We donkey owners have all witnessed our donkeys facing down and chasing feral dogs, coyotes, and sometimes snakes. It sure beats being thrown from a horse that is intent on escape. Horses have been known to flee in blind terror at garden hoses!
It derives from their original social behavior: horses have evolved to flee when faced with danger. They are fast, and speed is their primary defense. Also their finely-tuned startle reflex. They are also herd animals, so the survival of the herd trumps individual survival. If necessary, they will abandon the slower, older, ill, or very young.
Donkeys are semi-solitary in the wild, somewhat like deer. Other than the female (jennet) and her foal, there are no irrevocable bonds. Desert-animals, they have to range far from each other to browse. Donkeys don’t run fast. They face down their foe. Even mountain lions and wolves will usually back off by the donkeys’ un-prey like behavior.
It’s not that they are not scared; my donkey Caleb will huff and snort and stomp his feet, but he seldom runs. If he does move away, he stops after a few paces and re-assesses the danger.
One time we were riding on a trail with two horseback riders. When they encountered a snake, they started to shriek and their horses took off. One rider was thrown off. Caleb bucked a little then stopped. Stared at the snake, then walked right past it. I could almost feel him shrug. No big deal.
The only exception was when a huge railroad car-sized dumpster fell off the lift at the nearby plant nursery. The crash was deafening. Caleb not only took off at a gallop but jumped over a 2 ft. jump. At least he didn’t throw me.
Donkeys are mountain animals. Horses are plains animals. Both are adapted accordingly. Horses are fast and built to run in herds in order to escape predators, but an animal that tries that in the mountains will run itself off a cliff and be injured or killed. As a mountain animal, a donkey must think more about where it puts its feet in order to survive — thus, it will often stand and fight before it considers running. They’re quite a bit smarter than horses, more aggressive, and willing to fight a threat if they think they can win.
You can also see this difference in other traits of each animal. Donkeys have smaller hooves to more easily grip rock. Their hooves are much harder so they do not chip or crack as easily as horses’ do. Also, a donkey’s eyes are further back on its head than a horse’s, allowing it to see better where it is placing its back feet. Horses are unable to see well where they are placing their back feet, making them clumsier. The ability to see the back feet also makes a donkey much more accurate when they kick; they rarely miss when they want to hit something.
Also, they can kick out almost directly sideways, while a horse can only really kick backwards. Never upset a donkey!
