July 2002

The last month has been a busy one here at Boothby Miniature donkeys. At the start of the month two yearling fillies, including the much admired Boothby Annie were sold to Scotland. Good luck to them and their new owners! We have also had three lovely filly foals, all of which arrived safely and easily and are giving much pleasure already.

Circle C Copyright (Wiggy), our jack, has been the star of the month, even with all the competition. First, we took him to the jubilee celebrations in the village. Soon all the children were crowded around and he ended up doing about twenty donkey cart rides with up to four small children in the cart at any one time.

A fortnight later it was to the East of England show. We took Felicity - a smart two year old - and Wiggy. Felicity was a disappointing 4th out of five and Wiggy last of five in the driving class, despite both behaving immaculately. A very experienced and successful standard driving gentleman came up to me afterwards to say he thought the judging unfair, which was a very kind gesture, and reflects how many of the standard donkey scene want to beat us fairly, not due to prejudice! The day was still worthwhile, with our minis making many new friends, but sometimes it can feel like you are beating your head against a brick wall in the ring. All we can do is keep going out there and behaving in a sporting manner.

Tuesday saw a 2am start for my father and I, down to Taunton (255 miles from us) to look at a new trap. Fortunately the trap and the traffic were just as good as you could ask for!

Saturday saw Ross and Gay (my husband and my mother), Wiggy and two traps set off for Berkshire. We were stuck in the Hatfield tunnel on the A1 for an hour and a half, which drove us people nearly demented. Wiggy just carried on eating his hay! Eventually we got to our B&B, where we took the traps out and bedded the trailer down, so Wiggy could have a comfortable 'stable' for the night. Up bright and early the next morning with a serious case of butterflies, we set off for the British Driving Society show in Windsor Great Park. This is the highlight of the British Driving calendar year. The show has a lovely laid back feel with four rings catering for almost every sort of light carriage horse combinations you can imagine, and for the first time donkeys and mules.

We were entered in the Pleasure driving class for ponies 13.2hh and under and the donkey and mule class. First was the pleasure driving class, which consisted of seven ponies, two mules and Wiggy. After a good performance we were delighted to be awarded third place. To set this in perspective we were only beaten by two immaculately turned out ponies driven to traditional vehicles with experienced whips. Next was the donkey class. We were all feeling a little more relaxed and I think Wiggy went the best he ever has done in the ring to finish 3rd of seven (five donkeys and two mules). A beautiful white donkey and an amazingly trained tandem, whose performance was inspirational, beat us. The afternoon was spent watching hackneys, unicorns (3 horse teams) and a medium goal polo final and spending our prize money in the trade stands.

At 4pm around one hundred and fifty turnouts assembled for the grand parade. We paraded on the Guards polo ground, which is the most amazing turf, doing a circuit, which took us past the Royal box containing The Queen and Prince Phillip. Wiggy was last of all in the parade and got the biggest cheer of the day when he went past, neatly jumping over the white rope outside the box. It was a very proud moment to end a wonderful day. Wiggy behaved immaculately (most of the time - he is a donkey!) and our new little turnout was admired by many. Several people said it was their favourite of the whole show. My nicest comment was "what an elegant turnout" and my least favourite "She looks like Queen Victoria"! To be placed so highly by two enormously experienced and well respected judges and to beat so many far more experienced showmen was a wonderful achievement. My only regret of the day is that we will probably never top it. Showing is a big effort but I honestly believe the rewards can be enormous. We at BMD certainly feel so after Windsor!

Until the next issue goodbye, and good luck to all our competitive members. Please feel free to contact me about shows, events or any other donkey things on 01507 466 797.

In the fall of 1998 my mother went to Canada and came back with eight miniature donkeys to join the one she had bought in the UK. This was the start of Boothby Miniature Donkeys. Nearly four years on we now have 16 donkeys, with two more foals due this year. Our minis have been real stars and we have fun showing them. The showing scene over here is pretty primitive for minis, with only three shows with miniature classes, although we are allowed to compete against standards, which are well catered for. We have mixed results - some judges put you straight to the bottom of the line and don't look at you again and others judge them more fairly and wins against standards are fairly rare but not unheard of. I am running the first ever miniature donkey show over here on 15th September. Driving is really unusual over here. I only know of three people driving including me, and I am currently the only person driving competitively. We had a very exciting weekend driving recently, and I enclose the article published about it in our miniature magazine, The MMDA Newsletter.

Saturday saw Ross and Gay (my husband and my mother), Circle C Copyright, our herdsire and a cart set off for Berkshire. Five and a half hours later we got to our B&B, where we took the trap out and bedded the trailer down, so Circle C Copyright could have a comfortable 'stable' for the night. Up bright and early the next morning with a serious case of butterflies, we set off for the British Driving Society show in Windsor Great Park. This is the highlight of the British Driving calendar year. The show has four rings catering for almost every sort of light carriage horse combinations you can imagine, and for the first time donkeys and mules.

We were entered in the Pleasure driving class for ponies 13.2hh and under and the donkey and mule class. First was the pleasure driving class, which consisted of seven ponies, two mules and Circle C Copyright. After a good performance we were delighted to be awarded third place. To set this in perspective we were only beaten by two immaculately turned out ponies driven to traditional vehicles with experienced whips. Next was the donkey class. We were all feeling a little more relaxed and I think Circle C Copyright went the best he ever has done in the ring to finish 3rd of seven (five donkeys and two mules). A beautiful white donkey and an amazingly trained tandem, whose performance was inspirational, beat us. The afternoon was spent watching hackneys, unicorns (3 horse teams) and a medium goal polo final and spending our prize money in the trade stands.

At 4pm around one hundred and fifty turnouts assembled for the grand parade. We paraded on the Guards polo ground, which is the most amazing turf, doing a circuit, which took us past the Royal box containing The Queen of England and Prince Phillip. Circle C Copyright was last of all in the parade and got the biggest cheer of the day when he went past, neatly jumping over the white rope outside the box. It was a very proud moment to end a wonderful day. Circle C Copyright behaved immaculately (most of the time - he is a donkey!) and our new little turnout was admired by many. Several people said it was their favourite of the whole show. My nicest comment was "what an elegant turnout" and my least favourite "She looks like Queen Victoria"! To be placed so highly by two enormously experienced and well respected judges and to beat so many far more experienced showmen was a wonderful achievement.

This article was originally published in the newsletter of the
Miniature Mediterranean Donkey Association