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Being able to touch and handle all of your donkey is important of course, but the hoof is often neglected due to lack of enthusiastic participation of the one wearing the hooves or the owners lack of understanding the importance of proper hoof maintenance. It could be reasoned that after all, there are no farriers in the wild. But donkeys are not kept in pastures and corrals in the wild either, and the constant wear from the intensive traveling that the feral ass must undergo to obtain nourishment and water is what maintains the wild hoof. By domestication and ownership, we have taken on the responsibility to keep our donkeys feet trimmed and sound for their entire lives. 

Incentive to get a donkey trained!  Picture illustrates the rehabilitation of a neglected donkey - rescue and photo by Camilla Maluotoga and Nelda Auge.   Insets show before and after of  the same donkeys foot.   On the left, Kay Thurman, DVM, of Belen, NM  and to the right the farrier is Kelly Robinson, of  Bosque, NM.  

For the donkey it is a necessary evil to have their feet trimmed.  They don't understand the benefit of this. All they can realize is that someone (you) are inhibiting their ability to flee and thus putting them in potential danger. Since an equine evolved as breakfast, lunch and dinner to anything with long teeth, they are naturally very sensitive at being denied their ability to flee, as it goes against all instincts that kept their gene pool alive up to this time. And this is where our bigger brains step in. We can understand their fear, and realize that they have no comprehension as to why we want to "take up their feet". 

We can sympathize with them and try to make it as easy as possible on them (as well as safe for us) and because we understand their fear, we don't get mad when they are uncooperative and try to get away or even hurt us. Appreciate where they are coming from, be patient, persistent and firm and get the job done without getting angry at them or yourself. Anger is not an effective training aid. Depending on how well handled your donkey is, determines where you start to gain their cooperation. A totally wild donkey needs to get some confidence being around people first before even thinking of handling the feet. Feeding and brushing is a good way to get on in handling your donkey and for your donkey to become used to you and realize that your main objective is not in inflicting bodily harm upon them. Once they have become used to being brushed all over then one can proceed with picking up the feet. This can also work for the spoiled or abused donkey, in slowly reestablishing trust. A donkey that has been mistreated will be harder to rehabilitate than one that has not yet built up enough trust to lose. 

Your donkey should be accustomed to be standing tied. Being tied up to something stout gives you some control over your donkey instead of the other way around. Hopefully you have practiced standing tied while brushing and grooming your donkey. Please don't teach to stand tied at the same time as trying to pick up feet. These are two distinct lessons and your donkey wouldn't be able to learn both at the same time. 

While your donkey is standing tied, and you're brushing and grooming, you should be able to brush down the legs and all the way around the hoof before proceeding farther. If the donkey is too scared or you are worried about being kicked, try brooming at first. I saw this on a Dr. Miller video somewhere and tried it on a wild burro and it worked very well. With your donkey tied up (again to that same stout safe place), take a straw broom and gently brush or 'sweep' the donkey. First on the shoulder, working up the neck a ways, (avoid head and ears) and then down the body (both sides) and finally start down the legs. It is a form of sacking out, and desensitizing that you can do at a safe distance. You patiently keep at it until the donkey finally stands and allows you to gently run the broom all over their body. Your goal isn't to scare the donkey, but help them realize that touching isn't painful, and that they don't have to fight or flee from you. After this is successful, you then dispense with the broom and replace it with your hand or brush, again slowly and patiently. Your objective is to have the donkey be accustomed to having someone touching it's legs before trying to pick up a foot. To just reach down and pick up an uninitiated donkeys foot would possibly cause three things to happen, 1) the donkey would be so shocked that he would just stand there, 2) you would need to get a scraper to pry your donkey off the barn ceiling, or 3) the said scraper would be used to get you out of the ground because the donkey was so startled that it used you as a launching pad. 

By keeping your own body out of certain kicking range zones and making sure your face is out of the line of fire will help keep you relatively safe, while your donkey goes through instinctive reactions to having it's feet and legs handled for the first time. Generally the safe zone is standing beside the leg you wish to pick up, facing the rear of the animal, place the closest hand to the animal on it's back (this will allow you to feel what the donkey is going to do and also helps you 'push away' from trouble if needed), rub down the leg with your outside hand, pushing slightly with the hand on the donkey's shoulder or hip to get the weight off the needed leg and then give a verbal cue to 'lift'. 
 

Once the foot is up and the donkey calm, you can bring the hand down from it's body and use it to help hold the hoof. Your shoulder is then against the donkeys body for your support and it again allows you to feel whether your donkey is tense or relaxed. If your donkey is relaxed, set the foot down again as his reward. He'll be more likely to give it back next time if you show him you won't be taking it from him forever! 

Keep in mind, if you are used to handling horses, that a donkey has less muscle mass than a horse and is more flexible and stronger for their size. This means that leverage can be harder to maintain on a wiggling animal and if they wanted to, they could reach you for seemingly impossible kicks (though kicking you outright is not normally a donkey thing to do). Staying to the side of your donkey and not positioning your self directly in front or behind will help keep you out of most kick zones. Most donkeys kick and pull their feet away because they are frightened and because what you are trying to do is unpleasant for them at first, not because they are angry. There is no reason for you to get kicked, and being prepared and aware of how to avoid those situations is your best protection.. 

The easiest way to train donkeys is start at birth and imprint and handle them at the very beginning. But sometimes you don't get that option. For young donkeys or small ones, I'll proceed to pick up their feet by hand.   The main objective is once you have the hoof in your hand, don't let go until they have stopped resisting, then as a reward you quickly set the foot down. Pet, praise, carrots and then try again. For adult standard donkeys or bigger, I generally just proceed in tying up their feet with a bowline around the neck (never use any other knot!) and a scotch hobble. I have found that I'm not strong enough to hang on to a bigger adult donkey, I know my limits. Also after a couple of minutes of struggling with the hobble, the donkeys give up and usually this lesson once learned is not needed again and I can usually pick their feet up by hand from then on. You can also use this hobbling technique for other things, such a body clipping, emergency medical care, teaching to hobble the front legs, etc... and maybe this lesson could also save their lives, if they ever got caught in a fence, they might just accept they were caught instead of trying to tear their leg(s) off to get away. 

Have a professional or knowledgeable friend show you how to handle the knots and ropes. It can be dangerous to you or your donkey if you get it wrong. There are several books out as well that can give you the basics (see My Library), Packing in on Horses and Mules, and The Formative Years. I like the rope method, because the donkey never has a chance to develop the habit to kick and jerk their feet away. Because I deal with them honestly and fairly and it's a lesson that is swiftly understood there has been no hard feelings about it from any of the donkeys. In fact, after tying up a leg, I will wander off a ways, keeping them in sight of course, and let them think about the situation on their own. When I come back and release them after they have stopped fretting (usually about 10 minutes) I am their savior and they appreciate me and they do not hold a grudge. The key is to handle the tie up and release quietly, and without fuss.
 

A handling tip for hanging on by hand during those moments a donkey is bouncing around is to keep the toe of the hoof tucked up tight into the leg (or in case of the rear leg, the toe is pointing tight toward the hock). When the donkeys leg is totally flexed at all its joints they don't have as much power to straighten or kick it unless you let the hoof drop down like if you were just hanging onto the pastern. The donkey can then simply straighten his leg and leave you feeling a little foolish sitting in the dust. Another evasive technique on the donkeys part, is that some try and lay down to avoid the situation. I let them, while still hanging onto the hoof or leave it tied up. After a bit, the donkey will again easily regain it's feet on three legs.

Hoof handling manners can even be incorporated into a show - on this trail obstacle - the handler had to stop his pack animal in the square and pick up the hoof designated by the judge.  Photo by J. Rachau

If you had untied or let them go, then they would always then use the lay down to avoid you and any other situation they found not to their taste. They are smart, and when they realize that kneeling or laying down won't get them out of it they don't try again. The next important tip is to set the foot down as soon as they have relaxed. That is their reward. You can slowly increase the time you hold the foot up as days go by. Don't expect to be able to hang on to that foot all day the first time. It's a matter of trust for your donkey, once he realizes that he will get his foot back from you when he relaxes, he is more likely to surrender it without fuss next time and you slowly expand on that and build on this over time. 

I have always tried to keep my lessons short and give lots of praise and carrots for all good behavior and honest try's. The leg tying lesson is an exception. I will do all the legs one at a time, one after the other to get this important lesson over and done with.. Then in the days afterward, the feet cleaning becomes part of our regular grooming routine and it's no longer a big deal. After the donkey has become comfortable with the feet handling, you can then slowly start to tap, rock, stretch and move the legs and hold the hooves between your knees as a farrier would do. In other words desensitize the donkey to the stimuli that will happen when the farrier comes. Donkeys are quite perceptive of different people and your donkey could be a little alarmed by a stranger (the farrier) picking up his feet. Don't feel disheartened if you have to resort to the ropes again for the first trim. It usually will not be needed the second time. 

Once the training is done, and your donkey is able to receive his first trim, you'll be very proud to know that your donkeys feet are properly taken care of and his quality of life is greatly improved. You have also established a very big bridge of trust with your donkey that will open more avenues of opportunity to try other ways of learning and communicating with your friend. It's one of the kindest 'gifts' you will ever give to your donkey that will keep giving back to him his whole lifetime.

See the Index for my Donkey Book Library for recommended indepth training guides.