Not Marilyn, but here is the answer. Burro is Spanish for donkey, and the use of burro is usually a regional preference. A mule is the offspring of a male donkey (called a jack) and a female horse (called a mare).

So those little furry burros are actually baby donkeys?

Deeby, to answer all four (4) of your questions, the link
provided should do that.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Burro

That was awesome ! Thanks ! I put that in Faves so I can refer back to it. I don't understand why I like mules. I just do.

A burro is a donkey....no matter what the age.

Donkeys come in three sizes miniature, standard and mammoth.

My donkeys are standards....that means they are middle-sized. This is one of my donkeys, Amos.

This is a mammoth donkey.

This is a miniature.

And here is a rare French breed of donkey called a Poitou.

Mules are a cross between a mare (female horse) and a jack (male donkey). Then there is also hinnies, which are a cross between a jenny (female donkey) and a stallion (male horse)....so the exact opposite of a mule. Hinnies are generally speaking a little more refined that mules and usually have shorter ears....longer than horse ears, but shorter than donkey ears.

Mules take characteristics from whatever kind of horse they are bred from. For example, there are appaloosa mules like this one.

They can be any color that a horse can be...

They can be trained to do anything a horse can do....they are especially good at jumping. Mules jump from a standstill...like deer jump, but horses jump from a running start. There is even a competition for mules jumping at mule shows. It is called Coon Jumping. That comes from the practice of coon hunters who rode mules, and when they came to a barbed wire fence, they would throw a saddle blanket over it and the mule would jump over the fence....that is in case they didn't have a gate they could go through.

Mules can be gaited like Tennessee walking horses and some donkeys are gaited also.

This fall there is a Mule Appreciation Day that is going to be held in my town...last year was the first year. There will be contests and many clinics (lectures) on various aspects of mule care....such as saddle fitting. Mules generally have much less prominent withers than horses so it is more difficult to find a saddle to fit them correctly. There are mule shows throughout the country too...and generally speaking a well trained mule is worth more money than a horse with equal training.

Now. You know more than you ever wanted to know about donkeys and mules. 8-)

Great dialog, Marilyn!

Isn't that little Appaloosa mule foal just the cutest thing you ever saw?

Thanks Marilyn for all of the pictures. I just love that dark brown one with the little boy.

Thanks for the information. And thanks for the pictures.
Marie

The last two pictures are mules that I considered buying. I am going to be looking for another mule to buy. Amos is out with my five mares but I think he is too short to get the job done. I have a prettier, taller jack but he doesn't have the disposition that Amos does. I guess I will know by late winter if Amos is going to be a daddy. I plan to geld my jacks and show them next year.

Yes, that appaloosa mule is adorable. I have also considered buying an appaloosa mare to raise a mule foal. I wish I wasn't so old....got to stay in good shape so I can ride and show my mules.

If I remember my high school Spanish, the suffix -ito means small, so the small cute fuzzy donkey above must actually be a burrito.
:-)

In Costa Rica we took an arranged "horseback" ride through the rain forest. About half of the "horses" were mules. (Not that there's anything wrong with that) Since I was the largest person in our group I was given the largest mount, a 17-hand red mule. She was calm, pleasant, sure-footed and obedient, and big enough to carry me easily:

The only problem was that her ears were so long they would stick up into the frame of pictures I was taking:

Marilyn, thank you ! Now that's an awesome thing to do to share and to educate me. Enjoyed every word and will go back to this thread often ! I love this ! Why does a suburbs lady like mules even though I've never even seen one? Maybe it's my rabbits? When I'm baby talking to them I say things like, "Are you guys sure you're not little teeny mools? (Yes, mools) Look at those tall mool ears ! How about hay eating? How about the same teeths?"(Yes, teeths) OK, now everyone on the forums going, "Oh, oh, Deborah's lost it... " LOL !

I bet those bunnies love to be baby talked! No, we don't think you've lost it. I can imagine most everyone here with pets baby talks them.

Long ago, DH and I rode mules down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon on a hot very, very skinny trail with a straight down drop off on one side. It was said that mules are stronger and steadier than horses, so that's why they were used. When our train stopped, the mules were trained to turn towards the drop off side of the trail so they could always see where they were in relationship to the edge. It was kinda scary when they would take a couple steps towards the edge! "Whoa, Nellie, I hope you know what you are doing!" It was a memory of a lifetime, so much fun.

Deborah, I call my mule my "mool" too. I don't know where you live but if there are any large livestock shows, they may have mule classes. You might enjoy going and watching them, and you can walk in the back and see the mules (and donkeys) in their stalls, and talk to their people.

Socks, I would be terrified on a ride like that. I don't like heights anyway, but I am sure those mules were absolutely safe to be part of that string of mules going down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Bob, I think there is a FB page called "Through a Horse's Ears" which is for photos taken...through a horse's ear (or mule's).

MOOL??? You too? I cracked up when I read that. Great idea-I'll Google up something local if there is anything. I live in southern California. Socks, thanks. LOL.

Bishop has one of the biggest shows in the country, but that's up north from you, I think. I would love to go to the Bishop show.
Google mule shows.

Bishop Mule Days

Here is a link that might be useful: mule show

Here's another picture of my mule, My Sabrina. I talk to her and tell her she is "mama's mool". (unfortunately my husband took the pictures and cut her ears off.)

And here is one of my favorite pictures of the first time she met my new mare, Mariah. (Sorry for all the pics, but don't get me started on mules and donkeys.)

Marilyn, we sold our last horse - a beautiful blanketed App gelding - back in the late 70s. However, if you would send me a beautiful sorrel or bay mule, I don't think I would throw them off the place....LOL. Your Sabrina is gorgeous.

Don't count Amos out on successfully breeding your mares just yet - it seems the males of MANY species can get the females to do what they need them to. Here is a picture of our Beefalo bull, Adam, that spent 2 weeks at the vet's wearing his stylish, designer made belly sling. He had just turned 11 months old and we had had him about 2 weeks. Evidently he worked very hard at successfully breeding one of our cows, but the results was what you see. He was more patient and waited another 4 months before he tried to be a "big boy" again.

Poor guy, did he sprain his man thang?

I think a lot of cross-breeding, horses, cows, dogs, succeeds because those big girls *help* those small guys!

Sylvia, I posted a reply, but don't know where it went! Yes, he sprained his man thang!

I agree that the big girls help the small guys out, usually. Adam is not small anymore.

When I was a kid, Dad's cousin had a tiny mule, offspring of a Shetland pony and a small donkey. Matilda, incredibly cute.

Hopefully this link works - it is a video of the Iowa State Fair 2014 CowGirl Queen doing her Queen run on her MULE!

I was so tickled to see that - what a neat thing.

Here is a link that might be useful: CowGirl Queen

One of the problems with Amos, he gets up there before he is "ready"...if you get my drift. Most of the mares aren't very patient with his clumsiness. Only reason he is in with them is he and his buds, Moses and Hobo, aren't getting along...so all are separated now. Poor Adam....how embarrassing for him. This is the jack I wanted to breed one of my mares to....didn't really have the funds and then it got too late in the season. I don't like for foals to be born when it is so hot.

His name is Deacon Black.

This is one of the mules that they did the embryo transplants on, and her Gypsy Vanner foal.

Marilyn, Deacon Black is a really handsome guy. The foal is so cute - just want to cuddle it right up close.

Why is it a mule or horse's muzzle is always so soft and smells so clean? I wish our cows who like to give "noseys" were like that. Theirs are wet, hard and usually has grass or hay stuck to it!

What what what???

I'd always heard that mules can't reproduce...
but they can carry a pregnancy???

How cool!

Sabrina looks like she is smiling in the second picture :-)

Ok, this is a silly question....how do you pronounce "hinney"? I'm guessing "hihn-knee".

The reason I ask is my granddaughter calls horses "hineys" pronounced "high-knee". It would crack us all up to know there's a cross with a similar name.

Oh and when you ask her what the "hiney" says, she exclaims....with a whoop and a swirl of her arm....."Yee-HAW"!

Yes....like the first way....hihn-knee. Not hiney....like your bottom. :D

Yes, Sylvia...they say they make great mothers. They do embryo transplants

Can't wait to watch that video, Iowagirl. That is awesome. Mules are really gaining in popularity.

I know what you mean about cows, gma. Plus every time they lick their tongue out it goes directly in their nose. LOL!
There must be a reason for that!

Cows have an enzyme or some such in their noses that they need to digest their food.

's what I heard anyway.

Sylvia's thing for which she is grateful today:

I can digest my food by eating it.
period.

That was an awesome video. I Googled and the only way to see mools here is at the county fair next summer. Hang on, mools, I'll be there !

marilyn_c

so nice to hear from you dont forget if I win that lottery I wont forget you

marilyn_c

My wife has already found that "Through a Horse's Ears" FaceBook page, and has posted the relevant pictures from our Costa Rica ride, as well as many others, from trail rides and fox hunting around here.

-Bob

Thanks, Minnie. I will name my possum hospital after you.

Sylvia, I figured there had to be a reason for it. LOL

Cool about the pics on FB, Bob.