A STRIKING white mare and her newborn foal are causing a stir in cyberspace.

Trixie, a Welsh section A pony, shocked her owners when she gave birth earlier this month – to a little brown mule with donkey markings.

It is thought that the susprise foal is the result of an unlikely union between Trixie and a donkey, whose field she got into in Barnoldswick.

And images of the mum and daughter have captured the hearts of animal lovers across the country after they were put up on the internet.

They have amassed scores of fans on Facebook.

Trixie has lived at Draughton Riding Centre and Livery, Yorkshire, since being saved from the abbatoir in February.

Before that she lived with a family in Barnoldswick, where it is thought she was conceived.

Owner Nora Halstead said: “Within an hour of her being born we were getting messages from people.

"We had so much interest that we asked people to suggest names.

"We thought of Pepper because she’s just such a lovely, whizzy, dizzy little thing.”

Nora said suspicions were aroused when Trixie began to put on weight.

She inquired with the Barnoldswick stables, where Trixie had come from, but the answer came back negative – she had not been near any stallions and could not be pregnant.

But a few days later, there was a call to say she could have got into a field of miniature donkeys.

Nora said: “Even then, we weren’t convinced. She didn’t have all the signs of being pregnant.”

But one morning three weeks ago, instructor Karen Rushton-Wright went into Trixie’s stable and found a foal.

“She said to me, ‘I think you’d better come and see this – we’ve got an addition to the yard,” said Nora.

Nora said: “I’m hoping she’ll be big enough to break for riding, but I certainly won’t get rid of her.”