Autumn

Autumn is a rare creature — literally. She is a hinny, the reciprocal cross to a mule: the offspring of a stallion and a jenny (a female donkey), and the harder of the two crosses to conceive, which is why you've probably never met one. She's 12 years old, she was rescued in 2018, and she has spent every year since bringing comfort to the people lucky enough to meet her.

Hinnies carry the best of both sides of their lineage — horse-refined features, donkey sure-footedness, an almost-horse neigh that lands somewhere between a whinny and a grunt, and a calm, hardy temperament that has made them prized pack animals in Portugal, Spain, and parts of South America for centuries. Autumn embodies all of it. She is steady, present, and quietly attuned — the kind of partner who doesn't need to do much to do a lot.

In sessions, Autumn tends to soften the mood. She is compassionate with groups and individuals alike, often working alongside her best friend Poe — a partnership that has become one of the most reliable dynamics at the barn.

If you've never stood next to a hinny, Autumn is a very good first one to meet.