how we started the American Jackstock breed of large draft style donkeys which gave the settlers the ability to breed for mules. One of the best styles of draft donkeys are the now endangered Poitou donkeys at 14 to 15 hands and they came from France. They look like a cross between a wooly mammoth and a donkey. Thanks for the response!ParticipantJennifer, congrats! You are right there are things you just have to learn for yourself. I do find it helps me to have a different set of eyes looking over my setup and asking why is it this way. I don’t think I will ever be over fiddling with the little stuff.
Now get out there and enjoy your team!
Participant😀 Pirate Farmer… you be “ta man”! Looking fine with all those donkey kids!
One day when I knew you’d be off on a another adventure I snuck over and played with the girls…what sweeties they are… Jenny Mae told me she wants to be just like Luc someday! 🙂Participant@Ira 27498 wrote:
that is a “Y back” or “open back harness” never had a back pad in it and mitch is right the quarter straps are hooked in the wrong place.
It is meant to be used as a team harness.Thank you Ira, I really appreciate your knowledge. She told me that she thinks the former owner of this horse drove her as a single. I’m thinking if this happened it was in a different harness. I will pass your info on to her. Again, thank you!:)
Participant@near horse 27452 wrote:
I’m in. I can bring down my JD sulky plow, also a 6 ft disc and cheesy homemade forecart.
And, somehow I’ll get my 2 horses there too.
Ahhh heck Geoff… leave the horses at home… I bring the donks and we’ll have some real power…. plus a whole lotta fun! Your tools and my boys… sounds good to me!
June 8, 2011 at 10:14 pm in reply to: Teamdonk Drives Four Abreast and lives to tell about it! #67794ParticipantThank Larry! I actually was feeling very very good about the whole deal until I found I could not stop them, they do work well on voice commands so I was okay! I have since redone my lines and taken a step back to ground drive them as a three abreast. I have also ordered three abreast eveners for the buckboard (it’s the only vehicle I have that will work).
The four abreast eveners I am thinking I would like them shorter. Right now I feel like they would make terrific chemical spray arms behind my hubby’s tractor out in the field!
I really feel like I need to get the three going well then add the fourth into the equation. It is a work in progress! What doesn’t kill us… makes us…oh you know! I did just post photos on my blog of the lines I am using and the three abreast team http://www.2011teamdonk.wordpress.com
Participant@Robert MoonShadow 27341 wrote:
Is this perhaps a European style of harness? For some reason, I’m thinking perhaps a Scandanavian- or German- style?
Just as a side note – because I’m new at this and want to learn – would it be a better line of draft if the tug holders were adjusted a bit lower?
There is an interupted line of draft, the tug straps need to be longer… Good Eye, Robert… and I mean that! The eveners are being built even as I type so the three abreast/four abreast hitches are back on… if it ever quits raining that is! We are now working on inch #2 today..
Participant@mitchmaine 27335 wrote:
i can’t see a resemblance here to a dring harness. looks like a one peice tug. looks like a quarter strap from the britchin hooked into the backstrap? waiting to snap into a breast strap if needed. making a belly backer? just a guess. interesting how the lines pass through the lower hame ring.
She was ground driving her mare hooked to a tire, that is why the lines are in the lower hame rings. Never thought about the quarter straps not being right before.. will have to think about this. Thanks Mitch!
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