It Happened in Crawford County: Wendy Blamer and her love for miniature donkeys

Wendy Blamer is a daughter of Michael and Carol Schreck and her siblings are Tim and Benji Schreck and Jen Caldwell. Wendy’s grandparents were Ralph and Bernice Schreck. She remembers getting rides on grandpa’s plane.

Wendy grew up on the farm after the S-curve heading into Brokensword. She didn’t like housework and wanted to be outside hand-milking the cows, gathering eggs and bottle feeding the calves.

While in school at Wynford, Wendy liked the ag classes, which helped to prepare her for her future work. She graduated in 1986 from Wynford. Growing up, she wanted a horse. Her dad asked, “What does a horse produce, and what will it do for me except eat hay?”

She begged and got her first horse, a pony, when she was about 8 or 9. Dad thought the pony would stop the begging and pleading for a horse, and he didn’t think the care for it would last long. But it backfired. She took care of pony herself and continued to ask for a horse. She was successful, and her dad eventually bought her quite a few horses.

Wendy began working on horse farms in the Bucyrus area after graduation. She also got a job at AEP as a meter reader, and that’s when she met up with miniature donkeys.

Roxanna Liles was raising donkeys, and Wendy fell in love with them. She just had to find her first donkey. She also showed cutting horses. They work the cattle, separating out one calf and keeping it away from the rest of the herd. Those shows were in Ohio, and Wendy had a trainer in Mt. Gilead. She received second place in her region in the $10,000 novice/non-pro class.

A trip that changed her life

Wendy traveled to Indiana to get her first donkey in 1991. She was joined by Roxanna, who was her mentor in the adventure. In the beginning, there were just two donkeys. Today, she has over 40. Her husband, Scott Blamer, along with Wendy, own the Buckeye Braying Acres. Scott works at Timken and is the farm's maintenance man. He helps Wendy with anything needed on the farm.

It’s a rather fun scenario because he was a "city boy" and had to learn everything about the farm. The donkey business really started out as a hobby. It quickly grew into a real business because of the number of donkeys she was selling and raising. Wendy doesn’t have average donkeys; they are show-quality, breeding stock.

Miniature donkeys are very intelligent, kind, gentle animals. They are almost like a big dog. They are 36 inches and under at the withers and weigh about 250 to 300 pounds. Wendy has two different kinds of donkeys − the traditional smooth-coated donkey and the wooly donkey. They are registered with the MDR Miniature Donkey Registry, run by ADMS − the American Donkey and Mule Society.

Donkeys can be fussy, don't like dogs, but are social

She has all the different colors including brown, spotted, red, black and grey. The demand for quality registered donkeys has grown significantly, and the prices range anywhere from $2,000 to $15,000. Wendy gets many phone calls for people looking for guard donkeys. She won’t sell them for that purpose because they become prey themselves since they are so small. The average donkey is only 32 inches tall.

Donkeys are fussy about things coming into the pasture. They don’t like dogs, and they don’t like strange animals. People want them to protect their sheep. It’s surprising − most people think of a dog for protection. Donkeys are very social animals, and Wendy won’t sell a single donkey unless it will have a donkey companion on the farm. They don’t do well by themselves. They form lifelong bonds with other donkeys.

Wendy’s plans for her own breeding program are to have quality, well-socialized, excellent confirmation donkeys.

While Wendy was busy tending to her donkeys, she attended Lima Tech to become a dental hygienist. She works full time at the dental office at Schaeferle and Schaeferle Dental, a husband-and-wife team in Crestline. When she gets home, it’s another round of full-time work with her donkeys; a labor of love kind of job. Wendy’s goal is having the donkey business be her retirement income.

She loves all of her donkeys. They are her family, and she is proud to announce the recent birth of a baby donkey — number 11. Wendy can be at work and watch the baby with all the cameras in the stalls and still be assured the new baby is doing well.

Wendy’s sons − Chris, Nate and Corey Brown − all live in the area, but they are not involved with the donkey business. Wendy is hopeful in time that maybe a granddaughter will join her in the love of donkeys.

Check her Facebook page and website , which is a work in progress.

Go online for more of Mary Fox’s stories and photos on bucyrustelegraphforum.com . If you are interested in sharing a story, write Mary Fox, 931 Marion Road, Bucyrus .

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: It Happened in Crawford County: Wendy Blamer and her love for miniature donkeys