Donkeys

 

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The Donkey Drama

THIS LIVESTOCK IS FROM THE LITTLE MENOKIN RANCH BETWEEN GRANITE AND BUENA VISTA, COLORADO --LONG TIME BREEDERS OF CHAMPION PERFORMANCE & HALTER DONKEYS; JACKS FOR SADDLE MULE PRODUCTION AND PACK BURRO RACING. THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS, WHILE NOT GUARANTEED, ARE FROM SOURCES BELIEVED TO BE RELIABLE. PRICE, TERMS, & INFORMATION SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

 

Jennies
Most of the following females are in foal

Boogie B. Democrat: $4900 Black/brown female with white points, born May, 2002, of Hilary and Maasai D. Democrat. Great conformation. Beautiful head and kind eye. A great riding-sized donkey. If there was ever a jenny to run against the jacks... Boogie is the one. The jacks bray, but this jenny really produces. All business. Best animal on the place.

 

Sapphire B. Democrat: $2900 Mammoth lineback jenny, born May, 2006, out of Creedence and Maasai D. Democrat. Full sister to the 2006 Grand Champion, National Western Stock Shoe. Has her whole life in front of her. Dam’s brains and agility. Sire’s size.  SOLD

 

Buttercup B. Democrat: $1200 - until she's finished out Beautiful, well conformed, black with white points standard jenny, born June 2003 out of Maasai and Cachoo. Good disposition. Hard worker. 

 

A 900-Pound Watchdog

I was a gung ho Boy Scout and developed my reading habit with Boys Life. These two institutions ignited the dream in this Georgia kid’s head of going to the Philmont Scout ranch in New Mexico to work pack burro trains. My donkey notions were set in motion. s

Any burro racer has a story about how he or she got started, but it’s usually a pretty unusual circumstance and required no small amount of initiative on their part. In central Colorado culture, where pack burro racing originated and rural living is slower to fall to sprawl, mini malls, 24-hour stores and strip development, it’s easier to get your hands on an animal and a place to put it. The old timers are more than happy to give a tip or two and tell their rich story about pack burro racing.

Nowadays, I’m becoming an old-timer. That’s why I’m trying to share these words with you. Get your donkey in gear and get an ass. It will teach you as much about patience, humor, loyalty, hard work, caution and laziness as any critter on the planet. Generally, these animals will not let you hurt them. Their balk, flight or fight instincts simply won’t allow it. They would rather numb-up, lay down or dig in than be forced into something they don’t understand or can’t do. Their inherent docility insures that even the most territorial, sex-charged jack won’t be that hard to manage with the proper understanding and mechanical aids. The spirited jennies are even easier to manage.

You can get these animals from the BLM, word of mouth, want ads in the stock magazines and established breeders. Ask any pack burro racer and he can get you one or tell you where one might be available.

I’m allergic to a world without burros. So I can always tell you where to get one. I think burros are easier to keep than dogs. They come in sizes as small as a large dog and as large as a good-sized horse. You can pasture them if you have to travel, and they’re great, personable company when you’re around. My critters are generally glad to see me when I come home. They honk away when I come in the driveway. The fact is, they honk away when anyone comes in the driveway. This makes for a pretty good early warning system… a 900-pound watchdog. The jacks particularly are the most vocal.

The jennies aren’t quite as vocal, but they’re much tougher on predators. The politically correct term of where I live is called a wilderness interface zone. Thirty years ago my family set down roots and blood next to anational forest boundary line. The realtors know where this line is, but the bear, cougar and coyote don’t. However, the jennies do and they stompin’ well defend it.

One morning I woke up, greeted the dawn and saw this huge, black medicine ball hurtling across the back acreage with Hayduke, my then herd sire, in full gallop, long ears pinned back, teeth bared, braying away, nipping at this bear’s heels. I don’t have much problem with large predators anymore. It would be a shame if they’re hunted out or that we have so encroached on their habitat that they won’t bag an occasional poodle or tourist or nap on my deck like that mountain lion.

Whether you’re looking for a watch burro, a pack burro, a homestead burro or a pet you go where the animals are. There are 40 million of them in the rest of the non-industrial world, still helping people, mostly women, with simple labor. There’s something in this beast despite its misperceived reputation of stubbornness, i.e., caution, that willingly lends its long suffering toughness to mankind’s efforts, requiring only a little respect, firmness, patience and perseverance.

Here in the U.S. of A., feral burros, the descendants of prospectors’ and Conquistadors’ burros, roam by the thousands all over the desert southwest. So hardy that they compete with the big horn sheep. There used to be open season on them. There were burro barbecues in Barstow, California. In the early 70s, after floods of letters from kids and many Americans, Congress finally passed the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act. The cheapest and best burros for pack burro racing are still available through the big, bad, over-regulating U.S. government.
 

It’s fashionable to knock the government, but they certainly do a better job distributing burros than the “Mustangers” and the rendering plants did the decades before Congress acted.

 

REMEMBER, the jack is half your herd, and, it all starts with the jack.

 

Jacks and Geldings

 

Maasai S. Republican (because he's Lincolnesque and big as an elephant):
A 1998 mammoth black gelding with white points. Out of Preacher bloodlines. 16 hands. His price is $6000. Kind eye, terrific temperament, dependable, meets you at the gate. Former herd sire. Champion at 2003 National Western Stock Show - Single Hitch Driving; Champion '05 Western Pleasure. His son, Jack Daniel, is the 2-time '03 and '04 Grand Champion halter jack at the National Western. Pardner, another son owned by Kevin Mastin, was the '05 mammoth champion. Champion 2004 Fairplay 15-mile burro race. Even his babies have withers and a back that holds a saddle.... pretty rare for a donkey. Read my essay on the NWSS driving at www.packburroracing.com. 

 

Mordecai L. Democrat: Chocolate brown, 1999 line back. Rough little runt of a standard donkey. Tremendous heart and quickness. Great dish face and kind eye. Proven burro racing prospect; ’06 World Champion Pack Burro: $2500.

 

 

"Here's a tale you can pin on the donkey"
The way congressional candidate Curtis Imrie sees it, his buddy, Masaai L. Democrat, was simply heading for greener pastures when he decided to take a stroll. Or he may simply have been heading home, where the ladies were waiting for him.


Whatever the reason, Aurora animal-care officers were less than impressed when they found the 4-year-old donkey wandering city streets early Saturday. They slapped Imrie with a ticket for letting livestock run at large. "They told me they don't allow no stinkin' donkeys in Aurora," said a somewhat-hurt Imrie, who had brought the mammoth black jack donkey with him to participate in Democratic gatherings last weekend in Denver.

Imrie, a three-time world champion pack burro racer from Buena Vista, said he and Masaai spent the night at a friend's house last Friday after 5th congressional District Democrats picked him as their candidate to run against incumbent Republican Rep. Joel Hefley of Colroado Springs. "That's a real friend who lets you put your mammoth jack in his back yard," Imrie said.

Imrie and Masaai

 
 

But when he woke up Saturday morning, Masaai was nowhere to be found. Masaai, who is described on Imrie's web site at www.curtisimrie.com as having a "kind eye, terrific temperament, meets you at the gate," broke through two fence gates during the night. Initially Imrie looked around the area, which he described as a nice cul-de-sac with Tudor homes. But he couldn't find his buddy and had no idea where the animal had gone, although "I thought maybe he'd leave something to follow."

So Imrie got on the phone to Aurora police, asking if anyone had seen Masaai. "They were very nice," Imrie said of the police. "They said, 'We're glad to hear from you. We do have a donkey two miles away by the post office in a field. Get over there.' They were there with him."

Imrie said that when he got to the scene, an officer joked that he "was doing five miles an hour down Alameda right behind him." But he said an animal control officer was less enthusiastic: She slapped him with a ticket for letting an animal roam at large. There really was nothing to worry about, Imrie insisted. Masaai is accustomed to being in public and has been at the National Western Stock Show and in parades. "He is just so happy to see anybody," Imrie said, "He is a Baby Huey. He loves attention."

Imrie said he has a court date at 8 a.m. July 1 in Aruroa Municipal Court. Aurora officials said Imrie will get his chance to explain it all to a judge. He faces a potential $1,000 fine and one year in jail. "That's the theoretical maximum under the city code," City Attorney Charles Richardson said. "But he'll probably be put on donkey probation -- no more donkey offenses within a year," Richardson quipped. "I suspect that may be what our prosecutor will recommend."

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 6/7/02 John Sanko, journalist gets it and writes it about the challenges of rural/urban interfacing.

 

 

 

PRICING:

I sell donkeys and mules based on conformation, disposition, color, size, gender, pedigree, accomplishments, sire records, and, if the animal is a jenny by the sire of the foal she's carrying. The training invested in the donkey is also very important. The results speak for themselves. All serious offers or trades (particularly pasture, grain, hay) will be considered. I've been known to give away an animal to the right home.
 

 NOTE: As you look over the jennies above, remember that "the rooster crows but the hen delivers the goods!" And, the goods are the new foals: pure bred mammoths, crossbreds from the mammoths, standard foals, and the good large standard riding, driving, packing, crossbred donkey that I breed to race.

My breeding program is little more than an adaptation of the old military remount program. They took the best stallions and turned them loose with wild mustang herds to upgrade their stock. The crossbred foals sell for about $650; the standard foals, about $450 and the pure bred mammoths sell for about $1,500. The adults sell for considerably more depending on gender, age, training, conformation and color. I don't know if I can ever repay my debt to the wild stock that has helped me so much in pack burro racing, but I know I found good homes for about 30 of 'em.  

 

SOLD

 Blue Note B. Democrat: $2500  A stunning blue roan large standard/mammoth jenny born in 2001, out of Waymore. Extremely well started by Lynette Seward. Everything I've worked and bred for. Congratulations Robert Jonnasson, Billings, MT.

Reload (out of Too Tall Hazel) and  baby Peckinpah

 
 
Emma B. Democrat: $2500  A mammoth Bethlehem jenny born Dec. 2004, out of Masaai and Credence. Full sister to 2005 National Western mammoth champ. Reliable, full of love, trust in her affections, predictable in her actions, grateful and loyal. Heck, you couldn't find a person this good. Congratulations Tom LeQuoy, Gunnison, CO.

Arundhati and Marrietta B. Democrats: $1500 Mother and daughter pair, ‘95 and '98 standard, brown and grey dun Bethlehem jennies. Great pack animals, inseparable on the trail. Gone to Kentucky.

Creedence B. Democrat: $1950 A large standard Bethlehem gray dun 1991 jenny. Her 2000 foal, Redbo, by Waymore sold to 2-time World Champion pack burro racer Hal Walter ofWestcliffe. Creedence is my best feral jenny and my best producer. If she was a jack I'd race her in the pack burro races myself. Game and gamier the tougher it gets. Bred back to mammoth jack. Perfect in every way... including being totally convinced she's still a prey animal. Ever partnered with a cow elk?. Not for beginners. Congratulations Garcia, Mexico.

Hollywood L. Democrat, R.I.P. 2005
 
Hollywood L. Democrat: A 1997 56" sorrel mare-Jack; out of Lloyd Hawley's fine Hawkeye 56" jack; nice head and conformation for his size; brave but calm disposition; pasture breeds; out of Texas Scooter and Tumbleweed Tilly. $5500. ($300 to breed mares; volume discounts) Won two out of three Triple Crown Pack Burro Races in 2005.  R.I.P. November, 2005.

Rocky L. Democrat:  The future, steel gray, precocious, autumn 2006, large standard/mammoth jack out of Hollywood with Masaai bloodlines: $2500.

 

Oscar L. Democrat: He is a 1984 large standard blue roan (recessive color) jack. Oscar does it all: He breeds both horses and jennies. He rides, drives, packs, and races. To date he has won $35,000 pack burro racing. $3,000. Champion standard jack at 1997 National Western Stock Show and 2 time world champion pack burro (a thirty mile man and donkey foot race that goes from 10,000 feet altitude to 12,000 feet and back) . He is the son of Moose, the largest wild jack ever caught; his mom is Clementine, a large wild jenny. Still Thunder in this jack; second to his son "Spike" in  1998 and 2000 World Champion Pack Burro races, 2001 Keyhole Champion - Bishop (Go to www.muledays.org) Has led me and my pals off many a fourteener during the hour of the wolf, the coal bin night; sparks, stars flashing off his feet. Won the National Western Stock Show gelding/jennet championship in 2003. He's the best mentor I've got for green animals. A big help where ever he goes. Retired as gelding to the good life with Diane Alexander.

 

 

Waymore B. Democrat -Former Herdsire – Brayin’, bossin’, and breedin’ world champ! A 15-hand son out of the 16-hand Tennessee jack--Monroe. Waymore is 1991 mammoth 2-time, 2nd place winner at the National Western Stock Show. His color is recessive and he throws his large size, good bone, temperament and the color of the jenny. Dealt to Max Harsha of Gila NM.
 

Jethro L. Democrat: Paint, 1997 gelding. Face of a Basset Hound. Sincere, lunch bucket, bomb proof, hard working donkey. Honest. Good burro racing prospect. $800. Congratulations, Dave and Marian Maharas.
 

Peckinpah L. Democrat: Congratulations, Dave TenEyck!! Peckinpah is a 1993 jack out of Oscar and the Jen Jack, Too Tall Jones bloodline  (world champion 3 years in a row in California). In 1997, he was Grand Champion at the National Western Stock Show. In 1998, he was the National Champion at pole bending at the National Donkey and Mule Show in Pueblo. He is the 1999 Western Pack Burro Association Pack Burro Jack of the Year. $4000. Has a gait, paciness that would enable you to hit a lick and ride all day without spilling your beer. 2000 - won Harvey's Casino race, the Fairplay short course and many ribbons at California's Bishop Mule Days.  


Living Legends of the Old West
The burro is the key element in this sport. He is the runner’s partner and the strong or weak wild card the runner must take into consideration.

"Burro" is the Spanish word for donkey and the asinus species of the Equips genus. The burro has an image problem known as stubbornness which is in fact his extreme caution, common sense, laziness, fear of pain and willingness to work incredibly hard to make his job easier. Pack burro racing is an imperfect art form that requires cutting a deal with your animal so you can get some cooperation with this large mammal while you do a back woods-mountain-tundra-trail ballet for three to thirty miles as fast as you can. You must empathize with a jackass. You’re his lawyer. It’s not his idea to suit up and race. He doesn’t care about the $2,000 to $5,000 prize money.

There are 40 million burros on the planet. For 4,000 years burros carried man’s burdens until the machines took their jobs away. In "advanced" countries burros are now novelties or varmints. The donkeys that the King of Spain gave George Washington were the seed stock for the American mule which was the backbone of American agriculture until the tractor. The mule is the hybrid cross of a jack donkey and a mare horse. The donkey is the soul, smarts and footing of the mule; the horse is the spirit, size, strength and speed.

Our burro races move sport back to its origin in pure play. There’re an emotion, a turbulence, an explosion and a hee-haw and ya-hoo. The West was and is raucous. It was burros, beans, brawn and brains that won it and although we’re now part of the online, ATM, cable TV, satellite dish (our new state flower?) West, these myths die hard. Truth is still flesh, raw and quivering with its hide peeled back. All else is nonsense. Blood, dust and death marked the region for centuries… and the cold wind still blows. Life as it is. Hee-haw. Look around a the tremendous surround of mountains, the enormous swoop of sky. We’re two miles closer to heaven here.

If you ever ran or worked with a burro you would get the feeling of speed, that you’re an animal, too, that you haven’t forgotten what the human body in the animal sense has evolved to do: wander, hunt, run, ramble over long, slow distances. And all this in a gene pool that happened way before cognitive-thought power and any notions of race, religion, class or power.

Welcome to the secret Colorado - the last of the true West. The first four miles of any burro race are as exciting as Teddy Roosevelt’s charge up San Juan Hill with the Rough Riders; and the last mile of any burro race is as tough as anything we’ll ever do. These are knights and foot soldiers out there, only more democratic. The runner works as hard as the burro. That’s why we bond so strongly with our burros. Teachers, mothers, politicians, merchants, miners, writers, unemployed, dentists, artists, students, lawyers, clerks. They’re here to dance with the understanding of courage, the joy of play demonstrate their animal management skills, look chance in the eye , be involved with nature and maybe learn a little something about the significance of survival in the western arena. Lofty stuff for such an egalitarian sport.

My silent partner and I have run every burro race in the southwest for 27 years (except one) and the ground recently has begun getting harder and harder. I don’t know whether indeed pack burro racing is a lifetime sport, but I know at 53, I’m not getting any faster.

One of the things I’ve learned from pack burro racing is that it’s possible to challenge the social causes of poor health and work for better general health of the bio-region and the people in these western communities. Oscar L. Democrat will continue to remind me where true West is.

Perhaps Oscar L Democrat and I will never know how far the trail can go, how much a mammal can truly achieve, until we realize that the ultimate reward is not a trophy or prize money but the trail itself. Look for us out there above timberline. There are friendly ghosts of other venerable prospectors, burro racers and critters up there. Breathe deep. You’re in sacred country. That and the burros will balance your personality and interests. Hee-haw.

 

 

 

  That which happens to men also happens to animals; and one thing happens to them both: as one dies so dies the other, for they share the same breath; and no man has preeminence above an animal: for all is vanity. All go to one place; all are made of dust, and all return to dust again.            –Ecclesiastes

 

 

Updated May 2007 Copyright 2000