Baymule
Herd Master
You have to establish yourself as the Lead Mare. In the horse herd, it is the Lead Mare that rules. People think it is the stallion that is the leader of the herd, but not so. In horse language, the first one to move their feet is the loser. I have a 30 year old TW mare I no longer ride because she has breathing issues. But she is the Lead Mare and will bite and run any and all horses that I have had over the past 20 years. Most horses she accepted, a few bites and kicks and they knew their place in the herd. She had one serious challenger and she ran that mare ragged for over a week. She would not let that mare eat with the herd or join the herd in any way. I fed the mare away from the rest, but the Lead Mare would leave her own feed to go run the new mare away from her feed. She made the new mare move her feet. Over and over and over again. By the time the Lead Mare finally let the new mare join the herd, she gladly took her place in the herd and never challenged the Lead Mare again, ever.
My point here is that your donkey needs to respect you. By biting and blocking you, he is clearly telling you that he is dominate and you rank lower than him. Making him move his feet when he exhibits undesirable behavior could be as simple as yanking a plastic bag from your pocket and flapping it at him, waving your arms, yelling NO! chasing him and making him move his feet. It might take one of the above, or maybe all of them. None of these hurt him. Chase him away, do not let him stop moving his feet until you decide he can stop. A round pen is a good idea for this. Go soft in your posture, put the bag in your pocket and let him stop. Pet him like you usually do and see if he tries to bite you, if he does, rinse-repeat. Always end on positive behavior. Donkeys are brilliant smart, so make sure the last thing you do with him is something good because he is going to roll it over in his mind, the last thing you want is him to be thinking about bad behavior.
I had a donkey with curled up feet, it took two years to get him right again. Even after trimming his hooves, he toed out and it took a lot to get his feet straight again. He was like trying to stop a tornado. He fought, kicked, ran, you name it. But I had a good farrier that didn't give up. The donkey finally figured out that if he just stood there, it was over with quicker. Once he got that idea in his head, he would stop when he saw the farrier, let me halter him up and he practically lifted his feet for the farrier. We always ended on a positive and never quit when he was acting out.
I had a mule bite me once, she was 9 months old and was jealous of me paying attention to a horse. She stomped her foot and when I didn't give in to her demand, she bit me. I ran her away from the herd. Now you might figure, that mule could just run away and not come back for awhile, but nope, that's not what they do. A mule, donkey or horse alone is vulnerable to predators, they want the safety of the herd. So she tried to join the herd and I ran her away. What was so funny, the other horses didn't run, they seemed to know that she had done something bad and was being punished. I chased her away for 30 minutes, by that time I was tired, so I let her come back. I petted her, brushed her-on my terms-not hers. I had her for 10 years and she never bit me or anybody else again.
We bought a gelding in January, he came from a kill pen. I had him on a halter and rope one day when he bit me. I yanked hard on his halter and waved my arms. I backed him up, yelled, kept backing him-about 20 feet. Then I let the rope go slack, walked to the end of the rope, and he came to me. He hasn't bit since.
I hope my rambling helps in some way. Your "herd" is you and your donkey. He has to understand that you are the leader, not him. This does not mean that you can't love him and spoil him. Mine are all so spoiled rotten, they stink and draw buzzards LOL. But I am the Lead Mare and they know it.
My point here is that your donkey needs to respect you. By biting and blocking you, he is clearly telling you that he is dominate and you rank lower than him. Making him move his feet when he exhibits undesirable behavior could be as simple as yanking a plastic bag from your pocket and flapping it at him, waving your arms, yelling NO! chasing him and making him move his feet. It might take one of the above, or maybe all of them. None of these hurt him. Chase him away, do not let him stop moving his feet until you decide he can stop. A round pen is a good idea for this. Go soft in your posture, put the bag in your pocket and let him stop. Pet him like you usually do and see if he tries to bite you, if he does, rinse-repeat. Always end on positive behavior. Donkeys are brilliant smart, so make sure the last thing you do with him is something good because he is going to roll it over in his mind, the last thing you want is him to be thinking about bad behavior.
I had a donkey with curled up feet, it took two years to get him right again. Even after trimming his hooves, he toed out and it took a lot to get his feet straight again. He was like trying to stop a tornado. He fought, kicked, ran, you name it. But I had a good farrier that didn't give up. The donkey finally figured out that if he just stood there, it was over with quicker. Once he got that idea in his head, he would stop when he saw the farrier, let me halter him up and he practically lifted his feet for the farrier. We always ended on a positive and never quit when he was acting out.
I had a mule bite me once, she was 9 months old and was jealous of me paying attention to a horse. She stomped her foot and when I didn't give in to her demand, she bit me. I ran her away from the herd. Now you might figure, that mule could just run away and not come back for awhile, but nope, that's not what they do. A mule, donkey or horse alone is vulnerable to predators, they want the safety of the herd. So she tried to join the herd and I ran her away. What was so funny, the other horses didn't run, they seemed to know that she had done something bad and was being punished. I chased her away for 30 minutes, by that time I was tired, so I let her come back. I petted her, brushed her-on my terms-not hers. I had her for 10 years and she never bit me or anybody else again.
We bought a gelding in January, he came from a kill pen. I had him on a halter and rope one day when he bit me. I yanked hard on his halter and waved my arms. I backed him up, yelled, kept backing him-about 20 feet. Then I let the rope go slack, walked to the end of the rope, and he came to me. He hasn't bit since.
I hope my rambling helps in some way. Your "herd" is you and your donkey. He has to understand that you are the leader, not him. This does not mean that you can't love him and spoil him. Mine are all so spoiled rotten, they stink and draw buzzards LOL. But I am the Lead Mare and they know it.
