Historically, donkeys lead and owners follow. Donkeys like to be in front, because their No. 1 survival instinct is to scan the world ahead and make their own decisions, step by step, about where to place each hoof. That’s one reason mountain men and other wilderness wanderers out there in the crazy places love donkeys so much; you might get drowsy, your horse might blindly follow orders, but donkeys are super-vigilant and will slam on the brakes, hard, whenever a patch of trail seems sketchy or a harmless-looking stick turns out to be a rattler.
