Donkey Dreams Sanctuary

06/20/2026

We are so grateful to the EQUUS Foundation for sharing Gabriel’s story! He has inspired us and brought us so much joy.

We hope he brings joy and inspiration to the equine loving Equus Foundation community as well 💖🫏✨.

Gabriel’s story is one of survival, trust, and the life-changing power of care. 💙 From the wild to his “Magic Leg” to finding his place in the 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘥, this resilient donkey reminds us that healing is possible when love, patience, and the right support come together.⁣
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👉 Read the full story from EQUUS Foundation Guardian Member Donkey Dreams Sanctuary: https://www.equusfoundation.org/action-centers/action-center-funding-story.php?id=2498

06/18/2026

Thank you so much A Home For Every Horse for sharing Gabriel’s “freedom story”. He is an inspiration to us daily!

This month, in the spirit of the Year of the Horse, we’re celebrating
Freedom. Open fields. Independent spirit. Run wild. Run true.​

Freedom can mean different things to every equine. For Gabriel, freedom looked like healing, friendship, and finally finding where he belonged.​

When Gabriel was a baby living in the wild, he survived alone with part of his back leg missing. After a cattle rancher found him, Donkey Dreams Sanctuary drove hours to bring him to safety and begin his next chapter.​

The road ahead was not easy. Gabriel needed time to heal, gain strength, and adjust to an entirely new world. Through daily care, brushings, cuddles, and more than 75 bandage changes, he slowly learned to trust. Then came his "magic leg," a prosthetic that changed everything.​

​Soon, Gabriel was doing what he had wanted from the beginning: connecting with other donkeys, joining the Brave Herd, running, playing, and finding joy in being part of a family.​

Gabriel reminds us that freedom isn't always about where you run. Sometimes it's about finding safety, healing, and a herd that helps you thrive. ❤️🐴​

What does freedom mean to you and your equine?

06/17/2026

Four years ago today, we welcomed home the wild b***o family that started it all. 🫏

Pinky, her mom Sandy. Eli, and his mom Rizzo. Our oldest donkey Pete, and his bonded mate Lila — the family that showed us how important it is to keep wild b***o families together once they’re removed from the wild, for their physical and emotional well being.

Pinky’s story carries a piece of why family matters so much to us. When she was born, Sandy was overwhelmed by new motherhood, so Rizzo stepped in and nursed her. That’s how Pinky and Eli, born just one day apart from the same herd, became bonded for life. Even before Donkey Dreams existed, this herd was already showing us what it means to take care of your own.

Today’s video takes you back to that first homecoming — watching them walk into wide open space for the first time, free to roam as a family. And then the moment that told us everything: when we visited the next morning, they were still asleep. They had slept in. Something we never once saw at the rescue. For the first time, after being removed from the wild, they felt safe enough to rest.

That homecoming planted the seed for everything we’ve built since. Four years later, we’re caring for nine donkey families, and preparing to move our sanctuary to Kingman — four times the space, four times the room to roam.

Today, we carry that same promise into all nine of our donkey families: when a wild b***o family comes to Donkey Dreams, they stay together, for life. That’s what Pinky, Sandy, Eli, Rizzo, Pete, and Lila taught us, four years ago today.

Happy 4 years home. 💛

***oFamily ***os

06/16/2026

Who is up for a little Gabriel joy 🤩?

06/15/2026

This is what peace and safety looks and sounds like for a wild b***o family…at a sanctuary who honors their sovereignty.

Thank you to everyone who makes this peace possible 🙏🫶🫏☮️

***o ***oSanctuary

06/15/2026

Lady Freethinker Thanks for helping Sam out and then returning him back to his wild roots

A wild b***o nicknamed “Septic Tank Sam” is safe after an incredible community rescue in Arizona.

Sam was found trapped inside a six-foot-deep septic tank, struggling to keep his head above the opening. Residents feared he had spent the entire night in the cold, wet tank.

People worked together to pump out the tank, cut open the top, and carefully lift the exhausted b***o to safety.

After a much-needed rinse, fresh water, and some food, Sam was able to rest before returning to the wild later that day.

Thank you to everyone who came together to give this resilient b***o a second chance.

06/14/2026

We have some exciting news to share — Donkey Dreams Sanctuary is now on Patreon, and we would love for you to join us there. 🫏

If you have ever wanted a deeper look at life at Donkey Dreams — the daily moments, the donkey families, the heartfelt connections — this is your invitation. We are in the middle of the most exciting chapter in our history, developing our new 40-acre sanctuary on private land outside Kingman, Arizona and preparing to move 98 donkeys to four times the space they have today.

From water storage installation to hay deliveries in this remote high desert location, to the moment 98 donkeys arrive and take their first steps on their beautiful new home — we are going to share every step of it on Patreon. Special video, photos, and behind the scenes moments that you will not find anywhere on social media — exclusively for our Patreon Donkey Lovers.

For just $5 a month — the price of a cup of coffee — you have a front row seat to it all. And as a volunteer-powered organization, every dollar of your monthly B***o Buddy membership goes directly to the donkeys.

Come be part of the journey. The herd is waiting. 🫏

Join Now: patreon.com/DonkeyDreamsSanctuary

***o

06/12/2026

Today is Sanctuary Caregiver Appreciation Day — and I want to take a moment to honor the humans who show up for our donkeys every single day. 🫏

When a wild b***o or domestic donkey arrives at Donkey Dreams, we make a promise: you will never experience trauma at the hands of a human again. That promise is only as strong as the people who carry it out. And that means we can't just hand that responsibility to anyone.

For our first two years, Edj and I did all of the donkey care ourselves. Every feeding, every health check, every quiet moment of building trust with a b***o who had every reason not to trust a human. We weren't willing to turn that over until we found people who understood what was at stake.

We were patient. And then we were blessed.

Our community of caretakers didn't just show up — they showed up right. With intuition. With gentleness. With the kind of deep patience that a wild b***o can feel from across the enclosure.

Thank you to our small but mighty caregiver family: Keri, Michelle, Bobby, Bob, Sue, Sam, Lisa, Lori, and Tommy. There is no way we could be building the Kingman sanctuary — four times our current space, on private land — without your thoughtful, compassionate care holding everything together here.

You love these donkeys as much as we do. And our donkeys know it. 🫏

***oSanctuary

Today is Sanctuary Caregiver Day! 🥳🐒🐓🐎

Whether they're caring for donkeys, chimps or chickens, caregivers are the backbone of sanctuary. Because of them, residents receive

🩺 High-quality care
🥗 Nutritious Food
🧽 Clean homes
🥰 Lots of love

It takes an incredible amount of skill and compassion to provide care as they do, 24/7/365.

From all of us at Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS) , North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance, United Horse Coalition, The Homes for Horses Coalition, and The Open Sanctuary Project - THANK YOU!

06/07/2026

🫏 Sanctuary Insider: The Playgrounds Are a Hit

In the wild, b***os roam up to 10 miles a day — running across mountains, picking their way through washes, grazing mineral-rich earth, and standing sentinel on hilltops to watch over their herds.

We can’t give our 98 residents the open range they were born for. Not yet. Not on 10 acres.

But we can give them this.

Donkey playgrounds are our wild-life solution — purpose-built hills, trenches, and elevated perches that let our residents do what b***os are hardwired to do: run, climb, watch, forage, and just be wild in the ways that matter most.

And they didn’t need an instruction manual.

The Unicorn herd found the trench immediately — running through it, strolling it like a boulevard, owning it. William and Peter took the hills at a full run. Xander and his boys turned a hilltop into a king-of-the-hill competition. Elsie and Buster, Pepper, Bo, Summer, Peter and Wendy, and Moses — they all found their perch and stood there like they’d been waiting their whole lives for a view.

Athena threw herself a full party on the hill. (Typical Athena.)

And at Happy Hour in the trench? Everyone’s invited — because it turns out the earth walls are rich with the minerals and salts b***os naturally seek in the wild. They discovered it themselves. We just built the trench.

Then there’s Cinder. Every single night, she goes to the trench and lays down. Her spot. Her ritual. Her wild.

These playgrounds build muscle. Wear hooves down naturally. Provide mental stimulation. Give them the elevated vantage points they instinctively crave.

At our future Kingman location, they’ll have four times the space on our own private land. Until then — this is what sanctuary looks like when you take the wild seriously.

No one comes to Donkey Dreams and stays without a herd. And no herd lives here without a piece of the wild. 🫏

***oSanctuary