HAVING had horses, ponies and donkeys most of my life, I've always had a dream to harness up and drive into the sunset.

The stumbling block is that my mind that readily accepts the basic ideas of riding, and can fit most obscure forms of tack, simply refuses to understand about harness fitting. I've tried dozens of times, with videos and books and patient ponies waiting while I fiddle about. Every expert I meet confuses me more. But on a hot day somewhere near Nairobi, at the KSPCA donkey clinic, finally I saw why harness is made how it is and why we fit it the way we do.

The Donkey Sanctuary who many people will have visited at Sidmouth in Devon, has a growing number of international projects. I was fortunate to visit the Kenyan project which is run in conjunction with the KSPCA. Tucked into the suburbs of Nairobi, the KSPCA headquarters is spotlessly clean and run by a dedicated team led by Jean Gilchrist. Although I was there to visit the donkeys, they cover all species of animals from cats and dogs to pigs and poultry. Not receiving any Government funding, they do as much as they can with very little and are well respected within the community. Despite the almost insurmountable problems of stray animals, the KSPCA does more than its best spaying, neutering, taking in animals, rehoming - I cannot imagine the huge hole that would open up if the KSPCA was not in existence. Very little money can and does make a huge difference to daily life in Kenya so the money that the Donkey Sanctuary puts into the donkey project with the KSPCA represents superb value.

The first surprise is the sheer number of donkeys. In Britain, the most donkeys we normally see gathered together are at the beach or on a stud. In Kenya, donkeys are everywhere, part of the essential economic life. I spoke to many donkey owners (the project's motto is "Happy Donkey, Happy owner"). They are what we would call self-employed and work in transporting goods into the villages. Time and time again the donkey owners told me that their "donkeys provided work" rather than saying they provided work for their donkeys. The donkeys keep the families, provide the money for education and are a vital part of life in the community. Many are water carriers, bringing water from the water points to the villages where it is sold. Without the donkeys much time would be spent fetching small amounts of water some distances.

So back to the donkey clinic. Its mid morning and there are already 30 or so donkeys and their owners gathered at the smaller KSPCA premises at Naivasha. The team consist of Wycliffe Gwatemba and John Akumonyo who are KSPCA inspectors and from the harness workshop, the harness maker Alfred Shidula and his team. They bring harness examples, tools and materials from the workshop out into the field.

All three men are good humoured and technically very skilled. They know about harnessing and they understand the role of the working donkey. The owners trust them.

It's by seeing bad harnessing that I began to understand the principles of good harnessing, helped by Alfred who was the first person that has ever managed to explain the concept in a simple way to me. The typical harness in Kenya is the neck harness. The advantages to the donkey owners are that it is very easy to slip on and off and very cheap. The disadvantages to the donkey are that they are pulling from their neck, not their breast but from actually round their neck. Like having an object attached to a tight scarf and dragging it round with you. Not having a belly band means that the shafts can and do lift up and tighten the neck band and even pull the donkey off its feet. Breeching is virtually non-existent which means the cart runs into the back of the donkeys legs to stop. Because the materials used are what is to hand, that means they are often plastic rope, car inner tube and so on. These make the problem even worse and cause rubbing. Rubbing causes sores and in a hot country, sores quickly become out of control.

The KSPCA Harness project has two approaches. The overall aim is to educate the donkey owners into using correctly fitted harness and to this end, Alfred has developed various low-cost options. There is a choice of three saddles for the harness and an easily-fitted breast harness. He chooses materials that are readily available and are cheap so that donkey owners can copy the designs. The KSPCA can also supply the harness at a very low cost. They have also developed an ideal cart, which is well balanced and are looking at developing further carts.

The other approach is to help the donkey owners make the best of what they have, padding the neck collars, advising on improvising breeching and making carts balance better. They also treat sores and advise on future treatment, worm and give foot advice where necessary (most of the donkey's feet are excellent as they work on the sort of ground that donkeys do best on). The bodily condition of the donkeys that I saw was excellent - it was the sores that were the problem on some of them.

Along with the donkey owners I learnt about fitting harness from the team and for the first time in my life, it really made sense. First Wycliffe fitted the breast band, explaining that the donkey pulls from the shoulders where he is strong and then he fitted the saddle, explaining its role in keeping the harness and shafts in place. He fitted the crupper and then showed how breeching will help the donkey to stop easily. It was then time for the donkey, who had only ever worn a neck harness, to try out the new harness and to start with donkey owner and donkey were a bit unsure. But it didn't take long for the donkey to confidently pull into the harness, something they just cannot do in the neck harness. And I realised finally why the harness has been designed the way it has and realised that never again would I be standing there with a strap wondering why and what to do with it. Thank you Alfred.

One interesting point, bridles and bits are not used on the donkeys. They are guided by the sticks. The KSPCA and the Donkey Sanctuary work to stop excessive stick use and to use the sticks as a guide rather than as a punishment. Alfred makes some lovely headcollars from local materials so donkeys can be led for guidance.

The learning is a two way process, clearly education regarding humane harness must continue as it will benefit donkeys and owners by better donkey performance but also I learnt a lot from the Kenyan people and their donkeys. I learnt how they work together, how intelligent the donkeys are and how perhaps we don't always give our donkeys this chance to show their intelligence. I look at my donkey with considerably more respect, knowing now what her species are capable of. It's humbling to think that people can work good, healthy donkeys without bridles or blinkers in quite intricate circumstances and knowing that has to alter your view on training to some extent, even if that is simply to respect the animal's ability to learn. It is fascinating to be in a country where a donkey is of so much value in so many ways and it makes me think there is no reason why we cannot use our donkeys for some jobs on the smallholding. The Donkey Sanctuary produce an excellent DVD on donkey driving to give you some idea of how to get started. They also have companion DVDs on basic donkey care and donkey health. The Donkey Breed Society have classes for driving donkeys at their shows. Meanwhile if you want to know more about the Donkey Sanctuary's international projects or find out more about their work in Kenya, do visit their website (www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk), phone them (01395 578222, between 8.30am and 4.30pm, Monday - Friday) or drop them a line at The Donkey Sanctuary, Sidmouth, Devon, EX10 0NU to be added to their free mailing list. The KSPCA Headquarters is on Langata Road, Nairobi. Postal Address: KSPCA, PO Box 24203, Nairobi 00502, Kenya. Telephone: (+254 20) 882500/884948, Fax: (+254 20) 882565, Email: info@kspca-kenya.org. www.kspca-kenya.org/