# Breeds of miniature Donkeys



## Witts Mini Horse Ranch (Jul 6, 2009)

I have tried to research this myself, but with slow dial up..it gets frustrating. Are all miniature donkeys Mediterranean? I ask because I finally can tell mine apart and am noticing some have a dishy head, some the nose is straight. I have one that looks a lot different from the others, short, stocky even her eyes are shaped different and her mane lays down. She had a tiny Jack, has the same eyes with very pronounced striped ears. So I wondered if there were different breeds. I understand what a NLP is, are they worth more and why?

Also what is the difference in a ivory and white? Ivory spotted and white spotted?


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## wendyluvsminis (Jul 25, 2009)

From what I understand, (which is limited...) there are several body types of mini-donkeys. Some are stocky and some are finer. There are people who prefer each type. Stocky is more traditional. I have a little mule with very striped ears, and my friend who raises buckskins says that is a dunn factor trait. Like the dorsal stripe and garters are dunn factor traits that most donkeys have. Well, that's my penney's worth!


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## MeadowRidge Farm (Jul 28, 2009)

Alll the miniature donkeys today, were bred by either crossing a Sicilian or Sardanian donkey. There is really no differance in either the Sicilian or Sardanian, and those are usually only known as "who is who" according to there background. They are what produced the Mediterranean donkey, we have today. The breeds of donkeys use to be Catalonian, andalusian, and Majorcan, alot of donkeys we see, as far as markings and built goes..can resemble some of those breeds, but cant be classified as those breeds unless they have purebred pedigreeds to those lines. Those donkeys are not miniatures either.

Body type, either stocky or refined will come through with selective breeding. As far as a dun factor goes..I think the prettiest mule I ever seen was a mule with alot of dun factor and had white socks..he was BEAUTIFUL.

NLP means no light points. As far as those being worth more, I would say only if you are in breeding with high quality registered, with a excellent pedigree, then yes. But, I have seen alot of NLP sell for about the same as any others..but know of others who sold for some big prices. That all depends upon the individual animal, and of course the buyer.

Ivory donkeys have blue eyes and pink skin. A white donkey will have dark skin and dark eyes. The frosted spotted is an apparent combination of a graying or roan with the spotted pattern, and can throw either more FSW, spotted, or frosty roan colts. The animals are best defined as a spotted animal where the skin is spotted but the color does not necessarily show through on the coat (it has roaned or "grayed"; out) . Frosted spotted white (FSW) can be identified from Ivory white by checking the skin around the eyes and muzzle. Ivory (creams) will have blue eyes and true pink skin, while FSW will have dark eyes, dark "eyeliner" and dark spotting on the skin.

Kinda confusing hey?? ...and it even gets better when you start going into dapple roans.






Corinne


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