Pasture companion, mini donkey or mini horse?

[PRS]

[QUOTE=horseowner40;4556663]
That is the cutest photo i have ever seen, he is adorable, and you have him trained so well. After reading your post and researching mini donks, i think that is what i should get for Misty, do you have advice on the sex, male or female?:)[/QUOTE]

I prefer a gelded jack. They seem to have more “personality” than the quieter jennets. IMO. I have a couple of friends with jennets and they don’t seem to want to interact with people as much as my donkey does. Every time you hear about a “character” it is usually a jack. You will definitely want to geld him though. However, if you just want a companion for your MARE you might want to consider the rather lower key jennets.:yes:

[PRS]

[QUOTE=horseowner40;4556693]
What do you give a sick donkey? the reason i ask is i am in a remote place, and need to know how to take care of him, and have meds on hand.:)[/QUOTE]

Ask your vet and make sure he understands the difference between donkeys and horses. I understand banamine would have been the pain med of choice for my little guy but I didn’t have any. Once his abcess was drained all I had to do was change bandages daily for two weeks and medicate the area with betadine.

[WaningMoon]

[QUOTE=horseowner40;4556693]
What do you give a sick donkey? the reason i ask is i am in a remote place, and need to know how to take care of him, and have meds on hand.:)[/QUOTE]

There are a few donkey differences in the medical field. I think you would do best talking with the vet about that as everyone is going to have different things to say here Im thinking. I know even gelding a donkey carries much more danger. But, I have never experienced even one sick or off day with my donkey in the 15 yrs I"ve had him. Gelding was no issue.

He gets a vet check each yr and all his shots the same as the ones my mare gets. He’s kind of overweight but otherwise very healthy. I do have his feet done every 5 weeks, he does have what the vet know believes to be WLD and we have just done the cleantrax thing. But this is the very first issue Ive even had with him and it is totally fixable and he is still as sound as ever.

I bought him from a breeder in the state, Asspirin Acres, they have around 150 of them I do believe. I paid $1400 for him and she offered to send his papers upon gelding but I never asked. You see many for free though if you watch. They ARE very smart. An old longtime donkey/mule man back in the 70’s told me I’d never have an issue with them, if I took the time to make everything seem like it is their own idea to do something, over them feeling forced to do something. They do NOT want a fight or be forced to do anything. It will become a battle of wills and you will not win. You will get much further accomplishing something peacefully. Them gaining your trust goes very far. He will follow me ANYWHERE, even when you can tell that he doesn’t really see it as being a good idea. You can’t set anything you are working with down for even a second because they will have it. He’s ran off with my hammer more times than I can count.

And children, oh my, he’s never happier than when my grandkids are up here with me for the summer. They jump on him bareback and he’ll take them walking about the pasture on his own. No bridle, nothing. One of them is now too big to do that with him and he’s quite upset about that. They can carry 70lbs but can pull up to 400 the breeder told me. Look at the size difference here with my mare. Okay, I’ll shut up now, but I can’t speakk positively enough, on having my donkey, he has just been a joy. Quite a character he is, but a real joy. Please don’t pay any attention to the stupid dates on the pics, seems to be stuck on that date, has been , still is.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p235/Born2Bloom/echo/summer08042.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p235/Born2Bloom/echo/latewinter-spring09008.jpg

[PRS]

My little guy has been as healthy as can be too. No health issues whatsoever except the abcess. Weird…I have had one abcess in 17 years until this year when I had 2 in a month on 2 different animals. The vet said that he thought the unusually wet summer we’ve had contibuted to the cause. He has got wonderfully hard little feet too. I bought him 3 years ago when he was a five year old from a lady who had owned him for a couple of years. She had gotten him in trade for some work she had done. She claimed to have never had his feet trimmed and although I have the farrier check him over every time he comes I’ve only had to have him trimmed twice. The vet that gelded my donkey said that they tend to bleed more than horses so he stayed on scene quite a bit longer than he did when he gelded my horse just to make sure he was OK. My donkey tends to be a little on the ahem portly side and would do just fine without any feed. I swear he only gets about a cup of feed am and pm but he is out on either pasture or hay all day and stalled at night. He also loves children and is happiest when he has a bunch of children brushing him and dispensing treats. He has never offered to kick any human and the only time he bit someone was when he mistook her finger for a cookie :sadsmile: He is very attached to my mare but separates well too. I’ve never had to leave him home completely alone but if I did I would just put him in his stall with a flake of hay and full bucket of water and he’d be fine.:winkgrin:

[sdlbredfan]

Coolarooni! That seems like progress of some kind on the ‘he has suggested a full size horse so that we can ride together’.
Jeanie

[JMurray]

I have 2 mini Donks a gelded jack and a Jenny as companions for my horses. I have not had a sick day with them in the ten years I have had them. They are the best little critters and live on air.

[PRS]

[QUOTE=sdlbredfan;4558111]
Coolarooni! That seems like progress of some kind on the ‘he has suggested a full size horse so that we can ride together’.
Jeanie[/QUOTE]

Since I broke the donkey to drive 2 years ago I can count on one hand the number of times my husband has been on a horse. He would MUCH rather ride in the cart so he drives the donkey and I ride my horse. It works.

[openthegait]

My choice is the mini donkey.

I have never had a mini horse, though I have been around them, but i have 2 mini donkeys and two horses, the two donkeys are pasture mates for my retired horse so he is not left alone when i take my young horse to shows or clinics. If you are looking for a pasture mate, they are great companions, but become very attached to the horse they are with. If you do ever take your other horse with you, it would require you to bring the donkeys with you. The are easy travelers for pick up and are a joy to have around in general. Though having mini donkeys are a long term investment as they can live up to 50 years, they eat very little and with sufficient grazing, can go all summer on just pasture. They are very fun and amusing to have around. I can sit and watch them for hours just laughing. They are sweet and love their owners, I would suggest getting a gelded jack if you are considering this option, they are cautious but playful, if you don’t want that long of an investment, try getting and older donkey that would still fit your needs and have the wisdom of being around horses and other donkeys. hope this helps, but my personal choice would be the mini or average size donkey, (or mule if you want the same personality and also want to do some lessons)

[normandy_shores]

I’ve been doing this same debate for a few months. I actually took the trailer to pick up a small standard donkey but the little bugger would not load (or lead, or really anything). I decided then I’d rather stick with horses vs donkeys, at least I know horses. I do know donkey lovers LOVE their donkeys though.

I then debated mini (cheap, basically no feed costs, etc) vs pony or horse. I have 2 easy keeper horses that around roughly 15.1h. They are separated because one is an absolute a-hole to other horses (it’s the sweet one that very herdbound anyhow). I realized getting a mini meant upgrading my fencing and likely changing how I feed to avoid overweight/laminitis problems, plus concerns for the mini’s safety. Decided then that a pony doesn’t cost that much more to feed, the dental/farrier costs aren’t really different, so I might as well get something I can ride/train and possibly resell. So now I have a 14h morgan pony coming mid February. Easy keepers, good feet, potential to resell to a kid or small adult, and should help keep whichever horse left home company.

If I had done a mini, it would’ve gone in with my gentler horse AND I would have made a fenced off area accessible for the mini to retreat to. Think small fenced paddock/shelter with a board high enough for mini to slip under but keeps horse out. Between that, mini-proofing my fence and changing how I feed (in a wood round bale feeder in winter, in ground feeders in the summer), I decided the mini would be more hassle than something “usable”.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

I have a companion for my companion. My companion was a mini-donkey and I got him a donkey. Otherwise he would have been devastated if I took his horse away. Now that he has a donkey friend, he prefers him, which is perfect. The donkeys are gelded. They only bray when it is grain time. I think they are a good influence on my young mare. Less racing around and being stupid.

I really love my donkeys. They eat air and need their feet done about half as much as my horse does. My mini is trained to ground tie, drive and has a show record (how cute is that!?). I paid $75 for him. I don’t have a cart though. The standard is a rescue and is shy. I think these pictures should be public.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10204611099031194&set=a.10200194892148782.173781.1646226472&type=1&theater

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oMq269MtAEg/VLhsi0vH81I/AAAAAAAAA9w/BkOGM13TNOM/s1600/IMG_0665%2B(2).JPG

I haven’t captured how freaking adorable the mini is on camera yet. He’s like “pass out” cute.