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Two things impress first time visitors to Bramoth farms. The first is the noise. If you come near feeding time be prepared. Standing next to a mammoth donkey when the bellows open for a BIG BRAY will cause your joints to vibrate. The first part of the “HAW” is so deep it sounds like the beast is drawing air up from China to produce the vibrations. Can’t describe it—you gotta hear it for yourself.

The second thing that will impress you is the SIZE of these animals. They are HUGE. You will walk up to a 16 HH donkey and look way up into his enormous gentle eyes and pinch yourself. Visitors find these donkeys are remarkably large and will say as they leave “No now will ever believe me when I tell them what I saw here.”

Bramoth Farm is located in the sandy loam just N.W. of the town of Bryan, the sister city to College Station, Texas, home of Texas A&M University. Dr. Tex S. Taylor brought his family to this area in 1977 when he took a teaching position at the college of veterinary Medicine, Equine hospital. In private practice in the early 1970’s Dr. Taylor enjoyed working with horses but when he wanted to compete in the horse shows himself he felt awkward competing against clients of his practice. He was interested then, in maybe acquiring a good mule to ride but like many of us have discovered, it is tough to find a terrific mule. That’s when it happened.

Dr. Taylor went looking for a good jack to make his own mule. When he brought the jack donkey home in 1974 he enjoyed this creature so much that he broke him to ride and began to show him. He bought a jenny next and completely gave up on making mules (He didn’t want a half-assed operation, he wanted a farm of the best asses in the country.)

This idea has evolved into a family project; Dr. Taylor’s wife and daughter are also “charmed” by these donkeys and the three Taylors have trekked all around the country hunting for jennies for their herd. When Dr. Taylor’s daughter, Ethel, Turned 4 years old she acquired her own jenny. Now at age 15, she owns seven that are fondly referred to as her “college fund”. Ethel is very proud of her jennies. She has used them for her FFA projects in school and has successfully shown Ebony and Ember in riding and driving performance classes at Donkey and Mule shows in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Oklahoma and recently in Shelbyville, Tennessee. She has won the prestigious Versatility Exhibitors Award for Juniors at the Houston Livestock Show-the prize is a horse trailer-TWICE.

Dr. Taylor has developed a plan over the years, (after trying different sizes and breeds of jacks) he’s fine-tuned the project to strictly trying to acquire and improve mammoth stock. American Mammoth Stock is today considered a breed apart even though the bloodlines have come from many of the large European breeds. When mules were still an integral part of agriculture in this country mammoth stock was valued and could be seen exhibiting at the State Fairs from Tennessee to Missouri, then later all across the South. But their breeding has declined so that now the stock is scattered around the country except at Bramoth Farm. Here preservation of the breed is the main goal....and that would be enough for one sane man to do in a lifetime....

Dr. Taylor has several other interesting goals as well. About 70% of the animals he sells are exported to Latin America. He has been in contact with developing nations helping them acquire jacks and mares to produce their own mules. The mule, he feels, will be the key to their progress as they develop agriculture to feed the large populations in underdeveloped countries. He has offered direction, practical suggestions, information on the embryo transfer and artificial insemination, and has helped breeding programs in agricultural areas of South America.

Dr. Taylor has teaching duties at the Large Animal Hospital of Texas A&M where he is chief of Surgery. That means that sometimes he gets roused out of bed for a 3 am colic surgery. The students say he’s a tough professor but he will go an extra mile (or 10) to help the future horse doctors get every opportunity to learn a procedure.

For a real challenge professionally however, he has become a certified Assologist. He delivers a lecture entitled “Everything you ever wanted to know about your ass”, and when it’s over those listening have laughed so hard their sides ache and tears are streaming down their faces, but Boy Howdy! They’ve been educated, too. He litters the facts that he’s accumulated in his lifetime with some of the funniest assterminology—I recommend it if you’ve not heard it yet.

besides answering veterinary-related questions to help owners and their vets all over the world (whew)

Dr. Taylor has also been conducting research to help better answer those questions. The more he learned and the more questions he heard the more he decided to be the one to find out: Just how much injectable anesthesia does it take to knock down a mule?

He has the unique situation of having enough animals in a “controlled environment”, plus the facilities at the college to do some of the lab work that he is in a position to set up studies to answer some very important health related questions. He has some new data going into publication soon. His goal is to help keep you informed.

Jen Jack is 23 years old now and he stands 14.3 HH. He has produced some daughters of exceptional quality that comprise the basis of the current breeding program. Jen Jack is well known around the country. The Taylors have sold some of his colts and have exported his semen to improve donkey herds in other parts of the world as well as for use in mule production. He has been the primary stud at Bramoth Farms for many years now. Folks who go to visit him are charmed by his very affectionate nature.

Rancho La Burrado Walter is a 1985 jack that stands15.3 HH. He is a Mexican Catalonian acquired by Zel Talburt of Cliff, NM, from a herd which had been kept pure in Mexico. His skin and hair are very fine, and although this photograph fails to demonstrate the fact, he is very balanced and has a very long hip for this type of donkey. He is a high quality jack that was introduced into the breeding program to breed to the Jen Jack daughters. He has added a lot of refinement to the herd. Although, due to limited space, he is not being currently used for natural cover to mares, he has some very nice mules on the ground through local A.I. breeding.

This page was created by Annie Ruth Taylor, Bramoth Farm

e-mail: textaylor@bramothfarm.com

3091 Pleasant Hill Road Bryan, Texas 77807 Phone: (979)775-6584