Sicilian Donkeys Letterbox Hybrid
Trailhead Tessie: The donkeys are about to be moved to a new home and the cache will be retired.
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Easy drive-by hybrid, OK in snow if less than 6 inches deep. Kids will like the donkeys - carrots, apples or crackers will help. Bring a stamp if you have one.
This is a letterbox hybrid so there is a hand-carved rubber stamp to stamp your logbook, but no trade items. Bring a rubber stamp if you have one for the letterbox logbook. About letterboxing: The sport started in 1854 in England as an outdoor challenge to prove you could navigate difficult terrain. It is very similar to geocaching but there must always be a stamp. When you find the box you "stamp in".
About the location: Jenny, Blackie and Willie are Sicilian (miniature) donkeys owned by my parents. People often pull off the side of the road to visit them at the paddock gate. If you wave some carrots or apples around, the donkeys are likely to come to you. They are rather social and enjoy being petted.
Sicilian Donkeys are also called miniature donkeys and Mediterranean donkeys. They are a breed of donkey that originated from the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, where they were once used to turn grinding wheels and carry loads and where they are now nearly extinct. Starting about 1920, Americans began importing the little donkeys as pets and there are now about 10,000 in the USA. Every miniature donkey has a black cross on it's back.
Jenny, Blackie and Willie help keep the grass from getting too long in the paddock without turning the place into a mudbath (like horses feet will do). They also have an odd tendancy to chase deer and coyotes away, or at least they used to, which helps protect the adjacent gardens. And they don't seem to have any burning desire to break out of the paddock -- if the fence breaks they will often just stay put.
Jenny is about 34 years old, so she's an old lady. Blackie and Willie were purchased as babies in 1991 from a farm in Goshen and so are about 17. Blackie is darker colored, while Jenny and Willie are gray. Blackie is the naughty one and can get pushy and steal food from the others. The stamp is carved from a photo of Blackie. The donkeys are very social. Everyday at feeding time they will stand around waiting to petted. Each morning they listen for signs of life in the house and as soon as they sense someone is awake they start braying to be fed (a bit of a screech, really). This leads to some very quiet coffee-making in the morning.
As an aside, there is a history marker across the street and just to the north for General Wooster, who died in the Battle of Ridgefield. You can see the marker from this letterbox.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Va fgbar jnyy rira jvgu ynfg fcehpr, va cynva fvtug (ohg pnzb'rq). Cyrnfr qb abg zbir nal ebpxf!