As I realized that I wanted to keep and race donkey’s last summer, I started researching where I could adopt and how to do it. I really had no clue what I was getting into but I did the research anyway. What I found was that most donkey races are in Colorado or Arizona, but there are large populations of Mustangs and wild burro (donkeys) available for adoption here in California. The nearest BLM facility for adoptions was nearly three hours away…and I wasn’t ready for a donkey last summer. So I started working. From materials scrounged from around the property and a few visits to my local Tractor Supply, I built acceptable horse pens and a decent sized exercise area. The whole area came together nicely and met the minimum standards set by BLM and California. Physically, we were ready for animals, but had no way to get them back here. So with the help of the 4H club my daughter had joined, I borrowed a trailer and we went out to Ridgecrest and adopted one donkey from BLM (Courtney D. Buttercup) and picked up/adopted another donkey (Micki) from the folks featured in the interview below. Karin and John are donkey racers, race directors, donkey aficionados and they run California Breakfast Burritos, a non-profit donkey rescue and training location. They know the heartbeat of west coast donkey stuff.
These folks are also the race directors for the Run With the Burro’s Donkey Race, that we just did in Ridgecrest, in April. I’ll be knocking out the race report for our first donkey race next Sunday.
If you think you wanna adopt a donkey, make sure you check with local rescues/non-profits like California Breakfast Burritos and then check with BLM.
Here’s what you might want to take into consideration before adopting:
-Adult donkeys usually start around 400 pounds and much more for giant donks. These are not just miniature horses.
-Donkeys live for 25-30 years.
-Donkeys are so smart that some think they’re obstinate but they’re really just taking the time to think things over. Most tasks cannot be done quickly with a donkey, you need time and patience to do things with donks.
-Donkeys and some dogs don’t mix well or require significant supervision.
-Donkeys don’t do well alone. It’s recommended that you have two or more donkeys or some mix of horses & donkeys.
-Wild donkeys from BLM are WILD. Significant (consistent) time and effort must be put into the gentling process.
Here’s one of my recent posts about gentling a BLM Donkey: Gentling A BLM Donkey
If you choose to adopt a donkey, please consider the local rescues in your area or the nearest BLM station. Got questions….hit us back here at the website and I’ll do my best to answer…..or I’ll just make it up-
