my father thought there was nothing better than a good team of mules. My son has several saddle horses and in the last few years he has raised two mules.If he was working them I could understand this but he is riding the mules. I rode dad's mules a few times and this is not fun. When going down hill you are around their ears and when going up hill you are on their hips trying to hang on to keep from falling off.
The other day one of the mules threw my son off and the fall didn't bother him at all, it was hitting the ground which hurt. My son has a mule for sale . He is 18 hands tall .A hand (or handbreadth) is a unit of length measurement, usually based on the breadth of a male human hand and thus around 4 inches long (i.e., about 10 cm).
Today it is only used for the height of horses in the United States and the United Kingdom. In this context, one hand equals four inches (exactly 10.16 cm). The horse is measured from the ground to the top of the withers. So a horse that is 15 hands high (abbreviated 15 hh) is 60 inches (152.4 cm) from the ground to the top of the withers. Instead of decimal or vulgar fractions, three inch-long steps are being used between the hands, so a horse 62 inches (157.48 cm) tall would be 15.2 hh (said “fifteen two hands high”). A Pony is less than 14.2 hh.
4 comments:
George Washington liked mules. He raised the first ones in our
country.
George Washington introduced the mule to American agriculture. The mule is the result of crossbreeding a male donkey and a female horse. Mules are stronger and easier to care for than horses, and Washington was convinced they made better draft animals. Shortly after the Revolutionary War, he received an Andalusian donkey named "Royal Gift," as a present from the King of Spain. "Royal Gift," and a later donkey named "Knight of Malta" were used to breed mules for work on the plantation. By 1799, there were 57 mules at Mount Vernon. Washington hoped to eventually "secure a race of extraordinary goodness," with which to supply the entire nation.
Nice looking mules in that photo! Mules are tough and smart...sometimes a lot smarter than the person handling them. They take much better care of themselves than horses do and are less likely to get sick. Hope your son didn't bruise anything more than his pride! ;) Carmon
Patsy you are so interesting! When it comes to measuring a mule, I would be getting out the yard stick or sewing tape! LOL!
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