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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). [1] [2] 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 ...
Weight to be carried is the first factor to consider. The average horse can carry up to approximately 30% of its body weight. [19] Thus a 1,000 pounds (450 kg) horse cannot carry more than 300 pounds (140 kg). A load carried by a packhorse also has to be balanced, with weight even on both sides to the greatest degree possible.
Grass is a natural source of nutrition for a horse. Equine nutrition is the feeding of horses, ponies, mules, donkeys, and other equines. Correct and balanced nutrition is a critical component of proper horse care. Horses are non-ruminant herbivores of a type known as a "hindgut fermenter." Horses have only one stomach, as do humans.
The pack saddle consists of a tree, or the wooden blocks that sit on the horse's back, the half breed which is the canvas saddle cover, the breeching and often a crupper which prevents the loaded saddle from sliding too far forward and the breast collar which holds the loaded saddle from sliding too far back on the packhorse or mule.
Donkeys packed on the way to a mine in Alma, Colorado, late 1880s. Medieval pack horse and donkey in Hortus Deliciarum, Europe, 12th century, when packing was a major means of transport of goods US Marines training in resupply with pack mules.
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Draught or draft horses are commonly used in harness for heavy work. Several breeds of medium-weight horses are used to pull lighter wheeled carts, carriages and buggies when a certain amount of speed or style is desirable. Mules are considered tough and strong, with harness capacity dependent on the type of horse mare used to produce the mule ...
Mule production was an important industry in Poitou for three hundred years or more, and the number of mule foal births may have reached 30,000 per year. [2]: 40 In the early twentieth century there were about 50,000 Poitevin Mulassier brood mares, which gave birth to some 18,000–20,000 mule foals per year. [3]: 156