Donkeys still looking for winter homes

[Erray]

I loan out my trekking ponies in the winter. The whole island dies off in the winter and the weather is usually awful so don't get enough customers to pay the bills, it also gives the grazing a good rest.
The ponies always go to the girls who help me out in the summer and so it gives them a taste of owning a pony for a few months and they love it. The ponies get alot more one to one attention and get a good rest as they can only really ride at weekends. I always make sure the ponies are all kept together and I'm about everyday to keep an eye on them.
They are all natives so most only need a bit of hay and have they're shoes off so the upkeep is cheaper for the parents than regular lessons would be.
I would have alot of unhappy teenagers and probably no help in the summer if the ponies weren't loaned out, the girls spend all year looking forward to it and it really brings on they're riding and knowledge. Afterall not everyones parents are willing to fork out £1000's on a pony so it is the closest some kids get.
I know this isn't really the same but just defending trekking centres and why we do it.

 

[duggan]

Ok, going back a few (or many) years we had a farm and offered to take the leftover herd from mablethorpe. Three arrived, apparently called Joanne,Flash and i'n buggered if I can recall the other one's name! It'll come to me.
Joanne was small, willing and a dream, Flash was a smart arse and taught me a lot about sticking on. Tack provided had the usual handle and was left in the tackroom, we rode about bareback in general. It was an experience i'd recommend to anyone, donkeys are sweet, funny,intelligent and far more bl00dy minded than any horse i've ridden, but in a nice way. They don't suffer fools, and knew when to tell me to behave.... Flash perfected the 'i'm bored' bit, he'd trot then stop. Donkeys don't have withers like a horse, I remember balancing then sliding over his head and down his neck on numerous occasions... he'd always stare at me afterwards, ears pricked almost saying 'ha, you stink!!' Joanne did the paper round with me a few times, and we ended up on the front of the local paper. A right pair of misfits we were!
The two would come when called and were happy, or they seemed as if they were, the other had foot problems the whole time he was with us and we eventually made him a welly to allow poulticing and later time for the sole to dry and grow, but still giving him time out in the field. When collected the chap said they looked grand,and would have returned but we moved out of the area

My take on it is that the donkeys had a change of scenery, lots of attention,food and a small girl who doted on them and even did fancy dress a few times......
Is that better than being turned out and left in a big herd? I don't really know, but i'll always be grateful for the experience and I can't be the only one.

 

[Natch]

I think this is a really interesting thread, and more debate and different points on it than the same thread last year had.

On the one hand I do see it as palming off, on the other at least they get some time out, maybe even to be mentally stimulated in different ways to their day job.

I love the stories about little girls who get to have the fun of the rides and care when they wouldn't have been able to any other way. I bet the ponies & donkeys get a lot out of that too.

At the college we take trekkers, and it seems to work really well: they get trekked all summer, worked in college but also live out as a herd in college term time, and the cycle continues. Pity donks are generally too small for the average rider there!

 

[wonkey_donkey]

A friend of mine offered to home a pair of the Skegness donkey's for the winter. She took a day off work for the home check which she passed with flying colours so filled in the relevant forms there and then. The woman said she would be in touch asap with when and what donkey's she would be getting. That was two months ago and my friend hasn't heard a word since . . . . how rude is that

 

[mollypops]

I know where they all go in winter, the guy down the lane has bought about 40 of them cheap and they've bred and bred, he knows NOTHING about keeping donkeys, apparently, donkeys haven't got the same 'waterproofing oils' that horses and ponies have, and they are all huddled in a sodden, bare patch of land, youngsters lying in the mud. He's not wormed them, looked after their hooves, people are horrified at his 'don't care' attitude, it's just money for him.

He's been reported before and always promised to find new homes for them, he just moves them to a mountainside (in this weather) away from prying eyes. I'm going to report him and KEEP on until RSPCA does something.

On top of that, our pony is TERRIFIED of donkeys and my daughter fell off onto the lane because ponio freaked at them, I can't even get pony to lead past them..she's just impossible.

How do some people get away with things like this, then others are hounded for keeping laminitics on well grazed paddocks etc for their own good?

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR