How to Harness a Miniature Donkey

Donkeys can make good homestead pets, but they are also draft animals. You can train your miniature donkey to pull a small cart or to pull logs out of the woods. Harnessing a miniature donkey may seem intimidating, as there are many parts to the harness, and the parts have unfamiliar names. But once you understand what each part does, the harness makes complete sense.

Things You'll Need

  • Miniature donkey
  • Harness for miniature donkey
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Put a halter on the donkey and hitch him to a post.

    • 2

      Lift the breast collar over the donkey's head, handling the animal's long ears with care as you guide them through the collar. Slide the collar into place on his chest.

    • 3

      Position the driving saddle and breaching to put on the donkey. The driving saddle rests behind the donkey's shoulders. It is attached to the breaching, which sits over the rear end, and the crupper. The crupper is a loop that goes under the donkey's tail. Gently guide the donkey's tail through the crupper. Slide the driving saddle forward and tighten its girth under the donkey's abdomen, behind his front legs. The saddle will support the cart shafts, and the breaching connects to the shafts and acts as a brake, so that the cart will not accidentally bump into the donkey from behind.

    • 4

      Slide your fingers carefully into the back of the donkey's mouth to encourage him to open. Guide the bit on the driving bridle into his mouth. Pull the top of the bridle over his head and ease his ears through the opening. Make sure that the blinkers over his eyes are not poking him in the eye. Adjust the chin strap and buckle it, not too tightly. The blinkers keep the donkey from being distracted by what's going on behind him, and the bit and reins tell him which direction to turn and when to stop.

    • 5

      Attach the long driving reins to the bit. Run the long leather ends through the rings on the saddle. Now back the donkey up between the cart shafts. Put the shafts through the loops hanging down from the driving saddle; this supports the shaft ends. The shafts attach to the breaching with a snap; thus the breaching can act as a brake on the cart.