Donkey as a companion for my horse?

RubyFrench

RubyFrench

Well-Known Member
Joined
11 May 2011
Messages
242
Location
West Midlands
Visit site
Opinions???????

Mom has always wanted a donkey, I have found one I like the look of local to us. Considering going to take her to see him and having him as a companion to my horse.

Has anyone kept this kind of combo??? Any tips/do's/don'ts?
 
Does the horse like donkeys is my first question! Horses can be completely freaked out by donkeys, or alternatively totally fall in love with them - I woudl get your horse to meet one before you get one :)

We adopted a horse from the blue cross that came with his own companion donkey - they were a right little married couple! The donkey always did fine with us, although we had to watch him on the grass as he could get cresty if we weren't careful - he was such a small little thing. They need constant access to shelter and pref hardstanding, their coast are not waterproof. They can be fed differently to horses, and feeding straw is one way of keeping them (although i don't remember us ever feeding ours straw)

Final thing to remember is that the donkey is infinitely more intelligent than your horse, and both your horse and your donkey know this! They are generally more wilful and determined than horses, and our veteran donkey took me for a spot of grass skiing on the end of his leadrope on more than one occasion :D
 
Donkeys are actually a different species from horses, so it's like putting a human on a desert island and saying a perfectly good companion would be a Neandertal man :p They don't speak the same language, only share some dietary preferences, and have different herd behaviour.

So donkeys, for example, are territorial, whereas horses are not.

By all means get a donkey - but remember that the donkey needs donkey companions to feel secure and content (they are also a herd animal), and a horse needs horse companions.

Failing that, they may well learn to tolerate each other - just as we would our Neandertal pal if we had nobody else around. We might find the limited conversation a bit of an issue eventually though, and feel a bit lonely for actual humans ;)

The other things to bear in mind is that donkeys need a different diet to horses (they need more roughage and less grass ideally, if you want to avoid laminitis) and they need more rugs and shelter (they're designed to live in dry, hot countries with no wet mud, lush grass or rain :D).

And when they're lonely for other donkey companionship, they can make a helluva racket ;)
 
Thanks you very much for the useful information!

I think mom's donkey may have to wait until I have had the field shelter installed then, other wise it will spend half it's life stabled!!
 
You might well end up getting two, most donkeys seem to want companionship of their own species. Most rescues will only adopt them in pairs including to home with horses.
 
We have a minayure med donkey- she doesn't think she is a donkey though, she lives with one of the minatures we have and they will not be seperated they go mad without each other, she needs rugging when weather is bad or access to shelter, she much prefers the satble with her friend and to be allowed to roam loose throughout the day, I feed her the same as the mini and she is wormed etc the same as the ponies... She does get itchy during winter so is clpped out! Good luck but do be warned they are so so noisey and some horses hate them!!
 
Have done it and it worked. When I initially introduced them I did it in separate but adjoining paddocks. Initially the donkeys ( I had 2 at the time) spent the first few days on the fence line admiring the pretty horse (they were smitten) while the horse stood shaking in terror on the other side of the field! Lol!

After about a week the horse had got over his fear and they all ended up in the same paddock after midnight adventures playing with the fence. But it proved that by then they were comfortable with each other. So after some fence repairs it was a workable arrangement. The donkeys ended up worshiping him and they provided company for him in turn and something for him to do. It wasn’t ideal but it worked for me for a while and I’d do it again. Donkeys are good fun but just picture the most wilful pony you know and magnify it to imagine a donkeys large opinions about most things. Also read up on the different worms that affect each and design a worming regime to cope with keeping the 2 together. some info here www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/node/2556
 
Very knowledgeable advice from previous posters. The Donkey Sanctuary are very helpful. I've got 2 horses and 2 donks. The donks supervise the horses and organise escape attempts. The horses adore the donks. No lung worm problems as everyone is on a good worming schedule. I love wonky donkeys.
 
Since ivermecctin was developed there is no reason for any donkey to have lungworm. My broodmare uses the donkeys as babysitters for her foals. The donkeys are way more inventive with playing games and will happily walk around leading a youngster with a stick. The only time my donkeys make a noise is when you are late with a meal.
 
I bought a donkey in 1993 from Jamie Gray:eek::eek::eek: as a companion to my mare who had moonblindness. She was a gr8 companion to her , shared the stable with her was much safer than a horse.

She is now 23 ish my mare is over the rainbow , but still have her.
She is cheap to feed ( Donkey chaff) is all she has with oil and carrots.

Yes horses are freaked out when they first see her but they get used to her in time.

I watch her weight in summer with a muzzle. She has rugs as donkey coats are not as waterproof as horses, thus her coat takes ages to dry.

Other than her usual worming ( needs double red worm) I do worm count as need to keep on top of red worm with her.
Thats it I think :D
 
Years ago the yo where I kept my pony had about a dozen that went out with the horses. Although they all got on they didn't really socialize with each other. Noticeable exception was a bottle raised donkey that was put with a shetland mare as a nanny, but with the exception of her, he didn't bother with the other horses, preferred to hang out with the donkeys.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top