Ignorance is NOT bliss!  How we wish we had known to ask… or that someone who already knew had thought to share their knowledge.  We have made some honest mistakes that ended in tragedy, and we share those stories here with the sincere hope that doing so may help someone else avoid making those same mistakes.

 And remember, the only STUPID QUESTIONS are the ones you DON’T ASK!

MISTAKE:  Do not assume that a fence alone is enough between the boys and the girls AND/OR do not assume that youth will preclude breeding.

A friend was going to Texas to purchase some miniature donkeys and told me about the website… I checked it out and fell in love with a young jennet.  “Bonny” was my Christmas present, my first jennet, and I thought she was very unusual, as I had never seen solid donkey with a blaze (her mother was spotted).  She was incredibly sweet and did very well on our visits to retirement centers in our area, and as part of the “petting zoo” we took along for pony ride occasions.  No one could resist that beautiful face.  The following year we bought two more jennets (sisters) from the same Texas breeder, the older of which had been Bonny’s best buddy when she lived there.  The three girls were inseparable and we were happy to have such sweet girls as the beginning of our miniature donkey breeding dream… We were careful never to let the jack out with the jennets, due to their young ages and also to the fact that these particular jacks were our “mule daddies”, intended to breed with the miniature mares.  The plan was to purchase a spotted jack someday when the jennets were old enough to breed.  Due to space and fencing material availability, however, the boys and the girls were kept in adjoining pens…  Not long after Bonny’s 2^nd birthday, we went out to feed one night and were struck by her appearance… she either needed a serious diet, or we had a teenage mom on our hands.  I quickly checked her udder and compared it to her best friend of the same age, and we knew a diet wouldn’t help.  Somehow our little girl had gotten pregnant…  We knew she was too young, but also knew that she was too far along to stop it from happening.  So we researched teenage moms and tried to arm ourselves with as much knowledge as we could to help her through this.  Lindsey was home sick from school and called me at work to tell me the baby was coming, so I rushed home.  After two hours with no progress despite pushing and assistance from neighbors who had delivered calves before, Randy, Lindsey and I rushed her to the vet.  I rode in the trailer with her hoping to prevent injury to either of them, but the foal’s front legs, which were sticking out, were icy cold - I knew it was already gone but we had to get it out to save Bonny.  Unfortunately the baby was not only very large (and mom very small), but his head was also turned VERY wrong, so even though the front feet were in perfect position, she couldn’t push him out, even with help.  The vet told us we could go sit in the waiting room, we didn’t have to stay and watch, it would be bad - but Bonny was too weak for them to give her anesthetic and I couldn’t leave her.  We spent a total of 7 hours at the vet, me mostly on my elbows and knees at her head, talking to her non-stop and trying not to look at what was happening at the other end (fetotomy).  At the worst point there were seven of us working together, four of us holding her while three people pulled the baby out.  In the end I couldn’t keep from saying goodbye to the baby, a jack foal we gave the name “Boyd” (short for “boy donkey”) - even though he couldn’t feel it he had to have a loving touch and some tears to send him off.  After what is undoubtedly the most horrible experience of my life, we took home a very torn up jennet… the vet said any horse, of any size, would have died, but she was a tough little girl and had hung on through her ordeal, and now only time would tell.  Weeks and weeks of home care and worry and it seemed she was actually going to heal up and be ok… she’d probably never be able to have another foal, but we didn’t care, it seemed a miracle our Bonny was ok.  What we couldn’t see was, she was healing TOO well… suddenly one day she was having difficulty urinating and we rushed to the vet only to discover that the scar tissue had sealed over her urethra.  Surgery was scheduled but she went downhill rapidly and did not survive long enough to have the surgery.  I sat with her head in my lap while she slipped away, telling her it was ok for her to be with her baby… and when she was there, to take care Dandie for us too.  Out of nowhere two tiny butterflies appeared, fluttering around her body, and she slipped away… after she stopped breathing I looked up to see them, along with a larger butterfly, flutter away.  Could it be that Boyd and Dandie came to escort her over the rainbow bridge?

 Based on the foaling date, she had gotten pregnant at only 14 months old – and the only way it could have happened was THROUGH THE FENCE.  Needless to say, unless we are purposely breeding, the boys are kept FAR AWAY from the girls…

MISTAKE:  Do not assume that having shade available is enough… just because it is there doesn’t mean it will be used.

 Lily’s first filly was a tiny blue-eyed girl we named Dandelion, because she was mostly white and seemed so tiny the wind could easily blow her away… she was our 4^th baby and we’d had no problems with the other three, so after a week in “solitary” with her mother so they could bond without interference, we let them out with the rest of the minis.  We were lucky enough to have two babies born close together and I wanted them to be able to play together…  Everything seemed to be going well until one afternoon I went to the pen to see everybody and Dandie was down - she couldn’t stand, wouldn’t nurse, couldn’t even take a bottle.  She had apparently layed down to nap next to mama, who happened to be standing out in the sun, and was suffering from severe heatstroke.  While I was trying to revive her any way I could, Randy called the vet, hooked up the trailer and loaded Lily, and helped me into the truck with Dandie in my arms… it would be faster for us to meet the vet at his office than to wait for him to come to us.  Not five minutes down the road we were forced to call him and cancel, as Dandie has stopped breathing.  Just a few weeks after we lost her, a friend’s mare also had a tiny baby and was told by her vet that no foal of that size should be allowed in the sun UNSUPERVISED until they are at least six months old… in fact, they kept the foal and his mother in a covered stall with shadecloth on all four sides and a cooler blowing into it for WEEKS until he was big enough to not be at risk.  We were devastated that something so simple could have saved Dandie – Impatiens had been born in late June when it was much hotter and she was dark in color which one would think would attract more heat, but she had no trouble.  Justice and Oreo were both dark also and they were also fine… If only someone had told us about that when we sent pictures of our new baby to everyone we knew, including quite a few mini owners, and marveled at how small she was and how little she weighed. 

Needless to say, from now on ANY foal will be kept out of the sun until they are old enough and big enough to regulate their own body temperature… be sure to check with your vet when your babies are born!!