Other Critters page 2

Lucy

Lucy is a tiny miniature mule.
She was born in April 2005.
She measured 24" at 6 months.
At five years of age, Lucy was 27" tall.
The smallest mule in the Guinness Book of World Records was 26" tall.

A MULE is a cross between a donkey stallion,
(called a jack) and a horse mare.

A male mule is called a JOHN.
A female mule is called a MOLLY.
A mule is a sterile hybrid, meaning it cannot reproduce.

A mule combines the traits of its horse dam and its donkey sire
to create a new animal with its own distinctive characteristics.

EARS: Mules' ears are like the donkeys, only not quite as long.

HEAD: A mule's head is larger than a horse of comparable size.

MANE: Mules have coarse mane hair and it is generally clipped
            or roached (shaved).

TAIL: The donkey has a short tail with a tuft at the end of it.
          Its tail is covered with short coarse hair. The horse has a
          long, thick, flowing tail. The mule inherited the horse's tail,
          but the hair is coarse like the donkeys.

FEET: Mules have feet more like the donkey.

COAT: Mules have a fine coat in the summer like a horse, but a
           coarse coat in the winter like a donkey.

COLOR: Mules can be any of the colors that horses and donkeys
come in, including pinto and appaloosa.

VOICE: Mules have a unique sound that is described as a cross
between a donkey's bray and a horse's whinny.

LONGEVITY: Mules may live between 30 - 50 years.

INTELLIGENCE: Mules are very intelligent.

SIZE: Miniature Mules - Class A - under 38" - Class B - under 48"
up to Mammoth Draft Mules - 17 hands high.

USES: Mules can be used exactly the same way as horses - under
saddle and in harness. They are excellent jumpers and very
sure footed.

In August 2009, amid hugs and tears, we said our sad good-byes to our loveable little "Lucy". We know that she is going to get all the love and attention that she deserves at her new home in Stony Plain, Alberta. We also know, that her new owners, Ken, Karen, Brett and Taylor Winfield, will love her has much as we did.