O/T: Horse, donkey, mule question

Anonymous-0 · Oct 25, 2009

I have absolutely no knowledge in this area. My lady says that breeding a horse and a donkey makes a mule. But apparently the mule is always significantly larger than both parent animals? How does this work?

My apologies for the off-topic post and thank you to all who take time to answer.

Y'all have a good day!

Anthony

Anonymous-0 · Oct 25, 2009

Mare (mama horse) mated with a jack (papa donkey) produces a "mule" which is usually just a tad smaller than a horse. A mama donkey mated with a stallion (papa horse) produces a "hinny" which is usually slightly larger than a donkey. In other words the offspring is similar in size to it's mother. Hinnies are rather rare as it is difficult to mate a donkey to a stallion due to the negative size factor. I don't know about hinnies, but mules are usually sterile. I had to resorted to kindergarden terms as I could not post the proper terms.

Areo

Mike Farmer · Oct 25, 2009

Spot on. The hinney is also sometimes referred to as a "muke". You are also right about them being sterile. Such sterility appears to be normal in the offspring of inter bred animals. For instance a Lion/Tiger cross is a Liger (and vv is a Tigon) this is rare but the offspring are definitely sterile. MTF

Mike (WA) · Oct 25, 2009

Main reason for few hinnies is that they seem to inherit the poorer qualities of each parent, so you end up with an animal no more sure-footed than a horse, but mean as a snake. Few equines are "pasture bred" anymore, so the type of offspring is intentional- and because of the unpopularity of hinnies, anyone with a "jenny" (female donkey) usually has enough sense to breed to a "jack" instead of a stallion.

Dblair · Oct 25, 2009

Ok , I've got to ask , is a Jacka$$ the same as a donkey because the jacka$$ are so much larger and look considerable different. I'm donkey dumb in Va.

PJH · Oct 25, 2009

OK, when I was a kid, I remember folks having "little mules" and "big mules".

A neighbor up the road had a pair of black mules that were HUGE. Very nice animals - he would adjust his ground driven sickle mower with the slack reins tied to the mower seat, using only voice commands. He'd say, "Little bit.", and they'd move slowly about a half step forward. He wouldn't even look up, never taking his eyes off of the sickle. He was probably 90 years old at that time. I was impressed at how well behaved and calm they were.

Wife's grandpa had "little mules". They were sharp lookers, with a real snappy step. A little more prone to misbehave.

Both of these teams were used daily in the farming operation. Neither man owned a tractor.

Always wondered about the difference of the two types of mules.

Paul

Anonymous-0 · Oct 25, 2009

My grandpa was a mule aficionado. Donkeys and horses are different species. Donkeys have 62 chromosomes and horses have 64. Mules have 63, a mixture of 32 from the horse and 31 from the donkey. Geneticly a hinney and mule are identical, some purists claim they are the same thing. Size and color can vary dramatically depending on the parents and there can be great variation in individuals.There have been documented cases of a female mule giving birth to live offspring when breed to a closley related pure breed donkey or horse. Grandpa claimed there are fewer hinneys because the male horse and female donkey don't want to have anything to do with each other. An A$$ can be a donkey, a zebra or my cousins husband.

Anonymous-0 · Oct 25, 2009

Mules come in many sizes depending on the size of the mated pair. Breeding a mammoth Jack (some as big as 18 hands) to a giant draft mare will result in a very big animal. When I was a kid I had a little brown and white spotted mule named Jackpot that was the size of a pony, about 12 hands. He was a always reliable and usually safe but on rare occassion he would unleash a classic double barrelled mule kick higher than my head. Fortunately he never hit me.
I enjoy walking through the mule and jack exhibit at the KY state fair, there are usually some monsters there. Some have ears 2 feet long.
Legend is that the old coal mines used very small mules to pull the cars down in the deep mines where the ceilings were very low.

Wesley Stephens · Oct 25, 2009

I have a mule that is about 11 or 12 hands and 600 pounds. I ride and drive him but his main job is pasture protection. He will run out dogs, etc... but last week his tumultuous relationship with my favorite dog came to an end. He stomped and killed her. I considered shooting him, but I really can't blame him. She loved to chase him and nip at his heels. He is colored sort of like a Belgian horse and he has a very short, slick coat in the summer and a long shaggy one in the winter. I'd love to be able to find out what kind of horse he came off of.

Anonymous-0 · Oct 25, 2009

Sorry about your dog, but as you said its main job was pasture protection. Killing dogs and coyotes that are threatening stock is what mules do. I am sure you loved you dog, but lets face it, if she didn't learn to stay out of the mules pasture after all those chases, she wasn't very bright. Don't shoot him, you have a good one ! Next time don't get emotionally attached to the dog untill it learns to respect the mule.

TimMiller · Oct 26, 2009

Our donkey is the only one who will eat the grass around where the dog is tied up. The cows dont want anything to do with her. I saw him kick the dog once in the nose, and now the dog leaves him alone while eating. His girlfriend has also started getting closer to the dog, she is kinda skiddish. Donkey will walk up to the front door and look through the window for you.

NEsota · Oct 28, 2009

A friend of mine liked to ride his mule in the mountains. He preferred a mule over a horse because the mule was more sure-footed. He said going down a steep incline the mule uses its rear legs to retard the decent, while the horse uses its front, which makes for a choppy ride

NEsota · Oct 28, 2009

A friend of mine liked to ride his mule in the mountains. He preferred a mule over a horse because the mule was more sure-footed. He said going down a steep incline the mule uses its rear legs to retard the decent, while the horse uses its front, which makes for a choppy ride

O/T: Horse, donkey, mule question

Anonymous-0

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Mike Farmer

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Mike (WA)

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Dblair

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Anonymous-0

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Anonymous-0

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