Just 12 miles down the road from Tullahoma is a ranch you may not have noticed before — A&B Mini Ranch, home to more than 40 adorable mini donkeys in Estill Springs. If you take a drive by the ranch, you might spot a herd grazing in the sun, enjoying the countryside while also hoping someone might stop by to pet them. The lovable, social mini donkeys play and seek attention almost like puppies.
Amanda Stuart and her mother, Brenda Farris, co-own A&B Mini Ranch, and in the 13 years they have been in business, it has grown from two young donkeys to nearly 45.
“Some people say mini donkeys are like potato chips — you can’t have just one,” Amanda said. “I guess in our case, you can’t have just one bag.”
Amanda was born and raised in the country and has always been around cattle and horses on her family’s property. The family decided to stop keeping horses after Brenda was thrown from one at their home, breaking her back. Amanda was in the sixth grade at the time. The family kept their cattle but never returned to keeping horses after the accident.
Many years later, Amanda had an idea that just felt right, and she proposed it to her mother.
“It’d be neat to go check out some little donkeys,” she said. “Mom, they would be perfect because you can’t ride those and get hurt.”
Brenda agreed to check them out, and they drove to a farm in Lewisburg, returning home with two yearling female mini donkeys — one gray and one red. From there, the herd grew out of a constantly expanding wish list the women shared.
“Well, I want a black one,” one of them would say. “Well, I was thinking about a spotted one,” Amanda said.
They now have nearly 45 donkeys, including 18 jennets bred to foal next year. The ranch currently has a wait list of hopeful buyers from all over — even as far away as Australia.
Donkey breeds come in three very different sizes: miniatures, standards (which work alongside cattle), and mammoths, which stand nearly as tall as a horse. Amanda and Brenda keep a pair of mammoth twins on the property beside the herds of minis. Each mini donkey sold carries a piece of the ranch with it for life.
“Every animal that leaves my place is named so that the very first part of its name starts with A&B Minis,” she said. “So if the new owner wants to name one Scarlet, her name would be A&B Minis Scarlet.”
New owners can choose the final name, but the ranch’s mark remains permanent. Amanda says this is common practice among ranch owners.
Amanda and Brenda are careful about who they allow to buy the minis, and they remain loyal to their buyers. Every contract includes a promise that if an owner ever falls on hard times, they can call on Amanda.
“I’ve had people do that,” Amanda said. “They’ve run into health issues or unexpected situations, and I’ve taken the donkeys back and resold them for the owners. I just want to make sure they always go to a good home.”
Amanda also has a rule that no mini donkey leaves the ranch alone.
“An only donkey is a lonely donkey — that’s what we’ve always been told,” Amanda said. “You never put a donkey by itself.”
Amanda and Brenda give the donkeys their shots and other treatments themselves, only using outside help for veterinary emergencies and the farrier. Amanda and her husband, John, also own a heating and air conditioning business in Tullahoma, Amanda Services Inc. The couple has six sons and one daughter. The youngest, Eva, has never met a donkey she didn’t love. Amanda has learned to warn her in advance if new foals are already spoken for.
“When we have one born, I’ll look at her and say, ‘Don’t get attached,’” Amanda said. “And she’ll say, ‘Mom, it’s too late. I’ve already seen her. I’m already attached!’”
A few of the babies have, in fact, become her own pets.
“She has picked out a couple that I haven’t sold purely because she begged to have them,” Amanda said.
Her daughter loves them so much that she once climbed into the feed trough and asked her mother to pour the feed in around her so the foals would eat right beside her.
Amanda understands the feeling. She often walks out to the fields alone to sit on a bucket and pet the donkeys after a long day. Her husband used to tease that the donkeys were her therapy, but she says he wasn’t wrong.
“They are so loving, and it’s just disarming. Really, if you’ve had a stressful day, they’re there just to love you,” Amanda said. “They’re gentle creatures, and it’s relaxing to sit with them. So on tough nights, I’ll tell my husband, ‘I’m going to the fields to pet my babies.’” GN
