Two New Donkeys and the Joy of Steady Growth

This morning, just after the sun broke over the crisp, Ohio horizon, my eldest daughter and I went out to spend a little time grooming our new brood jennets. It was a break from the morning droll, and a nourishing taste of the outdoors before lessons began.

There she is - my girl in a pink hat, pink farm coat, and pink mud boots. What you're not seeing in this picture is the beaming smile and bright gaze that are turned toward that little black, fuzzy mini donkey. I'm not sure I've met a person who doesn't have that same reaction - an impulse to smile, draw closer, get quiet, touch the cottoncandy fuzz, and maybe lock eyes with one of these awesome creatures. In large part, experiencing that "moment of simply being" that's elicited by a donkey is why we bought our first one in 2015.

Along those lines, the desire to make donkey ownership possible for other people is why we"re choosing to move our breeding program forward this year by adding 2 new brood jennets for the 2018-2019 season. We've been perusing the registry for the last year, and by January, we knew one thing: If we wanted to buy a quality miniature Mediterranean donkey, we were gonna have to make a ROAD TRIP!!!!! Woot!

Yesterday, Joe and I had the honor of traveling to southwest Indiana, where we met up with Wayne, the owner of Continental Farm. Wayne's been a bit of a mentor for us over the last year as we've started out with donkey breeding. His wisdom, when paired with his mellow and realistic approach to bringing out the best qualities in the mini donkey in a small farm setting, are - for me - the perfect recipe for a successful farm. He started his farm much like we're starting ours. (The wife says, "Honey, I think I'd like to have a mini donkey." But it never ends there!! Be ye warned!) He started small. He started slow. He added where he needed to, and only when he needed to. He took his time, was selective, and bought the best stock that he could reasonably afford. He runs a working farm, one that he's proud of. Now, Wayne and his wife of 55 years are basking in the vibrant glow of life in the country, and smile when they move their donkeys onto young farms like Providence Cottage.

I guess the moral of the story is that old adage, "Slow and steady wins the race." What's cool is that we found the place where we wanted to raise our family... and THEN discovered a creature that we love and want to promote. So, we're growing into things over here. Readers of this blog can do that, too. Country life is so good, and it's especially good when you get to enjoy peaceful, natural expansion of the hobbies you love.

So, who did we bring home?!

Providence Cottage Farm is pleased to present our two newest brood jennets:

TPR Holly Dandy

&

Continental Texas Black Gold

Holly Dandy is an ACOSA (American Council of the Spotted Ass) registered jennet, and has placed in several halter classes in her 5 years. Did I mention she's in foal by a MICRO MINI JACK?!!!! Can't wait to see that little booger in September! Holly is 31" at the withers, and has a super loud spot pattern. The cross she bears is very dark and very, very bold as it comes down over her shoulders.

TBG is a true black jennet, and in the dazzling light of dawn, her black hair had an undeniable red glow. She has light points, and a visible cross on her back - meaning she is a hard-to-come by color. Her conformation is spot on, and she is mighty small, measuring at 28 inches right now. Gotta be honest - we'd love if she stayed small and gave us gorgeous, well conformed, sweetly tempered babies. Those are the kind you all want to take home to your farms, right? Well, if you're not sure, come over to our farm and pet this gal.

No denying these two girls are cool. By far, though, the coolest thing about bringing home new animals is getting to bring them home *to your family.* Shared life, and sharing the good things in life is a source of supreme happiness.