The Turquoise Trail Burro Race, 2023

With my friend Julie as second burro handler, we successfully participated in the 2nd annual Turquoise Trail Burro Race in Cerrillos. It was really fun, and the donkeys did great. "Race" was (and is) a word I use loosly, we actually strolled the 3 mile route, but the hardcore competitors run the route, some of them on the longer 6 mile course through the Cerrillos Hills. My friend Cathy owns the "Railhouse" in Cerrillos, so I took the donkeys down the night before and set up a small pen for them. The next morning my friends Julie and Suzanne showed up, and we prepped the donkeys for the race. The village soon filled up with crowds of people, a long stream of vehicles (including a herd of Harley motorbikes,) and over 70 burros! My donkeys did amazingly well, especially since they aren't used to such commotion, with people clapping and cheering and the narrow streets choked with traffic and people all reaching out to pet them. The starting line looked more like the Boston Marathon, with burros. LOL! Most of the competitors wore running attire, but the donkeys wore pack-saddles with a pick, shovel and panning dish in honor of the mining history the races are commemorating. Burro races hark back to the time in Colorado history when prospectors, with their burros, would rush back to the nearest town, racing against their competitors, to stake their claim. See the old photo of a prospector below.

I chose to dress in 1800s costume instead, if ever there is a reason for me to play dress up, I jump at it. What a difference a year makes! Literally a year before the race, my BLM donkeys had been wild. It was actually to the exact day (May 5th... the race was on the 6th,) that these 2 burros were rounded up by helicopters in a BLM round-up that had removed 1,100 donkeys from their home range in the desert near Kingman, AZ. That fact did not escape me when I asked them to participate in this folly, and I am so grateful that they went along with it. Bless them.

Top pic is of me and Lena and Larado. The second pic is of Julie, Lena, me, Larado and Suzanne.

This is the donkeys in their make-shift pen outside the "Railhouse," in Cerrillos. Thanks Cathy Weber for hosting us! For a fun video of the start of the burro race, with yours truly waving at the camera, here is a little video created by my friend Cathy: Start of the 2023 Turquoise Trail Burro Race.