In September, I was really looking forward to a new baby foal. The mother, Cobra’s Windy (Sire: Cobra’s Windancer and Dam: Cobra’s Ginger) is a dark brown (NLP) 32-1/2″ very stocky jennet. The only red in Windy’s background is her grandfather, Cobra’s Red Man. The father of this September foal is Springlake Razmataz, who is light sorrel. I told everyone that I expected a dark brown foal and though it would be really neat to have a NLP (no light point). Well, “mother nature” had different ideas and we had a bright red jennet with a small star on her forehead. What in the world!!!!!! I never expected this baby from this combination. Not complaining, she is beautiful!

Below is a photo of Legendary’s Southern Belle at one month of age.

Let me introduce Legendary’s I Love Lucy. Lucy , a stunning red jennet (birth height of 21″) was born August 23, 2012. Her father is a beautiful red Cobra jack (Cobra’s Haileigh’s Comet). Comet is a medium red, with a white blaze,  31-1/2″ jack that is out of Cobra’s Red Man (dark red, 30-1/2″) and Sunset Acres Red Ruby (medium red 32″). Lucy’s mother is an older Cobra jennet, Cobra’s Natalie Cole; who is a direct daughter of Cobra’s Arthur (30″ gray dun).

I suspect that Lucy will remain small and has the sweetest personality and looks forward every day to her hugs.

Also born in August (8/29/12) was a red jennet with a large white star, Legendary’s Reba whose father is Cobra’s Haileigh’s Comet and mother is Designer Donkey’s Macy Lee. Macy Lee is an NMDA champion jennet who is out of Circle C Corona and Big Woods LN Miss Berri. This little baby was 22″ at birth and already is very out going like her mother.

Technorati Tags: baby miniature donkey, Baby Miniature Donkeys

Second Show; Second Top Overall Halter Donkey!

Although there was a miniature donkey show only 30 miles from our home in TN we decided it would be fun to pack up the motor home and go to a show out of our normal area. One of the best parts of showing these terrific little animals is the opportunity it provides to meet new Miniature Donkey enthusiasts. We love to see Donkeys in person that we have only seen in photos. Meeting their owners, trainers and breeders is also a joy…most of the time!

Although a long drive we headed north to the 2012 Wisconsin State Fair. This was their very first Miniature Donkey Show at the Wisconsin Fair and they did a terrific job. The biggest difference we found with this fair from others we have attended was the requirement to have your donkeys in the Fair Horse Barns for an extended time prior to and after the actual show. We were scheduled to arrive on Sunday after noon and depart on Wednesday. However, our plans changed.

In route on Saturday we received a phone call on our cell phone regarding a small scare in the new horse barn that the day; a Clydesdale in the horse barn was showing signs of a respiratory ailment. The fair quarantined horses on site (we were not yet on the grounds, or permitted to enter); had veterinarians quickly examine the subject horse as well as all others in the immediate area. Within 24 hours it was determined that the horse had influenza and after suitable observation, all horses were allowed to leave.

This unfortunate delay provided us with the opportunity to spend an extra day with Jenny and Ben Eastep on the Lil Angels Farm. Their hospitality was outstanding and they treated us to some wonderful food. We especially enjoyed the time we had to be entertained by their terrific 3 year old son, Waylon. We tried to trade a couple of donkeys for him but there was no way they were going to let that happen. Instead they convinced us to bring one of their baby donkeys home and we did. We will tell you about that later.

Once the horse barn was cleared we received a second call with instructions on when and how to bring our donkeys to the Fair. We were also assured that every thing possible had been done to ensure our animals would not encounter any possible exposure to the “flu”. As an extra precaution, we were moved to a completely different building and the horse barn remained closed for an additional 24 hours.

We really appreciate and applaud how the fair handled this episode. All was well for our show and it was wonderful. This was the inaugural Miniature Donkey show for Wisconsin State Fair. It is a tremendous honor that our Donkey, Legendary Top Hat (Topper) will go down in the record books of the Wisconsin State Fair as the Grand Champion Halter Miniature Donkey for the very first show in 2012. We should tell you that although this was the inaugural Miniature Donkey Show the competition was fierce and the entry contained spectacular animals.

We are also very humbled by our special little gelding who has now been shown in only two show, The Celebration and the Wisconsin State Fair and came home Best of Breed in both shows!

Oh, one more thing. If you have never been to a State Fair in the agricultural parts of Country you don’t know what you are missing. Although our free time was short you do have to eat….so….we ate our way though the Fair. We had melt in your mouth wonderful rib eye steak sandwiches, but these were out done by the Wisconsin breakfast pastries and deserts. Then there were the Wisconsin Cheeses, deep-fried anything and the list goes on and on. Just writing this makes me want to make reservations for next year!

Technorati Tags: Best of Breed, Grand Champion, Legendary Top Hat, miniature donkey show, Toppera, Wisconsin State Fair

By Richard

It is not often that a newspaper calls you up and asks for an opportunity to do an article on you and your wife. As a City Planning Consultant most of the time in the past when I got a phone call from a newspaper or TV station they were looking for a sensational story on a new land development project or blighted neighborhood. However, the local Murfreesboro newspaper, The Daily News Journal, recently called and wanted to know about our farm and Topper’s big win at The Celebration. Once they discovered I also worked with the miniature donkeys and that Katrina also likes the cars we collect they wanted to do a feature on us.

Wow, was I surprised when I opened up today’s paper and there at the top of the front page was me and one of our cars! Now, the rest of it was more of a SHOCK than a surprise. It seems that after spending an hour or so on the farm and taking lots of photos and recording the entire interview the reported took this opportunity to let me know that Katrina is married to James! I always thought she was married to me!

Ok, so it was a typical newspaper mistake….remember don’t believe everything you read. Other than that one glaring error the article was very flattering and very appreciated. Since I am not worried about our marriage or some guy named James, I decided to share it with all of you. Hope you enjoy what our local paper had to say about us.

Just remember, where ever it says “James” it should say “Richard.”

Technorati Tags: Daily News Journal, DNJ, miniature donkey, miniature donkey show, Shelbyville, Topper

WOW! WOW! WOW!

The Celebration 2012

Grand Champion – Geldings

Best of Breed

Legendary’s Top Hat

Technorati Tags: animals, miniature donkey show, The Mule & Donkey Celebration; NMDA Show; The Celebration; Showing Miniature Donkeys; Winners at NMDA shows

By: Richard

Summer is a wonderful time in Middle TN and we enjoy being outside as much as we can. On weekends it is not unusual for the family to enjoy a swim in the pool, roast a marshmallow or two around the fire pit and of course BBQs are also big.

As soon as Katrina’s feet hit the ground in the morning on a weekend she is headed for the barn. Once she has fed the animals a select few are permitted to roam the property and snack on fresh green grass under the big shade trees. Sometimes all of these activities come together in strange ways. One such occurrence took place when my daughter, Kandi, and her husband, Jeff, came over to celebrate Father’s Day.

It was the usual, with a twist. We were just finishing up with our picnic next to the pond when Rosy (Cobra’s Rose Petal) decided our human food looked a bit more inviting than her lush green grass. She preceded to stop by the table and take a mouth full of corn off of Jeff’s plate and then there were a couple of rolls that looked pretty good to her!

The next time you tell your dog or house cat not to beg at the table just remember Katrina lets her favorite donkeys sit down (Or is that stand up?) at our table and join the family for a meal!

Rosy cleaned her plate and then asked what was for desert!

Boy, I can’t wait to see what will happen on the 4th of July when my son Rick, his wife and my grand daughter show up! I am sure there will be some more stories to be told and pictures to be shared.

Technorati Tags: Fathers Day, guess who is coming to dinner, Rosy

By: Richard

Obviously, this is a site all about Miniature Donkeys and related activities. When we are in the barn there has to be music playing and it has to bew either oldies Rock and Roll or Country. Living just outside of Nashville means that Country Music is everywhere and concerts are a big part of the life here. Last week was the annual CMA Music Fest with Country Music fans here from every State and 23 Countries; nearly 100,000 fans.

Although not much of a fan of large crowds Katrina and I decided to take advantage of an opportunity provided by SiriusXM Satellite radio and attend a free Little Big Town concert during the CMA Music Festival. The tickets were free and we both love Little Big Town and the weather was great so why not? It turned out to be a once in a lifetime experience that we will remember for years to come.

When we arrived at the theatre and picked up our passes we were ushered into a very small broadcasting studio in the top of Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville. There were only 50 seats in the room and we could literally reach out and touch the performers! Little Big Town entered the room to a greatly excited and very small crowd for “our private show” that was recorded and broadcast on the The Highway XM Channel 50.

Not only did the band give us a private performance, they had a small gift for everyone in attendance, took questions from the audience and performed for us like we were relatives.

From now on we will have more Little Big Town music on our MP3 player for sure!

Technorati Tags: concert, Little Big Town, nashville

Found this sweet photo of “New Friends”, our young Miniature Donkey gelding Legendary’s Top Hat (Itsy Bitsy Front and Center X Perfection’s All Jetted Up) and Dolly, the dog (parents unknwon). I thought it was so adorable!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

Cobra’s Natalie Cole and her precious baby, Legendary’s Buster Brown.

This is a special time of year for family and friends. Every family has its traditions. As the families grow and age the traditions are sometimes handed down from generation to generation but other times new traditions develop. Katrina has started a new family tradition; it has been going on for several years now (unfortunately). My idea of a tradition is a roaring fire in the fireplace with a hot apple cider by my side, my cat in my lap and Christmas Carols playing softly in the background.

Katrina, on the other hand, would rather bundle us up like Eskimos, hang Christmas Stockings on poor defenseless little donkeys like they were some portable fireplace mantle and then head out to some little Tennessee town and walk for miles in a Christmas Parade. Most participants in such parades are in trucks pulling floats. Some of the more adventuresome of the participants will ride in convertibles with the tops down and the heaters turned on high.  There are usually other animals in the parades, big animals, horses; animals that people ride! Now our little critters have short legs and donkeys tend to want to move rather slowly. These are deliberate animals who like to think things through and not be rushed. A strange place with weird people lined up on both sides of the street, horses all around, bands playing and candy being tossed to screaming little kids dashing about does little to encourage the average donkey to keep on keeping on.

Our slow pace usually means trying to start in the middle of the parade and hope we don’t end up at the end of the parade before the parade ends! The last thing I want to do is be walking donkeys down main street watching the parade pull out of site with an angry 18 wheeler truck driver who has been sitting in stopped traffic for some parade on my ass’s ass!

We have lots of donkeys and it is a great new tradition, come visit us next year and we will put you in the parade!

Technorati Tags: Christmas Donkeys, Christmas Parades, Donkeys with Santa Hats