Equus africanus asinus fanciers Michael and Teresa Bradfield could talk the hind legs off a donkey about their, er ... donkeys.
"People who love donkeys really love them," Mrs Bradfield said on Friday.
"They have such a gentle nature and they're so playful. They love attention and they're very calm, gregarious and sensible. They have the wisdom of Solomon and the patience of Job," she said.
The Taieri couple's latest ass-et, Tabitha, was born on November 1.
"It was my grandmother's name," Mrs Bradfield explained, although she just laughed when asked how her grandmother would feel about having a donkey named after her.
"She snuggles up to you, if you crouch down. She's very affectionate," she said.
The Bradfields have two males, or jacks, Murphy and Dougal, and three females, or jennies, Matilda, Lily and, now, Tabitha.
"You have to get to know them a bit before naming them," Mrs Bradfield said.
A group of donkeys is called a drove, pace or herd.
"They browse like goats. They clean up all the blackberries and bramble," Mr Bradfield said.
"They're very good-natured and they're actually quite intelligent and stoic. They love each other. They're definitely a little herd. It's in their nature. They don't panic like horses," he said.
"They're very funny, too. They run around and rark up the horses. They'll run up to them and then run off again, just to tease them a bit."
Donkeys have a strong association with Christmas this year.
A 1960 Christmas song, Dominick the Donkey, about a donkey who helps Santa Claus deliver presents to children in Italy, is set to hit No 1 on the United Kingdom music charts after a mischievous campaign by an English television presenter.
Chris Moyles had the Lou Monte song regularly played on his programme to tease colleague Dominic Byrne and it reached No 3 on the charts on Wednesday.
If the prank is successful, it will be the longest time - 51 years - between the release of a song and it making No 1.
