This past week, I had lunch with a good friend, who asked, “What is Terri up to?” “She bought a new horse,” I replied.
He laughed and said, “How many animals does this make?”
“We have two mules, two horses, two dogs, two barn cats and three chickens,” I told him.
The topic immediately turned to the subject of the mules and the horses as it usually does.
We moved out to Pompey in 2006 and the first mule arrived in 2008
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I didn’t know anything about mules when Terri bought her first one at an auction.
She asked me to think about a name and, being a lifelong Democrat and remembering that the mule was the symbol of the Democratic Party, I suggested Franklin or Lyndon.
The name Franklin won the day with her.
When our veterinarian, Ben Turner, came to check Franklin out, we learned a lot more.
“I’m going to tell you three things about this mule,” he told Terri. “First, they are ten times smarter than a horse. Second, they are three times stronger than a horse. Third, they have impeccable memories. Don’t ever be mean to it because it will wait six months and when you least expect it, it will kick you right in the head.”
That last point was worth remembering, I thought.
Terri, of course, would never be mean to any animal as she loves all of them.
I would never be mean to one either but gave some serious thought to buying Franklin flowers once a week, just to make sure he knew I liked him.
Doctor Ben also advised her, “If you don’t bond with this mule in six months, sell him, because you never will.”
Franklin has proven to be Terri’s go to mule.
In the nine years they have been together, they have gone on hundreds of rides locally and around the state.
It’s important to know, that when you buy a mule or any equine, a lot more comes with it.
Terri designed, oversaw and paid for the construction of a three stall barn.
Next came a Ford F-250 pickup truck and a two horse trailer.
You can’t have a barn without tack, feed and hay.
I’m impressed every day with how she manages it and the care she takes in the feeding of the equines and the cleaning of them and their stalls that she puts so much time into summer and winter
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One of the things that I was glad to learn about Franklin was that the reputation they have for being stubborn, while well earned, is an asset.
Unlike a horse, you cannot get a mule to do anything that it perceives is dangerous to itself.
If you’re on a trail ride and you come to a clearing or a bridge and the mule stops and refuses to move forward, it is because it senses that there is something amiss.
Several times I’ve been on a ride and the mules will stop at a clearing and stand stock still. You sit there and wait, watching their ears point in all directions and, inevitably, a bird or other creature will flush from the foliage and the mule will, only then, resume the ride.
Our friend, the late Judge Jeff Merrill, who famously kept reptiles and rodents in his chambers, was fascinated by the mules.
When people would ask why we had mules, Jeff would tell them that we breed them.
Since mules are a cross between a donkey and a horse, two different species whose chromosomes don’t match, they are sterile.
The other interesting feature about mules is the incredible endurance they possess.
One of our friends won a fifty mile endurance race by almost an hour because her mule didn’t need to stop and rest at the same frequency as the horses.
There are number of classification in mules that depend on what type of horse the donkey is bred with.
We have had all three. Franklin is a thoroughbred cross and possesses some of the characteristics of a thoroughbred race horse, hot blooded, high-spirited, agile and fast.
One spring day, we were in the Craftsman Inn when the Kentucky Derby came on. As the winner galloped to the finish line, I remarked, “Franklin could have won that.” A guy at the bar asked, “Who is Franklin?” “My wife’s mule,” I answered. He looked at me like I was out of a psychiatric center on a day pass. If he only knew.
The other characteristic franklin possesses is that he is very dominant. In fact, it would be fair to say that he is the king of the barn, something he lords over the other mules.
I’ll get to them next week.
v