Queen is a 20-year-old mare donkey standing at 10.1 hands. She was bought from a dealer at Appleby Gypsy Fair in Cumbria in May 1996
with another donkey called Princess. We learnt afterwards that the two of them had been tied to a hedge for nearly a week with no food or water. Queen’s coat was very matted; she was badly undernourished and had very overgrown hooves – all due to neglect by her owner.
Queen is now fully recovered and in very good condition. She has formed a close bond with Princess – so much so that we cannot use Queen to give rides to the disabled children who visit the Sanctuary unless Princess is with her! Queen shares a stable with Princess and two other female donkeys - she is quite the matriarch of the group.
Queen is a valuable member of our donkey ‘working team’ – we attend steam rallies and country fairs with twelve donkeys to demonstrate how they were kept as working animals pulling ploughs and other farm implements before tractors took over. Many of our visitors are surprised to hear that donkeys had to do ‘donkey work’ for a living and have not always been kept as pets.
Queen has also appeared on TV on Channel 4’s Pet Rescuers which showed how well rescued donkeys can recover to be able to help disabled children benefit from the enjoyment of riding.