By Donna Campbell Smith, February 2008
Companion
The mule is making a comeback in North Carolina and across the country. The 1996 Equine Survey reported 1,700 mules in the state with a value of $1.7 million. Most are companion or pleasure animals, some are used in the tourist trade, and a few are back on the farm.
The mule’s intelligence and sense of self-preservation has earned it the unjust reputation of being stubborn. Not so, mule fanciers are quick to tell you. It’s just a mule is too smart to do something out of blind obedience if they see that the action is not in their best interest. Trail riders and packers have learned to trust the mule’s uncanny ability to sense danger, and they appreciate their surefootedness and sense of balance on the trail.
Are mules better than horses? It all depends on whom you ask. Many mule owners confess that mules are not for everyone. Shannon Hoffman has three mules and is on the board of directors for the Carolina Mule Association (www.carolinamuleassoc.com or 919-269-3561). She showed horses as a child and then Quarter Horses on a national level before getting into mules about eight years ago. She says, “Mules made me question everything I thought I knew about horses for a long time. I am still learning from them and about them.” Shannon drives, rides and packs with her mules, Lucky Number Seven, Shiloh, and Sadie Mae. Of mules and their owners Shannon says, “The people who get along with mules are the salt of the earth type with very little ego.” She says of the mules, “It seems as soon as you want to show off, and have a crowd watching, the mule will playfully make a fool of you every time!”
James Lamm of Wake Forest has a mule that is fast becoming famous. Rocky was named America’s Ultimate Horse Idol at the national contest held in Richmond last October by doing a five-minute routine including some pretty difficult tricks. The contest organizers did not expect a mule to enter, much less win the title, leading them to rename the contest America’s Ultimate Equine Partner.
Rocky’s repertoire includes making funny faces, fetching, pulling the family dog around in a cart, rolling a barrel around, and standing on a small pedestal. Rocky demonstrates a mule’s uncanny surefootedness by walking onto a teeter-totter bridge, then placing his feet carefully until the bridge is perfectly balanced. For a grand finale Rocky jumps into the bed of James’s pickup truck.
Mule shows are held throughout the state, with every event common to horse shows. One event unique to mule shows is coon jumping. This is a contest rooted in the old southern tradition of hunting raccoon for its fur. Hunters used their mules to pack the pelts out of the forest. The need to cross fences in the chase behind hounds was no problem, since a mule can easily jump a fence as high as its own back from a standstill. But a wire fence was tricky, because if the mule did not clear it he could get a nasty cut. To protect his mule, the hunter simply threw his jacket over the wire fence, and then gave the cue for the mule to jump. The hunter then retrieved his coat and climbed across, too.
Human nature being what it is, there was soon a contest of whose mule could jump higher. Today, mules that never met a coonhound or a raccoon are competing for championship ribbons by jumping hurdles inside show arenas.
Not to give the impression that mule ownership is only about fun and games in North Carolina, there are some who still put the mule to the plow. Farming with mules in North Carolina is mostly done for the sake of nostalgia. Historic farm parks often keep mules and demonstrate how they were used in the old days. Whatever their purpose, you no longer have to look hard to find mules in the Tar Heel State.
Donna Campbell Smith writes from her home in Franklin County. She has a degree in equine technology and is a certified riding instructor. Her latest project, “The Book of Mules: Selecting, Breeding, and Caring for Equine Hybrids” will be released by The Lyons Press in 2008. Visit her Web site at www.donnacampbellsmith.com
| top |