Balmoral Show 2024: Therapy donkeys prove popular visitor attraction as crowds flock to the show
The bond between children and donkeys at the Balmoral Show “go together like a donkey and carriage”, says Kinedale Donkeys founder Robert Wallace.
The activity farm based in Ballynahinch in Co Down uses donkeys alongside pygmy goats as “therapy animals”.
Wellness and heritage experiences are offered at the farm, but families are getting a similar experience at this year’s show.
Robert says, “I love to see kids coming to the stand to learn how to look after an animal.
“It promotes self-care as well.
“Children learn a lot of empathy working with animals.
“This is something I think a lot of kids are lacking now in the fact that few have pets.
“You learn how to understand what an animal needs when it cannot even tell you.
“They have their basic needs met through food, water, exercise, social life, and sleep.
“These are all the same things we need.
Established in 2020, Robert says Kinedale Donkeys is a “childhood passion, turned career”.
“I have had them from I was one year old and now I have twenty-six.
“My first donkey was called ‘Muffin’.
“Another one of them is the great great grandson of my first donkey.
“I have Denis the donkey from I was aged six, he is now twenty-seven.
“I started carriage driving with Dennis which brought me along to my first Balmoral Show with the donkey and cart.
“Dennis has been on stage in Dublin in an opera and he’s featured in three short films.
“In his most recent film he was a talking donkey.
The donkey therapy sessions have been “an organic snowball that just keeps growing and growing.”
“We do a lot of work with kids for emotional regulation.
“I’d like to see that continue to grow as benefiting others with these donkeys is where my love is.”