Come see the donkeys and mules at the Show on October 25 at the Junee Showgrounds at 12:00pm for a fun and unique show of what some call an underrated show animal.
An organiser, Kate Hinds, said she wanted to bring the show to Junee and show people that donkeys are a lot more than you’d think.
“Donkeys and mules are shown across Australia and we were keen to get it into Junee because there are quite a few in the area and people tend to travel,” she said.
“We have just successfully run one at the Grenfell Ag Show and we thought we could support the Junee Ag Show with something a little bit different and do a donkey and mule show. It’s something interesting for people to see and everyone loves the donkeys.
“I think a lot of people mistake donkeys. They think they’re stubborn and that they can be quite ignorant and stupid. For people to see donkeys dressed up in their finest and brushed and cleaned, being willing and clever is a really big turnaround for people. People don’t understand that they can do lots of things that other equines can do.
“We’ve got ridden events and we’ve got obstacle courses and we’re doing long reining as well. They pull carts and do lots of things.
“At the Barellan Working Day, the donkeys pulled carts and did lots of hard work. It’s just really lovely that people get to see donkeys in a positive light and see them being loved and as companion pets.”
Kate said there has been some attention surrounding it already.
“There are a lot of people in the area that show anyway, so I’m expecting a few regulars, but we’re also hoping for some people to travel and we’re hoping for some people that have never shown before to show and we would strongly encourage people that haven’t shown to have a crack at the Junee one. It’s very supportive, it’s a bit different to when you are doing competitive horse showing, people compete for points to go to Sydney Royal or the Royal shows. We don’t have that point system, so it’s far more relaxed, it’s very social, and I find the donkeys love the day out. They love to see other donkeys, they love to look about and see people.
“They can nominate on the day or they can register early if they want, but it’s very reasonable. It’s $2 a class or $10 for as many classes as you want to go into.
“Some people will decide on the day, whether they’ll have a go at the obstacle course or not, or there’s a standing jump, and if they are feeling a bit heavy, and don’t want to jump, I won’t bother them. But other times, they’ve got a spring in their step, yes, we will go in the high jump and see how they go. The donkeys will all be in their best costumes as there is a fashion parade for the animals during the show.
“That’s normally kind of the secret class that everyone loves to do. It’s surprising you see how much the donkeys just tolerate all this stuff hanging off them, they’re pretty cool and casual about it, so that’s always good.
“We are very grateful to our sponsors Kohnke’s Own Donkey Supreme. They have been very generous in giving vouchers and products and the Donkey All Breeds Society of Australia (DABSA), have given us cash and their event first prize is $80. So we’d highly recommend people get their donkeys registered with DABSA, so they can enter into that event. $80 first prize isn’t a bad prize money just for turning up with your donkey and looking cool, but we don’t do it for that, but we are trying to make sure we’ve got good prizes and good prize money because everything’s expensive and we understand that, so trying to make it worth people’s while.
“DABSA also have a national show in Young every year in March. It’s a really good opportunity to cut your teeth and see, one, if you like showing, and two, be a bit brave and go off to the national show. How often do we get a chance to have a national show around the corner from us?”
Kate wanted to thank Wendy Millynn for her support. “Our main sponsor for the event is TNT Fly Mask, who’s a lovely local lady that does fly masks for horses and donkeys and tail bags and other items, and she’s agreed to sponsor all the gap fillers that we haven’t got overall, so she gets naming rights.”
Why not see something a little different for this year’s Show?
– Jack Murray
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