# Hypothetical mule color question



## CheyAut (Mar 27, 2007)

I LOVE color genetics. I understand it with horses, not really with donkeys (a good helpful site would be nice! Please let me know if you know of one!)

I thought of a question the other day when people on another forum were discussing color possibilities from a grey mare and whatever color stallion... I started thinking,

If you breed a donkey (say, the standard grey for instance) to a homozygous grey horse (as in, horse will go grey), what happens? Will the mule turn grey? Or does that gene not effect them?

I have no grey horses, nor do I plan to (no offense, I just like color to stay), but was just wondering... and until I know that'll bother me, lol!

On that same subject, how DOES mule color work? Would LOVE a site to read on that, as well!

Jessi


----------



## Marnie (Mar 27, 2007)

I don't know alot but I did read where it said that everything you know about horse color genetics, throw it out the window, it means nothing with donkeys or mules, the homozygous means nothing too. But I also read where it said their are no recorded palomino mules and I think I saw here where minimule has a pretty palomino mule. If I'm wrong, someone will correct me. I don't know of any color sites on donkeys either, if anyone does, I'd like to know too.


----------



## minimule (Mar 27, 2007)

Yes, I do have a documented Palomino mini mule. She is actually out of a greyed/sorrel mare. The registry didn't want to believe she was a true palomino so THEY did the research and found that the dam's grandsire was a palomino siring palomino and buckskins.

This mare has only had 3 live foals. The first was my sorrel tobiano mule, Sunny. She was a shock to everyone! Then she had a gray pinto filly, I have her too, Gypsy. Then we bred her back to Kilroy for a possible repeat of Sunny......nope! Wylie, the palomino was born.

The mares history is that she had aborted 2 previous, pinto foals. She only carries to 10 months and has to be on regumate to maintain a full term pregnancy. Since both of those foals had been pinto and then the next 2 were pinto, we are assuming she is homozygous for the tobiano gene. BUT Wylie is a solid.

We sold the mare last year bred to a pinto and she aborted a beautiful, tiny pinto filly in Jan. She would have been due in April. (sorry that all got long winded  )

As Marnie said, color genetics go out the window. It's a crapshoot to see what you get. I've been told by a breeder in TX that the way they are getting more appy colored mules is to breed a BLACK jack to a loud Appy mare and you MIGHT get some color.

Here is a website I've found about color:

Breeding spotted donkeys: http://www.luckysnlranch.com/donkey/8.html


----------



## just_4_kixx (Mar 27, 2007)

I have a very pretty appy mule. When I get home at lunch, Iâ€™ll post his picture. Heâ€™s awesome! Heâ€™s out of a appy mare and a red jack. I started raising mules a few years ago. (Full size mules). I researched for two years on colors, before I bought my full size jack. I wanted to breed for full size appy mules. I love color, Huge hears and spots! LOVE IT. Any way, I started asking a TON of questions to breeders in my area about color genes. A good friend of ours has been breeding mules for over 30 years. Heâ€™s had every color jack you could think of. I started with him. He told me, that you need to research the jack you like. After you find the conformation and personality that you like, find out what color is in his background. Red jacks not sorrel, but red has a dilute gene. Their color isnâ€™t a dominant color, so they are more apt to pass the color of the mare though. Grey jacks will pass a large percentage of black factor foals, as well as black jacks. Brown will pass brown or a large percentage of brown factor mules. So I started asking about spotted jacks. He said that they will pass a little of everything, but they will produce a large percentage of white mules. Where we live, white isnâ€™t something that turns heads, so most wonâ€™t buy a white mule. He did cross his spotted on his paint mares, and would get some paint mules, but for the most part they were white, or roans, that ended up white in the long run. So he started breeding him to his black mares that had a lot of black or brown breeding in their background.

I bought a red mini jack thatâ€™s out of red donkeys for three generations. Iâ€™m going to start him this year. I canâ€™t wait. Heâ€™s being bred to a grey mare, a black mare (with paint breeding in her background) and one more (when I buy one more). I canâ€™t wait to see what he produces.

I hope this helps. Sorry I got a little long winded.


----------



## MeadowRidge Farm (Mar 27, 2007)

Color genetics does go flying out the window with breeding mini donkeys, mules and hinnys. If I am correct, I read somewhere where its not that uncommon to see color on full size but it is on minis. Really got to wonder why full size would come thru with color but not the minis. But then again~~ being minis and all the "odd" colors guess it dont surprise me. Shawna's mini mule palomino is a beauty. Maybe she can post a pic. I have heard too that by breeding a black to appys you might get color. A friend of ours imported quit a few mini donkeys years ago...he was trying to breed for color too,after 40 years he has finally given up. The ones he did have were really nice, but it was so far and few in-between. Just4 kixx, are these full size your talking about? Corinne


----------



## just_4_kixx (Mar 27, 2007)

I have a mini mule that is an appy. He's brown, with a white & black blanket. I know of a solid black mini molly mule. She's out of a grey mini donkey, and a black mare. I bought a mini red donkey to cross on a a few mini mares this year. I can't wait to see what I get.


----------



## MeadowRidge Farm (Mar 27, 2007)

Just 4 kixx, It sure should be a interesting and exciting year for you.




: :aktion033: I cant wait to see what you get either.



: You should post some pic of your mule, I bet he's adorable! Corinne


----------



## PaintedPromiseRanch (Mar 27, 2007)

we have a mini appy mule too. Little Miss Maggie is out of an appy mini mare but we don't know what color her father was. she doesn't have a blanket per se, just a lot of snow-flaking where a blanket would be. but she is not roan, the snowflaking is not everywhere and her mama was definitely appy.

as for breeding for color they are right, throw everything you know out the window. we have our spotted jack Trooper with a partner, Richard has researched color genetics in mini horses for like 30 years and he thought he could breed a spotted jack to his pinto mares and get spotted mules. NOPE. from what we understand the best chance at color is a spotted jack and an appy mare. of course we have 5 pinto mares and 1 solid that is too small to breed with Trooper. however i have her in with Wiley my smaller spot right now



: so we will see...

we did get a white mule out of our spotted jack and our black mare but she is minimal pinto. however Eve does have one caramel spot right behind her ear, small and not easy to see, but it's there. definitely not dirt



must be a thing by part of the country because around here every one is "oohing and awing" over our white mule... however Trooper threw a LOUD spotted mule out of a solid black mare 2 years ago... i have posted pictures of SweetPea before... if you do a forum search for "Sweetpea" you should find something. our friends also breed big mules and they had a grey jack and paint mares but all solid foals... however there is a guy somewhere here in town whose donkey jack is the opposite of homozygous, whatever that would be, in that no matter what mom looks like, that's what the mule foal looks like. i wasn't with him that day but my husband saw several pictures of the babies and they were LOUD paints, really unusual.

and that's all i know so far



but we have my black pony with blue eyes in with Trooper this spring, the other two pinto mares i had with him are both still open as of last week's vet test





if i want babies next year i will have to count on Dillon who had 2 girlfriends this spring



:



:


----------



## minimule (Mar 27, 2007)

Here are my "colored" mules.

This is Sunny, she is now 4 and 35" tall






and her full sister Wylie, now 2 and only 29" tall.



:


----------



## CheyAut (Mar 28, 2007)

Thanks for all the replies, very interesting! And I love seeing pictures





Minimule, thanks for hte link, I'll check it out



Your mules are adorable!

Just 4 kix, is it the one in your avatar? Gorgeous!!! I LOVE appy mules! Esp. minis





PPR, your Eve is adorable



I did think it weird to get a white baby though from your black mare! Haha now I know it doesn't matter too much what colors you have huh?


----------



## just_4_kixx (Mar 28, 2007)

I was going to post pictures of my mule "spotter" last night, but I forgot that you need a web page to post from, and I don't have one yet



, so I couldn't post his picutres. I did how ever change my avatar to his picture. This is "Apaspotamus" a.k.a "Spotter". He's 40" tall, and awesome to drive!! :aktion033:


----------



## PaintedPromiseRanch (Mar 28, 2007)

he's adorable!!! but you don't need a website to post from, just go to www.photobucket.com and sign up for a free account, follow their directions and load your pictures onto your photobucket account, and then you can post them here easily.


----------



## just_4_kixx (Mar 29, 2007)

I found a really cool picture of him driving, I'll post that either at lunch or when I get home from work. Nikki gave me an idea of where and how to post. I was able to post pictures of my clipped donkeys last night. I don't have my pictures at work with me :no: .

Thanks for the tip :aktion033:


----------



## PaintedPromiseRanch (Mar 29, 2007)

just_4_kixx said:


> I found a really cool picture of him driving, I'll post that either at lunch or when I get home from work. Nikki gave me an idea of where and how to post. I was able to post pictures of my clipped donkeys last night. I don't have my pictures at work with me :no: .
> Thanks for the tip :aktion033:




once you put them on photobucket, you can access them from ANY computer...


----------

