You would have thought that having two curious Siamese cats and a tortoise with wanderlust was enough. Not so for Doreen and her husband Charles, who decide to take on a baby donkey to keep the nettles under control in the orchard. When Annabel clip-clops into their lives they realise that, from the ear-splitting nocturnal howling to the numerous escape attempts, living with a donkey won't be plain sailing. Annabel eats everything apart from the nettles, but eventually becomes a much-loved family member and particularly close to Solomon, the Siamese cat, who sleeps in her bed. Further dramas ensue when Henry, the jennet, is introduced as a companion to Annabel and love blossoms.

A detailed and practical guide to training donkeys--for farmers and homesteaders So you've gone and done it, you've bought a donkey! You know she can be useful around the farm--that's why you bought her. You know that throughout history, the donkey has been one of our most useful partners in labor: a low-impact power source that also produces fertilizer. But now, as she stands there eating, how do you get any of that dreamed-of usefulness out of her? This book can show you how. Get Your Ass to Work! is a practical, hands-on guide to training donkeys to work--in harness and packing--to serve the needs of small farmers and homesteaders. It offers a clear and detailed program for each step of training, designed to enable you to bring an untrained donkey into the animal work force within a month or six weeks. Although there are several books in print of general interest on donkeys and donkey care, none deal satisfactorily with training. Get Your Ass to Work! will help you train your donkey to haul loads on a sled or cart, pull farm equipment, skid logs, and pack firewood, tools, or camping gear while respecting and protecting the health of your animal and keeping you safe. The book outlines how to care for your donkey, including feed, shelter, and basic hoof care. The text is abundantly illustrated by original photographs of donkeys working, with artistic sketches and diagrams to show techniques. This book will be relevant to the homesteader and small farmer, enjoyable for everyone who enjoys donkeys and mules, and appealing to any animal lover.

What happened to the Democratic Party after the 1960s? In many political histories, the McGovern defeat of 1972 announced the party’s decline—and the conservative movement’s ascent. What the conventional narrative neglects, Patrick Andelic submits, is the role of Congress in the party’s, and the nation’s, political fortunes. In Donkey Work, Andelic looks at Congress from 1974 to 1994 as the Democratic Party’s stronghold and explores how this twenty-year tenure boosted and undermined the party’s response to the conservative challenge. If post-1960s America belongs to the conservative movement, Andelic asks, how do we account for the failure of so much of the conservative agenda—especially the shrinking of the federal government? Examining the Democratic Party’s unusual durability in Congress after 1974, Donkey Work disrupts the narrative of inexorable liberal decline since the 1970s and reveals the ways in which liberalism and conservatism actually developed in tandem. The book traces the evolution of ideologies within the Democratic Party, particularly the emergence of “neoliberalism,” suggesting that this political philosophy was as much an anticipation of America’s “right turn” as a reaction to it; as factions vied for control of the party, Congress itself both strengthened and weakened liberal resistance to the conservative movement. By putting the focus on Congress and legislative politics, in contrast to the “presidential synthesis” that dominates US political history, Andelic’s book offers a new, deeply informed perspective on two turbulent decades of American politics—a perspective that alters and expands our understanding of how we arrived at our present political moment.

The Complete Book of the Donkey contains invaluable advice on all aspects of the care and welfare of donkeys. Sections include advice on buying and caring for donkeys, their diet, pasture management, breeding and showing.

This is the first book dedicated to the medieval ass It appeals to a multi-Audience: interested lay readership; accessible, introductory and undergraduate level book; scholar This book explains how the medieval ass was an arse, an idiot, a violent hot-tempered sexed-up brute that ate the balls of its own male offspring. Conversely, the ass was also a humble, patient, loyal, hard-working Christian animal (marked with a cross) that Christ rode into Jerusalem. These paradoxical qualities are explored in this book and open up a wealth of information on how people in the Middle Ages viewed the ass, not just as a simple beast of burden, but also as a figure to warn and to educate, to expose human failings and praise the divine. Introducing the Medieval Ass reveals medieval attitudes to animals, to people, and to the divine, making it an excellent way to approach medieval cultural and animal studies.

From the bestselling author of Born to Run, a heartwarming story about training a rescue donkey to run one of the most challenging races in America, and, in the process, discovering the life-changing power of the human-animal connection. "A delight, full of heart and hijinks and humor." —John Grogan, author of Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog When Christopher McDougall decided to adopt a donkey in dire straits, he had no idea what he was getting himself into. But with the help of his neighbors, Chris came up with a crazy idea. Burro racing, a unique type of competition in which humans and donkeys run side by side over mountains and through streams, would be exactly the challenge Sherman and Chris needed. In the course of Sherman’s training, Chris would enlist Amish running clubs, high-spirited goats, the service animal community, and two Sarah Palin–loving long-distance female truckers. Sherman’s heartwarming story of overcoming all odds to run one of the most unbelievable races in America shows the healing power of movement and the strength of the human-animal connection.

Strong, intelligent, dependable, friendly, and extremely versatile, donkeys are the perfect farm companion. Whether you use your animal to pull carts, till fields, or protect livestock, you’ll benefit from this practical and inspirational guide to working with and caring for your donkey. Providing expert advice on selecting the right breed for your needs, daily maintenance, training, and first aid, Sue Weaver also includes plenty of fun facts and charming donkey anecdotes. Raise a happy and healthy donkey!

Donkeys carried Christ into Jerusalem while in Greek myth they transported Hephaistos up to Mount Olympos and Dionysos into battle against the Giants. They were probably the first animals that people ever rode, as well as the first used on a large-scale as beasts of burden. Associated with kingship and the gods in the ancient Near East, they have been (and in many places still are) a core technology for moving people and goods over both short and long distances, as well as a supplier of muscle power for threshing and grinding grain, pressing olives, raising water, ploughing fields, and pulling carts, to name just a few of the uses to which they have been put. Yet despite this, they remain one of the least studied, and most widely ignored, of all domestic animals, consigned to the margins of history like so many of those who still depend upon them. Spanning the globe and extending from the donkey's initial domestication up to the present, this book seeks to remedy this situation by using archaeological evidence, in combination with insights from history and anthropology, to resituate the donkey (and its hybrid offspring such as the mule) in the unfolding of human history, looking not just at what donkeys and mules did, but also at how people have thought about and understood them. Intended in part for university researchers and students working in the broad fields of world history, archaeology, animal history, and anthropology, but it should also interest anyone keen to learn more about one of the most widespread and important of the animals that people have domesticated.

The Hebrew Bible is filled with animals. Snakes and ravens share meals with people; donkeys and sheep work alongside us; eagles and lions inspire us; locusts warn us. How should we read their stories? What can they teach us about ecology, spirituality, and ethics? Author Laura Duhan-Kaplan explores these questions, weaving together biology, Kabbalah, rabbinic midrash, Indigenous wisdom, modern literary methods, and personal experiences. She re-imagines Jacob’s sheep as family, Balaam’s donkey as a spiritual director, Eve’s snake as a misguided helper. Finally, Rabbi Laura invites metaphorical eagles, locusts, and mother bears to help us see anew, confront human violence, and raise children who live peacefully on the land.