OK, what the heck is it - Donkey with dreadlocks

[Queen Mum]

My neighbor has one. I'm told it's Spanish. It is covered with dreadlocks. It is inseparable from it's horse companion. You'd think they were sewn together. I have never, ever seen one like it. WHAT THE HECK IS IT?

I'll try to get a photograph and post it.

 

[Queen Mum]

OK, I found the answer... It's called a Baudet de Poitou donkey. My neighbor has one. Fascinating. Only about 1000 of them in the world. Who knew. The foals are adorable. They are from France. It's the draft horse of the Donkey world. Very rare. Here is a picture of what they look like.

from Wikipedia

 

[Pumpkinpup]

Ummmm, wow! I'd hate to have to groom him!

 

[goodhors]

They are extremely furry and do need some grooming to make sure the skin is not having problems from
insects or getting sores.

I met a couple of these Poitou Asses at the Canadian Royal Winter Fair. My friend
was exhibiting them as part of the Rare Breeds live animals. These two, Frick and Frack,
were both extremely nice animals, hair you could really sink your fingers into. They were
larger, about 14H, geldings, well trained and well behaved. With all the hair, they looked
"squeezably soft" and you wanted to pick them up. Funny, none of them called the two
boys a donkey.

As mentioned, the Poitous are very rare, endangered as a breed, but trying to get the numbers
raised. Not sure how many are bred in a year. Have to have a demand for these rare things so
breeders can make some money selling them. Haven't ever seen a mule with this type Ass as
the sire, so not sure what type the mule would look like. Here is the Rare Breeds site on them:

http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/poitou.html

 

[boykin2010]

My donkey looked a lot like that except not as much " dreadlocks." She actually shed her hair and what was left i pulled off easily. She looks like a normal donkey now. She may even grow them back this winter. Those really clumpy hard bits of hair that hang from the stomach area wouldnt pull off so i cut them with a pair of scissors. I didnt know she was a special breed of donkey. I was told that she was just a long-haired donkey. She is also solid white so it looked pretty cool.
The only bad part was, when people saw her they automatically thought i was mistreating her because it looked like she was matted. It is harder than it looks to keep a longhaired donkey clean!

 

[goodhors]

If you can still find one, those older type steel curry comb would work as the first
tool in breaking up the hair. My friend used a blower/vac on the Boys, with the
blower first to really get down to the skin, remove dust and open the hair after
being curried. Then she swapped the hose to Vac side and vacuumed them to
remove any dirt still on the animals. You REALLY lean into the vacuuming part, like
doing upholstery! The Boys acted as if they quite enjoyed it, leaning back as
she rubbed across their skin. As you said Boykin, it is hard to get down all
the way in that hair.

The Boys didn't have any hanging hair, but I also would be cutting it off any
animal of mine. They were kept groomed (think foofy) for the audiences
at the Royal. She said they didn't shed off much even in summer. What came
off was late in the season, July, and then they immediately started growing new
hair back in. All the donkey and Asses I have seen, just seem to stay rougher
coated than any horses. Mules look slick from July to mid-Sept here in the north
areas, then fur back up again. All of this long-eared side of the equine family LOVE to roll in
sand or loose dirt. So even grooming well, only lasts until they get back outside!

 

[Queen Mum]

I guess you are right. They are not a donkey, but an assinus equidae. Very cool. Heck of a job to groom them, though. I wouldn't mind having one.
I've always wanted two kinds of equine animals. A draft horse - one of the smaller breeds - and a mule.

 

[that's*satyrical]

Why do I picture this donkey singing Bob Marley songs??

 

[Queen Mum]

Why do I picture this donkey singing Bob Marley songs??

Now that made me laugh! Don't worry be happy!

 

[that's*satyrical]

Always happy to provide a good laugh when I'm not being my hypercritical & sarcastic self... And I did literally picture the donkey singing 3 Little Birds....