The Donkey Shop

29/09/2025

Our big teddy bear boy, Billy-Bob, thrives on one-on-one attention. ❤️ So, we have been letting him come in and be the supervisor at the shearing shed, while we repair the yards and set up tank stands, tank water etc.
He is currently moulting, so I am brushing enough hair out of him to make a bed spread, every day. 🤣
I met a lady one time who was keen to try spinning Murphy’s hair. Billy’s isn’t quite as long as Murphy’s was, but it is delightfully soft and fluffy.

24/09/2025

Spice was bright as a button as she waited for me to put her saddle on at Euroa Markets last Saturday. She is such a fit and athletic donkey, and always keen to be a part of the action.
We have a very busy month coming up.
Here is our calendar of where you can catch us for donkey rides .

3rd, 4th and 5th October - Barellan “The Good Old Days” Weekend.

Saturday 11th October - Violet Town Market

Saturday 18th October - Wandin Silvan Field Days

Sunday 2nd November - Strathbogie Cup
Weekend Festival

Saturday 8th November - Violet Town Market

Saturday 15th November - Euroa Market

Friday 5th December - Merry Monbulk Xmas

18/09/2025

Spice and Larry have been out and about, enjoying the sunshine in Boho South.
We all thoroughly enjoyed the Violet Town Market last weekend, and this Saturday 20th September, we will be doing donkey rides at Euroa Market. Look for us in the Rotary park.

11/09/2025

Open house 10am this Saturday
Beautiful property with spectacular views.
Excellent facilities and infrastructure.
Has operated successfully as a donkey stud, rescue, training facility and farm stay for the last 15 years. Backs onto Yarra State Forest with endless trails. Mains water plus tanks plus two dams plus delightful permanent creek. Forest glades with tree ferns and lyrebirds.
Sweet house, plus self contained cabin, plus another cabin plus additional outdoor bathroom facilities for guests, powered campsites and shedding to satisfy any tradesperson.
Pictures do not do this place justice. Feel free to message me directly.
Come and have a look

Positioned in a scenic pocket of the Yarra Valley, this property set on approximately 23 acres delivers an impressive mix of natural beauty, lifestyle appeal, and practical infrastructure. From the quaint 1950's home, you'll enjoy spectacular mountain views with ever changing colour. Abundant wildli...

09/09/2025

This is Spice.
She was originally a wild caught donkey, who was captured in Fregon in Northern South Australia. She came to me quite a few years ago now… 🤔 Gee time flies!!
We have had many adventures already. She has now become a core member of our donkey rides team. I have bred a beautiful daughter from her, called Waru, and we go on pack saddling adventures together. She has also done numerous church and school activities and a couple of commercials.
When we do donkey rides, she is usually accompanied by our ever gentle little chocolate girl Ruby, and these days she sometimes works with Larry.
She is now an incredibly versatile partner, who loves to get out and about, but also always enjoys a snuggle.
Spice will be doing donkey rides with Larry at the Violet Town market this weekend, Saturday September 13th. We have heaps of events coming up, so keep your eye on where we will be next.

21/08/2025

Our wonderful donkey farm is relocating, so this beautiful propertyis for sale.
Open inspectionis is tomorrow ❤️🌿🌸

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19/08/2025

I forgot to share this video to my business page… sorry for the delay… it was such a full on day… but I know that many of you here are wondering how she was going.
We finally got Pumpkin floated and transported, without any use of force, but plenty of patience.
She has now been in her new home for two weeks, and has settled back into her position of Miss Bossy Pants in the herd. Rocky is very happy to have her back and made quite a pig rooting performance about that 🤣
Now that our herd are up in Boho, there will be no farm visits available at the East Warburton property, as it is now for sale.
Please follow this page, and also our new page, High Plains Working Donkeys, to see what we are up to next. We will be doing donkey rides at events throughout the year, including Barellan Good Old Days Festival, and our usual ones in the Yarra Ranges. We will also be doing rides at markets throughout the Strathbogie Ranges.

30/07/2025

This is a very time consuming project, but a very rewarding one. Sometimes when I give it all the time and patience it needs, suddenly we progress much faster than expected ❤️🙏
I am really needing her to move to the better pastures, as soon as possible … and at this stage, I am still uncertain as to which option will be the least traumatic and safest for her… transporting her in a float, or walking her up and over the range, via Mount Donna Buang and Narbethong … over 200kms which will take about 10 days.
At the moment I am training and preparing her (and myself) for both options. We will travel whichever way seems the best for her. We have made progress in both options this week, so I should know soon which way we are going to go.
If we are walking, there are things to organise, and people who have offered to help as support crew, who will need me to decide soon… so hopefully it will soon become obvious .
Either way, I am very happy with today’s progress

24/07/2025

I have been doing a lot of work with Pumpkin the mule lately, about an hour or two nearly every day, to help prepare her for the transition to the new property. Part of that process has been desensitisation to lots of things she will experience in life, and mostly she has been doing well… no response to a rolling wheelie bin, a passing sheet of corrugated iron, or a buzzing grinder on steel. She is doing well… but yesterday I introduced her to a saddle blanket, and her response brought tears to my eyes. I merely showed it to her for a look. She saw it and it hit a fear trigger for her. She pulled back as hard as she could on the halter, the whites of her eyes were wide, and she squatted her haunches and trembled in fear. It was so sad to watch her. I stood calmly with her, but did not move forward or back, I spoke to her with love and waited for some calmness to return, but she was so frightened.. but eventually some calmness came.
Pumpkin does love me, and trust me, and this is helping us get through her fears. By the end of the session, I was able to hold the rug against her chest, and hug her with the rug between us, but it will take some time to get it past her shoulder. While I held her, I could hear her heart racing .
In working with rescued and wild animals, as well as ones bred at home , I get to see what is the usual amount of fear. This was completely disproportionate for something new, and obviously had some history for her.
When I got Pumpkin, she was only a year old, so what could he have done that was so harsh with a blanket? She was certainly too young to be ridden… I can’t imagine… but I will try not to think about it, and will try to focus on a blanket being a place of warmth and love. We will try again today.
This beautiful photo was taken by Michelle Knoll, Pumpkin was snuggling up to me over the fence while I put a pack saddle on Waru.

18/06/2025

Our donkey herd is now in a new location. Over the last few weeks we have been gradually moving the herd up to the much broader landscape in the Strathbogie Ranges.
We were planning to keep them here longer, but having to feed very expensive and quite unobtainable hay, caused us to move them sooner. A large round bale was lucky to last us two and a half days, and now they have hit $280 to $300 a bale .. it just isn’t feasible.
Having the donkeys stand around a hay ring all day is also not healthy, so we have put the donkeys first, as always, and now they are flourishing. Moving around the large paddocks is keeping them fit, the native oasture is serving them well, while the natural spring water in their trough seems to have boosted their vitality. Their hooves are in much better shape already. I was expecting to have to wait to see the hoof change grow out, but the improvement is already well obvious.
The new location is also in close proximity to a couple of large equine hospitals. This was also part of the criteria in choosing a new location.
We plan to work closely with the local vets and vet students and improve the knowledge base and health care of donkeys as we go. It is also a comfort to know that excellent equine vets will be easy to reach when required.
The donkeys have been sticky beaking their noses in, while we have been repairing fences and building shelters. Even in the broad open spaces, they still demand our affection. Seeing them gallop towards us in a massive herd is exhilarating and heart warming. It all seems much more natural, and subtleties of their social interactions are more visible. I have learned much from this already.
So… At the moment…. In East Warburton :
The Airbnb is open and still functioning as usual
The campground is still open and operating as normal. The view is still amazing. We currently still have two donkeys, and Pumpkin the mule at East Warburton (they still require more training before they can be transported calmly).
Donkey rides are currently unavailable at East Warburton but we are still doing donkey rides at events. We look forward to doing Barellan this year, Rushworth , Mont De Lancey, Yarra Junction Vintage Crank Up and many more heritage festivals.
There are no more donkey patting sessions at East Warburton, but in the future we will do those and a variety of other donkey activities and adventures from the Strathbogie property, but bookings will always be essential. Turning up without a booking will lead to disappointment, so please ensure that you book first.
Thank you for your patience during this transition period… the new location will be absolutely awesome, especially for the donkeys ❤️🫏🫏🫏🫏🫏🫏🫏🫏🌿

18/04/2025

Saddled up and ready for donkey rides.
Today in Rushworth, tomorrow at Moora.
So much to see and do here, including heavy horses, beautiful carts, vintage machinery, classic cars and so much more. ❤️🫏🫏

12/04/2025

Palm Sunday in Brunswick for the multi-church service 🫏❤️🌿🙂