this is the text of The Jack Files, as they were published on the donkeymuleinfo site.
JACKS - A SPECIAL KIND OF DONKEY
below is an assortment of stories we have heard about jacks - regarding their - at times - completely unexpected transfomation from wonderful, docile pet to a vicious, biting, killing attack monster. all the stories are true. these things did happen. they happened to people who least expected them - people who loved their donkey.
From Oris Reed, NM, 2001
Another entry from Mom's journals.
I remember well when this happened.
September 11, 1944
Sad day in the community. Earl Hickson was killed by his gentle mammoth jack. This is second death by a jack in 5 years. Asa and Dick Taylor stopped at Hickson's place this afternoon to leave log chain Dick had borrowed. Found Earl's body in the jack's corral. The jack had trampled him. Left shoulder mangled. Jack's teeth marks on side of Earl's neck, Left side of head torn clear off. Chest burst open. Earl always said jack gentle as kitten.
Asa is very careful around our jacks, says they are the most dangerous animal on a farm. Never know what will touch them off. Earl leaves wife and three little boys. (..........) Ranch life is a hard life. It is especially hard on women. The little boys are with Helen's brother tonight he came from town to be with her. I will keep them here for as long as need be. I don't feel like sleep. That poor woman and her little kids.
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Subj Real Jack Attacks
Date 12/31/98
From Jeanine Rachau
(......) I would also like to add a story I got from a woman just a while back who is very lucky to be alive. Briefly, her story is that she had a standard jack, that was a doll, pet of the family, her children rode and played with him, she loved and trusted this donkey. He was not used for breeding, just a pet.
One day she went and visited him, and turned around to leave and he struck her with no warning, no studly behavior, just took her to the ground and tried to stomp her into the ground. If her husband hadn't been home that day to hear her screams she would have died. I believe if I remember, they ended up euthanizing this jack.
The only thing that was different is that she'd just gotten a new horse a couple days ago, and she told me that she had been visiting this horse prior to going into the jack. She unknowingly invoked this attack. What if this had been one of her children?
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Linda Johnson, Carousel Farms; Enumclaw, Wa
I believe there is always the potential for serious injury from a jack, no matter how docile and sweet they may be 99 percent of the time. I have two jacks, an 11 year old mini,
Z-Zoom, I have had since he was a yearling. He is a perfect gentleman...99 percent of the time. My mammoth, Chuck, is also very sweet and well-mannered....99 percent of the time. In a breeding situation, each of them undergo a transformation as hormones overpower their brains. Both are quite controllable, however, we watch them every second when breeding. It is obvious by the look in their eye when they are about to get "nasty" and we discipline them as soon as we see that expression, before they take any action. Timing is so important, especially with the big jack due to his incredible strength.
I don't know if anyone could affect a change if he were to get started and it could be very dangerous to try. I have seen jacks that were allowed to get out of control in the past and it is pretty terrifying to me. They become so intense it appears they are in some sort of trance and getting through to them to make a change in their behavior seems almost impossible. (......)
As much as I feel my jacks are wonderful animals and know they do not want to hurt me, there is always the possibility that a hormonal glitch could occur, altering their behavior temporarily.
I talked to a woman the other night whose friend lost her arm to the jaws of a jack. The jack had always been very gentle and well behaved....but, that day he was apparently overcome with hormonal frustration, or whatever and he attacked her with a fury. From the sounds of what she went through, she's lucky to be alive.
The jack was euthanized later that day. Another friend of mine was bitten on the thigh by her 30" mini jack over a year ago and she still carries a mark from that. A man at a show a couple of years ago showed me his forearm where his 2 year old jack had just bitten him...a black/blue/red swelling about 6" long and the circumference of his arm...looked quite painful! A fellow Jerry works with was attacked by his standard jack...grabbed, stomped, drug and then thrown...fortunately he was thrown free. (.......)
I believe the risk of attack is increased greatly by spoiling a jack and engaging in playful activities with them, not properly training a jack and failing to provide them with activities other than breeding. Some people contend that keeping a jack alone compels them to exhibit aggressive behavior. I do not believe this to be true since many attacks by jacks occur with jacks kept in a herd situation also. (.......) Most people I have talked to that have owned jacks for many, many years tell me that most become more aggressive with age so I would have to believe as time passes, the risk of an attack increases.
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Greg Sefton, Bray Haven Farm, Winter Haven, FL
(.........) I watched a jack in Oregon at the '95 ADMS, show go after a mule that walked by and both handlers were dragged along helplessly. One had a chain over and one under the nose. Had they not been dragged close to a tree that one could take a few dallies around, there would have been a bad and potentially dangerous situation.
This jack won the halter class (Dry Gulch Cody) at that show. I guess the bottom line is, never trust any jack and be realistic about your jack's breeding quality and opportunities. If there isn't overwhelming justification for keeping him intact, do him (and you) a favor by gelding him. If you have a jack, use him for as many activities as you can and carefully control the conditions under which he can show breeding behavior. Some folks use a particular halter etc. or have a breeding area. Outside those conditions he must be trained to act like a gelding. We use a muzzle which when it's on, gives him the go ahead. Without that in place, he never shows an interest in breeding.
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Sue King, Brayer Hill Farm
Anyone who has experience with jacks and stallions realizes that each has a different personality - some laid back, some more on the active side. However, they all have testosterone in common. That hormone has a purpose and sometimes will override even the best training and good temper.
Always be aware that something may trigger urges that your jack might succumb to despite his and your desire for him not to. (...examples of attacks....)
Our cardinal rules in handling even the most docile jacks are
***** Do not turn your back on them.
***** Treat them fairly, but reprimand dangerous behavior immediately and with force necessary to stop the behavior.
***** Do not pick at them. Punish the behavior and then forget it.
***** Always breed at the same place at your farm and expect stud behavior to occur around the breeding farm.
***** Always demand gentleman behavior at shows, trail rides, etc.
***** Always provide other activities for jacks other than breeding - riding, driving, lessons, whatever.
***** Always provide an safe enclosure with a view the farm and all its activities. (many states have requirements for stud enclosures) Don't isolate a jack.
***** Take as good care of the jack as you do the other animals. Regular vet care and farrier attention.
***** Love your jack for what he is.
A male that has all the impulses to perpetuate the species and the intelligence and strength to over power rivals - including you. IF YOU ARE NOT MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY CAPABLE OF HANDLING ALL THESE RULES - Don't have a jack. Geld your favorite companion so he can truly enjoy your companionship without restrictions and punishment for behaving naturally.
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Jim Ensten aka Throcky, Ohio
I sold a very handsome little jack, Brisbane ( Brizzer ) to June C..... from Virginia, a very experienced horsewoman and a breeder of Exmoor ponies. She had him for almost two years.. One day, she was leading one of her rare Exmoor mares ( maybe, 500 left in the world ) from a paddock to the barn, when Brizzer got down on his belly and crawled under his well constructed fence. This was a four board 2 x 6 with heavy wooden posts.
Brizzer jumped the mare, and when June tried to get him off , he bit her.. Severely, bit June and the mare.. It was so bad, she had to go to the emergency room for stitches.. Her husband called and said that Brizzer was no longer welcome, and what did I want to do about it?
I had sold the donk to them with the "right of first refusal", so I told him to put the donk on the first van to Ohio, and I'd pay all expenses.. They are "good" people and could have sent Brizzer to any of the auctions sales to get rid of him. She had no indication that the donkey was anything other than the sweet little guy, she played with every day.
It came as a total surprise.. June handles her stud and hand breeds her mares with him, so, she is no rookie in the breeding business.. Still in all, she'll carry the scars on her arm, all her life.
The thread to all the stories is, the incidences come as a complete surprise to the owner..
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Kathy
Savage means with malice aforethought. When they savage they intend to kill, not mame and they will go for the neck. Jacks are not for everyone. They are not like a stallion who could be bullied into submission.
Here's an example A friend of mine was attacked by her jack as she was bringing her gelding horse out of his stall. She thinks now that the jack was going for the horse but got her instead. He crushed her vocal cords and her jaw. After many surgeries, she is doing OK now. She used to like to sing but can no longer do it because of her voice changing. She is lucky to be alive as the paramedics had a hard time controlling the bleeding from her throat.
This story has a double sad ending as the next day the lady's husband shot the jack.
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Sandra Connely, The Donkey Store
(.......)even with Paycheck, we are very careful and always respect his masculine tendencies. We have had 15 hand mammoth jacks make pretzels out of heavy pipe corrals. We had one large standard jack that had killed a saddle horse before we owned him. One large jack put some serious teeth marks on a young goat that slipped under his fence and invaded his territory. And one standard jack had made a routine of killing javelinas in his pasture before we got him.
Do we respect them? You bet. Would we keep a jack because they are more active and energetic? No. The only reason I can see for keeping a jack entire is if they are breeding quality and going to be used for that purpose and owned by people that are experienced and understand the responsibilities of maintaining a breeding animal. There are too many jacks that are not breeding quality that wind up being used for that purpose
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Subj jack attack
Date 6/26/99
From Lee Schuler-Workman
One more jack story. I went over to play with Festus this morning and the farmer who is keeping him told me about what just happened to another farmer that I buy hay from. He has a gorgeous mammoth jack that he uses to make mules with.
He had brought home an appaloosa mare and was taking the jack to the breeding pen to breed her when the jack got excited and bit down on his right shoulder and refused to let go. He was by himself and had a heck of a time because he had just broken some ribs on the left in a 4 wheeler accident and couldn't even hit the jack with his left hand.
He ended up biting the jack's lips and got him off of him. The rest of the breeding proceeded smoothly. He has a heck of a huge nasty bruise and some nasty bite marks. First time the jack has ever done anything like that, usually a real nice boy.
It can happen Lee
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Leslie, Shady Lane Farm
My husband and I have had Quarterhorse, Belgian, Percheron, Haflinger, Large Standard and Mammoth breeding programs over the years and the majority of our studs were loveable, sweet and easy to handle until BREEDING SEASON!!!
Then they turned into entirely diffent animals. Fortunately, we raised most of our studs and spent a lot of time on ground manners and breeding manners and almost always hand bred. Still, I have been run over, slammed into a wall and bit by testosterone-laden studs. I have even been chased around a corral by an adorable, take-treats-out-of-my-mouth-jack when he escaped the "teasing pen".
But the scaredest I ever was when we took our mammoth Shady Lane Pistol Pete out of his enclosure and approached the breeding area for his first time. He went ballistic and I thought I was a gonner. Even with a stud chain and breeding muzzle he became so aggressive and threatening that he was retired from fatherhood after one foal and was gelded. He now is my most favorite equine on the place and has regained his lovable reputation. (......)
Our vet was personally attacked and injured by a jack and he has related many stories of jack/stallion attacks.
As we too are now just Mom and Pop breeders, we always geld the jacks before selling them. They are much more likely to stay at their new home.
Leslie
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From Linda
To DONKEY-MULE-PHOTOS@onelist.com
I have been reading the conversation about jacks with interest. I got my donkey about 6 months ago.. and have been on this list since I got him. I bought him from a man who just had him out in his back field and could care less who bought him or what they did with him. But he did assure me that a jack would be better for guarding goats than a jennet. I figured he should know what he was talking about..
After I had him a month or so I asked a question on one of these lists.. and in my email mentioned that my donkey was a jack. Camilla immediately told me that the first thing I should do is have him gelded unless I was experienced with a jack, and offered to send me the jack attack file she has. I received the file.. and was convinced I wanted him gelded. I talked to my husband about it be he was hesitant. Although I wanted him gelded.. just to keep the peace, I decided to wait and see how it went.. but was very careful to not turned my back to him.
He was the most lovable donkey. He had never been petted or hugged by the man that I bought him from, so I was amazed at how tame and friendly he was. I was a little weary about him being intact.. but not scared of him.
Then one day my husband and I were walking in the pasture with him.. he was just walking along beside us.. then I walked a little bit out in front.. and before my husband or I knew what was going on.. the jack jumped on me from behind. My reaction to it was so fast that I didn't get hurt.. I jumped forward very fast.. and turned around swinging. I hit a lot of air.. but never did make contact with him.. but my husband came running.. and I guess that scared the jack and he took off the other way... with my husband running after him.. and me screaming at my husband. My husband (who didn't want the jack gelded) now wanted to kill him. But I got to my husband before he got to the jack.. so the donkey never got hit. -) However, my husband quickly changed his mind about gelding. The sad thing is.. in some of the stories Camilla sent me.. these jacks are just doing what comes natural.. and end up being hurt or killed because of that.
I have since had the donkey gelded..(and he still doesn't like my goats) but because of what happened I am still hesitant to go out in the field with him by myself. I hug him and kiss him and pet him thru the fence, but the only time I go out in the field with him alone is while he's eating. Other than that I only go out there when my husband is out there with me. And that makes me very sad because I read about all the neat things you all do with your donkeys. And I want to do these things also.. but too scared to get out there with him by myself.
So.. as a "newbie" myself.. to any other newbies on these lists.. please, please have your jacks gelded! Linda -)
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Kris Anderson, Williamstown, MA
....... My current jack Zak was [also] quite subdued when he was younger, but he's gotten progressively more enthusiastic as he's matured. .......when I first got him I was misled into thinking he was going to be just like Dennis. It wasn't until after he came close to permanently damaging one of my ponies when I was gone one time, I realized that he wasn't going to be as low-key as Dennis had been.
IOW, all jacks are different in their personalities and behaviors. Many of them go through their entire lives without causing any problems, some start out steady and easy-going and then get more aggressive as they mature, and others may only have one aggressive episode in theirentire lives and never have another one.
Unfortunately, the sweet, quiet, well-mannered jacks/bulls/dogs usually end up doing the most damage when they do get aggressive, because people learn to trust them and then tend to put themselves in vulnerable situations when they're around them.
Kris, a public service message from the "Watch Your Back While You're With Your Jack" Foundation, Anderson
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To DONKEY-MULE-PHOTOS@onelist.com
from: vicki/ladywife <ladywife@b..........>
I have a story to add to the jack-attack file. An experienced horseman fixed breakfast for his wife who had been up most of the night with their week old baby. He hugged his wife and gave her a kiss, then walked out to the barn to feed the animals. Their sweet, lovable, gentle pet donkey cornered him and stomped him and bit him.
He escaped by crawling out of the stall under the hay manger. He suffered broken ribs, a compound fracture of his left leg, a severe concussion and it took 60 stitches to reattach his scalp. The pet donkey was a jack. It smelled the scent of his nursing wife on his clothing and was determined to prove his dominance on what he perceived as a male interloper (the husband).
I was the paramedic on the box that made the emergency run to the farm. The bleeding and in shock husband laid in the barn for over an hour before the wife realized he was going to be late for work so she ran out to the barn to find out what was taking him so long. The jack was still in a frenzy trying to rip the hay manger apart to get to him.
I went back later that evening to pick the jack up and bring him to my place until they decided what to do with him. He was sweet, lovable and gentle when I stepped into the stall, put a halter on him and lead him out and loaded him in my trailer without a fuss. At my farm he acted as if it had never happened.
The vet came the next day and gelded him. But it was too late, his owners were afraid of him and were concerned he would go off on someone else so they insisted he make the trip to Shipsewana where they refused to sell him to anyone but the meat buyer. Was it his fault? No. It was his owner's fault for leaving him intact. They didn't need a jack. All they wanted was a pet. A donkey for pleasure. It would have cost them about a $100 give or take a little to geld that donkey, but they didn't and it almost cost Ferguson his life and in the end it did cost the donkey his life.
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Kathy Dynge, Klamath Falls, OR
Well, sorry to say but, here's another addition to Camilla's jack attack file. A man in the next town had bought a standard jack a few months ago. He was warned not to put him in with his gelding and jennet that he already had. Since the jack was so friendly and sweet, the man didn't listen to the good advise and put the jack in with the other two.
All last week, the jack and gelding fought. One of the man's kids even told her dad that she thought they should be separated because of the fighting. The man didn't want to build another pen for the jack so he didn't separate them. For a whole week the two fought. Now, the gelding is dead. The jack succeeded in ripping the throat out of the gelding. I'm just thankful the man had enough sense not to let his kids in the same pen with them. Now, the jack is for sale. So sad.
Kathy
All My Friends Have Longears
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this is an abbreviated version of the 'jack files'. for the complete file send an email to Camilla Maluotoga (sp?)
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