Pony goes loopy after i introduce donkey

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JinglebellJessi & MistletoeMagic

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Right, well i bought a donkey as my first owned equine, hes gorgeous, 10 months old jack. But my 22yo gleding keeps attacking him, at first i let them in separated fields and they just looked happy and interested, then i put them together and it all began. My gelding charged, bit, kicked and attacked the donkey, i let them at it for a while to esablish boundaries and when they had settles down i went home. This morning i come to the yard and donkeys in another field where the gleding has chased him through the fencing, i stabled the gelding to feed him but when he'd finished with his food he jumped the door! Hes 12,3 and old enough to know better, he cut his legs alittle but was otherwise fine, i walked him off and tyed him up to look at the damage and he was rearing and charging while tied. The donkey was nowhere near him. I dont know what to do, my gelding is a full loan and before i got the donkey he was calm quiet and well behaved and now hes a nightmare!! Any help please x
 
I always understood donkeys and horses didnt like each other but saying that I know the stables where I went as a child had one albeit it was in a stable never grazed out with horses.

Sisters horse got on well with a donkey but was a laid back horse(as did someone elses pony)??

I suppose you may have to seperate them ie let them get use to each other over a barrier for a while and try again later?
 
My pony has a real problem with donkeys. He even stops and stares at a field that we ride by on a regular basis because it used to have two donkeys in it.

At 22, you loan pony is not 'old enough to know better' he is acting on instinct and will be extremely established in his behaviour, likes and dislikes.
 
Years ago I turned out my mare in the orchard as I normally do every morning and the next thing there was a clatter of hooves and she was with me again, she'd jumped out of the paddock. I took her back to the paddock thinking that was strange, and there was the culprit Bach the donkey had come for his annual holiday and nobody had told me. Zara would have absolutely nothing to do with him.

We brought him down the corridor to her box and opened the door to introduce her to him, she lunged at him, bit him hard, turned around and jumped out of the window - fortunately not one with glass in.

We then decided that maybe a donkey friend was not her thing. BAch got the orchard to himself and Zara went out with the school ponies.
 
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I understand his problem, its stemmed by jealousy, he protects me and the other horses but hes becoming aggresive as he does it. This donkey was stabled with horses before i got him and doesnt pay attention to magic at all, magics owner was happy to hear of him getting a companion. Im just scared hes going to hurt himself, the donkey can run out of the way but magic goes into a crazy trance and doesnt notice anything else ):
 
Please don't try to rationalise this by ascribing human emotions like jealousy. The plain fact is that some horses don't get on with donkeys and it would be dangerous to try to force the issue, as you can surely understand from what's happened so far. I've been called to help with a "behaviour problem" which was as simple as a horse being stabled next to a donkey. Problem solved when donkey removed. I think you should consult Magic's owner again before you even try putting them back in together, because he obviously doensn't appreciate this companion and one or other of them could get seriously injured next time. I really wouldn't turn them out together again unless they had spent a lot of time in paddocks side by side, and started to interact over the fence.
Is Magic normally kept alone? If a horse has been alone for a while then they can have problems being put back together with other horses, let alone donkeys.
 
A lot of horses don't like donkeys.

I took Prince to the Bath and West show, and a trailer of donkeys pulled up, while we were cooing and and petting the foal, Prince was having a heart attack, never seen a horses eyes so far from it's head.

Snorting like a stallion shaking all over.
 
Keep them apart, your poor little donkey could get badly injured. Next time he might not be able to escape. Maybe in time they will learn to accept each other
 
Jessi&Magic said:
I understand his problem, its stemmed by jealousy, he protects me and the other horses but hes becoming aggresive as he does it.
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It has nothing to do with jealousy.

It's a well known fact that horses will very rarely tolerate a donkey - and it sounds as if your horse is one of them. So you have no choice but to keep them apart, before one of them is permanently put out of action.
 
Donkeys should be kept with other donkeys, which is why the Donkey Sanctuary will only ever let their charges go out on loan in pairs, and ponies with ponies. Simple.
 
Sadly some horses really will not tolerate a Donkey - however - many many horses do (I have first hand experience of up to 10-15 different horses living with donkeys very happily) - I would suggest keeping them on separate sides of a fence for a while to see if they can get used to each other, however it may be that they can never be together. For the well being of the donkey (they are an incredibly social species) I would suggest finding him another companion (preferably in the form of another donkey), or and i know this isnt going to be a nice thought, a new home where he will have other donkeys for company, keeping a donkey singly is really not fair (I actually feel this way about all equines, but particularly about donkeys)
 
It's pretty much been covered on this thread now but here's my bit ;-)
Many horses have a very peculiar reaction to donkeys, sometimes panic, but usually aggression if they are in the same space. My guys can't tolerate the donkeys and will go into attack mode if they walk past them in the stable block, it started as extreme interest and as soon as the donkey came within a certain distance the horse would go into attack mode.
We do keep the donks in a field right next to some of the other horses but the horses who were aggressive to them at the start, still are. We have a couple of horses who I think would probably live quite happily with the donks and have never shown signs of aggression but we don't need to take the risk to put them together as they have established herds and plenty companions of their own species.
I can understand why people would think all donkeys and horses should get on, considering they belong to the equus family, but for some reason so many horses just can't tolerate them. Saying that I do pass a field where a horse and donkey have lived quite happily together for years, luck of the draw perhaps.
I would advise against putting them together again, it really isn't worth the risk, and I would say that your donkey really needs another friend of the same species. Perhaps you can get in contact with the Donkey Sanctuary. For now though keep them in adjoining paddocks so they at least have some form of company, even if it isn't overly welcome!
All the best with your new family member and I hope it works out for you.
 
Llewelyn said:
Donkeys should be kept with other donkeys, which is why the Donkey Sanctuary will only ever let their charges go out on loan in pairs, and ponies with ponies. Simple.
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No it's not simple. I have a donkey in with six horses and don't have any problems at all. They all have their position in the small herd and even groom each other. Two donkeys are a nightmare together, despite what the Donkey sanctuary say. They get so clingy it often becomes too difficult to separate them when you want to take one out. Personally I'd separate them, beef up your fencing and let them get used to each other. You didn't say how long you've been trying. I agree a donkey shouldn't be alone. I'm glad you say the donkey is calm and quiet. They shouldn't get stressed and off there food. If they go into Ketosis (using their fat reserves) it can be fatal. This is the reason the donkey sanctuary won't let single ones go. Lots of donkeys live with horses.
 
After well over a year with two daft donkeys my WB loves them to bits, when we return from a ride they are sometimes hiding in the bushes which he really doesn't like as he can't see them and neighs until they come out.
In fact he even acts like one sometimes.... i think he thinks he is one!

Give them time separately to get used to each other as said before some horses just don't like them but give them all a good chance they just might click.
 
Plenty of people here use donkeys as companions for individual horses, we borrowed one one year to keep a yearling company and it was fine. However my neighbour has 2 donkey sanc' ones and if she has them in the orchard some of my mares dont want to go anywhere near that fence (idiots). I also had a TB youngster who saw one in a field when he was doing roadwork for the first time and it brayed at him, he nearly lost his life and he never forgot it! Each year when he started pre-training he'd be as good as gold until he neared that field and he would break into a lather of sweat and we would reverse and go sideways and generally act the idiot until we were past and then a hugh snort and back to his normal laid back self. Donkey long gone (was only there for a month) but horse behaved like that for 7 years even with gaps of a year between trips down that road (he'd go into training for the season and then have his holiday and then back to pre-training):D
 
many horses have irrational fear of donkeys. My horse is petrified, he wont go into one field at livery yard without growing and a major battle as there used ot be a donkey in field at top of hill..he doesnt go up that far now.
My pony is out on loan and lives with 5 donkeys...he is fine with them!
 
my old pony was absolutely completely terrified of the two donkeys at the yard when they came, he was a bit nutty anyway but they totally sent him wild!! My youngster on the other hand loves them as do the other two big horses in the field next to them. My 2yo met them for the 1st time the other day and was fascinated, hope he gets used to them tho!! Was told at the time some horses just don't accept donkeys, sounds like your pony is having the same reaction to my old boy!
 
One of our ex-racers would apparently only consent to race if he was accompanied to the course by "his" donkey. When the donkey went aloft it was replaced by a sheep! Personally I think it was all a scam because the other racehorses probably had hysterics if they caught sight of it.

PS If you think donkeys are a problem, try having pigs next door...
 
Hedwards said:
Sadly some horses really will not tolerate a Donkey - however - many many horses do (I have first hand experience of up to 10-15 different horses living with donkeys very happily) - I would suggest keeping them on separate sides of a fence for a while to see if they can get used to each other, however it may be that they can never be together. For the well being of the donkey (they are an incredibly social species) I would suggest finding him another companion (preferably in the form of another donkey), or and i know this isnt going to be a nice thought, a new home where he will have other donkeys for company, keeping a donkey singly is really not fair (I actually feel this way about all equines, but particularly about donkeys)
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^^^This:)

My mare loves donkeys.....pigs - now thats a different story!:)
 
Rose Folly said:
One of our ex-racers would apparently only consent to race if he was accompanied to the course by "his" donkey.
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Hmmmmm sounds like this story is the wrong way round I thing you'll find it was 'his horse' The big ears are the the ones with the brains you know.
 
I used to keep a horse with a donkey and no issues, later we had donkeys (not mine), next door. One of the ponies, used to stand and stare and not go any where near them, the rest of the horses really took little or no notice.

Given the reaction I would keep them in seperate paddocks, at least for the time being, as unfortunately it seems like one of them could get injured.

I have a pony that takes a dislike to some other ponies/horses he meets, he can be very territorial. He used to chase and round up the little pony mare I had and keep her away from the rest of the herd. He would sometimes spend up to 40 minutes doing this. But she had enough room to get away from him, and he would eventually give up.

The first time I put him in with my ISH he raced over and kicked him, while my ISH wondered what was happening. They now co exist together with no problems.
 
Funnily we got a donkey many years ago as he came with a blue cross horse we took on - it was a case of we had to take his donkey pal as they were inseparable. We had a pony at the time and we just put them all in together and no probs. We never actually knew horse reacted oddly to donkeys and over the years we had many horses and noneof these reacted adversely to the donkey - yes, at first they were intrigued but that was it. However, his mate (horse) was his protector and was quite high ranking so I guess no horse would have been allowed to go for donkey! Once the horse wenIt on full on attack mode when a dog we had (new dog) went for the donkey. It was quite amazing.

All the horses just loved the donkey - he was allowed to do anything and go wherever he wanted. However, when we'd take him occasionally to shows (xmas ones etc) other horses would often go mad! I don't actually know why they do - our theory is they sense it's an equine type but know it is a more intelligent being and they don't like it! ha ha
 
I have 2 donkeys, 2 horses and a shetland and they all live together as a herd. In fact the donkeys get away with murder, they share hay with the horses who wouldn't even tolerate sharing with each other, they share a stable if they so feel like it, in fact the horses seem to be a lot calmer with them being about. The shetland was terrified for the first week and wouldn't come near but now regularly grooms the donkeys as do the horses. Donkeys seem to have a very calm aura and I wouldn't be without them, they keep the whole herd on an even keel.
 
Hollyberry said:
I have 2 donkeys, 2 horses and a shetland and they all live together as a herd. In fact the donkeys get away with murder, they share hay with the horses who wouldn't even tolerate sharing with each other, they share a stable if they so feel like it, in fact the horses seem to be a lot calmer with them being about. The shetland was terrified for the first week and wouldn't come near but now regularly grooms the donkeys as do the horses. Donkeys seem to have a very calm aura and I wouldn't be without them, they keep the whole herd on an even keel.
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That is exactly what ours was like - noone else would have been allowed but he could go share others feeds and all sorts!
 
Many years ago I worked at a trekking center in N yorks. We used to take rides to the beach but it meant passing afield of donkeys. As soon as they saw the horses they went bazark, so we usually ended up going flat out down a very steep road:D In the end we bought a donkey to get the neds used to it. We introduced slowly - usual routine, turned it out and they nearly killed it. One mare Gypsy protected it (thankfully a dominant mare who had some respect) we rescued the little fella and that was that! He never got turned out with the horses again and they still buggered off at the sound of a donkey:D
 
Thank you for some peoples kind comments but for other please state your opinions in a friendly manner, not 'this girl must be stupid' magic has always been kept with company, he is always lowest ranking. They are in separate paddocks but the donkey is a true escape artist mastering 3 bar electric fencing and 4 bar wired fencing and is now bunking with the horse next door. Magic is slowly getting nicer, he doesnt always pace the fence and can graze next to the donkey. And for the person that said horses cant feel jealousy, they can. Anyone will say a dog will become jealous when you pet another. I am a resource/food bringer and he doesnt want to share his reasource (:
 


Obviously doesn't worry a lot of horses or I wouldn't have my gang :D
(click on little Blues pic with the goat and you should see)

hawfrostmulesdec10193.jpg


Obviously doesn't worry a lot of horses or I wouldn't have my gang :D
 
Jessi, you said that your pony protects you and other horses and that he was jealous. You didn't say anything about him being competetive or "jealous" about food.
What I was trying to say is that it isn't helpful to ascribe human emotions, like jealousy, to horses. They don't operate in the same way as we do. That, combined with the fact that many horses and ponies are very upset about being in close proximity to donkeys, would indicate to me that it might be helpful to think of this situation in a different way. I have been lucky enough to work with an equine behaviourist and the situation you are describing isn't surprising or that unusual.
Oh, and the reason I asked if Magic was normally kept alone:
1. You said his owner was pleased that he was getting the donkey as a companion.
2. Horses and ponies kept alone can start to display "aggressive" and other anti-social behaviours when reintroduced to company.
I had a quick scan back over here and don't see people being rude to you, but what many have done is share their experience and some facts. If you don't find that helpful then just choose to ignore the advice offered... but you did ask...
 
Well, my horse loves his donkey playmates. He lives out with them 24/7, they graze side by side and they all lie down together!
He does like to chase them once or twice during the day, which does keep the weight off them ;)

the donkeys love my horse - when he is being shod they wait at the gate till he is done :)
 
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