VERSATILE DONKEY NO STUPID ASS
VERSATILE DONKEY NO STUPID ASS
For Herdis Churchill, life without donkeys would be
unimaginable. Tim Relf meets the octogenarian enthusiast
WHEN the donkey dealer rang, Herdis Churchill wasnt even looking for one. Come and have a look, the dealer said, theres a nice black one in the batch. A "good un" by all accounts. So she did – and bought the lot.
"All ages, all sizes, all higgledy-piggledy," recalls Herdis. "I bought them – all 20 – for about £20 apiece." They were, she remembers, "raw recruits straight off the boat from Ireland".
That was back in the 1960s and now, more than 30 years on, shes still as passionate as ever about the creatures. "They are more intelligent than a horse – it takes less time to teach them and they have a memory like an elephant," she says. "Theyve got far more character than a pony. So much more versatile."
The latest additions to Herdis collection at Coulsden, Surrey, are two Andalucian stallions imported from Spain. "Delightful laid-back creatures," says Herdis of Vino and Merc, the 13.2hh animals – two of only a handful of the breed in this country.
"When it came to naming them, I couldnt think of what came out of Seville – other than oranges," she says. Then it occurred to her that wine does and, after consulting the encyclopaedia, she learnt Mercury also does. Hence Vino and Merc.
One of the pairs first outings involved demonstrating timber hauling – just one of Herdiss many trips to agricultural shows and county fairs, demonstrating groundwork like ploughing. Shes even taken part in the New Years Day Parade in London. Herdis, her family and friends have all become well-known faces in the donkey world.
* Donkeys charm
Competition showing, however, is something shes done less of recently. "The serious bit of showing can be more boring than watching paint dry. We did it because we used to breed and it is your shop window. The show-ring, then, is a must."
Meanwhile ever-more people are falling for the charm of donkeys, says Herdis. And she rebuffs suggestions that theyre obstinate and stubborn animals. "They do not take advantage but they will take the mickey. If you are showing off, they will put you down. Put you in your place." Theyre clever, too – and they have great personalities. "Theyre totally different. No two are alike."
Some people like the idea of keeping something more unusual than a horse. "Theres a certain appeal about a donkey that is different to a horse." Others simply use them as a "lawnmower".
And it was one such "lawnmower" donkey that provided Herdis – already familiar with farm horses – with her introduction to the species all those years ago. "It either bit at one end or kicked at the other," she recalls of that animal. But it could move quickly and was a winner on the donkey racing circuit. "She went like a rocket."
* Good babysitter
Of the "raw recruits", meanwhile, that Herdis snapped up in the 1960s, one is still around. Dodo, a 34-year-old, is a good "babysitter" for the foals. "Hes a good stepping stone from when they are first weaned until theyre old enough to go on their own."
So how is he looking, at 34? "He has lost his top line. He is looking an old donkey. But he is quite bright-eyed and bushy-tailed."