Meet Bob and Karen Pinkney at Wychmere Miniature Donkeys
We are Bob and Karen Pinkney at Wychmere Miniature Donkeys located in Ontario, NY, right on the shores of Lake Ontario (one of the Great Lakes). We got into Miniature donkeys in 2011 when our daughter went to get her first donkey and invited me, Karen, along. We went into a large enclosure with many moms and babies. The moms were fine with us handling and interacting with their babies, and the babies were in our pockets!!! We had been raising, showing, and training Quarter horses and Paints for close to 40 years, so when we encountered these adorable, friendly and loving creatures called mini donkeys, it was instant love and the knowledge that these were the animals we wanted to deal with for the future!!!! And that was the perfect decision because they have not disappointed us in any way for 15 years now.
We have 17 head right now: 10 registered jennies, 1-2yo jenny, 3 yearling jennies, all as herd replacements since some of our brood jennies are aging into retirement and will need to be replaced with younger ones, born and raised here. We also have 2 registered jacks: 1 is a smooth coat, and the other one is a full wooly. We breed for conformation and personality.
We allow visitors to visit the donkeys and go out with them in the pasture every afternoon. We have a steady stream of visitors all year around. It gives us a great opportunity to teach them about donkeys and they always leave having had a great visit and with the promise of returning to enjoy them some more, especially the children. The tips we give are that donkeys are very different and lower maintenance than horses, that they love attention and affection, and trust and patience are the most important parts of any peoples’ relationships with donkeys.
The only advertising we do is through Gotdonkeys.com and it is very effective. Also word-of-mouth has been very productive, too. Visitors have come from all around the US, and the world. We have sold babies to people in Massachusetts, Martha’s Vineyard, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and of course all around new York State. We have a long waiting list for our donkeys because it has been almost impossible to keep up with the demand with a small herd like ours. We loved our horses when we were raising them, but we absolutely ADORE our donkeys. They are so smart and kind and gentle and loving, fun and funny, adorable and loved by all who visit.
