The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-01-04
werkins, conslisiSa. }fssssetioii. ans'
n,svsno Mules.

Most persons when. they see gooo, an;
slick mule are apt to exelatin, nat t,ns
n,ule there IL :" He takes 1t for granted ttfe
because the animal Is fat, tall, and heaYy, ne
rn,,st be a good work animal. ms, now
ever Ia no criterion to judge by. a NIUE, W
he In rood condition for work, should Iiefe,1
he any latter than what Is known as soo.l
working condition. One OF fourteen ahu =
half hands high, to be in good working con,
Jit;on should not weigh over nine I.lnaiet
and fiffy poupds. One of fifteen handS hlSn
sbo,sId not weigh over one thousand Poun !'l.
IF he does, his legs will in very SNORT Illl,e
Give ont. and he will have to 60 TO the nos.
nnital Ia working mule with 100 HUH
flesh. II will produce curbs, spawn, rinspunes
ror crooked hooks. The muscles anu teiluons
Of their small legs are not capable OF ea,fy-
inc heavy weight of body for any icngth Oh
time He NAV not, as / have sald before,
show his blemishes in lameness, but II IS oniF
because he lacks that fine feeling common TO
have, singular as it may seem, known
mules that have been spawned, ctlrbed, anu
ringboned, and yet have been worked 1or
wears without exhibiting lameness.
Avoid spotted or dappled mules; they are
the very poorest animals you can get. Inc!
cannot stand hard work, and once lney eet
diseased and begin to lose strength, tnere Is
no saving them. The Mcxicans call them
pintos. or painted mules. We call them caiico
Arabians, or Chickasaws. They have genel'
ally bad eyes, which get very sore during Inc
heat and dust of summer, when many OF
them 20 blind. Many Of the snow-Whlte
mules are of the same description, ana ABOUT
as useless. Mules with the white muzzie, OF,
as some of them term it, whlte-norc "hlte,
and with white rings round the eyes, are ca also
of but little account rs work mules. lhcs
can stand no hardship OF any KIND. Govern
ment, at least, should not purchase them; In
purchasing mules, you must look wen 10
the age, form, height, eyes, size OF bone ana
muscle. and Dispositions; for these are Of
more importance than his color. Get these
right and you will have good animal. =, .
IF anv gentleman wants to purchase mule
for the saddle, let him get one bred closer
after the mare than the jack. They are more
docile. handle easier, and are more tractaDle,
and will do what YOU want with less trouble
than the other. If possible, also, get mare
mules; they are much more safe ana trusGy
under the saddle, and less liable to get stub
born. They are also better than a horse
mule for team purposes. In short, If were
purchasing mules for myself, would give at
least fifteen dollars more for mare mules than
would for horse. They are superior to the
horse mule in every way. One reason Is tllat
they possess all their natural faculties, Winnie
YOU deprive the horse Of his by altering.
The most disagreeable and unmanagcable,
and was going to say useless, animal III the
world Is stud mule. They are no bcnent
to anybody, and yet they are more trouble
some than any other animal Iley rarely
ever get fat, and are always trettlnS; ana II
is next to impossible to keep them from
breaking loose and getting at mares. BESIDES,
they arc exceedingly dangerous to have
amongst horses. They will frequently fly at
the horse, like tiger, and bite, tear, ana
kick him to pieces. ! have known them to
shut their eyes, become furious, ana dasll
over both man and beast to get at u mare. IL
is curious, also, that white mare seems 70
have the greatest attraction for them. L have
known Il stud mule to take fancy to white
mare, and it seemed impossible to keep him
away from her. Mules Of all kinds, however,
seem to have peculiar fancy for white mares
and horses, and when this attachment is once
formed, it is almost impossible to separate
them. If YOU want to drive herd OF five
hundred mules any distance, turn white or
gray mare in among them for two or three
DAYS, and they will become so attached to
her that you may turn them out, and they
will follow her anywhere. Just let man
lead the mare, and with two men mounted
you can manage the whole herd almost as
well as if they were in Il team. Another
way to lead mules is to put bell Oh the
mares neck The mules will listen for that
bell like lot Of school children, and will
c,tln,,- TO t;pl,1ipC with tbp Sn1up in stincf.
Another curious thing about the mule is
this: You may hitch up to-day for the hrst
time, and he may become sullcn and refuse
to 90 step for you. This may bc very pro-
roking, and perhaps excite your temper; but
do not let it, for, ten chances to one, if you
take him out Of the harness to-day aud put
him in again tomorrow, that he will so right
off, and do anything you want him. 1t is
best always to get young mule well used to
the harness before you try to work him in q
team. When you get him 50 that he is not
afraid of the harness, you may consider your
mule two-thirdS broke.
have seen it asserted that q team ofmules
was more easily handled than team Of
horses. 1t is impossible that this can be so,
for the reason that you never can make a
mule as bridlc-wise as horse. To further
prove that this cannot he so, let any reins-
man put us many mules together rs there are
horses in the "band wagon" Of show OF
circus, and see what he can do with them.
There is not n driver living who can rein
them with the same safety that he can a
horse, and for the very reason that whenever
the mule finds that he has the advantage of
you, he will keep it in spite Of all you can do.
american Stock Journal.