How long to leave a harness on a non-working donkey?

[wonderwoman711]

My boyfriends family has a non-working donkey that I currently take care of…The harness has been left on him for quite a while…I am wondering how long the harness should be left on?

I saw missing hair, sore spot, abrasions. Me being the animal lover wanted to take it off, but was met with hastiness by his family.

One of them stated you could leave it on for however long…my only argument to that was that he was a non-working donkey thus he is or should be a cared for pet like a dog.

I’ve grown up with horses and never left the harness on after riding.

I would just like some feedback…Thanks!!!

[Robert MoonShadow]

Take it off now!! You saw bald spots, rawness, etc. & had to ask that? How long would you leave a pair of shoes on your feet (without socks) that were causing the same symptoms? Donkeys are very stoic; that doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel the pain. Just how long has this harness been on? And is this a harness, or a halter you’re talking about?

[Donn Hewes]

Are we talking about a halter by any chance? How long could a harness stay on? I think halters on animals in the pasture should be off. If they are on because they are hard to catch they shouldn’t be left on till the animals are showing marks. that’s poor animal husbandry. Just my two cents. Donn

[OldKat]

@Donn Hewes 7929 wrote:

Are we talking about a halter by any chance? How long could a harness stay on? I think halters on animals in the pasture should be off. If they are on because they are hard to catch they shouldn’t be left on till the animals are showing marks. that’s poor animal husbandry. Just my two cents. Donn

I know lots of people that leave their halters on all the time, because they say it makes their horses “easier to catch”. I DON”T KNOW how this can be true. :confused: Are they having to corner the animal and grab the halter as the horse tries to run by? If so, they need to work on trying to figure out why the horse doesn’t come to them when they enter the pen. Mine do, and I bet nearly everyone on this forum can say the same. If not, contact me and I will tell you how you can work on this so they do.

I DO KNOW that if you are leaving halters on in the pasture you are GREATLY increasing the chance that your horse will snag the halter on something; struggle to get free and either pull the tendons in the neck or snap the neck, neither of which is good. Bottom line … the risk exceeds the reward in my experience.

This is one of the few things that I will ever speak up to people about when I see things that don’t agree with on how the handle their horse(s). Most people don’t want to hear it, and that is fine. Still I feel that I owe to the horse. Maybe I have saved one or two over the years and didn’t even know it.

I also know that I told this to my class years ago when I was teaching a unit on horsemanship to my Ag II students. There was one young man that just laughed and laughed about it. Within a month his calf roping horse had broken his neck when he caught his halter on a fence post and tried to pull free. The youngster came to my office with eyes red from crying and kept saying “I sure wish I had listened to you”. 🙁 Wasn’t much I could say, but I sure felt bad for him.

So please … DON”T LEAVE HALTERS ON HORSES WHILE THEY ARE ON PASTURE. I suspect this applies to mules and donkeys, too. I don’t know; maybe they are calm enough to stand still if they hang their halters, but I wouldn’t take the chance.

[CharlyBonifaz]

I suspect this applies to mules and donkeys, too

and to oxen
😉
I definitely expect mine to move their butts and come over……wish my car would do so 😀

[Tim Harrigan]

Good point. Applies to halters and collars on oxen as well.

[CharlyBonifaz]

missing hair, sore spot, abrasions

came to thinking over night 😮
might be a completely different reason for what you see (nontheless the halter/harness has to come off ! ):
this being the end of winter, may be he has lice? you may want to check down at his skin for little critters about 1mm long, moving around in between the hair, making him itch……

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