Well, for starters, here's an old story (I think it's pretty much a true account) about a guy who rents a donkey for a hike in France. It won't do much to convince you of my position, but it's a good read...

Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes

But, to be perfectly honest, I think it's more a lack of knowledge on the matter that perpetuates some of the beliefs outlined in some of the comments on the subject here than what the realities of the matter are, and of course, old stories don't help

As I previously mentioned, backcountry outfitters did, not that long ago, rent pack animals here in the U.S. It was they that maintained the full time commitment, not the renter. Those animals were quite used to their routines, and required little from their renters to perform them.

Of course, riding was also a much more common skill back then too, but I am not talking about riding, I'm talking about leading a miniature donkey, a true Sicilian burro, which really cannot be compared to leading a horse, or mule, or even a full sized donkey.

Miniature donkeys have a temperament that is quite different than the other pack animals most are familiar with. Leading one is about the same as walking a well mannered dog on a leash.

Donkey's don't wear horseshoes, they don't founder like a horse, they are not near as prone to colic. And, in truth, keeping a mini donkey requires about the same commitment as having an outside dog or cat.

Of course, all this used to be common knowledge to backcountry travelers, and really, it was only lost in the past couple of generations.

"well now that you have a burro, will you train it to pack?"

Burros love to carry a pack. Let's remember, they have several thousands years of select breeding for just that purpose. Training one to do what comes natural to them doesn't take much effort or time. It's comparable to training a Golden Retriever to swim.

For me, the tough part was learning how to make a pack saddle and harness. No one makes them for little burros anymore. You can't buy one. Luckily, I found a guy in Australia that had written a book with detailed instructions and I bought a copy of it and made one for Lewis. As a bonus, his designs were created with lightness and strength in mind and can truly be called innovative as compared to how traditional pack saddles are still made for horses, mules, and donkeys.

So, to answer your question, Lewis has been "Trained" to pack, if you can call what I did training him.

What I did was fit him with the pack saddle I made for him, fill two "Panniers" (two Jansport daypacks), and attach them to the saddle, grab his lead rope, and start walking. So far, we've only hiked the hollow below our house. But that hollow is typical Ozark Mountain country and it provides lots of room to bushwhack around in.

Since that first time, whenever Lewis sees me get out his halter and packsaddle he comes to me and waits to be saddled up. For him, this is a really big treat.

Clark is a different story. He has had a tender back since birth. The woman I bought them from told me this, and told me it was uncommon. The main reason I took Clark is because he and Lewis were already fast friends and burros are herding animals and do much better if they have a buddy to hang out with, and she practically gave him to me for free.

But Clark does carry a small pack that I've fashioned out of a canvas saddle bag meant for use on a western style horse saddle. When we hike I put the burros' grain, treats, feed and water bowls, and some water for them in it. He likes that just fine, but he doesn't seem to like a saddle and full harness much. I do think he could get used to one if I spent a little more time working with him though.

The reason I haven't taken Lewis on the trail yet had to do with transporting him. I sold our big gas guzzling Ford Expedition that we used to pull a horse trailer with when we had a horse. My little Suzuki Samurai, with it's 1300cc engine, can't pull it safely. I'd intended to get a Ford F-150 with a six banger to pull it, but just couldn't ever spend the money and hated the idea of paying for insurance on another car I'd seldom use.

This past winter I was whining about that to my wife and she asked why I didn't just modify my little utility trailer, that I do pull with my "Sami", to haul the burros. I had never thought of that, but its sure got my gears turning now