Counting ZZZ’s: Zebras, Zorses, and Zonkeys . WHAT, YOU SAY!?!

Nancy Nunke with baby zebra “Spots ’N Stripes” and baby miniature donkey “Zip to Impressa.” photos by Jime Evans

By Jim Evans

Nancy Nunke has always had a rapport with horses, so it is probably not remarkable that she eventually added zebras to her stable of standard horses, miniature horses, donkeys and mules.

“I wanted more of a challenge and had always loved zebras after training my first one about 30 years ago for a wildlife park,” she said. “The 2-year-old zebra was having some aggression problems. I was hooked — and so sad — when I had to give it back after 6 months when I completed the training, so I determined that sooner or later I would have zebras of my own.”

Nancy with “Spot ’N Stripes Dr. Zuess.”

Nunke and her husband, David, moved to Ramona about four years ago after finding “a property here that would be private enough so that the zebras wouldn’t have road frontage and stop traffic.”

Curious drivers certainly would have slowed down if they had seen zebras grazing in a pasture at the side of the road. After all, full-grown Grants’ Zebras from the plains of Africa are not exactly indigenous to Ramona, and the Nunkes and their partner, James Whipple, maintain two herds, or “kinship groups” of zebras.

What the Nunkes did next, however, likely would stop most drivers in their tracks.

For several years, the Nunkes and Whipple have bred zebra hybrids — zorses and zonkeys. That’s right: crossing a zebra stallion with a horse mare creates a “zorse” — an exotic-looking animal that assumes the dominant color of the mare with the stripes of its zebra sire.

Conversely, a cross between a horse stallion and a zebra mare creates a “hebra” — the rarest of hybrids.

And crossing a zebra with a donkey creates a “zonkey,” which similarly assumes the dominant color gene of the donkey with the stripes of its zebra mate.

Readers can only surmise what their reaction might be if they were driving down a country road in Ramona and suddenly saw what looked like a brown “horse” with black stripes looking back at them over the pasture fence.

“Jim, David, and I combined have been raising zebras and breeding hybrids for better than 19 years,” Nancy Nunke said. “We were instrumental in forming the international Zebra-Zorse-Zonkey Association, to register and pedigree privately owned zebras around the world.

“One of the biggest problems in this country is the lack of records, so we have kept records throughout our breeding years and have some zebras with three- and four-generation pedigrees. We have always had top quality breeding stock without defects in conformation or heart defects from inbreeding by irresponsible breeders. We always recommend purchasing only registered stock where the pedigree guarantees the quality.”

Zebras live about the same length of time as horses, Nunke said.

“They need a 6-foot fence with nonclimb or chain link over panel fencing, because zebras can jump a 5-foot fence from a standing position if they really want to or squeeze through the panels, which a horse just wouldn’t bother trying to figure out,” she added.

“Zebras have to get to know each person individually, unlike horses, that seem to be accepting of anyone who walks up to it displaying behaviors of friendship. Zebras recognize each other by their striping pattern, and it is easy for them to recognize us by our facial features, behaviors and voices, and they will make friends one at a time with individuals.”

“Zebras are more agile and intelligent than horses. They have to be,” she said. “They have to trust their instincts for survival. Their flight/fight instincts are much closer to the surface than horses. They will run first and ask questions later. If they can’t run away, their fight instincts kick in — literally speaking. Hybrids display the zebra behaviors to a limited degree.”

Nunke said that all of their baby zebras, as part of their training, go to a major event every month during the first 90 days of their lives. The animals also learn four or more verbal cues, learn to load, trailer, bathe, clip, trim and are introduced to everything that they will be asked to do as mature zebras, including seeing saddles, harnesses, carts, etc.

This helps to socialize the animals and desensitize them to objects, cars, noise, lights, other animals, children and more, she said.

“We show our zebras at open horse shows in halter, color, and in in-hand trail classes,” Nunke said. “Recently, we provided the halftime show at the Del Mar Polo Grounds, we have had zebras in the infield at the Del Mar Race Track during the races, and we even walked a pair down Hollywood Boulevard!”

She warns, however, that zebras and zebra hybrids are not pets.

“I would never recommend a zebra or a hybrid — or even a horse — as a pet,” said Nunke, who has trained thousands of dogs, horses and other problem animals since 1978.

“There is no such thing as a ‘bomb-proof’ horse or a “kid-proof” horse. When someone asks me for an animal like that (a pet), I recommend that they come and look at our miniature horses. Zebras should never be considered pets for children.”

“They take special training by special people — adult people — who have learned how to work around them and train them. Caution is a priority at all times, as they will never be just like a well-trained horse. But, for those people who love the ‘stripeys’ and who just won’t be turned off by anything we say in caution, we are happy to work with them and share our knowledge and experience to help make them successful ‘stripey’ owners.”

The Nunkes conduct training clinics for would-be zebra and hybrid owners.

“Zebras are about five times stronger than horses, so you can’t just push them around to do your bidding, because they will just push back,” Nunke said. “However, once a person has been through our training clinic, they are able to train any equine, because learning to train a zebra is the ultimate in horse training, where you get into the mind of the animal and have the animal move its own body where you want it to go.

“In other words, we teach people to become zebras in order to train zebras. People who have had years of chronic problems with their equines are often able to resolve those problems in a matter of minutes or days with our natural method of training.”

The next zebra training clinic is scheduled from Sept. 17-19 at the Nunkes’ Spots ‘N Stripes Ranch in Ramona. For further information, call (760) 789-8908 or visit www.spotsnstripes.com.

Nunke’s been trying to teach her zebras how to talk, so don’t be surprised if one of them answers the phone. They are related to Mr. Ed, you know!