Eat,Bray, Love
Why the best companion for your horse might be a donkey.
n his Facebook page, Odie Gravel reveals that he is “in a relationship”--which isn’t unusual, except that Odie is a 31-inch Miniature Donkey. And his significant other is a 16-hand Irish Sport Horse.
Odie and his pal, Rory, are the best of friends despite their differences in size, species and length of ears. Their relationship demonstrates why many horse owners have concluded that the ideal companion for their horses might not be another horse, but a donkey.
As herd animals that rely on the structure of groups to feel safe, horses are usually miserable alone, but many people who keep horses at home don’t have the desire---or money---for two. Even at boarding stables and ranches where horses are plentiful, a stallion or high-strung mare or gelding may need to be kept apart from other horses and would benefit from a nontraditional companion.
Enter the donkey, the humblest and most unfairly maligned of the Equus genus. Similar to the horse in conformation and ever ready to play, a donkey makes an ideal companion and is easier on the bank account.
That’s how Odie met Rory. Their owner, Jenn Gravel of Washington State, needed a companion for Rory, a highspirited gelding who was boarded at a local stable, but, according to Gravel, was “harassing” the other horses, even when separated by a fence.
Gravel, a lifelong equestrian married to a rodeo rider, didn’t want the expense of boarding another horse, so she asked the barn manager if she could add a Miniature Donkey to Rory’s paddock at no extra charge. When the manager agreed, she started a search that culminated in Odie, a Mini who can fit underneath Rory without ducking. She took him on trial, uncertain of how the pair would interact.
During their first encounter, the donkey bit the horse, and the horse kicked the donkey. In pictures of that meeting, “Odie has no ears” because they’re flat, Gravel says. But within an hour, the
two had worked out their differences. “Rory was enthralled with him. He was like, ‘What is this? I love this thing!’” They’ve been together ever since, Odie providing Rory with all the companionship of a horse, at a greatly reduced expense. The antics of the pair, an equine odd couple, have also given them an enthusiastic YouTube following.
Like their ancient
counterparts, modern donkeys are both feral prey and beasts of
burden.