Our donkey story began
with a phone call from my younger sister, Laura. Up to this point we
had never considered raising anything other than cattle and a couple
of pet cats. When Laura phoned us her voice was filled with excitement
as she informed us of the fact that she was now the owner of some Mediterranean
Miniature donkeys. "Some what?" Mike and I had no idea what she was
talking about. A donkey is just a donkey, or so we thought at the time.
Well, in order to satisfy my curiosity I decided to make the one hour
drive to Laura's home in Mingus, Texas. Upon arriving there I was immediately
introduced to a long-earred beauty named Scarlet. She and her group
of friends seemed pleased to have a guest in their pasture. So these
adorable creatures were Mediterranean Miniature Donkeys? Finding them
to be absolutely irresistible I gazed into Scarlet's kind brown eyes
and fell instantly in love. I was hooked from that moment on. When I
reached home later that day I informed Mike that if my life was to be
complete I just had to have a Miniature donkey. But, as you can well
imagine, he wasn't keen on the idea. Nevertheless I was a determined
woman. Finding information on and discovering more about donkeys became
a daily affair for me. I learned that it isn't wise to keep just one
donkey, because if pastured all alone a donkey will become very sad
and depressed. The preferred companion is another donkey, although a
bond can become formed with a pasture mate of another species. So it
was plain to me that we needed at least two. Everything I read was shared
with Mike along with a thinly disguised hint about how nice it would
be if we had a couple of the sweet animals. But all the while I worried
that he wasn't going to agree with me, thus no tiny donkeys in our future.
Little did I know that my dear husband had responded quickly and was
already in the process of choosing a couple of weanlings to surprise
me with on our upcoming anniversary. What a joy it was to see those
two babies, a jack and a jennet, unload from the trailer and join our
family. Mike had bought me the anniversary gift of a lifetime. We named
them Isaac and Rebekah. Well, you can probably guess what happened next
for it was inevitable. To Mike's amazement he fell in love with Isaac
and Rebekah. Of course, I knew he would because who can resist the emotional
pull of these wonderful animals? After that there was no looking back
and our donkey family steadily grew larger, with our enjoyment of them
growing accordingly. We now have a small herd of carefully chosen select
jennets, a junior herd sire, a senior herd sire, and two geldings (one
of which is my little Isaac). Our first foals to be born here arrived
in October and November of this year and they are precious.
North Gate Farm is located in north central Texas just outside the city
limits of Granbury. We are thirty-five miles southwest of Fort Worth,
and a one hour drive from DFW Airport. We welcome visitors at all times
so come by and get acquainted. And while you're here make plans to tour
historic Granbury, plus enjoy some time at the lake.
My sister, Laura, with her weanling,
Lowdown's Little Miss Snickers..
Laura introduced us to the world of miniature donkeys.
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