Main Menu Clipping Tips for Driving Donkey Owners. Reasons for Clipping. A donkey needs to be clipped for driving if it sweats. If your driving donkey does not sweat whilst driving, it does not need to be clipped. It can be very beneficial to clip a driving donkey that sweats in its winter woollies in late spring. With the correct rugs it is very easy to get a clipped donkey dry and warm well before nightfall. There is nothing worse than a fully coated donkey being left wet from sweat, or from a spring downfall, especially if they then have to travel home from a competition or endure a cold spring night. My donkeys are very forward going and always sweat as they have very thick coats. As a result I drive then very little in the winter, and very cautiously in April. I do not clip my donkeys before May, as I feel it is just too cold. A Cold Donkey You can tell if a donkey is cold by feeling the base of its ears, or the temperature of the coronet band at the top of its hoof. If these areas feel colder than the rest of the donkey, it needs a rug on. If it continues to remain cold it will arch its back and its fur will look stark. It will move a little stiffly with its head a little lowered. Finally - it will shiver. Clipping Preparation. Before you can clip your donkey for driving you will need three correctly fitting rugs: The Waterproof Rug. The most important is a warm waterproof rug. This stays on your donkey all the time until the weather becomes too warm for it. The rug replaces the natural coat and only comes off whilst you are driving or working the donkey. If it comes off in May during the day due to the hot weather – beware – the nights are still cold – it will usually need rugging up again at night. This is required to dry the donkey if it is sweaty or has been caught in a shower, or if it has had a bath on a warm day. It may be helpful to travel in one of these if your donkey gets hot. A wicking cooler uses the donkey’s own body heat to remove moisture away from the skin and fur. When they are working correctly you can actually see droplets of water collecting on the top surface of the rug, whilst underneath the donkey is dry and warm. Once the donkey is dry it can stay in its cooler in the stable on hot days, but generally it will need replacing with a waterproof for outside or a thicker stable rug for inside. The Stable Rug. The Stable Rug should be the same togging (padding weight) as the Waterproof rug. It is excellent for taking to shows as they are very easy to wash. It is primarily used, as the name implies, when the donkey has come into the stable instead of its turnout rug. If the clipped donkey is rugged when it is in the field, it should be rugged when it is in the stable. The stable may be warmer, but the donkey cannot move around and may feel light drafts. Types of Clip. It is very easy to research the varieties of clips on offer so I will only briefly mention three of them here. 1) A Full Clip is where everything except the face and leg fur is removed. My donkeys are fully clipped because I generally find them sweating when they are just standing in the field during hot days in April. Even with a trace or blanket they would still sweat when asked to drive. The Clipped Donkey and the Show Day. It is advisable to take all three rugs away to a show especially if you are staying overnight. If the donkey is to be washed great care must be taken not to travel it wet. I try to wash the night before the show. If I am stopping over the night before and there are facilities I often wash them at the showground. Then they can dry in their coolers in their stable before being rugged up in their stable rugs for the night. The Showday. The donkey needs to keep its rug on unless it is being driven, or the weather is too hot. It should be well used to having its rug placed over its driving harness in case of a sudden downpour during times of waiting. All you need to ensure is that the groom/driver is at the donkey’s head, the reins are fully accessible, and that the surcingles are knotted as in the photo below. In Hand Classes. The weather recently has been absolutely atrocious! Usually it is baking hot when we come to the summer shows, even if it is raining it is generally warm rain. However recently we have had the most awful cold sustained rain even in July! If I have entered my clipped driving donkeys in an in hand class recently, my poor husband has had to stand at the side of the ring with a clean smart rug ready to put on whilst the donkey is waiting to be judged. It is totally acceptable to remove it so the judge can see it run out, and then place it back on again whilst it waits in line. If the judge has not seen that it has been clipped a short explanation will suffice. The Rug and Fully Coated Donkey. It is advisable to have a lightweight waterproof rug for showing as it is uncomfortable for a fully coated donkey to travel home wet. If you do get caught out in a shower, a cooler will keep a wet donkey from getting chilled by draughts on the way home and will dry it more quickly. I was delighted to see a competitor rug up a fully coated donkey during an awful shower in a ‘Best Conditioned and Turned Out’ class this year. As the rain came down, its back went up – it was obviously cold. The owner immediately produced its rug and its back went down and it stood in the rain quite patiently. Happy Driving – Debs Street.
Clipping
The Cooler.
2) A Trace Clip is an established driving clip where everything below the trace line is removed from the chest and belly down to the top of the legs.
3) A Blanket Clip is where fur is left in an exercise blanket shape on the back and hindquarters, as well as being left on the face and legs.
Preparation for the Show.
