Born in the Black Mountains of Mohave County, Arizona Gracie and Sally are permanent residents of the rescue.
Gracie was born February 14, 2020 in the wild. Her mother suffered a prolapsed uterus and had to be euthanized by BLM. Gracie was immediately taken in by a loving couple who bottle fed her until she could eat on her own. When they were no longer able to provide for her physical needs, they made the heartbreaking decision to give her to a rescue. Phil and Margaret immediately fell in love with Gracie and she became theirs. In equine language she is known as a "red." though we describe her as having a more orange and white coloration. With her spotted face and bold personality she is a beauty. Gracie is a "bottle" baby, and having such close human contact almost from the beginning she doesn't share her humans well with Sally. Otherwise they do everything together.
Sally was born in Oatman, Arizona to April of the Oatman herd on April 9, 2020. Sally was part of the Oatman round-up that occurred in October of 2020. She spent two months in the BLM holding facility in Florence, AZ before she could be adopted by Cheryl at a special BLM auction. Sally was named after actor Sally Field whose character on the 1960's TV show "The Flying Nun" cornette (head dress) brought to mind how Sally's mama April held her very long ears. Sally was weaned at six and ahalf months due to the round-up, and still occasionally tried to nurse. Sally is a "grey" donkey and sports stripes on all of her legs and has "garters" on the inside of her front legs. Sally doesn't often bray, but snorts very loudly when she is begging for food.
The Rest of Our Herd
Maggie and Annie came to us on 8-1-2024. We purchased them from Shaina Schwiesow in Coolidge, AZ who procures donkeys from the BLM Holding Facility in Florence, AZ. She trains them for resale or gives the buyer the option of training them. Both were born in the Black Mountains of Arizona. We chose to train them ourselves. Maggie and Annie were both under 18 months old and had had no training. They both learned very quickly and we were able to teach them to accept halters, flymasks and lead ropes. Both girls were grey in color. Sadly we lost Annie on October 20, 2024 from an unknown illness. She had been seen by our Vet just a few weeks before, who did a blood chemristry on her that did not show anything concerning. She did drink an inordinate amount of water each day. She presented not feeling well in the morning, refusing to eat and died about 15 hours later. We were just devastated.
Maggie has continued to thrive and is a real character. We call her "The Magster" for her daily antics. Eight days after Annie passed away we purchased Poppy from Shaina Schweisow and brought her home to be a companion for Maggie. Maggie fell in love with her from the first moment Poppy stepped off the trailer. She took her around their corral and showed her where the food and water was and has been stuck to her side every since. We call them our "Littles" as they are much smaller than Gracie and Sally. Poppy is also from the BLM Black Mountains Herd Management Area (HMA).
In November of 2024 we had a second lean-to built and Maggie and Poppy were able to move into their new digs before it got cold. We provide heaters for all our water troughs as it is a known fact that donkeys prefer warmer water, and therefore drink more of it than colder water. This is important for their overall health because while they are given good quality Bermuda grass hay and straw, it does not have the natural moisture in it that they would find in their food in the wild.
In early March of 2025 we were contacted by Beth Wexler who owns and operates Beth's Burro Barn in Ft. Mohave, Az. asking if we would be interested in taking in two owner-surrender female donkeys. We said yes! Winnie and Katie joined our herd the very next day. We rushed to construct a temporary shelter for these two beauties, with a more permanent structure in the planning. Winnie is a black, and Katie is a grey. Both are approximately 8 years of age and came from the Centennial HMA in Kern Co., California. We will begin re-freshing their training in a week or two after they have settled in to their new enviroment.
The donkeys can be visited by calling for an appointment in advance, preferably 24 hours before you plan to visit. We only feed low calorie treats, such as celery or orange rinds. While we appreciate your thoughtfulness, we do not accept horse treats of any kind.
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