Misplaced Pages

#683316

35-426: The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse . It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare ). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes ; of the two possible first-generation hybrids between them, the mule is easier to obtain and more common than the hinny , which is the offspring of a male horse (a stallion ) and

70-445: A female donkey (a jenny ). Mules vary widely in size, and may be of any color seen in horses or donkeys. They are more patient, hardier and longer-lived than horses, and are perceived as less obstinate and more intelligent than donkeys. A female mule that has oestrus cycles, and so could, in theory, carry a fetus, is called a "molly" or "Molly mule", although the term is sometimes used to refer to female mules in general. A male mule

105-426: A mare every year. In addition, many mares are kept for riding and so are not bred annually, as a mare in late pregnancy or nursing a foal is not able to perform at as athletic a standard as one who is neither pregnant nor lactating . In addition, some mares become anxious when separated from their foals, even temporarily, and thus are difficult to manage under saddle until their foals are weaned . The formation of

140-404: A mare is defined as a female horse more than four years old. The word can also be used for other female equine animals, particularly mules and zebras , but a female donkey is usually called a "jenny". A broodmare is a mare used for breeding. Mares carry their young (called foals ) for approximately 11 months from conception to birth. (Average range 320–370 days.) Usually just one young

175-499: A mule foal cloned by nuclear transfer of cells from foetal material, was born at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho . Neither an equid nor a hybrid animal had been cloned before. In general terms, in both the mule and the hinny, the foreparts and head of the animal are similar to those of the father sire , while the hindparts and tail tend to resemble those of the dam . A mule

210-403: A mule's giving birth was a frequently recorded portent in antiquity, although scientific writers also doubted whether it was really possible (see e.g. Aristotle , Historia animalium , 6.24; Varro , De re rustica , 2.1.28). Between 1527 and 2002, approximately sixty such births were reported. In Morocco in early 2002 and Colorado in 2007, mare mules produced colts. Blood and hair samples from

245-810: A rider. About 3.5 million donkeys and mules are slaughtered each year for meat worldwide. Mule trains have been part of working portions of transportation links as recently as 2005 by the World Food Programme , and are still used extensively to transport cargo in rugged, roadless regions. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports that China was the top market for mules in 2003, closely followed by Mexico and many Central and South American nations. Domestic animal Zooarchaeology has identified three classes of animal domesticates: Europe in different places in Asia Due to

280-780: A small percentage compete against male horses. However, a few fillies and mares have won classic horse races against colts, including the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, the Kentucky Derby , the Preakness Stakes , the Belmont Stakes , the Melbourne Cup and the Breeders' Cup Classic . Mares are used as dairy animals in some cultures, especially by the nomads and formerly nomadic peoples of Central Asia . Fermented mare's milk , known as kumis ,

315-468: A stallion, was bred to several mares, which gave birth to live foals that showed no characteristics of the donkey. In 1995, a group from the Federal University of Minas Gerais described a female mule that was pregnant for a seventh time, having previously produced two donkey sires, two foals with the typical 63 chromosomes of mules, and several horse stallions that had produced four foals. The three of

350-653: A time. Mules were used by armies to transport supplies, occasionally as mobile firing platforms for smaller cannons, and to pull heavier field guns with wheels over mountainous trails such as in Afghanistan during the Second Anglo-Afghan War . In the second half of the twentieth century, widespread use of mules declined in industrialised countries. The use of mules for farming and for transportation of agricultural products largely gave way to steam-, then diesel-powered, tractors and lorries. On 5 May 2003, Idaho Gem ,

385-410: Is born; twins are rare. When a domesticated mare foals, she nurses the foal for at least four to six months before it is weaned , though mares in the wild may allow a foal to nurse for up to a year. The estrous cycle , also known as "season" or "heat" of a mare occurs roughly every 19–22 days and occurs from early spring into autumn. As the days shorten, most mares enter an anestrus period during

SECTION 10

#1732856163684

420-519: Is generally larger than a hinny, with longer ears and a heavier head; the tail is usually covered with long hair like that of its mare mother. A mule has the thin limbs, small narrow hooves and short mane of the donkey, while its height, the shape of the neck and body, and the uniformity of its coat and teeth are more similar to those of the horse. Mules vary widely in size, from small miniature mules under 125 cm (50 in) to large and powerful draught mules standing up to 180 cm (70 in) at

455-737: Is properly called a "horse mule", although it is often called a "john mule", which is the correct term for a gelded mule. A young male mule is called a "mule colt", and a young female is called a "mule filly". Breeding of mules became possible only when the range of the domestic horse, which originated in Central Asia in about 3500 BC , extended into that of the domestic ass, which originated in north-eastern Africa. This overlap probably occurred in Anatolia and Mesopotamia in Western Asia, and mules were bred there before 1000 BC . A painting in

490-442: Is rare, but can occasionally occur naturally, as well as through embryo transfer . A few mare mules have produced offspring when mated with a horse or donkey stallion. Herodotus gives an account of such an event as an ill omen of Xerxes' invasion of Greece in 480 BC: "There happened also a portent of another kind while he was still at Sardis—a mule brought forth young and gave birth to a mule" (Herodotus The Histories 7:57), and

525-429: Is the field of endurance riding , which requires horses to be 60 true calendar months old (5 years) before competing at longer distances. Fillies are sexually mature by age two and are sometimes bred at that age, but generally should not be bred until they have stopped growing, usually by age four or five. A healthy, well-managed mare can produce a foal every year into her twenties, though not all breeders will breed

560-560: Is the national drink of Kyrgyzstan . Some mares, usually of draft horse breeding, are kept in North America for the production of their urine. Pregnant mares' urine is the source of the active ingredient in the hormonal drug Premarin (derived from Pre gnant ma res' u rin e). Until the invention of castration , and even later where there was less cultural acceptance of castration, mares were less difficult to manage than stallions and thus preferred for most ordinary work. Historically,

595-620: The Bedouin nomads of the Arabian Peninsula preferred mares on their raids, because stallions would nicker to the opposing camps' horses, whereas mares would be quiet. However, other cultures preferred male horses over mares either due to a desire for more aggressive behavior in a fighting animal, or to not be inconvenienced with a loss of work ability due to a mare's pregnancy, parturition and lactation . The word mare , meaning "female horse", took several forms before A.D. 900. In Old English

630-811: The Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal from the North Palace of Nineveh is a clear and detailed image of two mules loaded with nets for hunting. Homer noted their arrival in Asia Minor in the Iliad in 800 BC. Christopher Columbus allegedly brought mules to the New World. George Washington bred mules at his Mount Vernon home. At the time, they were not common in the United States, but Washington understood their value, as they were "more docile than donkeys and cheap to maintain." In

665-553: The Tomb of Nebamun at Thebes , dating from approximately 1350 BC , shows a chariot drawn by a pair of animals which have been variously identified as onagers , as mules or as hinnies. Mules were present in Israel and Judah in the time of King David . There are many representations of them in Mesopotamian works of art dating from the first millennium BC. Among the bas-reliefs depicting

700-427: The withers . The median weight range is between about 370 and 460 kg (820 and 1000 lb). The coat may be of any color seen in the horse or in the donkey. Mules usually display the light points commonly seen in donkeys: pale or mealy areas on the belly and the insides of the thighs, on the muzzle, and around the eyes. They often have primitive markings such as dorsal stripe, shoulder stripe or zebra stripes on

735-584: The Colorado birth verified that the mother was indeed a mule and the foal was indeed her offspring. A 1939 article in the Journal of Heredity describes two offspring of a fertile mare mule named "Old Bec," which was owned at the time by Texas A&M University in the late 1920s. One of the foals was a female, sired by a jack. Unlike her mother, she was sterile. The other, sired by a five-gaited Saddlebred stallion, exhibited no characteristics of any donkey. That horse,

SECTION 20

#1732856163684

770-474: The bond between a mare and her foal "occurs during the first few hours post-partum , but that of the foal to the mare takes place over a period of days". Mares are considered easier to handle than stallions . Some equestrians consider mares to be more difficult to handle than geldings. The results of a study by the Sydney School of Veterinary Science suggested that women riders have gendered assumptions about

805-851: The form was mīere , mere or mȳre , the feminine forms for mearh (horse). The Old German form of the word was Mähre . Similarly, in Irish and Gaelic , the word was marc , in Welsh , march , in Cornish "margh", and in Breton marc'h . The word is "said to be of Gaulish origin." It is said by some writers to derive from Proto-Germanic * marhijō ("female horse"), from Proto-Germanic marhaz ("horse"), from Proto-Indo-European * markos ("horse"). The word has no known cognates beyond Germanic and Celtic . However, an interesting hypothesis links these Indo-European words to Mongolian морь (mori, horse). In addition,

840-628: The harshest part of the year, a time when it would be most difficult for the foal to survive. However, for most competitive purposes, foals are given an official "birthday" of January 1 (August 1 in the Southern Hemisphere ), and many breeders want foals to be born as early in the year as possible. Therefore, many breeding farms begin to put mares "under lights" in late winter in order to bring them out of anestrus early and allow conception to occur in February or March. One exception to this general rule

875-483: The herd will move and to where. The herd stallion usually brings up the rear and acts as a defender of the herd against predators and other stallions. Mares are used in every equestrian sport and usually compete equally with stallions and geldings in most events, though some competitions may offer classes open only to one sex of horse or another, particularly in breeding or "in-hand" conformation classes. In horse racing , mares and fillies have their own races and only

910-401: The horse it inherits speed, conformation, and agility. Mules are reputed to exhibit a higher cognitive intelligence than their parent species, but robust scientific evidence to back up these claims is lacking. Preliminary data exist from at least two evidence-based studies, but they rely on a limited set of specialized cognitive tests and a small number of subjects . Mules are generally taller at

945-451: The latter available for testing each bore 64 horse-like chromosomes. These foals phenotypically resembled horses, though they bore markings absent from the sire's known lineages, and one had ears noticeably longer than those typical of her sire's breed. The elder two horse-like foals had proved fertile at the time of publication, with their progeny being typical of horses. While a few mules can carry live weight up to 160 kg (353 lb),

980-483: The legs. The mule exhibits hybrid vigor . Charles Darwin wrote: "The mule always appears to me a most surprising animal. That a hybrid should possess more reason, memory, obstinacy, social affection, powers of muscular endurance, and length of life, than either of its parents, seems to indicate that art has here outdone nature". The mule inherits from the donkey the traits of intelligence, sure-footedness, toughness, endurance, disposition, and natural cautiousness. From

1015-440: The nineteenth century, they were used in various capacities as draught animals – on farms, especially where clay made the soil slippery and sticky; pulling canal boats; and famously for pulling, often in teams of 20 or more animals, wagonloads of borax out of Death Valley , California from 1883 to 1889. The wagons were among the largest ever pulled by draught animals, designed to carry 10 short tons (9 metric tons) of borax ore at

1050-490: The point that they are regarded as distinct forms (therefore, no separate wild ancestors are noted) or would be unable to survive if reintroduced to the wild. The categories used in the Taxon group column are: Dam (horse) A mare is an adult female horse or other equine . In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing ,

1085-444: The shoulder than donkeys and have better endurance than horses, although a lower top speed. In the early twentieth century the mule was preferred to the horse as a pack animal – its skin is harder and less sensitive than that of a horse, and it is better able to bear heavy weights. A mule has 63 chromosomes , intermediate between the 64 of the horse and the 62 of the donkey. Mules are usually infertile for this reason. Pregnancy

Mule - Misplaced Pages Continue

1120-428: The somewhat unclear outlines of what precisely constitutes domestication , there are some species that may or may not be fully domesticated. There are also some species that are extensively commercially used by humans, but are not significantly altered from wild-type animals. Many animals on this second table are at least somewhat altered from wild-type animals due to their extensive interactions with humans, albeit not to

1155-459: The suitability of mares, geldings and stallions for different disciplines and for different riders and chose different and more negative descriptors for the behavior of mares. This is despite an absence of scientific data confirming the assumptions. This may be significant for the handling and welfare of mares. In wild herds, a "boss mare" or "lead mare" leads the band to grazing, to water, and away from danger. She eats and drinks first, decides when

1190-542: The superiority of the mule becomes apparent in their additional endurance. In general, a mule can be packed with dead weight up to 20% of its body weight, or around 90 kg (198 lb). Although it depends on the individual animal, mules trained by the Army of Pakistan are reported to be able to carry up to 72 kg (159 lb) and walk 26 km (16.2 mi) without resting. The average equine in general can carry up to roughly 30% of its body weight in live weight, such as

1225-401: The winter and thus do not cycle in this period. The reproductive cycle in a mare is controlled by the photoperiod (length of the day), the cycle first triggered when the days begin to lengthen. As the days shorten, the mare returns to the anestrus period when she is not sexually receptive. Anestrus prevents the mare from conceiving in the winter months, as that would result in her foaling during

#683316