Donkey Meadows

08/11/2023

Nigel’s first experience with a ball! Look for the calf peeking out around her momma to watch!

08/08/2023

Yesterday morning at about 1:15am, Molly had her baby!! A perfect little jack! I’m so thrilled with him I can’t stand it. Welcome baby Nigel❣️❣️

07/17/2023

Anticipaaation, she’s making me wait. 🎶🤣

06/07/2023

Waiting on our awesome farrier!

05/27/2023

ATTENTION! I’m looking for the two young ladies that came to my farm last Sunday (May 21) looking for standard donkeys! If you happen to see this please get in touch with me. I have two available. Thanks, Audrey

05/25/2023

We had two beautiful days at Donkey Meadows for the farm tour last weekend. I just love my donkeys!

Thank you to everyone who came out, we appreciate your support!

05/18/2023

I literally had tears in my eyes as I read this. I’ve so wanted what you described to be the experience people got when visiting the donkeys and have openly shared my heart with everyone you comes through the farm. Thank you, Ritta for the wonderful gift of capturing God’s goodness through the lens of a camera! You, my friend are wonderful!

05/15/2023

Trying to set up for visitors…🙄

05/09/2023

It’s time to mark your calendars!!

The Loudoun County Spring Farm Tour is
May 20-21 from 10:00-4:00 both days

Donkey Rides from 10-1:00 $10
Donkey Meet and Greet 1:30-4:00
Games, face painting, merchandise on SALE!

Come on out, see the donkeys and see what’s “brewing” at Donkey Meadows !!

04/13/2023

Visits with the donkeys. At Donkey Meadows you’re always loved!
American Mammoth Jackstock awareness and education.

04/11/2023

Trying to feed the donkeys, cows told me to just walk around them! Hmmmm !

04/09/2023

Happy Easter!

04/08/2023

This is my brother in law’s family.

Hi, my name is Mike Cadle and I'm creating this fundraiser for my 45-year-old brother Pat. He … Michael Cadle needs your support for Support The Cadle Family

04/03/2023

We’re still at it! Great pictures AND fun at the same time!

03/24/2023

Asher loved the little babies!

Cuteness overload!!! The connection between animals and children is so precious!

03/21/2023

Another great photo shoot by Yanka Photography!

03/17/2023

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/science/donkeys-genetics-archaeology.html

A friend of mine shared this with me and I thought it was a great article!

In a new study, genetics and archaeology combine to reveal the ancient origins of humanity’s first beast of burden.

03/02/2023

Hello from Donkey Meadows!

I can’t believe it is already March! Where does time go and why so fast? I find myself pondering this “time” question more these days, since realizing my purpose on this planet. I don’t want to waste a minute.

My husband and I acquired our first two American Mammoth Jackstock donkeys about 18 years ago. We got them to just ride around and enjoy for ourselves, but it didn’t take long for us to realize these donkeys were very special! Now, about 3 or so years earlier we purchased a standard size jenny and her foal for my husband to use while deer hunting. I had no interest. Things changed quickly within my heart though. That little donkey, Jezzie, and her foal helped me overcome some very big fears. I didn’t even know it until years later. So, when we decided we wanted to get a couple bigger donkeys to ride, I was very excited. It didn’t take long before I knew I wanted more mammoths and I wanted to share what I had stumbled upon with the whole world! Well, maybe just as many people as I could. There was just something about the way these animals made me feel, I wanted everyone to feel it!

Fast forward 16 years. Over the years I had been involved with many organizations involving the mule and donkey. I got children involved in learning about donkeys, took the donkeys to parades, held farm days at my home, Mothers play groups would visit, it went on and on all the things I did with the donkeys to educate people about this incredible donkey breed, the American Mammoth Jackstock.

My children were now grown and doing their own things, husband had a new hobby, but still loved to ride and mess with the donkeys whenever I needed him. I turned 51 and it was my turn. Over the years, I had a very overwhelming desire to not only try and help the now endangered American Mammoth Jackstock, but I wanted to use them to help people overcome issues or obstacles that were holding them back in life! I wanted the special needs folks to visit and be able to love on the donkeys and be loved back. I had no idea how to go about that, though. Plus, to do any kind of therapeutic program, I needed help, a lot of help. So, I dropped that part of my dream and started a nonprofit focusing on the conservation of the AMJ by education people about them. I absolutely love educating people about the American Mammoth Jackstock, giving up-close and personal experiences with the donkeys and helping folks find their own donkeys. I will continue to do all these things and more to promote the AMJ.

It’s funny how things go. I do not believe in coincidences I believe all things happen for a reason orchestrated by God. Last year I was made aware of a program that was being offered that would allow me to obtain the certifications I needed to have an Equine Assisted Learning program here at Donkey Meadows. I, of course will use the donkeys! This is a dream come true for me and the donkeys, I believe. I will use the endangered breed of donkey to help others overcome issues or hurts in their lives. This program is a faith based equine assisted learning program. I feel this has been put in my life on purpose to be able to share my faith journey with others that are hurting in different ways. These donkeys were put in my life to help me get through many, many rough years. They saved my sanity and brought me peace and a safe place to hurt without judgement. God put them in my life to prepare me to help others with these animals that now need help from extinction themselves. I believe that God is our ultimate healer, He healed me. If you would ever like to hear my journey of faith and how I always knew the donkeys were part of it, just ask me. I’d love to share.

There are many other specific certifications I hope to get as they come up, like trauma care, PTSD, leadership and more. What a great use for the AMJ, that was created to help mankind in our earliest years and can now help mankind in a totally different way today. There is so much more to learn from these donkeys, just like Jezzie started for me so many years ago.

As you can imagine, this certification is not free! I will have to fly to California to attend the course, which is Friday, April 14 through Monday, April 17. There is the course fee, airfare, rental car and hotel costs all involved in this venture. I suspect the total cost to be around $4,000 - $5,000.

If you are able and willing to donate to this fundraiser, you can do so on my secure site, Donkeymeadows.org, by Venmo to DonkeyMeadows, or by check made payable to Donkey Meadows at the following address:
37352 Wineberry Ln
Purcellville, VA 20132

Your donation not only will help us to continue promoting the conservation of the American Mammoth Jackstock, but will also use the AMJ to help many people of all ages be freed of the chains that bind them. I appreciate any and all donations and thank you very much!

May God Always Bless you,

Audrey Cadle
Donkey Meadows, founder
Donkeymeadows.org

Donkey Meadows is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
All donations are 100% tax deductible EIN 86-3489591

02/25/2023

Molly’s cute baby bump❣️

01/28/2023

Almost!! This young man has had very little time with the donkeys, but he sure loves them and wants to learn as much as he can!

01/28/2023

Donkey club kids learning patience! Love it!

01/27/2023

01/24/2023

SOLD OUT OF MARCH 18! JUST OPENED UP APRIL 1st !!! FEW SPOTS LEFT FOR MARCH 25!!!!!

01/20/2023

What a pleasure it was to work with you, Ritta! You’re so talented! Looking forward to March!

01/10/2023

Fancy, Asher, Luke 🥰

12/21/2022

Christmas with the donkeys, Christmas parade, Christmas cows! Merry Christmas!!

12/14/2022

Just letting everyone know my email has been hacked! Any messages concert gift cards, Amazon, Zelle or friends with cancer PLEASE DISREGARD!!

12/05/2022

Got pumpkins? The pigs and heifers at Donkey Meadows LOVE pumpkins!! We would love to have the pumpkins you’re finished with. Not carved or rotting please. Message me if you’d like to give our cuties your pumpkins!

12/03/2022

Christmas With The Donkeys is in full effect! Come get your family photo done with GUS!

12/02/2022

Christmas With The Donkeys will continue rain or shine. Rain is forecast to stop at 9:30am! We can’t wait to see everyone tomorrow!

Mark this great event on your calendar! Come dressed for your family Christmas photo with a beautiful donkey!

11/30/2022

Get ready for a fun, donkey filled day at Donkey Meadows this Saturday, the 3rd of December! 10:00-3:00

11/23/2022

Happy Thanksgiving to all, from the donkeys and friends at Donkey Meadows!

11/11/2022

Mark this great event on your calendar! Come dressed for your family Christmas photo with a beautiful donkey!

11/06/2022

Perfectly said!

🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Farm work doesn’t make you stronger. It doesn’t make you anything. It reveals you.
There’s gym strong and then there’s farm strong. They’re mutually exclusive. The toughest women you’ll ever meet spend their days on a farm.

There are more uses for twine than you can possibly imagine. You can tie up a hole in a slow feeder, fashion a tail strap for a horse’s blanket, mend a broken fence and use it as a belt.

“Well that certainly didn’t go as planned,” is one thing you’ll say quite a bit.
Control is a mere illusion. The thought that you have any, at any given time, is utterly false.
Sometimes sleep is a luxury. So are lunch and dinner. And brushing your hair.

If you’ve never felt your obliques contract, then you’ve never tried stopping an overly full wheelbarrow of horse manure from tipping over sideways. Trust me, you’ll find muscles that you never knew existed on the human skeleton to prevent this from happening.

When one of the animals is ill, you’ll go to heroic lengths to minimize their discomfort.
Their needs come first. In summer heat and coldest winter days. Clean water, clean bed, and plenty of feed. Before you have your first meal, they all eat.

When you lose one of them, even though you know that day is inevitable, you still feel sadness, angst and emotional pain from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. And it’s a heaviness that lingers even though you must regroup and press on.
You’ll cry a lot. But you’ll never live more fully. You’ll remain present no matter what because you must. There is no other option.
You’ll ask for so many miracles and hold out hope until the very last.

You will, at least once, face-plant in the manure pile. You’ll find yourself saying things like, “we have maybe twenty minutes of daylight left to git ‘er done” whilst gazing up at a nonspecific place in the sky.
You’ll become weirdly obsessive about the weather.
You’ll go out in public wearing filthy clothes and smelling of dirt, sweat and p**p. People will look at you sideways and krinkle their noses but you won’t care.
Your entire day can derail within ten seconds of the rising sun.
You can wash your coveralls. They won’t look any cleaner, but they will smell much nicer.
Farm work is difficult in its simplicity.
You’ll always notice just how beautiful sunrises and sunsets really are.
Should you ever have the opportunity to work on a farm, take the chance! You will never do anything more satisfying in your entire life.”

10/31/2022

Fancy and Molly all gorgeous for Halloween!

10/24/2022

Reminder, this Saturday, the 29th there will be a lot going on at Donkey Meadows! There will be even more then listed on the flyer! Donkey Meadows is a nonprofit organization focused on the conservation of the American Mammoth Jackstock. This breed was VERY important to American history and now they are endangered!! So come on out, learn something new and experience a little bit of “living history”. Help Donkey Meadows do what we can to save the American Mammoth Jackstock!

10/17/2022

What’s your stress level? Ours? Zero!

10/14/2022

These ladies visited from a local adult memory day center and left feeling the love! 💕 Just another example of the gentle tenderness of these mammoth donkeys.

05/20/2022

We Cant Wait To See Everyone Tomorrow! Keep in mind that Donkey Rides are from 10am-1pm!

05/10/2022