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Riding a mule?
mark christian
Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 24,456 ******
I have been rereading Theodore Roosevelt's The Rough Riders for the first time in several years and came upon the sentence General Young, who was riding a mule, carefully examined the Spanish position in person. I know next to nothing about equine and was under the impression that mules were simply draft animals and were not ridden like horses. Would it be common to ride a mule and is there any advantage to a mule verses riding a horse?
Comments
You can rent mules at the Grand Canyon to ride down to the bottom and back.
I think mules have more solid footing and they can haul more weight.
they ride and rope off of some of them just like quarter horses
tho they carry (generally) less weight because they are smaller than horses, the ones I've owned seemed more surefooted and calmer in 'situations'. Less likely to panic, as horses often due when confronted with something they don't understand.
That would be a real plus. I enjoy TR's books and his style of writing but he sometimes takes for granted that the reader is well versed, or has even a basic understanding, of the subject matter. Of course a century ago when the book was written the average American was much more familiar with horses and mules than someone like myself is today.
In the rugged terrain of Cuba that sure-footing would be sensible. There is not a question that cannot be answered on Gun Broker! Thank you.
Even medical.
Now you're talkin' about something I have some experience with. The best riding stock I ever saw was a "BLUE MULE" out of a * jack and a pacer mare. Smooth as a well oiled rocking chair. Kept her for 25 years & truned down a lot of money for her cause you won't ever find one like her.
have you ever tried breeding for another one like her[?]
That big old black jack belonged to another fellow who sold him. Besides how many "BLUE MULE" pacers do you need at one time. It isn't exactly like a team.
OK
Mules don't seem to get boared with monotonus work. Logged with a couple of good mules. Show them where we were loading out the truck aND THEY COULD BE TURNED loose. Have a kid unhitch the loggin dogs, throw the traces on their back, and they would return to the saw noise.
yea I have saw them doing that in the logging woods too I always thought that was awesome
I use an Arabian mare and breed to a Mammoth Jack to to get my mules. I call them my HalfAssed Arabians. Arabian horses in their selfs are very sure footed. Also they have more endurance than any other horses. One of the reasons Arabians dominate endurance racing where you go 100 miles in a day. Arabians have very short cannon bones which make for very strong legs. They also have larger lungs and if you ever noticed their nostrils seem to flare out like a bugle. Arabians also will go farther on less feed and water than other breeds of horses. Almost all modern breeds of horses have Arabian blood in them. Having evolved in the desert this is what makes them great for endurance. Now combine this to the qualities of the burrow and you have the ultimate hybrid.
Now for Draft horse purposes you simply breed a Mammoth Jack to a draft mare. The infusion of the Mammoth Jack gives the draft mule intelligence, endurance, and strength. There are even gaited mules out there, hunters and jumpers too.
Basically you breed a Mammoth Jack to whatever type of horse you want. The mule takes on the character of the horse but has all the good traits of the Jack. What you do lose in the mule is the speed of the horse. Some say that mules are rough riding, Some of the smoothest rides have been on a mule.
Lets see a horse do this:
Everybody always looked for '* hunting' mules in these parts. Much better to hunt off of at night and the big thing was they could jump fences flatfooted much better. As the scientific folk say you get 'hybrid vigor' in a mule, all the good features of a donkey plus the size from the horse.
Wow never knew I had a forum member so close
yea I have saw * hunters put a saddle blanket on a barbed wire fence and their mules would clear the fence like a deer would
MMOMEQ-55 that video was AWESOME thanks [^]
Absolutely!
That's some Steep Trail Work right there!!!
quote:Originally posted by BGHillbilly
Everybody always looked for '* hunting' mules in these parts. Much better to hunt off of at night and the big thing was they could jump fences flatfooted much better. As the scientific folk say you get 'hybrid vigor' in a mule, all the good features of a donkey plus the size from the horse.
Wow never knew I had a forum member so close
yea I have saw * hunters put a saddle blanket on a barbed wire fence and their mules would clear the fence like a deer would
If you know where Beech is your doing better than 90% of the people that live 15 miles away.
quote:Originally posted by danielgage
quote:Originally posted by BGHillbilly
Everybody always looked for '* hunting' mules in these parts. Much better to hunt off of at night and the big thing was they could jump fences flatfooted much better. As the scientific folk say you get 'hybrid vigor' in a mule, all the good features of a donkey plus the size from the horse.
Wow never knew I had a forum member so close
yea I have saw * hunters put a saddle blanket on a barbed wire fence and their mules would clear the fence like a deer would
If you know where Beech is your doing better than 90% of the people that live 15 miles away.
yea not far from Stanford and not too far from Paragould
I am on the west side of Jonesboro Bono area
"Never do wrong to make a friend----or to keep one".....Robert E. Lee
My dad farmed with a pair of mules in1944 in Baldwin Wi. Ol Dick and Molly. Worked all day with only 3 brakes. They were Union Mules. Needed their three breaks. Mules have a rough gait to ride a smooth ride.
[:D][:D]
Had a Walker mule, out of a Tennesse Walking mare, a truely 5 gated mule, best travling critter I ever rode. Your much better off with a mollie mule, jack mules have never forgotten someone cut thier ho ho's off, a mollie will mother up to you in time.
Great indian fighter General Miles rode a big jack mule, read about it in his biography.
Mule sense will wear longer, wash cleaner and iron without wrinkling.
Festus Hagen said that.[;)]
W.D.
MMOMEQ-55 that video was AWESOME thanks [^]
I recognize one of the gentlemen in the video, he was the one that sold me my mule. First time I went riding with him and his brother we were on the top of a steep mountain with the trucks parked a mile below. He turned and winked and asked if I was ready to go on a "mule luge." With that, he pointed his mule down hill and gave it the spurs and off we all went on a dead run straight to the bottom dodging trees, brush, and rockslides. Scared the guts outa me but the mules handled it fine.
Festus Hagen said that.
I like that saying [^]
quote:Originally posted by danielgage
MMOMEQ-55 that video was AWESOME thanks [^]
I recognize one of the gentlemen in the video, he was the one that sold me my mule. First time I went riding with him and his brother we were on the top of a steep mountain with the trucks parked a mile below. He turned and winked and asked if I was ready to go on a "mule luge." With that, he pointed his mule down hill and gave it the spurs and off we all went on a dead run straight to the bottom dodging trees, brush, and rockslides. Scared the guts outa me but the mules handled it fine.
that sounds like fun
if I was a little younger
Mine is still young, 3 years old, and is not the least bit aggressive (except that he and one of my quarter horse gilding will literally wrestle) but he is a hand full while riding him alone, but he does comply. With a group of riders he is no problem.[:)]
As a kid my grandfather plowed with a team of mules out of a Belgium mare. At the end of the day all you had to do was unhook the mules and they would go straight to their stalls and stand there. I would walk in and take off their harness. About as automatic as it comes. As a little kid I would ride them into the barn thinking I was actually taking them back to the barn. I later realized that they were taking themselves to the barn. Sometimes we were a mile away from the barn but those mules knew their way home.