Miniature donkey makes friends with gentle giant
A tiny new arrival at the Miniature Pony Centre in Devon has made friends with a gentle giant on the yard.
Mediterranean miniature donkey foal Eros was born on 4 May and has since been delighting visitors to the farm in Newton Abbot.
The plucky little youngster was recently introduced to Buster, the centre’s 16.2hh Shire, and the pair hit it off straight away.
“I think Buster was more scared than Eros was,” Joanna Ginsberg of the Miniature Pony Centre told H&H.
“That was the first day he [Eros] went out on the grass. He went mental and dashed around.”
Eros’ name was chosen by the centre’s Facebook fans, under the theme of mythology.
“We let our customers chose from themed names every year for the foals,” added Ms Ginsberg.
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“He was nameless for a long time. We think Eros is quite fitting for him.”
The long-eared foal, who is expected to grow to 11hh, joins the centre’s 10-strong herd of Mediterranean miniature donkeys of predominantly broodmares.
The donkey herd lives alongside the farm’s 60 Shetland ponies, Muffin the mule, Buster the Shire horse and Harris the Suffolk punch.
Slovenian Lipizzanas, Zen and Jadrankra, also recently joined the farm.
Visitors to the centre can also meet cockatiels, chickens, peacocks, pheasants, guinea fowl and peafowl, as well as rabbits, guinea pigs and mice.
The Miniature Pony Centre is open seven days a week from 21 March to 1 November.
For more information visit: www.miniatureponycentre.com or call 01647 432 400.
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Rachael joined Horse & Hound in 2014, initially as a digital sub editor then became part of the news team as a writer in 2015. The philosophy graduate studied journalism at the Press Association before working as a local reporter at the Brentwood Gazette. Rachael is now a mum of two and still loves all things equestrian, including hacking, dressage and jumping with her cob Bert. Rachael left the H&H staff to go freelance in June 2019, but still contributes to our magazine and website, as well as our sister magazine Country Life, among others.