# mini mule?



## Bonny

Does anyone have a mini mule? If so please tell me about them. I have had friends with saddle mulesbut not mini mules. Curious if they are similar.


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## MeadowRidge Farm

I raise mini hinnys, they are the opposite of a mule. Hinnys have a stallion as a sire and a jenny as the dam, they are also much harder to achieve then a mule because of the chromosome level. minimule, is on our forum, and she raises some beautiful mules.


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## Bonny

I have studied the mule / hinny genetics. They are also harder to achieve, because its harder for the stallion and Jenny to be attracted to each other. Correct?

How similar are mules and hinnys?


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## MeadowRidge Farm

Right. They are very similiar. Here is a close up of Snickers, who is a hinny. A hinny has more horse-like features, a mule more donkey like.


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## Bonny

Very cute! as is a mule!

Are they mini hinnys? Gosh so cute. Do hinnys also have the same characteristics as mules? Such as the added weight bearing load and the intelligence? I studied mules because I was going to breed my standard mare for a saddle mule. Havent found the right Jack yet. I have a warm spot for all long ears.

I have also a friend who trained mules to pull.

I have never met a hinny. They are really unique. Did you acquire the stally to breed or did you teach him?


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## MeadowRidge Farm

My stallion likes his jennys



I have never had a problem breeding him to jennys, and he seems to settle them easy. I own 5 breeding age stallions, and the others wont even look at a jenny in heat..not Frosty, he cant wait to bring him to a jenny



I think I am the only one on the forum who has hinnys. They definitely are rare. You do find a lot more standard size hinnys over the minis. I dont have mules to compare, but a friend does, and I would say there characteristics are very much alike. Hinnys are VERY intelligent, and are really some characters to have around. I love them. I'm hoping Shawna, will jump on here and answer some of your questions about mules..


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## Bunnylady

Carrots, please!











Mule of Mystery.

These are all pictures of my mini mule, Betsy. She is quite a character.



Smart? She sure keeps me on my toes! I can't speak for all mules, but I wouldn't trade this one for anything!


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## Bonny

What do you do with your mini mules and hinnys? Do you show them? I know there is a registry for mules, are y'alls registered?

I bet the would be great at driving!

That donkey that stayed at my house for a bit was hilarious! He loved to go for walks. When I brought out the halter and lead he would run over. If I didnt put it on him he would pick it up in his mouth and toss it around. LOL, funny guy!

Here he is taking himself for a walk!


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## Bunnylady

I've only had Betsy a few months. If you'd like to know a little more about her, read the threads titled "Donkey/Mule Voices" and "Teach an Old Mule New Tricks?" on page 2 of this forum. She isn't registered, but I understand she could be. I've heard we have a Mule Days celebration here in North Carolina, but I don't know anyone who's attended. Betsy has been entered in our local fair twice. Both times, she has come in third behind an ancient Belgian mule and his equally decrepit standard donkey buddy. I'm sure Jack was magnificent in his day, but at 30+ years of age, he now looks more like a horsehide draped on a clothes drying rack! I look on the placement as a salute to Jack and Sugar's longevity, but I told Betsy I think she's being seriously dissed coming in third behind those two.



We don't have a lot of animals entered at our fair, so I look on it more as an exhibition rather than a competition anyway.

Betsy knows the sound of my Explorer's engine. My husband tells me he knows when I get home, because he hears "Eine Kleine Mule Musik" from the pen when I drive up. Interesting, because she can't see the driveway from there.

A couple of days ago, I was putting some water in the chicken runs. I had the hose threaded through the wire of the gate, so I could have the gate closed. Betsy gets a handful of chicken scratch grain when I get done with the chickens, and she was clearly getting tired of waiting. You'd really have to hear her, but it went something like this:

"EEEEEeeeeeeooooowheeeeeEEEEeeeeuhuhuhuhooowheeee?"

"Betsy, I know what you want, but you're just going to have to wait!"

"eeeeeeEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEoooooooooo."

When I didn't respond to that, she must have decided to take a more direct approach. She began nosing and mouthing the hose ("eeeeeeeemmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeooommmm!") and then digging at it with her hoof. She hooked her leg around it and gave a couple of good tugs, but didn't seem to know where to go from there. I was laughing too hard to scold her.

No, life with Betsy is never dull!


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## Bonny

I love the donkey / mule stories! They have so much personality!

When the donkey came to stay with us, he was so happy to see my paint mare! I had kept her at my friends house while we finished our fence when I first bought her. They remembered each other! He made the most hilarious noises when they came nose to nose! The funny thing is my mare would just look at him like "WHY do you do that?" Haha. She is a patient girl.

Like I said I have alway had a love for mules and donks.


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## Oakbrooke Farm

Here are my 2 mini mules, both geldings. They are such charachters!


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## Bonny

That is so cute!

Your one mule really looks donkey like!

Very good timing on the picture!!!


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## minimule

I'm here. I purposely breed for miniature mules. I had 6 last year but sold 3. They do have a lot of personality and are very smart animals. They inherit their smarts from their daddy (the jack). Like a jack, they can think of more than one thing at a time. My mules like to have jobs. They take a bit like it was supposed to be there. I haven't trained them to drive yet but my intention is to get the two oldest started this year.

They can carry more than a horse but the pack has to be equal on both sides. They tend to be built more like a donkey than a horse.

This is Maestro, now 6.






Sunny, now 5






Wylie, now 3 (she is Sunny's full sister)






You can see the others that have found new homes on my website. I also have an article I wrote on my home page that explains why I breed for miniature mules.


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## Bonny

Your mules are fantastic. I have always loved they way you have to relate to mules. In many ways raising mules is like bringing up a child. You need to be positive and kind, earning respect by guidance not by being harsh. And of course the positive reinforcement, with gentle discipline.

I have had time this last year to take my rescued paint mare and work with her to earn her trust. It has been a long process but it was so worth it.

I would love someday to have a mule, any size, to work and train.


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