Reply #26: Mules are incredibly intelligent...

[XOKCowboy]

Grandpa was a natural born trader and when he stopped trucking he started trading in mules. He had 3 20something grandsons to break them and show them to buyers so labor was cheap. He'd go hundreds of miles to horse and mule sales in OK, KS, MO, TX and get them at rock bottom prices, break them, put them on pasture and fatten them up then sell them to the next sucker he met. :) We had matched teams with full harness and wagons and even one that got quite a reputation as a roping mule.

As I said mules are very intelligent. They won't overeat and founder themselves like a horse will. They have an incredible survival instinct also. We were riding a ridge in New Mexico once, 3 horses and two mules. Just riding and talking when simultaneously the mules ears shot forward, took a big sniff and froze in their tracks. The horses went right on ahead and about 20' up the trail a young black bear jumps out of the brush and runs up the hill. Scared the heck out of the horses. From that point on our mules lead the way. :)

Those two mules are buried on the ranch now. Pancho died 2 yrs ago at the age of 28. The last of grandpa's mules. I miss them too.