Donkey rides for children are a winning combination. There is something about the big honest eyes, beautiful long ears and fluffy coat of a donkey that lights a spark in the eye of a child.
The youngest donkey rider we have had here at Anatoli donkey farm, was a little baby girl of 8 months from Slovenia. She chose the bare back option and lay on the wide table like back of Myrto giggling. The giggles turned to screams when her mother tried to lift her off.
This little boy from Belgium came on a donkey walking picnic with us. He opted to travel in a rucksack on his father’s back holding tightly on to the lead rope of the donkey. His older sister had a donkey ride but it was only when we returned to the donkey farm that he decided to sit on the donkey – and then a short donkey ride up and down the track. Of course then he did not want to get off the donkeys back.
But what brings a special smile to our hearts is when we have visits from children with special needs riding donkeys. The mother of a boy with autism said she had rarely seen her son smile the way he did when he was riding one of the donkeys.
A small girl of two spoke to her grandmother on the mobile phone as she sat on Mackie. ‘I am riding a donkey’ she said excitedly in Greek.
The reputation that donkeys are slow and lazy was damaged this week when I was told that a young man from Heraklion had not been impressed with his pony ride –
“Nikitas had a pony ride in Athens but it was too slow. Beko the donkey was definitely superior.”
Donkey rides for children are a winning combination. There is something about the big honest eyes, beautiful long ears and fluffy coat of a donkey that lights a spark in the eye of a child.
