most of what you have posted is not correct.
Could you please be more specific about what is not
correct so I can edit my posts or learn from your experience?
BTW - in France, until recently, gîte d'étapes were legally required to provide for donkeys.
An interestingly enough, the only long distance walker that I've come across so far was travelling with both a horse and a donkey (she was circumnavigating the Morvan)
Just to add some sauce - I talked with a gîte owner today about this. Among other things he said that he estimates that 2 out of 3 renters end up returning their donkeys because they are fed up and cannot progress as they would like.
And another thing maybe. We are not planning on walking with donkeys because we love long ears. We simply do not see how our 4 year old would appreciate this kind of a walk otherwise. We have no stakes in this but generally succeed in what we plan to do, and I'll gladly report if it is useful. (as I already indicated in a previous post, making it to Santiago is conditional on the girls and the donkeys going along. Our schedule is very flexible and we have several layers of backup plans)
I am also a bit puzzled by the chorus. Less than a century ago donkeys were very commonly used as working animals. Presumably, most medieval pilgrims did walk with a horse, a mule or a donkey.
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Two more things.
1. There are 1,200 donkey breeders in France. The national association of breeders estimates that 3000+ donkeys were rented last year for trips totalling 900 000 kms, a business that has generated 5M euros.
2. Google "donkey rental". Results will depend on where you live. Still, try it.