It is with a heavy heart that we said goodbye to Ruby in August of 2025. Her death was swift, which is both comforting and heartbreaking. We knew she was fighting a lot in her old age, but we still thought we’d have more time. She was home at the end, and I like to think she enjoyed her retired life here with Pippin, Tucson, and Angus. It feels wrong to just “delete” her about-me page, as she was such a big part of our mini farm… so we’ll leave here in memoriam.
Rest easy old girl, your judgemental stare will be missed.
Hello to Miss Ruby!
Ruby is Pippin’s Mama, and was estimated to be 20 years old in 2020. She’s 36.4in tall, meaning she technically is no longer legally a mini donkey; but for the sake of not being nitpicky, I say we have 2 mini donkeys.
We got her on an online auction, site unseen (well, there were a few grainy pictures). It was SCARY to do that BUT we’re very glad she ended up here, because the vet categorized her as a rescue. She needs a lot of TLC, and specific hoof and dietary care to get her back to healthy life.
This means she gets no more than 5lbs of plain grass hay a day, and limited treats (sugar free only) during moments of training. She’s had a history of laminitis (per her grooved hooves and broken crest), so any funny business with food isn’t tolerable, as we don’t want that unhealthy living to come back.
She joined our herd on September 12th 2020 - during some of the worst fire-season smoke the PNW has seen. It was tough to figure each other out at first (our first donkey experience ever) but we’re officially on good terms and having a great time.
Her name “Ruby” just kind of came to me.. there was something about her old no-nonsense soul that said “my name is Ruby”. So far, nicknames include: Rubes, and Ruby Tuesday.