The mule and hinny are excellent pack animals, distinguished by their strong constitution and endurance. In Asian countries, both crossbreeds are widely used for transporting goods and working in the fields, and in the United States there is even an association of mule breeders.

A mule is a donkey of horse blood, obtained by crossing a mare and a donkey. Its appearance is more reminiscent of a horse - both in size and build. However, the head with long ears, hair, voice and shape of the hooves, as well as the position of the hips, betray the blood of a donkey in him.

There are two exterior types:

1. Harness.
2. Pack.

A draft mule can be up to 160 cm tall at the withers and weigh about 500 - 600 kg. The pack subtype is slightly smaller - about 120 - 140 cm at the withers and up to 400 kg. The keeping of mules and their diet are no different from those of horses.

The donkey and the horse produced a cross that was unique in its performance, and the low price made these animals so popular in Asia, Africa and India.

All males are castrated at one year of age, although most are not capable of breeding. Females also rarely bear offspring. There are only a few known cases where a female gave birth to healthy foals from stallions.

The lifespan of a mule is up to 50 years, and it remains functional for up to 40 years. They are distinguished by their meek disposition, intelligence, affection for their owner and courage. Another distinctive feature is the comfort and softness of the step. It is convenient to travel on animals even over very long distances, and the rider will not feel tired from the road.

Hinny

The donkey and the horse produced another successful cross - a hinny. However, unlike a mule, a hinny is born from a donkey and a stallion. In appearance, the hinny is more reminiscent of a donkey - he inherited only his large stature from the stallion. It is less hardy than the mule, so it is bred much less frequently. However, in past centuries in Europe, hinnies were used everywhere - for transporting goods, people, and for working in the fields. In Italy alone at the beginning of the last century there were up to 2 million of these animals!

The height of a hinny directly depends on the size of the donkey and varies from 60 to 150 cm at the withers.

Males are almost always castrated; although they are naturally sterile, they may show interest in females. Female hinnies are also infertile. Another reason for the rarity of hinnies is the difficulty of mating. A donkey and a horse have different numbers of chromosomes: 62 and 64 respectively.

It is easier to create a horse-donkey hybrid if the male has fewer chromosomes than the female.

Use of animals

Both crossbreeds are most often used as pack and working animals, but their activities are not limited to this.

In some countries, mules are also used in classical sports - dressage, driving, and various shows. Their submissive nature made these animals very popular for side-saddle riding, as well as for children's sports. In the USA, endurance competitions among mules are very popular - the animals must overcome a certain distance with the maximum possible load. Not only strength is taken into account, but also appearance, correctness of appearance, and obedience.

Crossbreeds of donkeys and horses have also begun to be actively used in equestrian tourism. Strong hooves and endurance, fearlessness, all-terrain ability and ease of riding play an important role in this increasingly popular equestrian discipline.

A hinny is a hybrid cross between a stallion and a donkey.

In appearance, a hinny is not much different from an ordinary donkey, only with a head with shorter ears, but the ears of a hybrid are still longer than those of a horse.

These hybrids are bred in Asian and Mediterranean countries. But hinnies are inferior in endurance and hard work to mules, so these hybrids are less common.

Hinnies can have different sizes. This is due to the fact that donkeys can be of different sizes and reach a height of 61-152 centimeters. The height of a hinny does not exceed the height of a large donkey. On the contrary, the size of a mule depends on the height of the horse.

Where are hinnies bred?

Previously, hinnies were used as working animals by the poor, especially in Italy and Spain. Also, hinnies were bred in America. In the 1930s, there were more than 2.5 million hinnies on the Iberian Peninsula.

In China, large Shandong donkeys and stallions are crossed, and as a result, large hinnies are born, they are stronger than Chinese mules. It is in China that hinnies are of economic importance, but in other countries they are practically not used for this purpose.
Work on crossing hinnies

It is difficult to breed hinnies, since the original breeds have differences in the number of chromosomes: horses have 64, and donkeys have 62. Hybrids of these two species produce 63 chromosomes. Hinnies are sterile and are not capable of producing offspring, this is due to the odd number of chromosomes.

Horse hybrids are easier to obtain because when the male has fewer chromosomes, the crossing process is easier. This is why selective breeding hinnies are less likely to be successful compared to mules. Male hinnies are always sterile, but some females are still capable of reproduction. Horses can mate, but the offspring are sterile.

Female mules are capable of occasionally siring offspring from donkeys and stallions, but this occurs only in rare cases. Only 6 such cases have occurred worldwide since 1527. And the female hinny gave birth only once, at least this is a recorded fact. This happened in 1981 in China. A female hinny gave birth to a baby from a donkey. Outwardly, he looked like a donkey and a mule.

Male hinnies are most often castrated because this makes it easier to control their behavior.

Hinnies are less successful hybrids compared to mules, and therefore they have practically ceased to be bred. But there are also other reasons for the rarity of these hybrids: females are more picky in choosing partners than males. Females often refuse to mate with partners of another species.

19.07.2016

By experimentally crossing a mare and a donkey, a new subspecies of animals was obtained - the mule. The name comes from an ancient language, when the term “mule” was used to denote any animals now called hybrids. Many people confuse a mule with an animal that is the result of crossing a donkey and a horse, namely a hinny.

Today, mules can be seen in equestrian sports; they often take an active part in races. In addition, breeding mules is much easier than breeding hinnies. All this is explained by the fact that males, both mules and hinnies, are infertile, since these animals have a different number of chromosomes, donkeys have 62, and horses have 64 chromosomes.

Appearance of a mule

The main feature of a mule in its external characteristics is the presence of all the characteristics from both parents. Such an animal, as a rule, takes its head and limbs from a donkey. From horses, mules inherited a curved noble neck. The unique fact is that even a mule bred from a horse will have such a neck. The hairline is of a mixed type; the animals also inherited a hard and thick mane, tail and bangs from the ancestors of horses.

But as for the color, everything depends on nature, since a mule can take on either the color of a donkey. If a horse was involved in the mating with a donkey, the resulting mule will not take exclusively the pegasus coloring of the mother. It is impossible to predict the dimensions and dimensions of a mule in advance, since they can be anything. Small mules can be up to 90 cm tall, but there are larger ones.

The exterior of a mule is also difficult to predict, since it may be based on prerequisites from both parents. In practice, it has been established that mules are born slightly taller from their sires. The animals are early maturing, as by the age of two they begin to be tamed to work.

Character and disposition

To the delight of many animal lovers, mules do not inherit the stubbornness and inflexibility of donkeys. In fact, they are flexible, just like horses. At first glance, a mule may appear to be a lazy animal. In fact, these animals take a responsible approach to their safety, protecting themselves from dangers. While horses are characterized by endless performance and can work until they lose their last strength, mules do not have such character traits. In rare cases, these animals show persistence, but there are a number of good reasons for this.

The reason for such behavior may be aggression and cruelty on the part of the owner, which mules do not accept towards themselves. If the owner shows care and love for him, he will obediently do everything his owner wants, but only what he can do.

The mother mare gifted her offspring with speed of movement, as well as size. Donkeys endowed their hybrid offspring with endurance, as well as endless working capacity.

How did mules come about?

The first appearance of mules was recorded in America; the progenitor of this idea and the appearance of new unique animals was George Washington. It was under his leadership that specialists began to cross donkeys with mares, after which mules began to be widely used in all work as pack animals. The first mules immediately demonstrated that they were much tougher than horses and also showed greater restraint and calmness.

Unfortunately, these animals have also disappointed people because they are unable to reproduce naturally. But science and medicine do not stand still, so mules began to be cloned. In 2003, the first mule clone appeared at the University of Idaho and was given the nickname Idaho Jim.

The conditions for keeping mules are almost identical to the conditions for keeping horses. Over time, mule breeding became popular in the countries of North and South America, Asia, Africa and southern Europe. Historical records say that large mules were bred in Medieval Europe for jousting. Such animals could withstand a knight in heavy armor on horseback for a long time.

In addition to chivalry, mules were widely used in horse riding, with the nobility and clergy riding the best specimens. And Christopher Columbus, famous in American history, bred mules through his efforts in 1495 on the open continent. He also brought mules some time later to Mexico, to the shores of modern Cuba. Since then, females became riding animals, while males carried heavy loads.

These animals became key in silver mining; at that time, the Spanish Empire had a huge number of mules. But Catalonia and Andalusia rightfully became the center of development and breeding of mules. Animals were exported until 1813, and a black mule given to George Washington in 1785 became the ancestor of mules in America.

Why are mules infertile?

The well-established fact that mules are infertile animals, unable to breed offspring, has been proven both by practice and science. And, despite this, man argues with nature with all his might and creates a unique animal with his own strength. There are many reasons, for example, mules live up to 60 years and are many times more resilient and stronger than horses.

History has recorded isolated cases when a mule gave birth to offspring. In general, all hybrid creatures are not capable of producing offspring, this is also recorded by science. And the reason for this is the different number of chromosomes, as mentioned earlier. If the father of the donkey can boast of only 62 chromosomes, then the mother of the mare has 64. According to biology, in order to procreate, an individual must have a clear number of chromosomes that make up paired sets. And a mule has 63 of them, so the unpaired number has become the main stumbling block to fruiting. But thanks to the efforts of scientists, mules began to be cloned en masse since 2003, so currently there are more than 11 million individuals around the world.

Use of mules

Already at the age of three, mules begin to be tamed to work. But the individual will be ready for hard work only starting at 4 years old. It is very important to feed the animal only the best food and according to the recommendations of veterinarians. Since ancient times, mules have been worth their weight in gold, since they are much more resilient than horses, calm and demonstrate enormous efficiency indicators.

To understand, one pack mule with a load of 130 kg covers about 5 km in an hour without rest or stops. If you saddle such an animal, it will cover about 8 km in an hour. Mules can become indispensable for transport in mountainous areas and adverse weather conditions. In addition, a mule differs from a horse in that it absolutely does not need forging.

Mules made an invaluable contribution to agriculture in the Cotton Belt. Through their efforts, military units transported weapons and also carried away the wounded from the battlefield. The only weak point comparable to a horse is its inability to overcome great heights. It has been proven that any hybrid creature clearly exhibits the release of vital energy.

Mules today

Unfortunately, modernity has lost the need and popularity of animals such as mules. Many people do not even realize how invaluable hybrid animals are in science and human life. Due to the fact that manual labor was replaced by machine labor, innovative technologies made life and work easier for mankind, the need and importance of mules fell sharply.

The number of animals shows disappointing statistics - the number of livestock is declining. Since there is no economic need for mules today, it is rare to find private and public factories engaged in breeding mules.

There is a very famous saying: “Sons are not responsible for their fathers when they are... donkeys.” That's right, these are mules...

Guess the riddle: has long ears, not a donkey, with a ponytail, not a horse at all, lives 60 years, is not exposed to disease at all and does the work of two. Who is this? That's right, it's a mule - a hybrid of a horse and a donkey.

It is almost impossible to count mules around the world. Mules are not breeding animals, they are just used for their intended purpose. There are no stud books for them. Only in China did they bother to count all the “workaholics” with long ears. The resulting figure was eleven million. The age of the mule cannot end until there are horses and donkeys on the planet.

Home of the mule

Many people believe that a mule (animal) is an interesting exotic thing that we only learn about from books. However, countries such as North Africa, China, Asia, and southern Europe have well-developed mule breeding. There are more hybrid animals in these areas than horses, and they are valued for their tremendous hard work and ease of maintenance. These artiodactyls are endowed with the strength of a donkey and the height of a horse.

Mules are the most common practical hybrids for agricultural purposes, the product of a donkey and a horse. They were first mentioned in the history of Mesopotamia 2000 years ago BC. In Asia, Iran and Transcaucasia, exotic animals existed even earlier.

The mule quickly gained wide popularity in Egypt, Rome, and Greece. The price of an animal in ancient Hettia was 65 shekels, and for the best horse they paid only 25 shekels.

The origin of mules was accidental, but people noticed that hybrids were much superior to their parents, and began to breed them. The center where these wonderful creatures are produced is considered to be Catalonia and Andalusia, which are located on the Iberian Peninsula.

Mule - a hybrid of a horse and a donkey

During hybridization, animals of different species mate. The result is descendants that have a name - interspecific hybrids. This method is becoming increasingly widespread. The most successful cross in human history was the crossing of a donkey with a horse, which resulted in the mule.

Mule - a donkey and a horse, which was first obtained by people in the distant past. In terms of its life expectancy, it is much ahead of donkeys and horses, and at the moment it is a wonderful working animal, distinguished by its unpretentiousness. The mule is the most famous interspecific hybrid in the animal world for its vitality. It turned out by crossing two completely different biological species.

This type of crossbreeding does not occur in the wild. People themselves deliberately gave birth to a mule for their own needs, and they were not mistaken in receiving such an interesting and valuable assistant.

External signs of parental couples

In general, mules resemble both parents. Height depends on the height of the horse and ranges from 125 to 165 cm at the withers; animals often surpass their parents in height. There are miniature mules up to one meter at the withers.

The head and neck resemble those of a donkey. Mules have long ears, like “daddy’s” ears. A large head, a convex forehead, a crew-cut mane, and a rather short, straight neck are characteristic features of a mule. His body resembles a horse. Straight back, withers higher than a donkey's, but short and low. The croup is slightly wider and longer, shorter than that of a horse. The tail of a mule is very similar to a tail. It is short in length, the base is covered with less short hair than the rest of it.

A mule is an animal that has inherited all the color of a horse, adding some colors characteristic of donkeys. Sometimes there are unique variations. Only the pure horse color “Pinto” has never been seen in mules.

The mule's voice also has its own characteristics; at first you hear a neigh, like a horse's, and at the end - a donkey's "ey-ey". Gestation is also “hybrid”: the gestation period for a foal is 11 months, for a donkey - 12 months, and for a mule - something in between - 11.5 months.

Why don't mules have offspring?

Mules are infertile animals and are not endowed with the ability to give birth to their children. Why does a person have such a desire to have such an inferior hybrid? There is only one reason: the mule is endowed with many other important advantages.

The expression “when the mule gives birth” is very similar in meaning to “when the crayfish whistles.” There are only a few known cases of births where a mule gave birth. The last time this was recorded was in 2002 in Morocco.

All interspecific hybrids from the equine family are sterile, including mules. The cause of infertility is the chromosome set. A horse has 32 pairs, a donkey has 31 pairs of chromosomes. As a result, the mule gets 63 chromosomes, an unpaired number that cannot be divided into pairs. This is the main cause of infertility in a mule, since it cannot produce mature sex cells.

Scientists have learned to clone mules. In 2003, a clone mule, whose name was Idaho Jim, saw the light of day for the first time.

Use of mules

Mules are loaded with feasible labor, starting from the age of three. It is permissible to engage in heavy work from the age of four. At the same time, you need to feed them with complete food.

Pack mules, carrying a 130-kilogram pack, walk about five kilometers at a pace in one hour. Under the rider they can travel 7-8 km per hour. Such transport is indispensable when there is a need to travel along mountain paths in any weather. The benefit is that the mule does not require shoeing.

Mules were considered the most indispensable animal workers in the agricultural cotton belt. They were used to transport military equipment and were used to take the wounded from the battlefield.

There is only one thing in which a mule cannot compete with a horse, the value of which is undeniable, and that is overcoming heights.

The whole secret of vitality lies in hybrid origin. When different breeds are taken for crossing, the release of vital energy to the outside is clearly manifested. And the further the paternal couples are related, the stronger this phenomenon will affect. A striking example is the mule, so unusual and cute.

Mule behavior

The mule is no different from stubbornness. At first glance, he seems to be lazy, which is not true. This is how his concern for his safety is demonstrated. A horse works until he drops, a mule never does that. If he is stubborn, it means that something does not suit him.

Mules will never allow themselves to be mistreated. They show patience towards their owners. The orders they receive are always carried out if they are able to do so. When training a mule, you will need a lot of patience and gentle handling. If you offend him with something, he will remember his offender for a very long time and will take revenge at the right moment.

Mule: meaning in the modern world

In the modern world, representatives of this species have lost their popularity.

Despite the fact that mules are valuable hybrids bred by people, today their numbers are beginning to decline significantly, and there is almost no economic need for them.

Mule

a cross between a mare and a donkey. In terms of appearance, M. is something between a horse and a donkey; almost equal in size to a horse and similar in build, but differs in the shape of the head, hips and hooves, the length of the ears and short hair at the root of the tail; similar in coat color to the mother; donkey voice Hinny, a cross between a stallion and a donkey, smaller in stature, with long ears; in the shape of the hips, the structure of the tail and the voice it is close to a horse. Almost exclusively M. are bred. Their advantages lie in great endurance, undemanding nature, strength, and sure step, which makes M. precious pack animals, as well as riding animals in mountainous countries. A good pack M. can carry up to 150 kg, walking 20 - 28 km per day. In some places, M. are also used in harness. M. are especially important in the South. America. Due to the aversion that horses and donkeys (and especially the former) show towards each other, crossing requires special tricks. During pregnancy, mares and donkeys require careful care, as miscarriages often occur. Pregnancy lasts slightly longer than normal. M.'s growth occurs more slowly and only M. who have reached 4 years of age are allowed to work, but they retain strength for a long time (up to 20, 30, even 40 years). For the most part, M. are not capable of reproduction, but there are cases when M. gave birth, even several times, to foals from stallions. M. inherits from the mother of the mare most of the strength, height and speed, and from the father he inherits endurance in the heat and sun, the special structure of some parts of the exterior and durability. M.'s height varies from 22 to 34 vertices, corresponding in the latter case to the size of an average working horse. Weight from 550 to 1000 lbs. The average speed is 0.75 m per second at a walk and 3 m at a trot, the driving force is 45 - 55 kg (for a horse, 1 m, 4 m, and 65 kg, respectively). In terms of unpretentiousness to food, M. is superior to a horse; During work, M. eats only coarse hay and grass, and in the summer months he is content only with pasture on meager, sun-scorched pastures. It is obvious that his high digestive energy is the same as that of a donkey. In terms of exterior features, it is also closer to the latter. An arched back, a drooping rump, strong limbs with narrow, strong hooves make up its distinctive features. Due to their firm gait, they indicate a highly developed pack ability. M.'s gaits are extremely unique. His step is very spacious (the back leg often steps over the tracks of the front leg), the pace is slow. With this gait, M. walks freely under packs, even with large climbs, up to 5 1/2 km, and on flat terrain up to 6 km. A horse of the same height can travel no more than 5 km, becoming more tired than M. Thanks to the straight shoulder and short, straight-set pasterns, the mule trot has no elasticity and is very inconvenient for riders, also because M., with such a gait, minces with his legs and jumps up strongly. But M.'s worst gait is the gallop. With it, the ear does not distinguish between the three beats that characterize the productive gallop of a horse. Only two are heard, and the two front ones alternately fall to the ground at once and both the rear ones almost simultaneously, and the whole body experiences vibrations, like the yoke of a scale. In the mountainous regions of southern Europe it is mainly used for packing. It is believed that M. with a load equal to half his live weight can work up to 8 hours a day, which gives an average of up to 4,000,000 kilograms of work, which under these conditions can only be obtained from the largest horse. It is also used with great success for transporting goods in two-wheeled carts, where, thanks to the peculiarities of the harness, most of the load falls, after all, on the back of the animal. In Spain they transport mountain artillery; in Rome and Madrid they transport trams and stagecoaches and are often harnessed to a plow. M. are most common in Spain (approx. 7,000,000), France and Italy (over 300,000); in other Western countries. Europe numbers only tens of thousands. Over the past 20 years, M. has spread especially strongly in America. The first place in height and strength belongs to M., bred in France in dpt. Poitou. Stud donkeys are purchased in the vicinity of Melle and in the Cirvay district; they are distinguished by their size and compact build. When choosing a mule-breeding mare, you need to keep in mind that she, with her exterior features, should correct the shortcomings of the donkey’s physique. In France, mares of the Percheron, Boulogne and Flemish breeds fully satisfy this requirement. The resulting M. are very famous for their height (34 rotations) and strength, and are suitable for transporting heavy loads. Spanish M. are of average height, lighter than French ones, have a high speed, borrowed from their mothers, and can serve as representatives of carriage-drawn M. Finally, M., bred in the mountainous regions of France, Southern Italy, as well as Greece and Turkey, are bred from small donkeys and simple mares; They are lightly built and can only serve as a pack.

N. Book and G.K.

Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron. - S.-Pb.: Brockhaus-Efron. 1890-1907 .

Synonyms:

See what "Mule" is in other dictionaries:

Mule, ah... Russian word stress

mule- a mule, and... Russian spelling dictionary

mule- mule/… Morphemic-spelling dictionary

Hybrid origin ... Wikipedia

- (lat. mulus). A domestic animal that is a cross between a horse and a donkey. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. MULE domestic animal, a cross between a donkey and a horse. A complete dictionary of foreign words included in... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

A; m. [lat. mulus] Domestic animal, a cross between a donkey and a mare. Pack m. Harness the mule to the cart. Ride a mule. ◁ Mulitsa, s; and. * * * A mule is a hybrid of a horse (mare) and a donkey (male). Typically infertile. Very hardy. Used for work in... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary

MULE, mula, husband. (lat. mulus). A domestic animal, a cross between a donkey and a mare, sometimes (incorrectly) the same as a hinny. “Here is a pack mule walking in steps.” Nekrasov. Ushakov's explanatory dictionary. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

mule- Mule. mule (from Latin mulus), domestic animal, a hybrid of a horse (mare) and a donkey (male). From the mare it inherits body size and the ability to move quickly, from the donkey it inherits endurance and exceptional performance. Long-lasting (live up to 40 years)… Agriculture. Large encyclopedic dictionary

MULE, huh, husband. A domestic animal, a cross between a donkey and a mare. | adj. muliy, ya, ye. Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

Mulek, mulk, mulk, mulk, mulk, mulk, mulek, mulk, mulk, mulk, mulk, mulk (