Working mammoth donkeys

[Andy Carson]

I went to visit a mammoth donkey this last weekend and was dissapointed to find it to be too sluggish for me to stand. I was wanting a calm, relaxed animal, but this went too far! This is the only mammoth I have spent much time with and I am curious if this extreme sluggishness is common to mammoths or if this was simply slow individual. If some mammoths are slow and others are livelier, I would appreciate any tips on how to narrow down the search to find a mammoth donk with a “standard sized” attitude. Are bigger donks usually slower than small ones? To be honest, I have found more info about working large standards than mammoth donks… I had thought avaliability was a big factor in this, but now wonder if this sluggishness might also be to blame…

[Robert MoonShadow]

I’ve got a friend/mentor {Kristi} who has 3 mammoths & 1 lg-standard…uses them for riding & cart/wagon driving & parades. I’ve noticed that as w/ most donkeys, “whoa” can be their favorite command :rolleyes:, but they DO trot out real nice. Perhaps if you contact her, she can describe just what to look for in the way of signs the animal is more energetic. Her website is: http://www.teamdonk.org
{I don’t know how to post it as a link}
She also has a blog at http://www.teamdonk.wordpress.com (or maybe .net?)

Anyways, she’s a great help on mammoth donkey info & like most of us, loves to “talk donkey”.
You might also check out Rocky Mountain Songbirds website: My lg. standards and some of Kristi’s mammoths came from them. They’re located in eastern Montana, and actually USE their animals, not just breed/sell them. They can certainly help you learn what to look for in a prospective work donkey/mammoth.

Hope this helps. 🙂

[Andy Carson]

Thanks Robert,
I contacted Kristi and she said that mammoths, especially very large ones, often have this slow temperment. She recommended I look for a small mammoth or a large standard for a working animal. By my rough math, I have use for about 800-1000 pounds of donkey(s). Maybe I would be better off with a team of standard donkeys rather than a single mammoth. Any thoughts?

[Robert MoonShadow]

I’ve got a mother/daughter pair of large-standards for 3 reasons:
1) Cost = I bought both for $600 – you can usually get 2 trained lg-standards for the price of 1 mammoth (green).
2) Efficiency/adaptability = 2 ‘power units’ can be divided, combined, or used in relay as needed. Also, if one comes up ill, lame or dead, you’ll still get at least some work done.
3) Not much difference in power between a 52″ lg. standard and a 54″ (jenny – 56″ for a male) mammoth…but the price can easily double or triple over that 2″ difference in height.
BTW: Kinsey (the 19 yo mother) is about 50″ and 725# (Overweight by about 100#) and Jenny-Mae is 10 yo, 52″ at 675# (just about right, weight-wise). Jm’s dad was a mammoth –> check w/ the mammoth breeders for “undersize” geldings; they sell them pretty cheap, since they don’t “measure up”.

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