Tara Pilonero on Wooly Miniature Donkeys, $30K Sales, and the Online Auction Playbook

Tara Pilonero is the owner of Stay A While Farm in Hinton, West Virginia, and one of the leading breeders of wooly miniature donkeys in the country. She has grown her herd to 60 donkeys over the last 20 years, shifted to online auctions in 2023, and nearly doubled her revenue two years running. In this conversation we get into the economics, the marketing, the genetics, and the myths. In this episode: Growing up as an animal kid and getting into vet school The $26,000 wooly donkey at the Elm sale in 2007 that changed her path How her wait list got so long she needed a wait list for the wait list The move to online auctions and what it did to her pricing Exporting donkeys to Australia, France, the UK, and the Netherlands The FGF5 gene and what we know (and don't) about the genetics of wooly coats The record $30,000 sales and the $40,000 wooly jack that raised the ceiling for the breed Find Tara: Website: stayawhilefarm.net Facebook: Stay A While Farm Spring 2026 auction: Saturday, April 25, 10am to 3pm Eastern: https://saw-donkeysales.w2auctions.com/home Mentioned in this episode: MGF herd (Barb and Jerry McRoberts, Nebraska) UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory Megan Hensley's donkey farrier courses Josh Mathias / HQ Ranch (Tara's recommended future guest) About the show: Creatures: Where Animal People Talk Business is a podcast about the people building real businesses and lives around animals. Hosted by Dr. Elliott Garber, veterinarian and founder of Creatures, a software platform and marketplace for animals at creatures.com. 00:00 Cold open 00:44 Welcome and episode preview 01:59 How Elliott and Tara connected 03:08 Animal kid origin, vet school, and the first horse 04:49 Starting with Luigi the rescue gelding in 1996 08:25 The $26K wooly donkey at the Elm sale 10:53 Exporting donkeys to Australia, France, and the UK 14:21 The shift to online auctions and the wait list for the wait list 19:48 International bidders and revenue growth 23:32 Marketing on Facebook, consignments, and record sales 29:56 What makes a donkey "wooly" and the FGF5 gene 35:45 Running a 60-donkey operation 41:24 The Squeeze Chute 47:19 Meeting the weanlings and outro