Luigi's Story

Willow Creek Luigi was our original herd sire, and he was purchased by Appalachian Farmstead from Frontier Legends Miniature Donkeys soon after we began our original small herd in 2005. When we purchased Luigi, he already had a superb show record, as well as a superb herd sire record. Luigi was a multiple halter champion in the show arena, including standing as the ADMS National Champion Donkey, Grand Champion Model Donkey at the Fort Worth Stock Show, and Grand Champion Model Donkey at the Houston Livestock Show. He was also the herd sire of a number of NMDA National Champions, including one raised by our farm, Farmstead's Davy Crockett, as well as a number of halter champions, including Farmstead's Dale Earnhardt, one of only a few donkeys earning a Supreme Halter Champion award from the American Donkey Association. Luigi's many other winning foals bear testimony to his superb ability to sire champion halter donkeys. After several years as serving as our herd sire, we needed to introduce a new herd sire to a number of Luigi jennet foals, so we sold him to the Benson Ranch in Oregon, where he served as one of their herd sires before passing away a few years ago. Luigi was instrumental in helping create the Appalachian Farmstead quality breeding program, and his name is found in quite a few pedigrees of successful show donkeys and breeding stock.