A small white grandma donkey, Tilly battles all kinds of ailments from her head to her hooves.

But last Thanksgiving, she jumped a cattle guard and came to stand all night in Rachel Karneffel’s yard during a snowstorm waiting for Karneffel to find her.

She had been badly neglected, but after some rehabilitation, she is able to able to greet Karneffel every day with a happy bray.

“She is just so happy about life,” Karneffel said.

Donkeys are smart, strong, blessed with longevity, and protective of other animals, – yet they are often neglected.

“People tend to overlook them,” Karneffel said.

Karneffel, an instructor at Medicine Horse, hopes to shed light on the many qualities of donkeys at a demonstration called Smart Asses during the Mancos Balloon festival.

They are a bit safer than horses, in the sense, they are more apt to freeze rather than bolt if they get spooked, she explained. They also will not put themselves in danger, making them less likely to put their rider in danger.

Training a donkey is also good practice because it is the proper way to train a horse, Karneffel said.

“It made me a much better horsewoman,” she said.

A narrow build gives them a smooth gait that makes it easier for those with hip or knee injuries to ride them than horses.

Donkeys can even be more affectionate than horses. They are like dogs because they will leave their food, to follow you around, she said.

Crippled and toothless, Tilly will seek out affection from Karneffel just like the other donkeys despite all her mistreatment. When she first came to Karneffel, her hooves were long like sled runners, causing incredible pain in her tendons. She had also been misfed leaving oddly shaped fat deposits.

“All the things that happened to her are common problems,” Karneffel said.

At the Smart Asses demonstration Karneffel hopes to help the crowd appreciate donkeys and everyone will have the chance to meet them and ask questions.

It is also the very first demonstration from the school Mancos School of Western Arts that is being launched as part of Mancos’ creative district designation. The idea grew out of the committee meetings to help develop Mancos’ creative industries, although a version of the idea had been talked about by town leaders for years.

Rather than a brick and mortar school, organizer and local Brian Killigrew hopes to organize regular workshops that will interest both locals and tourists on a range of topics from water color painting to horsemanship 101.

“We want to offer something for everybody,” he said.

During the balloon festival, Killigrew will be recruiting those interested in teaching workshops to start organizing a schedule of classes that would start in the spring.

The Smart Asses demonstration will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 27 in Hoffman Park on Main Street across from Absolute Bakery. Donations will go to support donkey rescues.