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| Our Mules |
| Mules, if you did not know, are the result of breeding a donkey jack to a horse mare. Mules can be either male or female, but both sexes (with VERY rare exception in the females, as in 1 in a Million cases) are sterile. This is because mules are a hybrid between two different but related species. Donkeys and horses (and zebras) are all equines, but they are cousins, of different species, and having different chromosome counts. When you breed a donkey (62 chromosomes) to a horse (64) the resulting hybrid offspring has only 63 chromosomes and cannot reproduce itself. The opposite cross from a mule is called a Hinny, having a stallion father and donkey jennet mother. Again, either male or female, the hinny is sterile. (However, all male hybrids should be gelded to prevent hormonal problems.) |
| This is Crystamarq Pferde Po, our 13 hand appaloosa roan mare mule. We call her Daze (pronounced Daisy). She is 8 years old in 2002. A real handfull when we first got her, she has settled into a nice little companion, with a pretty face and unusual coloration. She is co-owned by Colleen Moore (above). |
| This is our Chunk of a Mule, officially registered as WSF Jubilation T, call name Curly. He was a little mass of curly mane and tail when he was born. His dam was our 13 hh Quarter Pony mare Patti (Give Me a Pat) and his sire our poitou-type Jack NTRS Senator Jack S Phogbound (aka Bean Pocket). Curly is only 13.2 hh and weighs over 800 pounds. He is SOLID, wide as a house, and has a huge-jawed head. Remember the biblical story of using the jawbone of an ass as a weapon? Look at the jaw on this fellow and see why it would be quite formidable. |
| Just part of the gang (not interested in the camera, of course. L to R, Curly, Rabbit (NTRS Devil's Advocate) our tail-less donkey, Crackers the Mustang, and Daze the mule. (To learn more about Tail-less donkeys, visit the page at www.lovelongears.com/notails ) |