The herding instinct is strong in horses and donkeys – both equines – as is the flocking instinct in sheep and the pack instinct in dogs. All animals are drawn to their own species, following the instincts that rule their lives. Animals do not live by reason, as humans do, but by instinct, something people are often reluctant to accept. One way to communicate with an animal, to train and alter behavior, is to grasp the nature of the instinct and make it work for you.

If you know donkeys – I am told the same is true of horses – then you know that the instinct to herd is almost as powerful as the one to eat. If you have ever tried to separate a donkey from its herd, you learn quickly that they will fight, kick, bite and butt to get back to the other members of the herd. Inversely, the instinct to protect the herd is nearly as strong. Confronted with outsiders of threats, donkeys lower their heads and ears and charging, using their powerful jaws and teeth to bit and their legs to kick. Donkeys can kill a dog in seconds if they suddenly intrude on their territory.

So I am working to make the herding instinct work for us. Rocky is in his stall all day now, and free at night. The donkeys come into the pasture after Rocky is stalled and instinctively, they gather where he is. There are all kinds of spaces and places they could go, but beginning this morning, all three of them go stand right next to Rocky, sniffing him and standing near him. Inside the stall, Rocky also goes to the gate and puts his nose next to it to smell and listen. My instinct tells me that this herding instinct will dominate Simon more and more each day. Rocky is extremely adept at avoiding obstacles. He smells, senses and hears things in his path. In a week or so, if Simon accepts Rocky into the herd, the dynamic may change.

Two complications: Rocky’s blindness and gender. Just as human males often seemed determined to destroy our world, males of other species fight hard to dominate. In some species, this is resolved in an incident or two. In others, it is never peacefully resolved. We will see. Today I saw the herding instinct at work. Yesterday Simon was chasing after Rocky trying to drive him off. This morning, he did not want to move away from him.