A Dynamic Duo
By Kristi Kingma
www.teamdonk.org

Okay so you have donkeys and you think that is about the most excitement you can possibly experience. We’ve discovered another element that multiplies the fun factor. That is the combination of one eleven year old child who has a strong affinity for animals and one very opinionated donkey boy. She’s our niece and her name is Kristin, that donk is our own RMS Lippyluver Luc.

What does it take to make this a successful combination you ask? It takes one mature donkey who’s a been there, done it kinda guy, and a young lady who is extremely successful with her own short eared equine. Plus a little magical fairy dust sprinkled over this dynamic duo does not hurt this equation.

The road to this journey came about when Kristin’s aunt Kristi invited her to ride Luc one afternoon at the local rodeo grounds. Kristin had a great time putting Luc through his paces. It was decided that Kristin should come to the Western Idaho Fair in Boise, Idaho to show Luc in halter, showmanship and youth riding events. After settling into the fair grounds Kristin jumped on Luc giving him his first bareback experience inside the draft horse barn. From there on out the two were teammates ready to conquer or just go have a good time.

Trail class was a tribute to Kristin’s patience as she made a conservative effort to convince Luc to at least place two hooves on the world scariest show bridge, he conceited and did as she requested. Anyone who has shown donkeys can attest to those temperamental moments that require a little extra patience and skill, or a lot of extra patience and skill. Of course this could just be a Luc thing too, or not! As it turns out this is one of Kristin’s finest virtues, way more patience than any eleven year old should be blessed with.

Luc is thinking this bridge at the Western Idaho Fair isn’t very donkey friendly.

Following the show the announcer personally complemented Kristin on her proficiency and told her what a pleasure it was to not only broadcast her classes but to watch her communication skillfulness. It was a fun show and Kristin brought home several treasured momentoes.

Moving our gear out of the draft horse barn required Luc to be in harness hitched to his show cart to pack everything from the storage pod and relocate it into Luc’s trailer. This required four hours of driving in the hot desert afternoon sunshine, weaving in and out of fair goers, the activities of the fair personnel such as loudly moving huge dumpsters which were directly on our driving route and around the
4-H youngsters showing their horses. Luc’s cart was overloaded each trip so that it required great skill to not dump the contents on the ground. Kristin was Luc’s driver while Kristi made sure each item stayed on board. What a wonderful experience for Kristin to drive Luc that afternoon, setting the stage for their next big adventure.

This time the scene was in Enterprise, Oregon at Hells Canyon Mule and Donkey show. Added to all their other classes were youth single driving pleasure and obstacle driving. Again Luc went the extra mile for Kristin who was now sitting in the whip’s seat. Those two not only accumulated ribbons in each of their classes but more importantly built a stronger relationship and brought home wonderful memories of a great time. They’ve acquired enough new friends to start their own fan club.
What’s next for Kristin and Luc … we still have team driving and riding Liberty for Kristin to explore in 2009 and several other shows and fairs.

Kristin and Luc playing on one of the three bridges at Hells Canyon Mule Days

A Future Teamster in the Making

Out of the Keyhole