The donkeys are lucky enough to have many visitors and there are frequent questions that come up. So here are some of the answers. Do you have more questions? Leave a comment or contact me and I’ll do my best to answer them.
What are their names?
Waltham Mill Prudence and Boxworth Margot – or more commonly Margo and Pru.
How old are they?
Pru is one month older than Margo. They were both born in 1981, Pru in the January, Margo in the February.
How do you tell them apart?
Margo is the darker one. Pru has a much lighter (and thinner) coat and is generally more fine boned than Margo.
Are they related?
No. Margo came from Boxworth in Cambridgeshire and Pru from Waltham Mill, as you might expect. Margo was rather poorly when she was first obtained by the lady I bought her from so she put her with Pru as they were the same age. They have been together ever since. When they were younger Pru would always protect Margo by standing in front of her if there was something strange going on. As they have got older Margo’s character developed and now she is always the one out in front. Interestingly though she is still more shy of people and always lets Pru come forward first to test out any visitors before she approaches.
Why does Pru wear a rug in winter and Margo doesn’t?
Margo has a very thick coat in winter with coarse hair – rather like a hearthrug! Pru’s coat is very smooth and thin even in winter. Her glossy looks won her the Best Conditioned and Turned Out Donkey at Wimpole Hall Show one year, but good looks don’t keep you particularly warm. And as Pru has got older she has some problems with her hips and her feet so she needs a bit of molly-coddling in the winter.
What do you do with them?
Well, when they were younger we used to take them to shows and do mainly in-hand showing. We take them out for walks. They attend the Palm Sunday parade at our local church. They have even attended one of the Cambridge University Colleges for their nativity play for a couple of years. But mostly they are in their field happily watching the world go by.
