What Does “A Pace of Donkeys” Mean?
“Pace” describes donkeys’ genuinely distinctive walking style, steady, deliberate, and famously unhurried, a trait that’s earned donkeys an undeserved reputation for stubbornness when it’s really more a matter of careful, self-preserving temperament. Donkeys are naturally cautious animals, more inclined to assess a situation carefully before proceeding than to react impulsively, a survival strategy well-suited to their evolutionary origins in rugged, resource-scarce terrain.
That measured pace made donkeys especially reliable for exactly the kind of work droving and pack-carrying required, sure-footed, steady progress over difficult ground mattered more than speed. Handlers and researchers who study donkey behavior generally agree their apparent stubbornness is really closer to careful risk assessment, a donkey that pauses before crossing unfamiliar terrain is usually making a considered decision, not simply refusing to move.
Example: “A pace of donkeys made its way up the rocky trail, unhurried but never once losing its footing.”
Related: Collective Nouns for Mammals