Meredith Hodges Biography

Born in 1950 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Meredith Hodges was raised in a family dedicated to both artistic expression and a profound love of equines. As the child of Peanuts creator, Charles Schulz (then a struggling artist), and Joyce Doty (a future mule breeder), Meredith’s early life was marked by a growing awareness of how connected she was to equines. As a young adult, Meredith worked on her mother’s famed Windy Valley Ranch, where she discovered the animals that would forever change her life.

Finally, with her first mule, first donkey sire and some horses, plus a truck-load of belongings, and no notion that she could fail, Meredith and her new family moved to Colorado and began the arduous task of transforming a ram-shackle former sheep farm into Lucky Three Ranch.

Once she established Lucky Three Ranch, it became not only her own sanctuary, but a home base for a lifelong mission to protect mules and educate the public about them. Meredith then began her breeding and training program, becoming an innovator of resistance-free training with behavior modification, a respected breeder and a fierce competitor along the way. Time after time, she rode her champion-bred “longears” to the gold and eventually moved on to judging, teaching and training.

As an animal advocate, she understands the urgency and necessity of preserving the mule for future generations to come, and she voices her opinion in no uncertain terms.

Throughout her journey, Meredith has learned many lessons—about equines, and, ultimately—about herself. She is as passionate today as she was 35 years ago in her devotion and dedication to the magnificent animals she identifies with so strongly.

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