Ears

[diamond c]

For those of you who show. A year or so ago I remember reading somewhere that people at shows were getting penalized for trimming the inside of their little guys ears. Back in the late’70’s and early ‘80’s we always trimmed the inside of the ear. So my question is if I was to show my mini donkeys to trim or not to trim the ears?

 

[Taz]

I don't know what they'd want you to do there but my rule has always been trim the outside edge so no hair is sticking out but leave the inside alone. I've never had a complaint either way about that.

 

[Cayuse]

I pinch their ear together and trim whatever sticks out, sometimes turning the clipper "over" and clipping and long straggles on the ear itself going with the hair. If you have a horse that's not ear sensitive you can hold the tip and bend the ear down a just a titch and any long hairs will pop up and are easy to clip wiith out leaving track marks. Even when I body clip I never clip out the insides of the ears. This has always done me well when I've shown, but I show open shows and unrated mini shows.

 

[LostandFound]

I'm going to say it depends on where you are showing. If you are showing in local open shows you could probably either do a full clip or just trim the long hairs by pinching the ear shut. If you are showing donkey shows you want to check their rules and do whatever they like. I always resisted clipping the inside of my horse's ears because I thought the hair helped with the bugs. Until I stuck my finger in a horse's ear and squished about a million of those nasty gnats. Now I clip them out and use a fly mask with ears, or a roll on fly repellent.

 

[Minimor]

I never clean out the hair inside the ears--I just tidy up the edges as described above. However--I've not heard of anyone in North America getting penalized for shaving the inside of the ears. For the AMHA and AMHR shows the majority of people do clip the insides if the ears--they consider it sloppy to not do it.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I'm going to say it depends on where you are showing. If you are showing in local open shows you could probably either do a full clip or just trim the long hairs by pinching the ear shut. If you are showing donkey shows you want to check their rules and do whatever they like. I always resisted clipping the inside of my horse's ears because I thought the hair helped with the bugs. Until I stuck my finger in a horse's ear and squished about a million of those nasty gnats. Now I clip them out and use a fly mask with ears, or a roll on fly repellent.

Yes, I've wondered also about the advice to leave the inner hair to protect against bugs. That hair just seems to harbour them. I found a tick inside the ear one time, and it would have been harder to find if the ear had not been trimmed. I do not shave all inside the ear, but I do tidy around and just inside. I think it also depends on how hairy the ear is naturally. Some are pretty furry inside and some have hardly any hair inside.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

For those of you who show. A year or so ago I remember reading somewhere that people at shows were getting penalized for trimming the inside of their little guys ears. Back in the late’70’s and early ‘80’s we always trimmed the inside of the ear. So my question is if I was to show my mini donkeys to trim or not to trim the ears?

Have you seen photos of show donkeys? Try to enlarge the pictures and see if you can tell about the ears. I am on a donkey forum; I will ask there. (I have no donkey--yet!--but I do enjoy looking at other people's donkeys.

 

[Kelly]

I just trim up along the ears and just a little inside but I don’t clip all the hair off inside their ears. At the AMHA/AMHR mini horse shows around here most people clip all the hair inside the ears.

Things might be different with donkeys so check the rulebook. I would not trim inside the ear if you are worried about getting penalized. Ask around at the show and bring your clippers with you just in case. When you register for the show, the show manager should know the rules and you can always ask them to confirm.

Good luck! I would love to see pics of you showing your mini donk!!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

The Donkey Forum says Yes, to clip inside the ears for a show. Judges want it.

 

[diamond c]

Thanks to all. I’m not showing yet,it’ll be next year at least. And then probably team driving trail type classes, and the like. It’ll be just for fun I’m not a breeder or professional trainer ( or even a amateur trainer for that matter).