Kathleen Conklin

By Meredith Hodges

When fellow Longears Lover, Kathleen Conklin was looking to retire her 10-year-old Belgian/Saddlebred mare, she began her search for the perfect mule. In January of 1996, she narrowed her search to looking for a large mule that would fit her numerous larger carriages. She looked far and wide to find the special individual that could fill the shoes of her mare in riding, driving, fox hunting, showing and Combined Driving. After failing to find a mule that would be large enough and refined enough to suit this purpose, it finally dawned on Kathleen that she had not yet tapped the most obvious market right there in her own neck of the woods…the Amish community.

Kathleen found two different Amish farms in Pennsylvania that were offering many mules for sale, but most of the larger draft-bred mules were being sold as teams. She found none at the first farm that fit her expectations. The second farm had 60 mules for sale but only three were available as single mules. There was a grey, a Belgian and a black mule. Although the others were broke, the black mule was not—he wouldn’t even allow her to stand next to him. But broke or not, this was the mule she wanted!

When the mule was delivered, things didn’t seem right to Kathleen. This one was much too friendly and much easier to handle than the mule she had previously seen. She called the man who sold it to her and told him she had the wrong mule. He simply replied, “Oh, you noticed.” She made him pay for the return shipping and she finally got the mule she truly loved, who she named John Henry. And that was the beginning of a legacy!

John Henry grew to be the epitome of “versatility,” winning the Versatility Hall of Fame Award and subsequent numerous Honor Roll certificates (offered by the American Donkey and Mule Society) for his continuing excellence. John Henry competed under saddle, was successfully used for fox hunting and coon jumping, and excelled in Combined Driving. His exceptional and unique qualities were widely recognized, and he even had his own column in The Brayer Magazine (published by the A.D.M.S.), entitled, “Dear John Henry,” in which he gave sound advice to questions from other mules all over the country.

From 2003 to 2010, Kathleen and John Henry competed in the Commercial Carriage Division at the Walnut Hill Farm Driving Competition in Pittsford, New York, the finest pleasure driving competition in the United States.  In the seven years they competed, John Henry was the only mule showing on the grounds, always competing against horses. His accomplishments got mules accepted into the American Driving Society, which made him beyond famous. Spectators flocked to see him compete every year, and he had his own fan club. He was either Champion or Reserve Champion of the Commercial Division a total of six times, showing under “rated” Commercial Driving judges from England. In 2011, just three weeks before he was to once again compete at Walnut Hill, John Henry passed away at the age of 20, a true champion right up to the end.

In early 2014, famed artist and wood carver, Dennis Page, asked my friend, Bonnie Shields (Tennessee mule artist and illustrator of my Jasper the Mule series), about a model for a “rocking mule” that he was going to carve out of wood. She suggested that he might want to model it after a ceramic sculpture she had done of John Henry, and he did just that. The wood-carved rocking mule of John Henry stands 48 inches tall and is just gorgeous! In fact, it is so beautiful that I bought it when it was finished.

I wanted to display the image of John Henry in all his glory, so Kathleen sent me two of his handsome championship ribbons from Walnut Hill Farm days. She also sold me his harness, his personal cooler (with the competition logo and his name on the front) and several pictures of him for the Lucky Three Ranch tribute to her legendary champion mule. I had the ribbons, Kathleen’s favorite picture of John Henry (from Bob Mischka’s mule calendar) and a tribute card framed and mounted on an easel, with the other items displayed behind the rocker.

John Henry was one of a kind and is sorely missed, especially by Kathleen. But she is elated that her beloved mule and his legacy are being honored with his own exhibit here at Loveland Longears Museum and Sculpture Park in Loveland, Colorado. Kathleen and John Henry had a wonderful time together, touching so many lives and showing everyone just how extraordinary a mule can truly be. Thank you, John Henry for opening people’s minds to the superior versatility of the mule and for paving the way for so many other mules to follow in your footsteps toward extraordinary equine achievement!

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.

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