Our Poitou baby has arrived!!

RutlandH2O

RutlandH2O

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Three days earlier than expected, our newly weaned Poitou jenny foal has spent her first night with us. She is the most precious creature, not only for the way she looks, but because she has such a lovely, affectionate, self-confident, curious temperament. I can barely wait to go outside to give her another cuddle!

The first photo is Champagne (this is a C year for Poitou registrations in France) being lead to our waiting trailer at Hamerton Zoo Park.

The second two photos are at our farm when she arrived yesterday.

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Oh, she is beautiful!! :)

Will you be allowing her to grow the shaggy coat?

I used to help a lady who had a herd of (standard) donkeys, I still miss them now, such fantastic creatures, much nicer to be around then horses and ponies, they just seem to know how you're feeling and react appropriately.

Look forward to reading your updates! :D
 
aww, she doesn't look real (in the nicest possible way), that shaggy coat.

Are Poitou donkeys the ones that grow really big, like 15 or 16hh?
 
I simply cannot get the third photo to appear.

Thanks, everyone. I've been like a child at Christmas. I met little Champagne on Burghley cross-country day. When I was told, about 10 days later, that she was indeed mine, I thought I was dreaming. I visited her a few times before she was weaned. I was supposed to pick her up on 19 October, but when I found out she was totally weaned and our weather is supposed to become more vile by the end of the week, I asked if I could have her sooner than later. She was wormed and had bloods taken for DNA in France on Monday, so she was cleared for take-off, so to speak, for us to pick her up yesterday. She is such a little trooper. Our standard jenny is curious. But, our five year old Poitou jenny, Thea, is jealous and very food protective. It has been just 24 hours, so it's very early days. The baby is staying out of Thea's way, and even popped a few well-placed kicks, which Thea appears to respect. I tried separating them, but the baby tried to climb the gate (it is being wired with 3/4" weld mesh as I type). It was a toss-up between staying out of Thea's reach or a broken leg.

Hedwards: Champagne's coat will be allowed to grow as much as it can...BUT, I will be grooming her. I'm not that keen on the cadenette (the dreadlocks Poitous sport in France). I can't imagine what her coat would look like with bedding, mud, and dung imbedded into it.
Actually, I can imagine, because Thea is just like Pig Pen, the character in the Peanuts cartoon, who has a permanent cloud of dirt and filth all around him. I have taken to carrying a brush and comb in my coat pockets at all times, the way I carry my keys or a small flashlight in winter.

Hamerton Zoo Park has a 15h2" gelding called Tweed. He is stunning (oh, I might even have a photo). He is dripping in coat, but he is groomed. He is very large, in a breathtaking kind of way! I'm not too sure if they reach 16h, but they are supposed to have bone and hooves similar to that of a carriage horse.

Thanks, again, everyone, for all your lovely sentiments.
 
Here is a photo of fully groomed, 15h2" Tweed: if he had his head up he would look more his size.
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Here's the third photo of Champagne on our farm yesterday (I hope):
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She is gorgeous! :D

I met Tweed at the Autumn Show at Peterborough on Sunday. He was with a miniature Donkey who made him look even bigger!

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I have a Poitou x gelding (3yo) and he has a superb temperament. Really laid back! This is a picture of him when he was a yearling with an ID x filly.

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Keep us updated on her progress with lots of photos! :p
 
Wow I'd never heard of these and never occured to me that donkeys could be so big.

What are you going to do with her?

Her non fluffy fetlocks make her look like she's wearing a fluffy Onesie!
 
She is just lovely. I was about to ask if you were letting her dreadlocks develop then noticed you said you were going to keep her groomed. I only recently discovered they even existed. A friend bought a Breton draught horse and I looked the breed up and it said about how they were used mostly to produce mules by crossing with the Poitou Ass. Lucky you :)
 
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