Meet the gigantic donkey Diamond Creek Moonwatcher, whose loud bray echoes through the 260 hectares that belong to David and Di Scholl’s Vale Farm, Dallarnil, near Biggenden in Queensland.
At 15 hands (152 centimetres) tall, 12-year-old Moonwatcher is considerably bigger than the average Australian donkey that would be expected to be 11 hands (111cm) tall. The Scholls believe the mule – a donkey-horse crossbreed – will, in donkey’s years perhaps, rule.
He told Queensland Country Life that mules can live on 75 per cent of the diet of a horse, and a mule, kilo for kilo, is 25 per cent stronger than any horse of the same size.
“Their work ethic is incredible. The harder you work them the more they love it,” Mr Scholl said.
“They have exceptional longevity and they are very safe because of their unique ability to handle stress. They won’t gallop off if they get a fright, they just step aside far enough to feel safe.”
The son of a World Champion show animal, Moonwatcher was imported from Kentucky, Texas, after being sold to the Scholls by Jonathon Waugh.
After an 18-hour flight, two weeks in quarantine when he arrived in Australia and then a three-day truck ride to the School’s farm, Moonwatcher, called Moses by the Scholls, arrived at the beginning of April, full of beans and more than ready to start the job his new owners envisaged.
“You know how a fella is after a long trip,” Mr Scholl quipped.
Already, Moonwatcher has three mares, a purebred Clydesdale, a thoroughbred and an Appaloosa, in foal via artificial insemination.
The Scholls plan to breed saddle riding sized mules in Australia, with producers, saleyards and lotfeeders their target market. They have been told Moonwatcher will be able to provide semen until his late twenties.
It’s a big ass that’s for certain.
