how do you break in a donkey?

Question
I have two donkeys aged five and seven.I have had them for two years now and I have always wanted to ride them. For the last few days, we have tried to make them obey our commands, but most of the time they do not listen. It is also hard to only train one at a time, but they will go crazy and try to kick us if they are separated. I hope you will be able to help us and give us advice.
Thank you.
Maddie.

Answer
Hi Maddie

Thanks  for the question, and I will try my best to answer and help if possible

Ok  theres no use trying to make a donkey (or horse) obey anything.............with ahorse  you have  some success, but from bitter experience  with the only two donkeys i ever had anything to do with, I know jsut how stubborn  they can be!

What we did with ours was, to put head collars on them, this in itself was a real pantomine!  Then we left them to get used to them, after two eaten head collars  we tried again, and they accepted the ehad collars.   The cam  the lead ropes, and then the fun really began, they were mini donkeys, and we took them out the stable, we got dragged everywhere............. two lessons learned that day.  One donkeys are incredibly nosey and want to investigate everything, and two  where a donkey wants to go then a donkey gets to go!

What I would do is start playing gems with them, much like you do with horses, and then take it from there.  Grounbdwork games, donkeys love learning something new, so be careful what you teach them, but the do  (as all equines) have a short attention span, so a little and often is the point to remmeber.   Ask at your vet if ayone else has donkeys around and see what advice they can give you, and the very best people to get in touch with  is the Donkey Sanctuary in Devon, they are the experts when it comes to all things donkey.......there used to be a lady lived near me who helped with the two I had, and she had a couple of dojnkewys she drove in a little donkey cart.

Hope it helps