Harry S. Truman with a pair of Missouri mules at the Missouri State Fair, Sedalia, Missouri, c. 1948; photo by Gerald Massie. “My favorite animal is the mule. He has more horse sense than a horse. He knows when to stop eating – and he knows when to stop working.” — Harry S. Truman
If you want one for riding and general use, I would recommend a hinny, female donkey-male horse. For work a mule, female horse-male donkey.
OK, there is the Mule Skinners club here in Wisconsin. They put on a good show at the Madison Horse Fair in the spring. (They don't skin mules) But I must say, one time I was at the Grand Canyon and a CONDOR flew over my head! I was shocked and amazed and others around me ooo'd and ahhhh'd. A man next to me said, "You should have been here two weeks ago. There were dozens of them around." I asked why, were they migrating or something? he said, no a mule in training fell off the trail to the bottom." I definitely think I should NOT have been around then
We went to a mule and donkey show in Ga. quite a while back, and one of the old men there ask me if I would show one of his mules for him so he could show the other. So I said sure and did. I won and he came up to me and said, here you can have the ribbon, and I'm taking the cash, it's not every day a man gets shown up by his own mule.
I was a member of this club, had our donkey farm named " Sassy Ass Acres ", still have certificate with Rosie's name on it. But hubby got injured and that idea went out the window of raising guard donk's. My first donkey ' Katy ' looked like this, she came to USA from Mexico, considered a Mexican Burro, momma ordered them from Sears Robuck Catalog we picked her and 2 others up at the Atlanta Train Depot in 1957. https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=2ff1...1aHR0cDovL3d3dy5sb3ZlbG9uZ2VhcnMuY29tLw&ntb=1
Rosie came from Sicily, and she was considered a solid, no marks,she was bought here in Acworth Ga., she looked like this one below,
Yes they are and Krystal, we saw some really beautiful ones at the Mule and Donkey Show in Chatsworth Georgia.
One year (around 1998) I went to the North American Horse Exposition that is held every year, i think it is always in Louisville, Kentucky , but not sure. I went with a friend, and we saw well-known trainers, like John Lyons, giving teaching sessions, as well as performances of trick riding and specialty trained horses, and more things than I can possibly remember. Each hour, they featured one breed of horse, pony, mule or donkey in the main arena , and that was interesting , too; because there were many breeds of horses that were rare and unusual. One of the ones that I liked best was a rare breed of French Donkey, called the Poitou Donkey. At one time, there were a lot of them, because most farming was done with livestock, and this is one of the larger donkey breeds; but after industrialization of farming started, the breed almost died out. They have a kind and gentle face and more hair than any other horse or donkey that I have ever seen.
That's a wooly bugger. I bet that was fun going to North American Horse Exposition and educational too. Has that breed come back now?