Chris Mackler for Out Here Magazine
During late November, I shot a story for the Spring edition of Out Here Magazine, (Tractor Supply Co.’s quarterly publication, available for free at your local store), on a dying breed of donkey, the American Mammoth Jackstock (AMJ) and the woman dedicated to keeping the breed from becoming extinct.
Deb Kidwell, owner of Lake Nowhere Mule and Donkey Farm in Martin, Tenn., breeds American Mammoth Jackstock, the only American breed of Ass, and one started by George Washington. The breed, however, is dying off with the mechanization of farm equipment. The breed typically stands at least 14.2 hands high (a hand equals 4 inches), and when mated with a female horse, produces a mule. “The AMJ is an outstanding driving and riding animal and my purpose for breeding them is to preserve this important American heritage breed and to promote their use as loving, sweet riding animals so their use isn’t just for making mules,” said Kidwell. Once we lose the genetic strain of the AMJ, “it’s gone forever,” said Jennifer Kendall, of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.
More
Support this project and others with 1-click micro-donations
