Draft Mules

It wasn't all horses at the Draft Horse, Pony and Mule Field Day in Adams County, Ohio. There were some charming mules, like Loretta and Lucy.

 Lucy, left, and Loretta.  I was agog at the complexity and beauty of the harness. Every chain, every line means something, but it was all a tangle to me. I saw a lot of people figuring out what went where, fussing with this strap and that. Amazing. And jingly.

 

 A mule is the long-eared offspring of a male donkey and a mare. You can, in one generation, make any kind of mule you want. If you want a quarter horse mule, you mate a male donkey to a quarter horse mare. If you want a miniature mule, mate a miniature donkey to a miniature horse.  This dark team looked like they may have had a Standardbred, the classic dark Amish buggy horse, as their mom.

 A nice matched team of flea-bitten grays.  Mules have an undeserved reputation for being cantankerous, a holdover from the days when a worthless mare with a nasty disposition would be bred to a donkey in an attempt to get something of value out of her. Mules are more highly valued and carefully bred now, and quality parents get quality offspring.

I loved this muledriver's muttonchop..somethings...

He was driving a splendid team of three mammoth mules, likely the offspring of a mammoth donkey and a Belgian mare. Wow, wow, wow, what magnificent strong animals.

A donkey has 62 chromosomes and a horse has 64. Their mule offspring have an uneven number: 63, which renders them unable to produce offspring. So each mule results from a fresh mating of donkey to horse; there is no mule production from mules. Still, the animals have all their equipment, and males must be gelded lest they cause trouble in the paddock.

Mules are not stubborn. Rather, they examine situations carefully before proceeding. They've carried tourists safely up and down the Grand Canyon walls for over 100 years; they are not prone to panic or flights of fancy. They're smart, sensible, careful animals. Many horses tend otherwise.

I hope you've enjoyed this little blast from the past. I'm grateful to live in Ohio, where the Amish culture spreads its gentle influence and keeps such things as mules, buggies, draft horses and antique equipment in our world. I'm glad for the old guys, Amish or not, who still harness up the horses on a Sunday, still sit on the rattly seats and turn the soil behind the massive haunches of draft animals. I hope there will always be some of those old guys around, some younger ones too.

And glorious manmade mules.

Zick Note:  As of Wednesday, October 20, I'll be a Beat Blogger for the megabirdingblog 10,000 Birds.
I've been trying here for almost five years, and I haven't managed to break out into a larger readership. Make no mistake--I treasure you readers who've stuck with me--you are the best, you fill my heart, and I wouldn't trade you for 10,000 casual readers. But I'm beginning to suspect that the only blogs that can garner a large audience are the team blogs, which have daily and even multiple daily posts. I can't do that by myself and still raise my kids and care for my family.

  I like the folks over at 10,000 Birds, and I can't beat 'em, so I'm joining 'em. There are some messages that need a larger audience--tomorrow morning's post is one of them. (I happen to think that great big beautiful mules need a larger audience, but maybe that's why I'm not getting anywhere...) Nothing will change over here, except maybe a few more readers will come see what I'm serving up. A blogger can hope.