Pony TERRIFIED of donkeys (Very first post, bit long)

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mollypops

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My daughter's pony is 8 years old, was badly treated by her previous owners and came to us last June headshy etc, we've really made progress with her and she is so trusting now and such a sweet natured girl, never seen here ears back at us in any situation.

Trouble is, there's a guy down the lane (access lane to our yard) he has a 'collection' of donkeys he's bought cheap and wants to sell them on for profit next spring. They've bred and there's about 30-odd of them..he doesn't give a monkey's by the way, it's just money to him.

Led my daughter down the lane, pony spotted donkeys in paddock, went ABSOLUTELY NUTS..nostrils flared snorting, eyes bugging out tried to flee..my daughter fell off into the road. Now daughter is petrified, and pony won't even LEAD past this field. Tried slowly taking her past, she plants her feet and will NOT budge. Taken our cob out with her to 'help' her past, nope.

Need some advice, we can't afford to move anywhere else, and the places we've seen are unsuitable for us, too many main roads etc..too far away.
All we want is to be able to help her past this spot, she's like it even when the donkeys aren't there. He wouldn't lend us a donkey for 'desensitisation' as he's unapproachable and uninterested.

Help!
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I had a pony who was like that - they must know they arent horses but cant work out what they are! Have you tried walking with her, with carrots and every positive step forward, give her a bit of carrot - dont expect to get past straight away, it might take a couple of weeks, even better if you have other horses that dont mind hack them out with her too! My pony got so that he would walk past them, but always snorted and walked quickly, but he did do it - good luck!xx
 
Not unusual - mine is also terrified of them, black shetlands, ostriches and llamas (to name just a few fellow creatures on his list of monsters).

Mine did eventually get friendly with a small brown mule (12 hands of a job) which was out roaming free in the Welsh Mountains. Narrowly avoided death by heart attack and a bolting incident but in the end they got very pally. The mule, interestingly, had no such worries about my horse!

You need to get one and introduce them.
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My last horse - a strapping handsome 16.3hh Selle Francais eventer
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- was also terrified of donkeys
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I refused to compromise on where we hacked (one route was past a field with 3 donkeys in) so we got into a routine whereby we would rein back all the way past the field so he couldnt see them
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I found that if he couldnt actually see them he was fine
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But not sure this is a very practical solution, desensitisation by borrowing/buying one would probably be the best option if you can
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<font color="blue"> we got into a routine whereby we would rein back all the way past the field so he couldnt see them </font>

I'm sorry, but do you realise how funny that is... and how on earth did you think it up?
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Try just taking her and standing far enough away that she can see and smell them but before she gets scared. A few carrots or treats should keep her mind off them. It takes a lot of patience but eventually you can get closer and closer. Once she associates them with treats and pats/strokes they will lose their scary associations.

Captain was petrified of pigs, until we tried that. It didn't cure him immediately but with perseverence he would walk past them, no probs, it did take a couple of weeks,but he is an incediably stubborn, intelligent horse.We also had a set back when they escaped and ran onto our yard. Funniest thing I have ever seen, Elizabeth herding them away from the barn, shouting "he'll never leave the stable if he see them coming!"

Then they sold the bl**dy things!

Good luck whatever you decide to do.
 
I have two donkeys which live with my two horses and a shetland. When they first arived the shetland wouldn't come anywhere near them and would stand quivering and snorting for hours just watching them. Eventually they all mingled and they now live as a herd and the shetland even sleeps in the same barn as the donks. I think the best way is to try and borrow a couple of donkeys and try to de-sensitise pony by letting him live next door but separated by electric fencing for a couple of weeks.
 
Just bear in mind sometimes horses click that their new friend is obviously a horsey type creature... but the scary donkey shaped monsters are still horrific creatures!!

Read a funny story about a horse who was scared of cows. Bought a calf and eventually the horse doted on the little cow!
However, any other cow was still an alien monster that needed to be run away from!

I'd keep working on the field in question. See if you can steal some poo to put in her stable/field so she gets used to the smell of the field (surely he's not going to be an pain about poo? Claim it's for the veggies!!!).

But don't go near the field itself until your daughter gets her confidence back. The horse will rely on your daughter to let her know it's going to be okay, and if your daughter is scared it'll only make matters worse!

And on the topic of donkeys - we had one on our hack. The horses realised it was related from sight and smell and would walk past fine...
Unless it spoke...
then it revealed it's true form and EVERYONE had to runaway home!!!
 
If you decide to get a donkey and turn her out with it be careful she doesn't get hurt in fear - a friend turned his hunter out with a CAMEL and it bolted, jumped the fence, impaled it self and had to be PTS.
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I think, if managed, it may be a good idea though.
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My mare doesn't do donkeys
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A lady who lives near our yard has rescued a donkey and she walks it through the yard so she can get to the hacks. The horses at the yard just dont know what to make of it.
 
My mare doesn't do donkeys either...... Makes for interesting times at one of our local shows, when the donkeys are always in the next ring to us at the same time. They are parked next to the rings so that you can't get to your ring without going past the donkeys!!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
<font color="blue"> we got into a routine whereby we would rein back all the way past the field so he couldnt see them </font>

I'm sorry, but do you realise how funny that is... and how on earth did you think it up?
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[/ QUOTE ]

Imagine the car drivers who saw you, going home and telling everyone they had seen a horse going backwards along the road
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and once he is past them, they will be in front and he will see them. You will have to do a speedy pirouette to avoid it.
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[ QUOTE ]
<font color="blue"> we got into a routine whereby we would rein back all the way past the field so he couldnt see them </font>

I'm sorry, but do you realise how funny that is... and how on earth did you think it up?
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[/ QUOTE ]

It was a very narrow, very quiet lane which was also a steep hill
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Just about wide enough for one car, so we actually never met anyone each time I did it
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Well there was no way that I was going to admit defeat and turn around and go back the way we had come, so he was going past one way or another - and the neighbours looked mightily distressed at a huge bay beastie cavorting madly up and down the lane until I thought of the idea
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[ QUOTE ]
<font color="blue"> we got into a routine whereby we would rein back all the way past the field so he couldnt see them </font>

I'm sorry, but do you realise how funny that is... and how on earth did you think it up?
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It may be funny - but it can be a very effective way of getting a horse past something 'terrifying' - I've done it MANY times! One Dumbblood I bought had NEVER been hacked (and as he was intended as a hunt horse, that was something of a drawback!
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) He refused to go past a garden where lady with very large back side in bright red trousers was weeding her borders! So I rein-backed for 100 yards until we were level with her! Then turned and went straight past!

I'm fortunate in that I have a quiet lane very close to home where two donkeys live in a roadside field - mine get used to them.

As this is a kid's pony, I would take it out on a lead - armed with carrots - and entice it past - again - and again - and again.
 
Not unusual, but horses and ponies can and do get used to them. Try walking your pony near them, let her watch them, then go home again. get a llitle closer all the times. Shouldn't take long to get used to the donkeys.
Horses that go past my field soon got used to them, as have the ones I pass while out with mine.
Please,don't buy one off him, it will only encourage this irresponsible breeding.
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Thanks, everyone who replied..looks like I just need to take time and persevere with her.

He's actually been reported a number of times for keeping too many animals in poor conditions, his chickens are allowed to stray all over the lane and most have got run over.
He's moved the donkeys to a remote hillside (in this weather)so the authorities will think he's sold them..******* as he is.

Pony just links the field with her scare, she won't set foot near it. There could be the most irresistible Arab stallion calling her softly to his quivering, muscly flanks and she'd go, "NO WAY MAN!"
 
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