About Miniature Mules
The world of miniature mules is still sort of unknown territory for most of us. That was one of the main reasons I thought this site was important to do. The information contained on this page was gained from other longear lovers. Input is welcome from any of you that are more knowledgable than I am.
Miniature mules can be used for the same purposes as other equines. Pets, driving, and showing. They are sterile and do not reproduce, but the male mule is still gelded as any other male equine to insure he keeps a good disposition.
Male Miniature Mule: John
Female Miniature Mule: Molly
Height: Class A Under 38" Class B Under 48" Please send in the heights of your miniature mules at the time of registration.
Colors: Same as horses and donkeys
*Breeding For a Miniature Mule:*
You breed a miniature donkey to a miniature mare to produce a miniature mule. This can be the tricky part since not all jacks want to breed horses and it's understandable since they ARE a donkey after all and a horse is a horse.Its also true that a miniature horse will not necessarily be interested in receiving a jack's attentions. Its also said that some mares will not settle at all with a jack's foal due to the genetic makeup. I have heard of five different ways to encourage a jack into successfully breeding mares.
1) Put a weanling jack in with your miniature mares before he has discoverd females of the longeared variety and let him grow up with them. Not having jennets on the same farm will give you the best results.
2) Pasture a breeding jack with mares on the opposite side of the fence where jennets are pastured hoping that when a jennet comes in heat, a mare will, too and the jack, out of desperation, will settle with the mini mare instead. Make sure your fence is stout so the jack doesn't harm himself trying to crawl under, jump over or go through it to get to the jennets which is what he would prefer to breed.
3) Artificial insemination, which undoubtable is probably very successful, but by far the most expensive.
4) If you already have a jack that is willing but the mare isn't, you can tease the mare with a stallion from the front and try to sneak the jack in from the back.
5) Last but not least, you will need a jennet and a mare who are in heat at the same time tied in the same stall. Keep the jack on a lead rope and only allow him to breed the mare. This form of breeding in the equine world is called "handbreeding". It may or may not work in this situation.
*Breeding a Miniature Horse Stallion to a Miniature Donkey Jennet:*
A foal produced from breeding a male horse to a jennet would be called a hinny. This is an even more difficult way to produce a miniature mule. I have been told that the conception rate for a jennet to conceive from being bred to a stallion is only about 10%.
According to one member of the AMMS who breeds for miniature mules its also true that the color genetics go out the window. Shawna Brown, of Sagebrush Miniatures, says that just because you breed a homozygous color or pattern doesn't guarantee that you will get that on a mule foal. She has a homozygous mare which was accidently bred to her jack three years ago and that mare produced a tobiano molly as a result. Later she was bred to a stallion and she had a pinto filly. The last breeding was to her jack on purpose and she foaled a solid palomino molly.
I intend to add more information on this page as I gather it from experienced breeders.
If you have any further information about miniature mules that I could use on this site please contact me at the Miniature Mule Society. If any of the information listed above is incorrect, please let me know.
