# How to "help" our donkey breed larger mares ?



## horsepoor21

We have a standard sized donkey (not sure of his exact highth ? Need to measure him) . We'd love a mule foal out of one of our mares .
I tried just letting him run with our mare last year but he couldn't get up there .

Is there any trick , maybe some type of something we could rig up for him to stand on to reach her better ? I'm hoping someone has some good tips for me to help him do his deed . LOL 

Thankyou so much in advance !!!


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## SFM in KY

I've had people tell me they hand breed and stand the mare on a hill, rump uphill, so the stud/jack can mount from uphill. Takes two people, one to hold the mare and keep her in position, one for the jack.

I've never done this as for years I've simply collected the stud and inseminated the mare. I've actually trained one jack to collect ... his mares would just simply run away from him, did NOT like his looks.

If the hill solution doesn't give him enough height, you might see if you could find a bank to back the mare up against so he could stand on the bank. Problem with that would be if the mare steps forward, he'd be likely to fall.


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## Yvonne

We used to stand the Shetland mare in a ditch and have the mini on the bank. 
Same principle as SMF
suggested. Right with the two people if you haven't done this before. Make sure your mare is receptive.


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## CIW

I built a breeding stocks and buried it in the ground. My 14 3hh jack will cover 18 hh mares commonly.


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## horsepoor21

So sorry if this is a dumb question but what are breeding stocks ?


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## SFM in KY

horsepoor21 said:


> So sorry if this is a dumb question but what are breeding stocks ?


Scroll down on this page and it will show you photos of a vet exam chute. 

Breeding stocks are similar except they usually just go back to the start of the mare's ribcage, so the stallion can't get a leg over the gate or sides. I'm guessing that CIW dug down to set his at a lower level than the area behind the stocks so the jack will be standing higher than the mare.

http://www.equinebreedingsupply.com/catalog/chute.html


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## horsepoor21

Ahhhh , this is just what I was looking for ! Thankyou so much for all of your help ! Will probably end up trying to breed them in the ditch this time but will work torwards the breeding stock for future breedings !


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## CIW

Although both exam chute and the stocks serve the same function of containing the mare. They are built alot different.
I don't know how to do this without it turning into a commercial, so here goes. I have designed and built several different kinds equine stocks for the vetrinary industry for many years now. Both portable and stationary.
I have a used one that I would be willing to sell. I built it for a guy and he never paid me for it so I had to go get it. I would put a new floor in it and paint it.
If you would like to talk further about it, give me a holler. [email protected]


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## SFM in KY

Good luck, hope it works for you. Just make sure the mare is really, really ready to stand as that will help a lot.

I did a lot of 'different sizes' breeding when I was establishing my sportpony program ... big stallions to small mares and small stallions to big mares, so found that the collection and insemination was just simply the easiest to manage for me. I still do it now even if they are pretty much the same size as I only have to deal with one animal at a time!


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## SFM in KY

CIW said:


> Although both exam chute and the stocks serve the same function of containing the mare. They are built alot different.
> I don't know how to do this without it turning into a commercial, so here goes. I have designed and built several different kinds equine stocks for the vetrinary industry for many years now. Both portable and stationary.
> I have a used one that I would be willing to sell. I built it for a guy and he never paid me for it so I had to go get it. I would put a new floor in it and paint it.
> If you would like to talk further about it, give me a holler. [email protected]


Do you have a picture you could post of the breeding stocks? I've only seen one and it was 'homemade' so would be interested in seeing a photo of a good one.


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## CIW

Give me some time here. I'm trying to get a picture on here.


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## Rogo

Back when I was making saddle mules, my Mammoth jack was 14.3 hands. My broodmare band was 15 - 16 hands and so were the outside mares he bred.

I converted the wash rack to a breeding rack. It was on dirt, so if a mare was really tall, I'd remove some of the dirt so she was standing lower. Didn't need to do this often since the Mammoth did fine with most of his girls.

Since donkeys don't thrill a lot of horses, I used a Shetland stallion for teasing. Had the vet give him a vasectomy so he could roam free with the rest of the stock. (Geldings don't always tease.)

Did the breeding by myself and, happily, never had a problem.

Started riding the Mammoth when he was 3 and rode him til the end of his life.


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## horsepoor21

Our jack isn't that big , but he's awesome with our kids , dead broke , and supposed to be broke to drive , saw pictures of him doing it ,but haven't tried it myself yet .


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## SFM in KY

Yes, there are a number of mares that are absolutely NOT impressed by a jack. The jack that I trained to collect in MT had been turned out with 5 Fox Trotter mares and the result was just one foal. Owner said that was the only mare that wasn't fast enough to outrun him! 

Anyway, we found one mare that would tease and stand for him and used her as a jump mare to collect the jack as he would NOT use a dummy mare ... he'd rest his chin on it and half close his eyes ... "okay, you can't fool me, I'm not a stupid horse, this is NOT a mare!" ... although he didn't have a problem being collected from a jump mare.

We got the other mares bred, then bred the jump mare ... had five foals on the ground the following spring.


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## Rogo

This is my Mammoth jack at 2 years old. I didn't start riding him until he was 3, but hopped up just for the picture.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a73/deserthills123/1255495830.jpg


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## Lisa in WA

Rogo said:


> This is my Mammoth jack at 2 years old. I didn't start riding him until he was 3, but hopped up just for the picture.
> 
> http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a73/deserthills123/1255495830.jpg


Great picture! You're a tiny little thing, aren't you?


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## Rogo

=== Great picture! You're a tiny little thing, aren't you? ===


Thanks. I'm a hair under 5 feet.

Those of us breeding Mammoth jacks have found that the foals grow to the same size of the mares or taller.


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## CIW

I was finally able to figure out how to get something on here. 
Using this I can work the Jack, the teaser and mare by myself. I faced it into a loafing shed so that a baby can be put up in front of its momma. That way neither one of them freaks out and its safe for all concerned.
I built this in 2003. We have had no injuries while using it. I haven't found any need for any kind of breeding hobbles or restraints. My jack actually has learned to stand on the side rail when he dismounts.
I hope this helps.


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