MULE CROSSING: 4-H Mini Mule Handout 2010
By Meredith Hodges
Origins: The mule is mentioned in mankind’s earliest records. Consider this passage from the Bible: “And Absolom met the servants of David. And Absolom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the Heavens and the earth, and the mule that was under him went away.” (II Samuel 18:9)
Uses: Before the industrial age, five million mules were utilized by the United States. They worked the fields, carried packs, towed heavy barges along canals and plodded through dark mines, pulled supply wagons and streetcars about cities, carried tourists to exotic places and transported army supplies and light artillery for the government. “No cultural invention has served so many people in so many parts of the world for so many centuries with energy, power and transport as the mule.”
Breeding: The mule is a hybrid cross between a male donkey, (jack), and a female horse (mare). The mule possesses hybrid vigor. He inherits his incredible strength, intelligence, patience, perseverance, endurance and surefootedness from the donkey, and his beauty and athletic ability from the horse. The hinny, or reverse cross between a stallion and jennet, is also a mule.
Characteristics: Mules are intelligent and versatile equines. Being energy conservers, they are more surefooted and have smoother and more forward gaits than the horse. Mules are more resistant to parasites and disease, require less feed for good health, are less likely to injure themselves and are, thus, cheaper to keep.
Mules come in as many different sizes and colors as horses, donkeys and ponies. Donkey sizes range from miniatures that are 36″ and under to Mammoths that are 56″ and over. A mule is a miniature if he measures 50″ or less at the withers. Saddle mules come from a wide variety of the larger pony breeds, all light horse breeds and some draft horse breeds. They range in size from 50″ to 72″.
Mules have a wider range of colors than horses, due to the genetic influence of the donkey jack. Draft mules are bred from draft horses. When breeding for mules, choose the type of mare that excels in the equine discipline you desire to pursue. Choose the type of jack that best compliments her conformation and possesses the desired thickness of bone.
To learn more about Meredith Hodges and her comprehensive all-breed equine training program, visit LuckyThreeRanch.com, MEREDITH HODGES PUBLIC FIGURE Facebook page, or call 1-800-816-7566. Check out her children’s website at JasperTheMule.com. Also, find Meredith on Pinterest, Instagram, MeWe, YouTube and Twitter.
Covered in TRAINING MULES & DONKEY: A LOGICAL APPROACH TO TRAINING, TRAINING WITHOUT RESISTANCE, EQUUS REVISITED and A GUIDE TO RAISING & SHOWING MULES at www.luckythreeranchstore.com.
© 2010, 2016, 2024 Lucky Three Ranch, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
