Can llamas and small donkeys actually be ridden?!

[Sootbind]

I've seen pictures and shows in which llamas, small donkeys, and even very small ponies are ridden by native adults in different countries. The animals are always SO uncharacteristicly small, but they get ridden all day every day and do lots of hard work.

Is this actually doable? I mean, I know it gets done, but do the animals actually survive long?

A very good friend of mine used to have llamas, but they were never ridden (and quickly gotten rid of because of their spitting).

Can these animals actually handle being ridden?

Some miscellaneous internet photos of small animals with large loads.. Don't know who they are or where they come from.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3055/...fecae4c31a.jpg
http://www.nobodyasked.com/wp-conten.../earl-pony.jpg
The site at the below link states that llamas cannot be ridden by adults.. But it does have some old photographs of adults riding llamas.
http://www.mountlehmanllamas.com/trivia53.html

Anyone have any knowlege of this subject?

[horsegirl777]

Llamas should not be ridden by adults as they have fairly weak spines compared to other animals. However children can usually ride them. Llamas are often used as pack animals as the packs distribute the heavy load over their entire back not just directly on their spines. Donkeys I understand are strong enough to be ridden by adults.

[Sootbind]

Llamas should not be ridden by adults as they have fairly weak spines compared to other animals. However children can usually ride them. Llamas are often used as pack animals as the packs distribute the heavy load over their entire back not just directly on their spines. Donkeys I understand are strong enough to be ridden by adults.

Crazy! I wonder if the llamas ever got hurt way back in the day when people were still riding them.

I've always wanted a donkey.. But I've heard they give horses some sort of parasite..

[CrazyHorseRanch]

Crazy! I wonder if the llamas ever got hurt way back in the day when people were still riding them.

I've always wanted a donkey.. But I've heard they give horses some sort of parasite..

never heard of that one.. if they have a parasite yes they could give it to your horse but in general, the donkey SHOULD be parasite free if it has been taken care of

[Sootbind]

never heard of that one.. if they have a parasite yes they could give it to your horse but in general, the donkey SHOULD be parasite free if it has been taken care of

It's lungworm that I'm thinking of, I think. I tried to look it up and this is what I found:

"Donkeys are host to lungworms Dictyocaulus arnfield. Up to 70% of donkeys carry lungworms often showing no clinical signs of infestation. Lungworm can over winter in pasture unaffected by low temperatures. Grazing horses ingest infective larvae that migrate to the lungs via the lymphatic system, and the pulmonary arterial blood supply. Larvae travel from the alveoli to the bronchi and bronchioles where they mature. The eggs are coughed up then swallowed and expelled in the faeces. Once a pasture has been contaminated with lungworm, they emerge every summer. Many horses who are hypersensitive to dust from hay and straw have suffered lung damage as foals. Foals are particularly susceptible to this pest with long lasting lung damage."

Original link: http://www.equine-natural-health.co.uk/pm-worms.htm

[manesntails]

Mini Donkeys can learn to drive and so can llamas. I know a lady who is into llamas and taught hers to drive. I've trained a mini donkey to drive. Donkeys aren't generally the best riding animals. You can NOT treat them like you would a horse. They don't like to get in a hurry and are harder to train and have to be trained differently than horses.

[Sootbind]

Mini Donkeys can learn to drive and so can llamas. I know a lady who is into llamas and taught hers to drive. I've trained a mini donkey to drive. Donkeys aren't generally the best riding animals. You can NOT treat them like you would a horse. They don't like to get in a hurry and are harder to train and have to be trained differently than horses.

Yeah I knew a girl with a donkey and she used it basicly as a calf, for roping. And one day he just decided he didn't want to be roped anymore, and he beat the tar out of her horse!

[CrazyHorseRanch]

It's lungworm that I'm thinking of, I think. I tried to look it up and this is what I found:

"Donkeys are host to lungworms Dictyocaulus arnfield. Up to 70% of donkeys carry lungworms often showing no clinical signs of infestation. Lungworm can over winter in pasture unaffected by low temperatures. Grazing horses ingest infective larvae that migrate to the lungs via the lymphatic system, and the pulmonary arterial blood supply. Larvae travel from the alveoli to the bronchi and bronchioles where they mature. The eggs are coughed up then swallowed and expelled in the faeces. Once a pasture has been contaminated with lungworm, they emerge every summer. Many horses who are hypersensitive to dust from hay and straw have suffered lung damage as foals. Foals are particularly susceptible to this pest with long lasting lung damage."

Original link: http://www.equine-natural-health.co.uk/pm-worms.htm

Ahhhhhhh and after some quick research on treatment, Ivermectrin is the common/effective treatment, so any donkey on a regular worming regiment should be lung worm free

[CrazyHorseRanch]

Yeah I knew a girl with a donkey and she used it basicly as a calf, for roping. And one day he just decided he didn't want to be roped anymore, and he beat the tar out of her horse!

unfortunately, using a donkey as something to rope is not that uncommon

[trish12]

I have a donkey and she is rideable....sad the way some people treat their animals ha...roping them...