Meet the two mules who went bloodhounding on the two biggest meets of the year, behaved impeccably and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Miley and Willow, owned by Joanna Lowes, turned some heads at the Three Counties Bloodhounds Boxing Day meet, and again on New Year’s Day, with Joanna and her partner Joey Pryce on board.

Joanna told H&H the two molly mules had been on fun rides and in busy atmospheres, but nothing like the town and city centres where the meets were held, after which they enjoyed cantering on the beach and jumping the fences.

“They just lapped it up,” she said. “They were so calm with all that environment; other horses were dancing and prancing around, and they just sort of stood still, quite happily accepted kids coming up to stroke them, and just stood there and absorbed it.

“They did cause a bit of a stir; one horse in particular didn’t like them and wanted to keep quite a distance but on the whole, they were so well received. I did email the master in advance, to say ‘Would it be ok if we bring two mules?’ They said as long as they were well behaved, that was fine. And a few people commented afterwards that they were the best behaved out of everybody out on the day.”

Joanna said she worked with mules while she was an assistant to Monty Roberts, and there was something about their character she “fell in love with”.

“So when I saw one going cheap on Facebook marketplace, I went to have a look, picked her up and brought her home,” she said. “I backed her and got her riding, she started going out to do a few little showjumping competitions, then somebody on Facebook saw this and contacted me. They said they had a mule that was fairly troublesome, a bit bigger. She hadn’t really settled and due to personal circumstances, they couldn’t take her where they were going, and would I have her. So I ended up being gifted a second mule.”

So Willow, who stands about 15hh, came to join 14.2hh Miley, and was clearly the perfect mount for Joey.

“He’d never ridden a mule before he met me,” Joanna said. “And never thought he would!

“But he saw me riding her a few times, and I think by the time we’d gone through a bit of training and she was trotting and cantering quite nicely, he was actually itching to get on board. People laugh now that we’ve got a his and hers mule pack!”

Joanna said she likes the way mules’ brains work in general in a different way to horses’; they do not have the same flight instinct.

“They think through things a lot more; they internalise their feelings a lot more,” she said. “I think they’re harder to work with and harder to train, but that makes it so much more rewarding when they are on your side, and they do perform, and do well.

“If you grow up on the side of a mountain and get chased by something, there’s no benefit to running, as I understand it, they’re much better to stand still and just deliver a well-timed kick. In regards to training them, it’s got to be obvious there’s something in it for them. Training them with force or any overuse of pressure just doesn’t work, you end up with a resistant animal. But when you overdo the positive side and really make it clear that they’ll get a reward for compliance, they try to move mountains for you.”

More bloodhounding mules?

Joanna said she would love to see mules ridden more in this country; in the US this is much more common but in this country, “they’re often just here by accident”.

Asked what she would say to anyone who had not considered a mule, she added: “Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.

“Their movement is a bit different to horses; it takes a bit of getting used to. Imagine riding a cow, a very opinionated cow! And they honk; they do sort of a cross between a neigh and a bray with a sort of a honk in the middle. So when they do start going, they make quite a noise.

“It’s very obvious when they’re not enjoying something; those huge ears are like satellites, so when they do put them back, you do notice it. Willow, for certain, is very clear. If she doesn’t like something, the tail starts swishing, the ears go back and she’ll shut down and just say no, so you change the question and she says ‘All right’.”

Joanna said the ground is a bit too deep for the eight-year-olds’ tiny hooves at the moment so the plan is some unaffiliated dressage and jumping. And she joked that if a mammoth donkey stallion could be put to a thoroughbred mare, “I could breed an eventing mule”.

“Imagine that in six years’ time, going round Badminton grassroots on a mule, that would be the dream,” she said. “But don’t put that in Horse & Hound, someone will hold me to it!”

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Meet Milton the 16hh spotty mule, who’s ridden tackless, used to have “the slowest bolt in the world” and is enjoying life with a few giant donkeys.

Karen Inkster, who runs livery and training yard Equine Unlimited in Dunkeld, Scotland, told H&H she is trying to put mules “back on the map”, and helping to preserve mammoth donkeys, an endangered species. She has a 20-month-old jack, a jenny and a four-month-old foal, and hopes to breed more donkeys, and mules big enough to ride.

“Mules are the most wonderful, multi-talented equine you can imagine,” she said. “They are more sure-footed than horses, don’t need as much food, live longer, tend to have less ailments to name just a few great things about them – and their ears. Come on, who doesn’t love a massive ear?!”

Karen, whose yard promotes positive reinforcement training, got her first donkey by accident, a few years ago.

“Somebody said ‘You don’t want a 30-year-old donkey who’s laminitic, do you, because if I can’t find a home for her I’m going to have to put her to sleep’. I went and got her and fell in love.”

At that jenny’s age, she did not live a great deal longer, but Karen was already smitten with donkeys.

“They’re just so different from horses,” she said. “When she passed on, I thought I couldn’t not have donkeys in my life, so I got another couple of rescue donkeys.”

Karen also loves “saddle tramping”, taking horses and kit and spending days or weeks at a time in the hills. She had heard that mules were the “go-to 4×4 horses”, but having put in a great deal of research, found out that it is hard to find mules big enough to ride in this country.

“There are often little ones when it’s been an accident; somebody’s put a pony in with a donkey and you get a 12hh mule,” she said. “There used to be the occasional one from Europe, but because we’re out of the EU, shipping them across now is really expensive. So I started looking at potentially breeding my own – and to do that, obviously, to get a ridden size mule, you need a big donkey.”

Karen researched mammoth donkeys and found that these are the ones from which larger mules are often bred, but that they are endangered. Her vet told her that using frozen semen for AI was not likely to be successful, but then she heard of a pregnant mammoth donkey in England.

“So that kind of happened!” she said. “At my equestrian centre, we focus very much on positive reinforcement, a horse-centred approach; they all live out in herds. There’s only one mule UK [social media] page and I’d posted to say I’d love a mule, any idea of where people can get them, and this lady got in touch and said ‘I follow your page, I really like what you do, and I’ve got this big spotty mule called Milton, who I’ve been thinking about maybe selling’.”

Karen said the previous owner was not immediately sure she did want to sell, but eventually, she invited Karen to meet him.

“I went down and, bless him, he came and just put his head right in my chest, and it was love at first sight, for me anyway,” she said. “And that was it. So now I have one massive spotty mule, I have a massive mammoth donkey jack and a donkey jenny. So those two can now have mammoth donkey offspring, and with the mammoth jack I can breed my own ridden-sized mules with a couple of my own mares. We’re going to put mammoth donkeys and hopefully ridden-sized mules back on the map, in the UK at least.”

Milton arrived last spring, and Karen said he is a “typical mule”.

“In that he’s got no steering and no brakes, and you’ve not got a hope in hell unless he’s on board with you,” she said. “I’m not sure how much riding he’s had; he’s been driven a lot, so I’ve had to strip him right back. I ride him with no tack – because I have no control anyway! – So I just ride him bareback with no bridle in the arena, trying to get him to go off my voice and seat cues with the clicker training. He’s got the slowest bolt in the world, because he just goes for home at a walk; it’s like Thelwell, sitting there with absolutely no control whatsoever.”

Karen said donkeys and mules have a reputation for being stubborn, but that this is because although horses’ instinctive reaction to fear is flight, theirs is to freeze.

“When horses get a fright, they spook, turn, run away,” she said. “Donkeys are freeze animals, so they tend to stop and evaluate it. And in that time, if you try to get them to do something, they’re saying ‘Well, this thing could kill me, so no, I’m just going to stand here and stare it out and decide’. That’s actually the ‘stubbornness’. You have to work with them; there’s no way you can convince them to do anything unless it’s through trust and respect.”

Karen is currently injured and not in the saddle, but she said the tackless riding and clicker training had been working with Milton.

“Mules are really clever, much more than horses,” she said. “I do target training and one day with Milton, I’d forgotten the target but there was a football in the arena, and in one session, he learned how to play with it. That would have taken three or four sessions with a horse but he learned it in 15-20 minutes. They test your training but you have to work with them.”

Karen added that the “freezing” behaviour means mules are much less likely to spook or spin, which might appeal to some riders, and that they are hardier and less likely to need rugging than horses.

“Milton is one of the biggest in the herd but he’s not interested in any fighting or aggro whatsoever,” she said. “He’s just a big gentle giant, and a lovely, very affectionate lad. Now he’s getting to know me, after we do a session, I’ll put him in the field then climb on the gate and sit there. He just stands with his head over the gate or on my lap, and we just watch the world go by together. He just gives off this lovely, chilled, happy mule feeling.”

Karen said she hopes Ollie, her two-year-old mammoth jack, and four-month-old mammoth foal Cheyenne, who should make 14.2hh plus, will also be ridden, and Ollie will have a breeding career.

“One of my mares who I will hopefully put to him is an appaloosa, so hopefully we’ll have a baby spotted mule in time as well,” she said. “Nobody comes to see any more, they all come to see Milton and the baby donkey, so it’s going to be even worse!”

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A severely neglected mule, the result of a Friesian bred with a donkey, has “the promise of a bright future” after undergoing life-saving surgery thanks to his rescuers.

This week the Horse Trust welcomed four-year-old mule Frank, who was rescued by Communities for Horses in Swansea.

A spokesperson for the Horse Trust said Frank was found in “an appalling condition”.

“Thanks to the compassion of a good samaritan and the swift action of Communities for Horses in Swansea, Frank was rescued from severe neglect, and the Horse Trust was asked to step in and take him into their ownership,” he said.

“His most urgent medical issue, a shocking and painful mass thought to have been likely caused by a botched and illegal castration attempt – or was potentially a tumour that had become dangerously infected. The nature of the injury and mass was deeply distressing and must have been causing him excruciating pain.”

Frank underwent surgery at Cotts Equine Hospital in Wales.

“The surgeon found he had two sarcoids in that site and a third on his face, so these were removed,” said the Horse Trust spokesperson.

“His secondary infection is responding well to antibiotics and the threat of a cancer that may have spread has been alleviated to the immense relief of all involved. If it had been such a cancer, Frank would have had to be euthanised.”

The spokesperson added that “despite his painful past, Frank has responded to kindness with gentleness”.

“He has bright white scars from inappropriate tethering, likely inflicted when he was very young, and overgrown hooves – both signs of prolonged neglect. And yet, he remains trusting, resilient, and affectionate,” he said.

Horse Trust chief executive Jeanette Allen said Frank’s story “is one of the most heartbreaking” the charity has encountered in recent years.

“No animal should ever suffer as he has,” she said. “He had us all extremely stressed waiting to hear if he had made it through surgery and to find out what the surgeon had discovered. It was awful knowing during that time we might lose him before we even got to meet him.

“We’re so grateful to everyone who has already supported young Frank’s journey and been part of his story so far. At only four years old, he needed to be given the life-saving chance of treatment and the guarantee of a safe home afterwards. Thanks to our wonderful donors, we can do that.”

A Communities for Horses spokesperson said: “We’re incredibly proud to be working alongside the Horse Trust to give Frank the very best chance at life. His ordeal was horrific, but thanks to swift, collaborative action, he now has hope, healing, and the promise of a brighter future.”

The Horse Trust has launched an emergency appeal to cover the £20,000 needed for Frank’s surgery, hospitalisation and long-term care.

“Thanks to our supporters we have already raised over £6,500, but there is still a long way to go,” said the Horse Trust spokesperson.

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Heartbroken Redwings staff said the loss of its longest-serving “adoption star” Muffin the mule, who has died aged 36, “leaves a huge hole in our hearts”.

The “beloved” mule had been with the charity since 1987, when he was rescued from slaughter as a tiny foal, with his dam Doris.

Doris died not long after she and her foal were taken in by the sanctuary, but Muffin had become friends with April, another youngster.

“He went on to become one of the charity’s most famous adoption stars for 30 years,” a Redwings spokesman said.

The charity’s chief executive Lynn Cutress said many people will be upset by the news.

“It’s left a huge hole in the hearts of all the staff here at Redwings and we know our supporters will feel that too,” she said.

“When people discover you work here, they always tell you that they remember Muffin and ask if he’s still with us. They tell you that their grandparents or parents sponsored him for them as gifts, and they grew up with his pictures on their childhood bedroom walls.

“Some families sponsored him for generations, and our priority was to write to them all personally before announcing this publicly as we wanted them to be the first to know.

“Visitors to Redwings Caldecott, where he lived, were delighted by Muffin’s friendly nature and mischievous ways for over three decades, as of course were the staff who cared for him day in and day out. We all loved him dearly.”

Muffin had been diagnosed with Cushing’s (PPID) and “as a result of his specialist needs”, he was retired from the adoption scheme in 2017.

“As he was such an elderly boy, it was becoming increasingly challenging to care for him without him needing to have extended periods of time away from his herd,” the spokesman said. “The recent addition of front shoes helped him feel more comfortable, and happily he had recently been living on a more gentle woodchip paddock at his Caldecott home with a friend.

“Unfortunately, he had become very reluctant to take his medication and despite his carers trying various foods and methods of feeding and providing him with enrichment activities to improve his emotional health whilst in vet care, these measures were not working as well as was hoped. Sadly, on 11 September, it was decided that the kindest thing to do was to put Muffin to sleep to prevent his health and comfort deteriorating.”

Laura Starkey, manager of the Caldecott centre, said the staff cared for Muffin with love and dedication.

“He was one in a million, such a patient, calm boy,” she said. “He loved his feed, and would often stand waiting by his bowl, 30 minutes before time, with a face that said: ‘What’s been keeping you?’. He took life at his own pace and you certainly couldn’t rush him. He has been here since the beginning of Redwings Caldecott and we will miss him terribly.”

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A mule taken in by Bransby Horses after being found roaming the streets as a foal has been put down aged 30, following a “full and happy life”.

Ebony was rescued by the Lincolnshire charity from the streets of Gainsborough in 1992. Although it was not clear if she had escaped from a field or been abandoned, when no one claimed her she went on to receive “all the love and care she needed” from Bransby staff.

A Bransby spokesman said Ebony’s character and looks earned her “legendary status” and she was a firm favourite with the teams and supporters.

“She was a very intelligent mule and when she was younger she liked to be doing things rather than just grazing in a field,” he said. “During her early years she was trained to pull a small cart to help with weight management and keep her busy and she has lived with fellow mule Penelope and Shetland Cinderella for many happy years.”

“For many years Ebony was a popular Sponsorship Star but retired in 2019 to enjoy her twilight years out of the limelight. Since she retired she has been very happy playing and relaxing in her paddock with her little herd.”

Ebony celebrated her 30th birthday in January with a “mule-friendly” cake, which she shared with Penelope and Cinderella.

“Her loss will be felt by so many who had the pleasure of meeting her but none more so than the yard teams who have looked after her daily needs,” said the spokesman.

“As one of the greatest and most loved characters at the charity, she will be deeply missed. She lived a full and happy life, made possible only by the kind donations of those who support Bransby’s important equine welfare work.”

Bransby PR officer Maria Thompson added everyone at the charity is “heartbroken”.

“It’s so tough when we lose one, especially when they are as special as Ebony.”

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A mule with a distinctive bray has celebrated her 30th birthday by sharing a cake with her friends.

Bransby Horses rescued Ebony as a foal in 1992 when she was found wandering the streets of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire.

A charity spokesman said it was not clear if the mare had escaped from a field or been abandoned, but when no one claimed her she received “all the love and care she needed” from Bransby staff.

During her younger years Ebony was trained to pull a small cart to help with her weight management, and the mare was also one of the charity’s “sponsorship stars” for many years.

“Ebony’s character and cute looks have earned her legendary status and she is a firm favourite with staff and supporters alike,” said the spokesman.

Visitor centre team leader Shell Craven said “everyone loves Ebony”.

“She is such a cheeky little lady who doesn’t act her age at all. She has a distinctive voice when she brays and I can tell it’s her just from the noise she makes,” she said, adding that the mare has “very specific needs” and is kept with companions 26-year-old Shetland Cinderella and 21-year-old mule Penelope, who share similar needs.

“Ebony only has a few teeth and needs her feed adjusted for this so that she can continue to eat well. She needs more than one rug to keep her warm and dry because a mule’s coat is not as waterproof as a horse’s.”

“She’s a very intelligent mule and when she was younger she liked to be doing things rather than just grazing in a field. She’s retired now and is happy playing and relaxing in her paddock with her little herd.”

The charity presented Ebony with an “equine friendly” cake made from grass nuts, carrots and molasses, for her 30th birthday, which she enjoyed sharing with Cinderella and Penelope.

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A mule had to be put down owing to untreated dental issues, and two donkeys were rescued from unsuitable conditions, after a mother and son ignored welfare advice.

Susan Alison Shears, 74, of Gowdall, Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire, was found guilty of seven animal welfare offences relating to donkeys Dora and Daisy, and mule Ebony, at a hearing at Beverley Magistrates’ Court on 3 August. At the same hearing her son, John Shears, 39, of Rawcliffe, Goole, pleaded guilty to four offences. They were sentenced on 11 October at Hull Magistrates’ Court.

An RSPCA spokesman said the charity and the Donkey Sanctuary offered to help the pair in 2016, and made multiple visits between 2016 and 2019 during which they advised on actions needed to safeguard the welfare of the animals – but this was “ignored” and the situation “remained unchanged”.

When an RSPCA inspector and a Donkey Sanctuary welfare adviser attended a field at Field Lane, Gowdall, on 13 August 2019, Dora, Daisy and Ebony were found in a field full of ragwort, and littered with barbed wire and fallen wire netting.

“An old, disused work container which the animals had access to was completely unsuitable as a shelter. It was too small and had sharp edges and canvas straps still attached inside which the animals could have become caught on,” said an RSPCA spokesman, adding that all three animals had had overgrown teeth and hooves and were in need of dental and farriery treatment.

“The animals also did not have access to any hard standing within their living environment. It’s important for donkeys to have access to hard standing to protect their feet from wet and muddy conditions and to prevent infections. Their water supply was wholly inadequate and dirty with an accumulation of algae.”

On 19 August 2019 the charities returned to the field with the police, who forced entry using bolt cutters and gave the charities and an independent vet permission to examine the animals.

“Dora was suffering from laminitis and Ebony from ulceration to the soft tissues of her mouth from inadequate dental care that would have caused her discomfort when eating,” said RSPCA inspector Thomas Hutton, who led the investigation.

“The vet advised the animals should be removed from the site as they were either suffering or likely to suffer if they remained.”

Daisy, Dora and Ebony were taken into police possession and passed into the care of the RSPCA. They were transported to a nearby holding base funded by the Donkey Sanctuary, where they received urgent dental and farriery treatment.

“Sadly, Ebony was put to sleep on veterinary advice due to her ongoing suffering from her dental issues. Dora and Daisy have responded well to treatment, but due to their age and ongoing care needs they may need to remain in the Donkey Sanctuary care for the rest of their lives,” said the RSPCA spokesman.

Donkey Sanctuary’s head of welfare Hannah Bryer added: “We had previously attended this location alongside the RSPCA and engaged with the owners regarding Ebony and a donkey. We discussed the changes that needed to be made to ensure the environment was safe and suitable for the animals.

“On a repeat visit, we found Ebony with Daisy and Dora living at the same location that was detrimental to their welfare, it was clear our advice had not been followed.”

In mitigation Susan Shears “blamed others” for the situation, and the court heard John Shears was “remorseful”.

At sentencing, Susan Shears was given a lifetime disqualification from keeping equines, which cannot be appealed for 10 years. She was ordered to pay £3,000 costs. John Shears was banned from keeping equines for 10 years, which cannot be appealed for five, and ordered to pay £700 costs. The pair were each sentenced to 12 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.

The court issued a deprivation order for the ownership of the donkeys to be handed over to the RSPCA. The defendants have 21 days to appeal.

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An elderly rescue mule is recovering after he was stabbed in a horrific attack at a sanctuary.

Tommy, 20, was stabbed in the face while in his field at Undercliff Pony Rescue, in Rye, East Sussex, some time between Sunday evening (8 August) and the early hours of Monday morning.

The sanctuary’s owner Sharon Baker told H&H Tommy, who was in the field with five horses, was discovered by her 19-year-old daughter Madison.

“Madison went to the field and noticed blood everywhere. She found Tommy with blood on his legs and a huge wound on his face. She managed to get hold of him but he was very distressed,” said Sharon.

“At first I thought he must have caught himself on something but on cleaning the wound I thought ‘this looks like it was caused by a knife’.”

A vet arrived to treat Tommy and agreed with Sharon that the wound had been caused deliberately.

“The knife has gone from the outside of his face through to the inside of his mouth and shattered some of his teeth. He’s had stitches and is on antibiotics and lots of painkillers,” said Sharon.

“He’s going to need further vet treatment and dental work but the main thing now is making sure the wound doesn’t become infected. We want to give him the best possible care.”

Sharon said she was “devastated” by the attack.

“Tommy has been with us for three years and when he arrived he didn’t trust anyone. It’s only the last six months he’s built up a special bond with Madison and all that could be undone now. It’s just heartbreaking, this is supposed to be their safe haven,” she said.

“I’m now installing CCTV in the fields, stables and at the gates so every square inch can be monitored 24 hours a day.”

Almost £7,000 has been raised by donations towards Tommy’s vet bills, his future care, and towards the CCTV. To donate visit the sanctuary’s Just Giving Page.

“It’s such a close-knit community here. Everyone knows the horses and our work and is disgusted by what’s happened,” said Sharon.

“I’m so overwhelmed by the donations – we’ve even had some from people on the other side of the world. It restores your faith in humanity.”

Sussex Police is appealing for witnesses or anyone with information about the “vicious attack” to come forward.

“Not only has this been a cruel attack on a helpless animal, it has caused a significant cost to the rescue charity who care for Tommy,” said PC Carlo Leone of the force’s rural crime team.

“We believe this to be an isolated incident but urge all equine owners in the area to review their security and stay vigilant.”

Anyone with information should call 101 and quote reference 620 of 09/08.

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An Australian mule fanatic who imported an American mammoth donkey for his breeding programme hopes to raise the profile of mules in his country.

Queensland-based David Scholl, who has always kept horses and donkeys, bought his first mule Bruce around six years ago and “fell in love”. Since then David has expanded his herd to include 10 mules, and on 4 April he welcomed 15hh American mammoth jack Diamond Creek Moonwatcher, known as Moses, whom he plans to breed mules with.

David, whose mule herd ranges from 13hh to 17hh, told H&H he and his wife Di set out to expand their knowledge about mules and donkeys and travelled to the United States three years ago.

“The sole purpose of the trip was to find out as much as we can about mules and donkeys because we had really fallen in love with these mules,” he said

“We went to Bishop Mule Days in California, which is the biggest mule show in the States where 850 mules and donkeys compete over 10 days. We became friends with other breeders at the show and travelled across five states during the trip, learning more.”

David returned to America the following year and decided he wanted to import a donkey jack to Australia to breed with his horses.

“I really wanted to promote mules in this country; I believe there is a huge market for mules in the rural industry in Australia, they are extremely sure-footed, have a great work ethic and love doing a job. I set about looking for the ideal jack to breed from and in November 2020 Jonathan Waugh, who I became friends with at the mule show, offered me Diamond Creek Moonwatcher, known as Moses.

“The flights for equines only run every eight weeks from the States to Australia and the first flight in January was full so we had to wait until March. Moses spent 14 days in quarantine in the US, then had an 18-hour flight to Melbourne. He spent 14 days in quarantine in Melbourne, then travelled three days by road to me.”

Continued below…

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David said Moses is “absolutely everything” Jonathan said he would be.

“We are honoured to have been given the opportunity to buy Moses. He’s beautiful and just incredible,” he said. “He’s very loving, and extremely vocal!” he said.

“We have artificially inseminated six of our mares and have one confirmed pregnancy so far. We have still to scan the other mares, but hope to welcome our first crop of mules. They will be available for sale after they have been weaned.”

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Mules will be able to compete in affiliated jumping classes in the US thanks to a rule change — to the delight of a rider who has been campaigning for this for months.

H&H reported in July that Katie Wetteland, who lives in Colorado, was petitioning the US Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA) to allow mules to compete alongside horses and ponies.

Katie had bought Mjolnir The Longear — named after Thor’s hammer as a nod to her Norwegian heritage but also as her countrymen pronounce it “mule near” — who was the result of an unplanned liaison between a racing mare and a donkey stallion.

She backed him and found he loved jumping, as she did, but USJHA rules did not allow him to compete, so she has spent the past 18 months lobbying the USHJA, garnering support for her plans and educating others on mules.

During its annual meeting on 15 December, the USHJA board of directors approved a rule change allowing mules to compete in jumper divisions.

“It’s surreal,” Katie told H&H. “I’ve got no words to describe my enthusiasm.”

Katie said she had already told Mjolnir.“He’s disappointed because it means there will be more people at shows admiring him!” she said.

“People are enamoured of him; they try to pet him and love on him and he just sits there with his ears pinned and a ‘you can’t touch me’ face. So he might not be happy to be petted by more people — but he loves the jumping, absolutely adores it.”

Katie rode Mjolnir in a local show last week, at which the organiser had lent her some Western tack as he wanted to see the mule compete in a Western pleasure class.

“He won both the hunter hack classes, but you could say we couldn’t have done worse in the Western class; he was looking around like ‘where are the jumps?’” Katie said.

The rule comes in next year, which suits Katie as Mjolnir has not yet turned five and so has not done a huge amount.But she is glad her hard work has paid off, and that she can start planning Mjolnir’s competition future.

“There have been a lot of emails back and forth,” she said. “I also garnered support from people from events we’d been at; their horses had never seen a mule before but behaved beautifully around him, and they gave statements.

Continues below…

‘He tries his little heart out’: US rider campaigns for mules in showjumping

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“I wouldn’t have got anywhere without education either; it became obvious to me that people didn’t know what mules were or were capable of and how similar they are to horses, so I made a 30-slide presentation that made it clear, which I think got me further than all the negotiation.”

Katie said she “can’t wait” to get competing, and is also delighted that other mule owners will have the same chance.

“I’ve shared the news in a few mule groups and people are very excited,” she said.“They’ve been doing it all at home but now they can go to shows; this is going to open up to a whole new section of the community the sport we all care about so much.”

H&H has contacted the USHJA for comment.

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A US rider campaigning for mules to be allowed in the showjumping ring hopes success could lead to their inclusion in all areas of riding.

Colorado-based Katie Wetteland is petitioning the US Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA) to ask them to follow the US Dressage Federation in allowing mules to compete alongside horses and ponies.

Katie told H&H she had competed with success up to about 1.20m level with her Dutch warmblood, but when he was nearing retirement, she started looking for another horse.

Having come across — and fallen in love with — a mule when she was at military school, she also carried out research into mules. Then she saw a two-year-old advertised, some six and a half hours’ drive from her home.

“He barely knew how to be haltered,” she said. “He was at a racetrack for quarter horses and he’s apparently got fantastic bloodlines; he’s out of a racing mare who accidentally got pregnant by their Jack, and they said he’d been in a stall for two years.

“He had this fire in his eyes; not anger but intrigue, something I’ve seen in high-level, big-hearted competition horses who just want to do something with their lives.

“I said ‘he’s sold. I’ll be back next weekend with a trailer’.”

Katie said Mjolnir The Longear — named after Thor’s hammer as a nod to her Norwegian heritage but also as her countrymen pronounce it “mule near” — was easier to back than any horse she had had. She took him to his first show, a local event, fairly early as she wanted to add weight to her campaign.

“I knew mules were banned in the sport I loved so I had to compete him, to make a statement,” she said, adding that she contacted the organisers beforehand to ensure they would be happy with a mule on site.

“I took him in the 2’0 class and he got second,” she said. “He’d never jumped a full course before but he did fantastic. Tons of people came up to say they didn’t know mules could jump, and how cool it was. He never brayed, and he stood a lot stiller than some of the horses! He was the smallest one there but he tried his little heart out.”

Once Mjolnir had some results, Katie stepped up her petitioning, helped a great deal by Meredith Hodges, who had lobbied for mules to be allowed in dressage, and also talking to Christie Maclean, who rode British dressage mule Wallace The Great.

Continues below…

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“It’s surprising they’re not allowed,” she said. “FEI rules still class a horse as being ‘out of a mare’; a rule change was on the table last year but didn’t go through, and I was so excited as I knew there was still a chance.”

Mjolnir is still only four so Katie has not done a huge amount with him, but she believes he is capable of jumping 3’0 to 3’3” courses in future, and he has loose-jumped 3’9”. But she believes some riders are also against mules’ inclusion.

“I’ve heard murmurs of ‘I can’t believe they let that in’, and ‘how did that donkey beat me?’” she said. “It’s interesting, as I’ve been the one on the big black warmblood, who looks scary, and now I’m bee-bopping in on my little mule.”

She added: “I believe it is possible to slowly integrate mules into the USHJA… I propose that mules should be given a chance to perform at low-level, local shows under specific rules, to hopefully facilitate the inclusion of mules into all areas of English and Western riding.”

H&H has contacted the USHJA for comment.

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A mule who was once terrified of raincoats and refused to load has become a waste-busting warrior in Wales.

Marty and his owner Sari Maydew go litter-picking weekly in Carmarthenshire, sometimes for three hours at a time, returning with panniers packed with rubbish.

Sari told H&H Marty came into her life as a three-year-old six years ago, when a trainer her husband knows was downsizing his herd.

“There was this little mule – and the owner said if we could get him to load, we could have him,” she said.

“We spent a weekend teaching him about loading, then we took him home.”

Sari knew nothing of mules but thought it would be fun to have one, which it was, although she says it has not been without its challenges.

“There were so many things I couldn’t do with him; I couldn’t catch him, and he didn’t like certain noises. I couldn’t wear a raincoat near him as he didn’t like the rustling so I’d have to strip off in the rain to catch him – but it was very rewarding.”

Sari always walked Marty out in hand, and her long-term plan is to take him on long-distance hikes with overnight stays.

“We did a lot of miles and I started noticing all the rubbish,” she said. “I thought, he’s got packs, I might as well pick it up and take it back – and we’d come back with his packs full. I think people who see me probably think I’m a bit mad, but in a good way.”

Sari hopes her work with Marty, who is an ambassador for Mule Welfare UK, will help raise mules’ profile.

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“I think some people think they’re novelty animals and not very smart but they’re the opposite; they’re incredibly intelligent,” she said. “They’re great to work with but you have to have a lot of patience and be a certain way. My favourite quote is ‘you can’t have a mule and an ego’, as they’ll always knock you down a peg or two.”

Sari also wants to make the point that non-ridden equines can have a range of worthwhile jobs; Marty’s being that he helps improve her area.

“If everyone did a little bit, it would be so much nicer,” she said. “And Marty loves it; mules love having a job and once they can see the purpose, they’re amazing.

“From a mule who was terrified of raincoats to a mule who will now stand nonchalantly by while I stuff rubbish into plastic bags on his back, he’s done really well. He’s taught me a lot.”

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Mules could be excluded from FEI competitions from 2020.

The Italian national federation has proposed to amend the definition of “horse” in the FEI general regulations to “clarify that mules are not considered as horses and therefore cannot compete in FEI competitions”. The FEI has voiced its support for the change.

While from a competition point of view this is fairly academic — H&H is not aware of any mules having competed at FEI competitions — the definition was crucial in the decision to allow mules to compete at national dressage shows in Britain.

The Italian federation’s proposal continues: “This current definition of “horse” leave the opportunity to compete to the mule also. It seems useful that the general assembly be aware on this possibility to allow to compete horses and mules together mixing two different genetic animal (horse and mule that is an hybrid from horse mare and donkey stallion).

“This situation (compare two different animals from within different genetic characteristics) seems to be incorrect for both, horses and mules, considering their physiological, biomechanical and ethological characteristics and may affect the historical perception of equestrian sport.”

The feedback from the FEI in the draft proposal states that the change is “supported by the FEI veterinary department and FEI board”.

The current definition states that a “horse: refers also to a pony or other member of the genus equus unless the context requires otherwise. A horse shall be born from a mare.”

The new wording is suggested as: “Horse: refers also to a pony or other member of the genus equus unless the context requires otherwise. A horse shall be born from the union of a mare and a horse stallion and classified as equus caballus.”

Article continues below…

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Mules rule ok: Wallace The Great wins first British Dressage competition

The super-mule was unfazed by the press attention and his fan club

Mules ARE allowed to compete after British Dressage U-turn: #JusticeForWallace

BD has released a statement this morning saying Wallace The Great and ‘his fellow mules’ may enter affiliated competitions

In 2018, Wallace The Great hit H&H and national headlines over his quest to compete at affiliated dressage.

His rider, Christie Mclean, was initially refused British Dressage (BD) club membership for the mule and was told that only horses and ponies could be registered.

This was then discussed and overturned at a full board meeting of BD directors, who consulted with the FEI and decided to adopt the international federation’s wording.

The proposal can be found in the first draft of changes to the FEI general regulations for 2020. These will now be discussed by national federations and stakeholders before a second draft is produced in the autumn, which will then be voted on at the FEI general assembly in Moscow (16 to 19 November).

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A welfare charity that rescued an abandoned mule at Appleby Horse Fair a year ago said it is “heartbreaking” to think what could have happened to her.

Six-year-old dun Dotty was seen by Donkey Sanctuary staff being driven at the 2018 fair and was later found loose nearby with no sign of her owner.

A spokesman for the sanctuary said Dotty was taken to Appleby police station while attempts were made to locate her owner.

“Our Derbyshire sanctuary remains on call during the equine fair, and as staff were ready to offer her a temporary home straight away, Dotty was transported the same day,” said the spokesman.

“Dotty’s hooves were overgrown, but she had a friendly nature and she was loving and keen to be in the company of the RSPCA and police station staff who all immediately fell in love with her.”

Notices were left at the scene by the RSPCA giving the owner two weeks to come forward and claim Dotty.

Donkey Sanctuary head of welfare Hannah Bryer said: “It is always disappointing to see any equine abandoned or discarded, especially at an event like Appleby with a high presence of welfare teams who are there to help.

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“Dotty is an incredibly sweet-natured mule so it is heartbreaking to think what would have happened had the welfare team at Appleby not spotted her plight.

“I am incredibly grateful to the RSPCA and police who helped provide a safe place for Dotty until we could find her a more permanent place to stay and of course to our supporters whose kindness means our teams can be there on the front line to help donkeys and mules wherever they may be in the UK.”

Dotty was signed over to the Donkey Sanctuary after no owner came forward. The spokesman said the intelligent mule has become a “firm favourite” at the sanctuary’s Derbyshire centre where she is undergoing training with the aim of finding her a new home in future.

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Donkeys and mules are officially welcome at Endurance GB (EGB) rides this year, thanks to a change in the organisation’s rules.

In a summary of confirmed changes for 2019, EGB said it was time to “regularise” the long-eared mounts’ status in the rule book.

“We’ve had some riding with us for years with no issue, and we thought it was time to legitimise them,” Esther Young, chair of the EGB operations committee, told H&H.

“There’s a handful of them and they were allowed to take part but the rule book only specified horses and ponies, and we did get the odd query about whether a rider could bring one.

“The British Mule Society has picked it up, so we’re hoping to work with them on some endurance awards, which might encourage a few more. We’ve also had some giant American donkeys – about 15hh with huge ears – taking part in a pleasure ride.”

Among other changes are some made to benefit welfare. These include the banning of pleasure rides of more than 34km in one day; riders who wish to ride longer distances should enter graded rides with full vettings.

Another welfare-based change states that any ride of 80km or more should have at least one vet hold, at least 40 minutes’ duration, while a separate rule now removes the ban on helmet cameras.

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Ride organisers will also now be able to offer novice “foundation” graded rides of between 20 and 29km. These will not carry conventional trophy points, although a trophy may be awarded for this category of ride at the end of the season.

A change to vetting procedures in graded rides states that no examination “likely to irritate or distress” a horse may be carried out until after the pulse has been taken.

For more on the helmet cameras rule change, see this week’s edition of H&H (24 January)

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A £30 mini mule made his hunting debut on Boxing Day with his five-year-old rider on board.

Napoleon, who stands about 10hh, tackled banks and leaped a gate, the latter without tiny Farrah Costello on board, on his first time out with the Premier Harriers in Ballylooby, Tipperary.

“We watched a film about hunting the other day, and were talking about it, and Farrah said she wanted to go,” mum Lara Costello told H&H. “It was going in at the deep end a bit, but Napoleon managed really well.”

Lara, who had spent time in the US and fallen for the draught mules she had seen there, spotted Napoleon advertised as a three-year-old, “but I think he was more like a yearling” for 30 Euros (£26.80) eight years ago.

“He was just down the road so I convinced my husband my horse needed a companion. I went to see him saying ‘If he’s not friendly, he’s not coming home’, and he just jumped into my arms, jumped into the trailer and the rest is history,” she said.

Lara said she “had no intention of having kids” at the time, but Farrah arrived, and aged two, decided she wanted to ride.

“I had nothing to back Napoleon with, so I just said to him: ‘Listen, mate, you’ve got to do me a favour now’ – and he’s never put a hoof wrong with her.”

Farrah and her trusty steed took part in lead rein showing, in which Napoleon “looked beautiful and behaved impeccably”.

“Every time we’ve taken him out, he’s surprised me,” Lara said. “I’ve never seen an animal love what he was doing so much.

“When we went hunting, I couldn’t believe how gutsy he was. There was a big bank, about three feet high, and he just launched off it. Then we came to a gate bigger than he is, so I took Farrah off and he went straight over it from a standstill.”

Lara said the plan now is for Napoleon and Farrah to take part in showjumping.

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“He’s unbelievable,” she said. “I love him so much, then every time we do anything with him, he steps up, and I love him all the more.

“When Farrah outgrows him, we’ve got a little trap so we’ll drive him; he’s got a home for life here. We’ll never part with him because we owe him so much.”

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Super-mule Wallace The Great is to be reunited with “horse whisperer” Monty Roberts in a demonstration this autumn.

The long-eared equine celebrity, who rose to international fame this summer after he became the first mule to be registered with British Dressage, will be strutting his stuff with Monty at Hartpury College on Friday, 19 October.

It will be a second meeting for the pair, who first worked together four years ago.

“In 2014, a mule who had been rescued from roaming the streets of Ireland was brought by the Donkey Sanctuary to a Monty Roberts demonstration,” a spokesman for Monty’s Intelligent Horsemanship said.

“Wallace was nervous of the saddle and they were struggling to get a rider on safely.

“Monty worked with Wallace and declared him highly intelligent, ending the session with the mule being calmly ridden around the round pen.”

Monty recommended that work with Wallace be continued at home, adding that he was sure Wallace had a “happy ridden career” ahead.

“But little did anyone realise how far that big-eared mule would go,” the spokesman said.

“Fast-forward four years and Wallace The Great has become an internet sensation.”

The October event will cover the progress in Wallace’s career, including a demonstration of his dressage to music skills.

“Who knows what else they may learn together?” the spokesman said.

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Monty and his Intelligent Horsemanship colleague Kelly Marks will also work with other horses with “problems or tricky behaviours”.

“Take the chance to come and see Wallace, Monty and all the Intelligent Horsemanship team at Hartpury,” the spokesman said. “The Donkey Sanctuary should be there too, so if you’re looking for your very own Wallace, this could be the start of your journey.”

Tickets for the event are on sale now.

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With the likes of Wallace The Great and Fergus embarking on their affiliated dressage careers with success, the humble mule is a hot topic at the moment. British Dressage recently changed their stance on registering mules, and their current rules resemble that of the FEI, which states that a horse “refers also to a pony or other member of the genus equus unless the context requires otherwise. A horse shall be born from a mare”.

But while the concept of a mule — born from a female horse and a male donkey (a jack) ­— is fairly familiar, what other hybrid equines are out there, and which ones would, theoretically, be eligible to do dressage?

Hinny

Often mistaken for a mule, a hinny is born from a stallion horse and a female donkey, known as a jenny. They are rarer than mules and, according to The Donkey Sanctuary, would have the body of a donkey, but a head more akin to a horse. It is extremely rare for a mule or a hinny to be able to breed as, due to their inter-breeding, they have an odd number of chromosomes — 63, whereas a horse has 64 and a donkey 62.

Zorse

This is the term given to the offspring of a zebra and a horse, usually a male zebra and a mare, with a zebra-pony cross sometimes known as a zony. Zorses tend to feature the zebra striping over the top of a solid coloured coat and, if they have been born from a mare, would theoretically be allowed to be registered with BD. However, currently the only known zorse living in Europe is the 13.2hh gelding Zulu (pictured), who is by a zebra out of an Arab mare, and is owned by Shropshire’s Donkey Rescue UK.

Continues below…

Is it a horse? Or a zebra? Meet Zulu the zorse

Members of the public have the chance to meet Zulu the zorse — a zebra/horse hybrid — later this month

Zebra in Texas turns his hooves to showjumping

After a zebra constantly jumped out of his field, his American owner decided to put his talents to use

Zonkey/Zedonk

Even rarer than the zorse, a zonkey is a result of a crossing between a male zebra and a female donkey, while a zedonk is the offspring of a male donkey and a female zebra. Confused yet? A zonkey, known as Zee, also lives at Donkey Rescue UK.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

A 26-year-old mule who overcame emergency colic surgery last year has won his first British Dressage (BD) class.

Fergus and rider Laura Jones may have been the only entrant in the class, an intro-level dressage to music at Onley Grounds last Friday (13 August), but they scored a respectable 61% and “he absolutely loved it”, Laura said.

Laura told H&H she has been riding Julia Clarke’s 13hh gelding since she was 11 – and he was 12.

Together they did “everything a normal pony would do”, including dressage, showjumping, cross-country and mounted games, not to mention driving.

“He’s taught plenty of kids to ride and most of them moved on to their own ponies but although I’ve got my own horse, I’ve continued to compete him,” Laura said.

“We tried to register him with BD last year and were told we couldn’t, so we thought ‘fair enough’, and carried on with unaffiliated competition as we do it all for fun.”

But when fellow mule Wallace The Great was also refused permission to join BD this year, and that decision was reversed after his story went viral, Laura and Julia realised they could follow him into the BD ranks.

“When we saw Wallace had been registered, it was amazing,” Laura said.

“We’re hoping to do some Team Quest competitions too, and really get him out and about because he loves it.

“Last Friday was the first affiliated competition for both of us but I thought we’d give it a try. We were the only ones in the class which meant we got a red ribbon, bless him. He was a bit scared of the white boards at first but the judge loved him, and he absolutely loved it.”

Fergus had to undergo emergency surgery last April, at the age of 25, but he surprised vets by pulling through, and then competing at the Trailblazers dressage championships a matter of weeks later.

“The vets were amazing, and they said it was the quickest they’d ever seen anything recover from the surgery!” Laura said.

“He’s going a bit grey now and I think he’s shrunk a bit with age but he’s lovely to ride; the safest thing in the world.

“He can be cheeky – if you’re riding on the sand track at our yard, he’ll give you a bit of warning and then go down on his knees and roll, plus he gets under fences; he’ll lie down, shuffle round, then get up on the other side and bugger off!

Continues below…

Wallace The Great to follow in Valegro’s footsteps at Festival of British Eventing

The super-mule is to strut his stuff in front of thousands of people this weekend

H&H’s dressage editor’s blog: why Wallace the mule is the best thing for British dressage since Valegro

If you’re not sure who Wallace The Great is, where have you been?

‘They’re earists!’ Rider banned from taking her mule to competition venue

The rider joked that she knows how it feels to be the victim of discrimination

“He doesn’t have any withers so he has a crupper, and he teaches people to sit up as otherwise you fly down his neck when he puts his head down, but I always say he’s just like any Pony Club pony, just with massive ears.

“I’m just so grateful to BD that we’ve now got the chance to be involved; it’s made everything more enjoyable for us.”

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

If you’re not sure who Wallace The Great is, where have you been?

For anyone who may have been living under a rock for the past six weeks, Wallace is the rescue mule turned dressage diva who has taken the world — horsey and otherwise — by storm in his quest for the right to compete in British Dressage (BD) competitions.

The 11-year-old, whose dam is a mare and sire a rather intrepid donkey, is ridden by Christie McLean, who was originally denied permission to register Wallace with BD. However, after the story reached the national media, BD changed its stance, in line with FEI rules, with ‘horses’ referring to all equines born from a mare. Wallace was therefore free to embark on his affiliated career.

For dressage, inclusivity and, importantly, perceived inclusivity, is vital if we want to continue opening the sport to a wider audience. So many people still regard dressage as elitist, even in comparison to other horse sports, and this is something we should all be working to change — dressage isn’t only piaffe, passage and eye-wateringly expensive warmbloods after all. Cobs, hairy ponies and heavy horses have been proving in their hordes that dressage is for every horse and every rider, and now Wallace — and other dressage-loving mules following in his footsteps — has taken this trend an important step further.

It’s one thing convincing the horsey population that dressage is for everyone, but it’s quite another getting the message across to those outside the equestrian bubble. Carl, Charlotte and Valegro have become household names, and have done huge amounts to thrust dressage, or ‘dancing horses’, into the public eye. But, wonderful and valuable the Carls and Charlottes of our world are, it’s the rest of us, the normal, everyday riders, who form the bulk of British dressage and keep the sport going, and anyone interested in getting involved should be encouraged and supported, no matter what their situation — Carl learnt to ride on a donkey after all.

With Wallace’s story having spread like wildfire across national, mainstream media – including the BBC, The Telegraph and The Daily Mail, just to name just a few — grassroots dressage has been brought to many, many people’s attention and, with this outcome, hopefully shone a positive light on the sport and those who run it. I have had several non-horsey friends, including those who have been known to poke gentle, Notting Hill-related fun at the fact I work for H&H, asking about Wallace and admitting they never realised that ‘ordinary’ people did dressage, let along ‘ordinary’ people with rescued mules.

Christie herself told H&H: “It’s good that we’re at the bottom level. My lower leg doesn’t stay in one place and I haven’t got the best core, but people will be able to see that it’s not all prancy ponies — British Dressage is also for everyday people. And alongside the novelty of Wallace, I hope it will show that you don’t have to have the physique of a grand prix combination; mums and people who work in offices and don’t have access to the gym can do it too.”

And do it this pair certainly can – I admit I was pleasantly surprised at how soft and rhythmical Wallace’s first BD performance was, and the judges rewarded him for it. He’s compact and short-coupled, but works in a pleasing, mostly consistent frame and is fully focused on his rider — exactly what judges want to see at intro and prelim level. Christie admitted she worried he might fall foul of the critics, though: “He’s really flexible; if there’s a fly on his chest, he can literally swipe it off with his chin as he’s got such a long face and I was thinking, please don’t do that in the warm-up as it would look like rollkur!”

Continues below…

Carl Hester backs Wallace The Great’s dressage career

‘I started riding on a donkey so I’m glad BD has taken this great opportunity’

Mules rule ok: Wallace The Great wins first British Dressage competition

The super-mule was unfazed by the press attention and his fan club

Mules ARE allowed to compete after British Dressage U-turn: #JusticeForWallace

BD has released a statement this morning saying Wallace The Great and ‘his fellow mules’ may enter affiliated competitions

It’s a laughable concept, but with any luck, Wallace’s influence can stretch as far as the armchair critics and prove that dressage looks a little different on every horse — and that’s ok.

Wallace has now accumulated a sizeable fan club from all over the world, but other riders of mules have been quick to make the most of the rules and register with BD, including Fergus and his rider Laura Jones, and this can only be a good thing. Maybe one day we’ll even see a BD associated championship for mules?

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

When you’re looking for someone to do a dressage demonstration at one of the top dates in the British Eventing calendar, and you’ve got Valegro’s boots to fill, who do you go for?

For the organisers of the Magic Millions Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe this weekend, it was an obvious choice.

Newly-registered British Dressage super-mule Wallace The Great will continue his quest for long-eared world domination by strutting his stuff in front of thousands of people.

Rider Christie Mclean and Wallace were invited by festival organisers to give the demonstration – which last year featured retired world-beater Valegro with Charlotte Dujardin – on Saturday and Sunday, 4 and 5 August.

“When I was invited, they told me that last year it was Valegro and this year it’s Wallace; I can’t believe it!” Christie told H&H.

“We’ll be part of the dressage demo; there will be another horse in the arena and I think we’ll just be asked to walk, trot and canter – then they want us to do a meet and greet afterwards so people can get selfies with Wallace. It’s the ears, you can’t resist them!”

Christie said she has been told to expect a crowd of thousands.

“I’ve never ridden him on grass, so I’ll be making some extra effort to school him on grass beforehand, and make sure I’ve got full control, and that he’s not going to disappear with me or put his head down to eat!” she added.

Christie is still almost unable to believe Wallace’s rise to fame, from being banned from British Dressage (BD) competition in June, to national and global media superstar, to winning his first BD class last month.

“I don’t know when or where or if it’s all going to end,” she said, “But I’m really excited. He’s so much fun to ride.

“I was jumping about when I found out, saying ‘Oh my god, I’m going to Gatcombe’; it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and even my parents are coming from Weymouth to watch because they know they’ll never see this again.”

Christie added that the demo will prove dressage is accessible.

“It’s good that we’re at the bottom level,” she said. “My lower leg doesn’t stay in one place and I haven’t got the best core, but people will be able to see that it’s not all prancy ponies, British Dressage is also for everyday people.

“And alongside the novelty of Wallace, I hope it will show that you don’t have to have the physique of a grand prix combination; mums and people who work in offices and don’t have access to the gym can do it too.”

Continues below…

Mules ARE allowed to compete after British Dressage U-turn: #JusticeForWallace

BD has released a statement this morning saying Wallace The Great and ‘his fellow mules’ may enter affiliated competitions

Carl Hester backs Wallace The Great’s dressage career

‘I started riding on a donkey so I’m glad BD has taken this great opportunity’

‘He’s just got enormous ears’: Rider’s wish to compete her dressage mule quashed

The rider had hoped to take part in team quest affiliated competition with Wallace The Great

Event director Peter Phillips said: “We are delighted that Wallace The Great and Christie will be taking part in the dressage display, here at the Magic Millions Festival of British Eventing this weekend.

“We are so impressed with their achievements this year and we are very much looking forward to watching Wallace show off his moves in the main arena.”

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Wallace The Great took part in his first British Dressage (BD) show yesterday (22 July) – and won.

The first BD-registered mule took the intro section in his Team Quest competition at Summerhouse with 67.4%, helping his team to second place overall.

And despite the fact the national media was out in force, as well as a “huge fan club” there to cheer him on, the 11-year-old mule was not fazed by anything.

“I didn’t expect it at all,” rider Christie Mclean told H&H.

“He won an unaffiliated class a couple of weeks ago and this was slightly smaller but the others were still intro-level horses working at the same level as him, and I just wanted him to be happy with everything and come away confident.

“I do have a competitive streak that makes me want to be the best I can be so I can’t say I didn’t try my hardest; I’m so pleased.”

Christie said her marks were “probably exactly what I thought when I watched the video back”, and her test was “honestly marked”, which made her even happier.

And she said Wallace took all the attention in his stride.

“He had a pretty huge fan club there; I didn’t expect that many people!” she said. “And it was all eyes on Wallace, which was really nerve-racking.

“Also, he’s really flexible; if there’s a fly on his chest, he can literally swipe it off with his chin as he’s got such a long face and I was thinking, please don’t do that in the warm-up as it would look like rollkur!”

All the other horses there were unfazed by Wallace, Christie said, adding that “none of them looked twice”.

Wallace’s team now has two more outings before the end of August, and the riders are hoping to qualify for the regional Team Quest finals, which take place in September and October, with a national final in November.

Continues below…

Mules ARE allowed to compete after British Dressage U-turn: #JusticeForWallace

BD has released a statement this morning saying Wallace The Great and ‘his fellow mules’ may enter affiliated competitions

Carl Hester backs Wallace The Great’s dressage career

‘I started riding on a donkey so I’m glad BD has taken this great opportunity’

‘He’s just got enormous ears’: Rider’s wish to compete her dressage mule quashed

The rider had hoped to take part in team quest affiliated competition with Wallace The Great

“So we could be going to the Team Quest regionals,” Christie said.

“People from all round the world have been trying to get in touch; from Sweden, New Zealand, the US – I hadn’t realised how few mules there are doing things.

“But he’s super-cool; not fazed by any of it.”

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Dressage legend Carl Hester has joined the ranks of riders supporting Wallace The Great’s bid for dressage glory.

The multiple Olympic medallist praises British Dressage (BD) for allowing mule Wallace, who was initially barred from being registered, to compete, in his column in today’s (12 July) H&H magazine.

“Well done to the BD board for its quick decision to realign the rules and allow Wallace the mule to compete in the Team Quest classes his rider is aiming for,” he wrote.

“After all, I started riding on a donkey, so I’m glad BD has taken up this great opportunity to expand its growing membership and, as a charity, to highlight its inclusiveness.”

“Once again, however, I am totally lost for words at some of the horrible comments on social media. At the end of the day, BD was following rules and should not be subjected to attacks that are totally out of order, and often personal.

“Now that Wallace gets his day in the arena, I hope those who were so quick off the mark to damn are just as quick to praise BD for their decision.”

H&H reported last month that rider Christie Mclean had applied for club membership for Wallace, who was found roaming the streets of Ireland and brought to England by the Donkey Sanctuary, but was refused.

BD said that in line with FEI rules, mules were not allowed to compete. It then emerged that FEI rules do cover the donkey-horse crosses, so BD changed its policy to allow Wallace, and his long-eared colleagues, up the centre line.

The story was picked up by local and national press and Wallace became a media sensation.

“Wallace has become a celebrity in the process,” said Carl, adding that he was “amazed” to see the story in the Daily Mail.

“Let’s hope that the Daily Mail now follows up with a more positive conclusion,” he wrote.

Continues below…

Mules ARE allowed to compete after British Dressage U-turn: #JusticeForWallace

BD has released a statement this morning saying Wallace The Great and ‘his fellow mules’ may enter affiliated competitions

Showjumping yard shocked by birth of ‘white’ mule

Yard owners Di and Pennie Cornish have been left baffled after the filly made an unexpected appearance

‘He’s just got enormous ears’: Rider’s wish to compete her dressage mule quashed

The rider had hoped to take part in team quest affiliated competition with Wallace The Great

At least one other mule has also been registered since Wallace was accepted: Fergus II has also joined BD ranks.

For more on Wallace, and Carl’s column, see H&H magazine, out today.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

As a former jockey, Brough Scott has plenty of experience riding Thoroughbreds, but before a riding holiday to Andalusia in May, Brough had never before ridden a mule — a cross between a donkey and a horse. The author, journalist and racing broadcaster reveals to H&H he was, in fact, pleasantly surprised by the experience.

“Now I have met Amigo, I am ashamed to have previously sneered at the thought of riding a mule,” says Brough. “I have to eat all those derogatory words I said about mules in the past. Amigo was a four-year-old, almost 15.3hh mule. He was only broken in February but he was incredibly athletic and nimble, as well as being markedly more intelligent and independently-minded than a horse.”

Brough described Amigo — the result of an Andalucian mare being covered by a male donkey — as “extraordinary” during a five-hour trek in the mountainous High Sierra courtesy of horse riding holidays provider Ride Andalucia.

“He was not only handsome but highly intelligent, he was sure about where he was going and what he was doing. We were walking along narrow mountain paths, over boulders and through streams, yet he was so sure-footed and nimble on his feet, bearing in mind they do not have shoes on either,” adds Brough. “They are very different to riding horses, the trot was very smooth, not at all bouncy.

“I rode Amigo with a loose rein and I was amazed by the self-confidence he had while going along the narrow paths — he was very calm and intelligent about where he was going.”

Amigo was broken in by Dan VanWyk, a former history teacher and war veteran according to Brough, who was raised on the ranch and now runs Ride Andalucia.

“Amigo was also surprisingly athletic and his leap was more like that of a dog than any horse. Similar to donkeys, mules are not flight animals like horses and if they sense fear they hide instead of running away, which is why Amigo was so calm and canny on those steep mountain paths.

“Mules also have amazing endurance, and can carry much more weight on their backs than horses. They have very independent minds and you can’t boss them around too much, plus I very much enjoyed Amigo’s huge ears swinging back and forth.

“Amigo was most certainly the making of my trip — it was a brilliant experience.”

For all the latest equestrian news and reports, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine — on sale every Thursday.

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The rider of the mule who has been hitting headlines after he was banned from being registered with British Dressage (BD) is “over the moon” the ban has now been lifted.

H&H reported last week that Christie Mclean had been refused BD club membership for Wallace The Great as she was told only horses and ponies may be registered.

The story was picked up by national newspapers and websites, and it emerged that although BD had told H&H it “takes its lead from the FEI” which also does not allow mules, this was not correct.

BD this morning (4 July) issued a statement saying it had considered mule registration in full at a board of directors’ meeting yesterday.

“Following consultation with the FEI, the board has taken the decision to harmonise our rules with the international federation by adopting the same wording,” it added.

“While our current rules refer to horses and ponies without a full definition, the FEI general regulations 2018 are more specific and state: ‘Horse: refers also to a pony or other member of the genus equus unless the context requires otherwise. A horse shall be born from a mare.

“This definition would allow mules to compete and therefore this change will be implemented with immediate effect and reflected in the British Dressage rules.”

When told of the change, Christie told H&H: “Wow!

“I did not expect this to happen. I just thought we might be able to raise a small amount of awareness of the other equines of the world; I’m over the moon.”

Christie said she had not expected the media storm that broke after H&H ran the story.

“I was over the moon to hear from H&H as that’s a childhood dream; to be mentioned in H&H would be awesome!” she said. “But then it went everywhere.

“I couldn’t believe the number of people who said they’d be fine with it; I could count the negative comments on one hand.

“And I do understand; if the boot was on the other foot, I might wonder how my pony would react but any competition I have entered and will enter, I will make sure every horse and rider is happy with my presence before I do anything.”

She now plans to enter Wallace, who is owned by the Donkey Sanctuary and fostered by Christie’s friend Lesley Radcliffe, in a team quest competition on 22 July, and also hopes to compete in other BD events.

Continues below…

‘He’s just got enormous ears’: Rider’s wish to compete her dressage mule quashed

The rider had hoped to take part in team quest affiliated competition with Wallace The Great

‘They’re earists!’ Rider banned from taking her mule to competition venue

The rider joked that she knows how it feels to be the victim of discrimination

Mule set to become racing legend

A record-breaking mule in America is establishing herself as a legend in the world of mule racing

BD chief executive Jason Brautigam said: “We are grateful this situation has been brought to our attention so we can now ensure our rules are brought in line with the FEI. We are delighted to welcome Wallace and his fellow mules to compete with BD, as part of our commitment to inclusion and diversity in dressage, making the sport more accessible to all.”

And Christie added: “I love that, that’s absolutely amazing.”

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

A rider who wants to register the mule she rides as a British Dressage (BD) club member has questioned why her application has been refused.

Christie Mclean had already ridden Wallace The Great in unaffiliated competitions with success, and as some horses on her BD team quest squad had been suffering from lameness, she thought she had the answer.

She applied for club membership with him, to compete at intro level, but was told only horse and ponies may be registered.

“It’s an interesting one,” Christie told H&H. “They just said no but couldn’t really give me a valid reason why.”

Christie said Wallace was abandoned in Ireland and attached himself to a village, but “he was so bad for eating all the flowers in people’s gardens, they started feeding him hay in a bus stop”.

He was taken in by a charity and eventually brought to England to live with the Donkey Sanctuary. Lesley Radcliffe, a friend of Christie’s, took him on and wanted him to have a job.

“She asked if I’d compete him,” Christie said. “I thought it would be fun and a bit different, and we did a couple of tests and got high percentages.

“He works in a beautiful outline, he’s very consistent with his paces, just a bit unbalanced in canter as he’s still a bit weak.”

Christie said BD told her the Donkey Sanctuary could advise her on competitions she could enter with 11-year-old Wallace, but “that I’d have to ask venues if I could take him before I went”.

“But I’ve never had a problem with him,” she said. “If anything, it’s riders who get flappy, saying their horses will have a meltdown, and the horses just second-look him and are fine.

“He’s very sweet and laid-back, and he never brays when we’re out. He just looks like a nice New Forest pony, with a bigger head and some pretty enormous ears, that’s it.”

Christie said she only wants Wallace to compete in some intro team quest tests and “see where it takes us”.

“I don’t think BD would be bombarded with mule applications if they let us in,” she said.

“Is it really a problem? We’re not going to offend anyone or hurt anyone, and there’s a good chance we won’t be around any high-level dressage horses who might be upset by him, as they won’t be at the intro tests.”

Christie agreed she would love to see the mule go up the levels.

“Imagine seeing Wallace The Great going extended all down the long side,” she said. “It would be brilliant.”

Continues below…

‘They’re earists!’ Rider banned from taking her mule to competition venue

The rider joked that she knows how it feels to be the victim of discrimination

Showjumping yard shocked by birth of ‘white’ mule

Yard owners Di and Pennie Cornish have been left baffled after the filly made an unexpected appearance

Is this the cutest foal of all time?

Lincolnshire-based Sarah Stewart is now the proud owner of this adorable mule foal. But how Pandora came to be was

BD head of sport operations Di Harvey said: “British Dressage does sympathise with Christie and Wallace’s situation but our rule book refers specifically to only horses and ponies within our affiliated competition criteria. We take our lead from the FEI which also doesn’t permit mules under its rules.

“We really hope they can continue their competition career in the shows offered by the British Mule Society and the network of venues which run unaffiliated dressage and wish them the best of luck.”

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

An owner was left speechless when her miniature Shetland gave birth to a very unusual foal last week (16 May).

Scotland-based Lauren Mosgrove only discovered her mare, Peaches, was in foal when she was grooming her stomach and felt a kick.

Her vet confirmed the 12-year-old was pregnant and Lauren assumed the sire was her Shetland colt, who had escaped into Peaches’ field last year.

But when Peaches gave birth five weeks later, Lauren realised the father was in fact her three-year-old donkey, Baby Donk.

Lauren had not considered that 7.2hh Peaches and 13.1hh Donk would breed due to their size difference.

“It was a huge surprise,” said Lauren. “As soon as I saw her head I knew the foal was the donkey’s.

“She was up within five minutes. Peaches loves her and is just fine, there was no damage done, which was a really huge relief.”

The mule foal, believed to be the first miniature Shetland-donkey cross, has been named Katie.

Peaches and Katie are progressing well and the foal is almost as tall as Peaches.

Lauren hopes to back Katie when she matures.

“I think she’s going to grow to about 14hh; she’s the first of her kind in the world,” said Lauren.

“Katie is very cheeky — she thinks she’s a miniature racehorse.

Continued below…

Showjumping yard shocked by birth of ‘white’ mule

Yard owners Di and Pennie Cornish have been

Magnificent Muffin the mule retires after 30 years’ service

‘This charming chap has been delighting his supporters,

‘They’re earists!’ Rider banned from taking her mule to competition venue

The rider joked that she knows how it

“She’s been making tiny little noises, we’re not sure if she sounds like a donkey or a horse yet.”

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

In this week’s edition, out on 24 May, don’t miss our “cob special”, including how to find the perfect cob, meet champion cob Our Cashel Blue and more.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

A rider banned from taking part in training and competition at one an equestrian centre because she rides a mule has jokingly described the venue as “earist”.

Sarah Hemmings, from Northamptonshire, says she has taken part in events across the UK on her nine-year-old mare Honey with no issue, so she was surprised to be told she could not take part in today’s (3 March) trec training and a forthcoming competition at Willicote Equestrian Centre.

“I can’t believe it,” Sarah told H&H. “Now I know what it’s like to be discriminated against as a minority – they’re earists!”

Sarah has owned Honey, the unexpected result of a dalliance between a well-bred Holsteiner mare and an enterprising donkey stallion — who were kept in a steeply sloping field — for seven years.

“We’ve been everywhere and never had a problem,” she said.

“We’ve done the Burghley sponsored ride, fun rides; I’ve been a member of Central Trec Group for three to four years and have never had a problem; they’ve been absolutely brilliant.

“But this centre has said I can’t bring her there as she’ll frighten the horses.”

Sarah said she has at times seen horses who are unsure of Honey, but that after they have had a good look at her, they are not scared.

“I’ve made at least one good friend from it,” she said. “There was one lady who asked if she could bring her horse to my [yard] so he could meet her; everything was fine and I made a friend.

“What most people ask is if they can introduce their horses to her. I always ask if they want me to stay still so they can come up to her and usually, after they’ve had a sniff, that’s the end of it.

“These people at the competition could meet me riding her any time on the road; surely it’s better in a closed environment?”

David Stephenson, who owns the venue, told H&H it is primarily a livery yard, which is occasionally hired to others to run events.

“We rented it to some trec people four to five years ago and they had a donkey or a mule,” he said. “Unfortunately, when it was calling and making a noise, it upset the horses on the yard, causing them to run around.

“Thankfully, no one got injured but this time, a few weeks after this booking, I remembered one of these animals had attended and I asked the organiser to ask anyone intending to bring one to refrain.

“I have a duty of care to my liveries and their horses, and the general public, and wouldn’t want anything to happen to them.”

Continues below…

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“Miracle mule” born

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Yard owners Di and Pennie Cornish have been left baffled after the filly made an unexpected appearance

Mr Stephenson said he could understand the disappointment felt by someone who initially thought she was able to take part in an event being told she could not.

“I never set out to discriminate against anyone,” he added. “I’m all for people enjoying the sport, and horses, and the last thing I want is to cause anyone distress.”

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

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A 30-year-old “Redwings legend” has retired from his special role at the charity.

Muffin the mule, the Redwing’s longest-serving “adoption star”, has retired from the adoption scheme.

He was rescued by alongside his dam Doris, when he was just a few days old.

“The pair were due to be sold for slaughter at a sale but we were able to offer them a new home instead,” said a Redwings spokesman.

“Sadly, poor Doris passed away after arriving at the sanctuary, but thanks to lots of TLC from our care team, Muffin overcame his loss and grew up to become one of our most treasured residents.

“He joined the scheme shortly after his arrival in 1987 and while he remains in good health for his age, it seemed like the right time for this special mule to take a step back from the limelight.

“Muffin’s retirement simply means he is no longer available for new adopters, but those who currently sponsor him are still able to do so and will continue to receive updates from him on his latest adventures.”

Muffin will continue living at Redwings’ Caldecott visitor centre, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, so visitors, staff and his equine friends can still enjoy his company.

“Our magnificent Muffin is nothing short of a Redwings legend,” said Redwings chief executive, Lynn Cutress.

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“This charming chap has been delighting his supporters, as well as raising the flag for mule-kind, for decades.

“He has lent a helping hoof to countless meets and greets, educational talks and guided walks at Caldecott, as well as always being ready to greet his visitors at his fence.

“We hope you’ll agree that this special mule now deserves a special retirement. Thank you to everyone who has supported Muffin throughout the years.”

Caldecott will be hosting a series of half-term activities starting on 20 October.

“We hope as many people as possible will be able to come along to give Muffin a congratulatory cuddle or send a happy retirement card,” added the charity spokesman.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday

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Showjumper Phillip Miller swapped breeches for a Pudsey Bear outfit at the weekend as he helped raise £2,200 at Brendon Stud’s annual Children in Need show (19-20 November).

Phillip posed with Di and Pennie Cornish’s mule Daisy at the venue in Pyecombe, West Sussex, which ran showjumping, arena eventing, fun pony classes and dog agility on Saturday and Sunday.

Caz Light, of Brendon Stud, said the annual show was normally held just on one day, but as the only spare date to run arena eventing was Sunday, they decided to combine the two into a Children in Need weekend.

“The adults got right into it with the fancy dress – there were spots and superheroes everywhere,” she told H&H. “My poor labrador was painted on Saturday morning and he’s still spotty now! [22 November]

“We started it as one class, about eight years ago, but it got competitive so we’ve run a day’s show, then this year thought we’d run it across the whole weekend.

“I wasn’t sure the Sunday lot would get into it as much as the kids – but they did.”

Phillip, who rides for Brendon Stud as well as the Cornishes, turned up with Pennie and her two children for the show, as well as Daisy the mascot, and was persuaded into the Pudsey costume.

“He said: ‘You’re having a laugh, but at least someone’s got bigger ears than me!’” said Caz, who ordered the costume from America.

Related articles:

• Phillip Miller’s Hickstead countdown: If I win the Derby, I’d like to buy a cow
• Top riders cross-dressing, carrying watermelons and riding a mule for Willberry Wonder Pony
• The ultimate equestrian festive fancy dress *PICTURES*

“It seems the Children in Need show is here to stay. It’s great fun and to raise that much is brilliant.”

A table-top sale, of items donated by suppliers to the Brendon Stud saddlery shop, helped towards the fundraising total, as did a cake sale and lucky dip competitions.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

What do you get if you combine showjumpers, farriers, a mule, some large ladies’ clothes, several hefty watermelons and a bottle of 45% brandy?

The answer is £6,000 raised for Willberry Wonder Pony, thanks to a day of adults’ gymkhana games last weekend (17 September).

Abbie Buffy Hart said her East Grinstead-based hunting yard Hart Equine runs an annual charity event but that this year’s was more than the norm.

“It was a silly idea but it just really worked,” she told H&H.

“Hannah Francis caught everyone’s imagination, and we wanted to do something a bit more properly for her – and my god, we did!”

Abbie invited riders including Kent-based showjumpers Robert Whitaker and Ben Dalton, as well as local eventer Sacha Hourigan and members of the Old Surrey & Burstow and East Sussex hunts.

Along with a team of farriers –one of whom had never ridden before – the riders took on challenges including a chase-me-Charlie, a dressing up race, an egg-and-spoon with a belt of brandy en route and a relay race, with watermelons instead of batons.

“It was amazing, watching the teamwork,” Abbie said.

“One of the farriers had never been on a horse but there were his teammates, dragging him along, as he was dressed in women’s clothes and carrying his watermelon.

“We had one mule among the horses we provided, and she made it because she was so awful!

“We gave her to the hunt team and she stole the show. They worked out that if they got her up to the end, she’d come back quickly and she almost won the chase-me-Charlie, jumping 1.05m.

“The riders got so involved; they were cross-dressing and covered with lipstick and melon, no one cared what they looked like and they really enjoyed it.”

Abbie said she was delighted all the riders and spectators appeared to enjoy themselves – but also that the event raised about £6,000 for the charity set up by young eventer Hannah Francis, who died from cancer in August.

“One lady came and paid her £20, but then sent another £200 saying that’s how much fun she’d had,” Abbie said.

“Hannah was inspiring. To be her age, and to take her prognosis and turn it into something so positive was incredible.

Related articles:

• H&H inspiration award for Hannah Francis
• ‘She was a magical person’: showjumper organises Hannah Francis memorial event
• Wobbleberry for Willberry: an eventing challenge for ‘middle-aged, wimpy riders’

“And there’s the fact her charity funds horsey wishes for people with serious illnesses, as well as research – I think that touches people’s imaginations, being able to do a few last things you’d always wanted to. That’s why we did it.”

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A rare white-coloured mule foal has been born at the Hertfordshire-based Greenacres Equestrian much to the surprise of the yard’s owners Di and Pennie Cornish.

One-week-old Daisy made her appearance into the world rather unexpectedly after Pennie had purchased her dam, a 13.2hh Connemara, for their riding school — not knowing she was in foal.

“I bought the mare in February from friends who had got her from Ireland, we had no idea and nor did they,” said Pennie, who owns the showjumping yard and riding school with her mother Di. “We only found out in the later stages of the pregnancy and then out popped this funny looking thing, with huge ears. I’ve bred quite a few horses and had some surprises but nothing like this.”

The exact colouring of the filly is not known and Pennie is also in the dark about who the sire is.

“I know white horses are so rare, she hasn’t got blue eyes but does have pink around them. I’d say she’s nearly albino, but she has got some spots appearing on her rear so maybe she will be an appaloosa,” added Pennie. “Even the vet can’t tell us. Also when she was first born, she had bad eyesight and couldn’t see anything.”

However, it sounds like Daisy has made her mark at the yard and won’t be going anywhere soon.

“The kids love her so she has to stay now and I am thinking of keeping her as a yard mascot. If she’s well behaved enough I may take her around county shows next year and raise some money for charity,” added Pennie, who co-owns the Hickstead Derby-winning Caritiar Z with her mother and Nigel Eccles.

“My seven-year-old daughter Chloe has fallen in love with her. She’s a sweet filly and very brave — if you call her name in the field she comes cantering over.

“If I was paid a pound for every person at the riding school who has come and visited her, I would be a millionaire,” she said.

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Mules have been perfecting their catwalk turns in the High Atlas mountains in Morocco for a beauty contest run by H&H’s charity of the year SPANA.

The annual “Best Kept Mule” competition was founded by the charity to reward good animal ownership in between the charity’s monthly mobile clinic visits. SPANA vets award points throughout the year for the mule’s maintenance and the winners are those who have accumulated the most.

Jeremy Hulme, SPANA’s chief executive, said: “In a region where mules provide the working backbone of the community these awards have given local people a new perspective on the importance of animal welfare.

“By promoting the awards we have captured the imagination of the community and provided an incentive for owners to treat their mules well throughout the year.

“From modest beginnings, these awards have grown more popular every year and fostered good-natured competition amongst owners to keep their animals in better condition. As a result the mules are receiving a much higher standard of life than we could have hoped for.”

Four villages now enter the competition and winning owners receive a small financial sum and a bag of barley to feed their animals.

H&H’s Sophia Heath will be heading to Morocco with H&H’s charity of the year SPANA to witness its work first-hand later this month.

Don’t miss her coverage online and report in August. 

For more on working equines don’t miss this week’s issue of H&H (10 July).

All pictures courtesy of Anne Heslop

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Lincolnshire-based Sarah Stewart is now the proud owner of this adorable mule foal. But how Pandora came to be was a total accident.

When Sarah bought a donkey, Woody, from a friend of hers, she was assured it was a gelding, and even checked to make sure.

But after she’d had him for 6 months, Woody walked past her in the field, swished his tail, and revealed that he was definitely not a gelding.

Sarah immediately removed him from the mares’ field and hoped he would not have covered any of them.

“We’d never seen any stallion behaviour, like jumping the mares, so we didn’t worry too much,” she said.

About a month ago, Sarah spotted that one of her mares, originally intended for her children to back and ride this summer, had grown an odd shaped belly.

“Lottie — who herself came as part of a BOGOF deal — is a 13.2hh Welsh part-bred and always a good doer and fat,” said Sarah. “I sent pictures to my friend, Kate Gregory, who has bred quite a few foals and she confirmed that I needed to keep an eye on the mare.

“Her udder got bigger and bigger and I thought I had about a month until she was due. I was in the middle of a text conversation about the importance of Jaffa Cakes in foaling kits when I went to check on her on 6 June, and the littl’un was already out.”

The bay filly, named Pandora by Sarah’s children, had 8-inch long ears.

The arrival of the mule foal is welcome tonic for Sarah, whose house was broken into and ransacked — and her dog beaten unconscious — just days later.

“It’s nice we’ve had Pandora after all the awful things that have happened,” said Sarah, whose animal-loving autistic son Logan is particularly besotted with the foal.

“She’s adorable — so sweet and cocky,” said Sarah. “I’m not sure what the plan is for the future, but for the time being she doesn’t eat too much and she can definitely stay.

“She’s so funny and has a lot of character.”

What is a mule?

• A mule is the offspring of a female horse and a male donkey.
• The reverse mating would produce a hinny.
• Mules and hinnies are both infertile.

16 things you never knew about donkeys

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What a weekend for the Kiwis! Top 3 placings at Burghley and a very happy 29-year-old in Jock Paget — what a fantastic achievement. Unfortunately I missed most of the action over the weekend, but have enjoyed catching up on the news via Horse & Hound’s news feed!

I am full of admiration for the eventers, the trust they put in their horses and their horses in them, and enjoy picking their brains whenever I can. I have 3 or 4 potential eventers in for starting at the moment including one of Emily Baldwin’s homebreds, Betty, who has just had her first few rides and is going sweetly. It would be very exciting if she ended up at the top level one day.

In my last blog I spoke about a couple of horses that I am currently working with.

Damian

Hallam’s Solento

has been with me for 4 weeks to be started under saddle and has gone so well he is now enjoying a little break in the field before doing another 2 weeks and a handover with Damian. The picture (right) is of him hacking up our driveway on the way back from a trip round the local lanes. I try to get the young horses out and about round the farm and lanes as soon as I am confident I have the necessary controls as it prevents them getting sour and gets them used to the big wide world.

When Solento arrived straight from the continent after being bought up in a herd, he took a while to settle down, but apart a couple of “interesting” groundwork days in the first week he has been an absolute pleasure to work with. He is closely related to Serupgards Salut, one of Damian’s top horses, so we are all looking forward to following his progress once he leaves Risebridge Farm.

I also spoke about a young horse whose nervous rushing tendencies were developing into a bolting problem. He has done well and is now with local event rider Matt Selby to put some competition miles on his clock before being sold. Although his owners have made the difficult decision that he is not going to be right for them, I am confident that there will be a positive outcome and he will go on to be a successful competition horse.

Now onto a Luna the Mule update! Although I now know where the saying “stubborn as a mule” comes from, we have made great progress and she is being ridden. The main difficulty came with bridling her as she was incredibly head shy and didn’t like her (large!) ears being touched, so you can see that we have actually started her ridden work in a halter (pictured top) whilst we work on that area.

With headshy horses you first have to gain control over their feet so you can always get them to “face up” to you (stand still facing and looking at you) if they move away from you when you approach their head. I then work on their head and neck flexions and making a low head position their “default setting”.

I then move my hands in a pattern around the head and once they have accepted me rubbing their face I work towards the poll and ears. All the while I am making the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard and should they turn and move away, I move their feet quickly to make them face up to me again before repeating the process. After this it is time and repetition in order to truly establish the low head position and develop confidence in contact with the head and ears before introducing the bridle.

In my spare time (which admittedly I don’t have much of!), I play a bit of polo and polocrosse and earlier in the year captained the UK Polocrosse team in South Africa. I am pretty excited about an ex-hurdler, Lady Deddington, who I bought earlier this year and rode at the weekend in the UK Polocrosse Association National Club Championships. We won the A grade with my club, Kent Target. She is a complete natural and has made me smile every time I ride her.

No matter how many talented dressage and jumping horses I ride and the pleasure and satisfaction I feel from seeing them progress towards realising their full potential in the competition arena, the Aussie outback boy who grew up chasing cows on stock horses isn’t too far under the surface. There are few things I enjoy more than sitting on such an athletic and intelligent horse that is built for speed, is as nimble as a cat and who finds her job so easy… bliss! I know I should look at selling her but I just can’t quite bring myself to write the advert…

Jason

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Jason specialises in starting young horses (and mules!) under saddle and retraining horses with behavioural and ridden problems. Follow his regular H&H blog for insight into his techniques

It would be impossible to start this blog without expressing huge sympathy for all involved in the tragic death of eventer Tom Gadsby at Somerford Park last weekend. It is a reminder of the risks we all take when working and competing with horses. No matter how experienced or well prepared we are, accidents do still happen. RIP Tom.

Although I don’t compete over large fences, I have my own safety issues to deal with on a daily basis. I work with a mix of young horses for starting under saddle and horses with behavioural and ridden problems and of these, some are severe and can be pretty dangerous. Therefore, the facilities and equipment I use are all geared towards safety for myself, staff and of course the horse itself!

One of the most obvious differences to English trainers is my use of Australian stock saddles (see picture top and below). I use them in the first stages of my training program as they provide more security for me, before reverting to the horse’s own saddle later on. I also do a certain amount of preliminary work in a corral, or “round pen”, which allows me to work closely with a horse without them being able to get away from me. They also prevent overuse of the bit in the first few rides as should a horse rush or buck, you can leave their mouth alone and let the sides of the round pen slow them naturally.

To present aspects of my work to H&H readers, I thought I would introduce 2 young horses I am currently working with. Solento is dressage rider Damian Hallam’s new purchase and is closely related his top horse, Salut. He has just had his first few rides (this photo is of him in his first ride in the arena) and will be hacking round the farm by the end of the week. Although I enjoy working with a wide range of horses and ponies, starting a horse of this quality is very special and it is exciting to think what the future holds for him and Damian.

I tend to start horses in 2 stages. After the first 4 weeks I will have covered groundwork, first rides and hacking round the farm and local lanes. I expect them to be “thinking forward” in walk, trot and canter circles in the arena and showing some lateral movement, particularly in practical situations such as opening gates. I then like them to have a break to prevent them getting sour before doing another 1 or 2 weeks “consolidation” work with them before the all-important hand over with the owners.

The 2nd horse is a talented but sensitive young horse (pictured top), who had started rushing with his owner, which was developing into a bolting problem. This has been caused by his fear of the rider being in his “blind spot” and a lack of trust, so his instincts to flee override any aids the rider gives. Luckily with this horse, the behaviour had not become a habit and by going right back to basics, he is responding really well to the first 3 weeks of his retraining program.

Before riding him, I did extensive groundwork to improve his steering, desensitize him to his “blind spot” where the rider will be (shown in the top picture, which was taken at a recent Coffee Morning at the yard) and developed my ability to control his 4 body parts (head and neck, shoulders, ribs and hindquarters). I am now riding him and after a few “interesting” moments, he has begun to truly relax and is even happily popping a fence and cantering through the fields. He will be with me for another week or 2 before going to further his education with a local event rider. His owners were lucky to catch the problem early as if a horse becomes a confirmed bolter the retraining process can take months.

They say variety is the spice of life so I will leave you with this picture of our newest arrival, Luna the mule, who has come to be started under saddle… check out my new hat too!

Jason

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Charity workers have found 39 mules dumped in “dreadful conditions” during a survey of welfare standards at the brick kilns in the Kathmandu valley, Nepal.

Staff from the Animal Health Training and Consultancy Service, a partner of The Brooke, discovered the animals shut in an abandoned kiln on 12 October. Seventeen had already died and four were so weak that they were unable to stand.

A spokesman for Brooke said: “They were in a desperate state; the mangers were empty, there was no trace of water and fresh faeces had signs of internal parasites raging through their debilitated bodies.”

Mules are transported to the region to work in the kilns, transporting bricks. During the off-season, when the weather is bad, they are usually taken back to their original homes. But it appears that in this case, the owner left his animals behind.

Vets have been treating the remaining 22 mules, providing them with food, clean water and veterinary care. They have been wormed and given tetanus vaccinations.

The Brooke managed to trace the owner of the mules. A spokesman said: “He told the team that he was in a financial crisis and was unable to take his equines with him or even provide enough funds to feed them.

“He was eager to stress that as soon as the season started again he could and would provide for them.”

For more information, visit www.thebrooke.org

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A multi-talented mule called Muffin is the latest equine to do his bit for charity.

Muffin has been a regular on the hunting field with the West Norfolk and at endurance events over the years — even appearing in H&H.

And in celebration of his 21st birthday this year, Muffin’s owner Sheril Leich wanted to do something “worthwhile and memorable”.

“We decided to do some fund-raising for equine charity SPANA and pledged that Muffin would cover 512 miles under saddle during the course of his hacks over the summer, the equivalent distance from our home in Norfolk to Inverness,” she said.

Having started on Easter weekend, Sheril and Muffin hope to finish their feat at the end of this month, and have so far raised nearly £1,000.

This article was first published in Horse & Hound (23 September, ’10)

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Muffin the Mule is set to make a television comeback for his 60th birthday after the BBC announced that they had bought a new series.

The dancing wooden mule first appeared on British TV screens in 1946 in the programme For Children when he starred alongside Annette Mills. He made his last appearance in 1955 a few days before Annette died.

Muffin was the first character created especially for children to appear on television and throughout the 1950s and 60s he went on to feature in another famous TV show Watch With Mother.

Maverick Entertainment, a small production company, bought the rights to the show. However, rather than use puppets, they plan to produce an animated programme reuniting him with all his old friends, such as Louise the Lamb, Oswald Ostrich and Willie the Worm.

The new series, which will see Muffin as a “problem solving moral guardian” for all his friends, is due to be screened within the next three years to coincide with his diamond anniversary celebrations.

Another change will be the backdrop – thenew Muffin will reside at a city farm and each episode will be a complete story.

A BBC spokesperson said: “They will be proper stories with a beginning, a middle and an end.”

The BBC has commissioned 26 episodes, which will be shown on the digital channel CBeebies and on terrestrial TV from the end of 2005.

The history of Muffin the Mule

Althought Muffin made his television debut in 1946, he was already 12 years old. He was dreamed up by the famous creator of Punch and Judy puppets, Fred Tickner, during the 1930’s when the Hogarth Puppets were involved in the experimental medium of television.

Among the special theme presentations planned by the Hogarths was a circus sequence, which required a mule puppet. The puppet needed an appearance that would help develop a comedy angle, which is why many believe Muffin’s head was made so large.

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Visitors flock to a Moroccan village to witness the birth of a remarkable foal

DNA tests have confirmed that a Moroccan mule has given birth to a miracle foal.

“A mule is the hybrid product of a donkey father and a horse mother, and because the number of chromosomes in each of these two species differs the mule is sterile, incapable of reproducing, incapable of producing a baby mule,” says Gigi Kay, technical director of the Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad (SPANA) in Morocco.

But after blood tests SPANA vets have confirmed that the foal inherited a mixture of horse and donkey chromosomes via the mother’s ovum.

Itsmother is a true mule and the father a donkey. Genetically it is about a quarter horse and three-quarters donkey.

“When I was told by locals in the mountainous region of Oulmes that a mule had given birth I was naturally sceptical. However, as Gallen wrote in 45 BC ‘there is nothing in this world that is governed by invariable rules’ and this was certainly the case with this little baby,” added Gigi Kay.

“We journeyed up 10 km of rough track in what seemed like the edge of the world and all along the way people were coming and going – as it turned out, were going for the same reason, to visit a baby mule high up on the plateau above Oulmes, 80 km south of the ancient city of Fez.

“When we finally arrived we found mother and baby in a tiny stall in a little hamlet of three houses. The mule was 14 years old, had never been in season and her owners had had no idea she was pregnant until the morning they went to fetch her for work and found not one mule but two.

“They even told us that the day before the birth was a local market day and she had carried the family uncomplaining the 16 km to get to market!

“The mule showed every sign ofbeing very happy with her miracle babe and the owners gratefully accepted our gifts which were to buy barley for mother and son.”

Read other stories about unusual foals:

• Rare white foal born
• Twin foals surprise owner
• Miracle foal survives against the odds

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

A record-breaking mule in America is establishing herself as a legend in the world of mule racing

Black Ruby is North California’s most successful racing mule holding three worldrecords and having won over $186,000 in prize-money in USA.

Bought in 1996, Black Ruby has proved a sound investment for owners Mary and Sonny McPherson from Healdsburg, California.

To date the 10-year-old has won an impressive 59 races and prize-money totalling more than $186,000.

Black Ruby also holds three world records and numerous track records over various distances.

Ridden by her regular jockey Jim Burns, “Ruby” as she is known at home, competes in 350yard, 400 yard and 440yard races.

Bred in Utah, her mother was a Quarter Horse/Thoroughbred and her father was a Jack.

“Mules are a challenge” says Mary “and it is nowhere near as expensive as horseracing.”

Mary and Sonny first became interested in mule racing in 1993 and now have nine mules in training, as well as two riding mules and some potential racing youngstock.

Mules can race up to the age of 16 and the couple say they plan to race Ruby as long she remains sound.

All about mule racing

• Mule races are generally held over distances of 350, 400 and 440 yards
• Races are also occasionally held over 220, 660 and 870 yards
• The American Mule Racing Association (AMRA) is the equivalent of Britain’s Jockey Club. It aims to establish and maintain uniform standards for the sport
• Mules run under the same rules as Thoroughbreds, Arabs and Quarter Horses

For more information on mule racing visit: www.muleracing.org

Read more about usual equines:

• First miniature mule born in Britain
• Rare Shetland/zebra foal born
• New hope for three-legged horse

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

David Snelling and his mule, Henry, are seeking companions for a charity walk next year to raise money for cancer research

Stroke victim David Snelling, who is planning a charity walk through France and Spain for cancer research with his mule in April 2002, is looking for more people to accompany him along the route.

The 2,000km pilgrim walk will be from Le Puy-en-Velay in central France to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain.

He already has 12 companions booked, but is looking for another eight. The charity walkers would spend five days walking 12 miles each day with one day’s rest.

David has been planning his trip for the past five years, spending time training on Dartmoor. He has also been using Henry to help fundraise, giving rides to children and operating a grocery service for the disabled and elderly.

“I really want to get a feeling of what it was like to be a pilgrim in the 10th and 11th Century and the hardship they had to undergo, ” said David.

But he says his main concern is for Henry. “He may be looked on as valuable in some parts and, if I have to spend the night in a tent, I will be worried about security, although he has been microchipped. “

David says his 11-year-old mule is well suited to the trip.

“He is very placid and only stubborn when he considers himself or me to be under threat – he’s prevented me from going into bogs on Dartmoor – and has got a lot of good sense.”

For more information visit www.pilgrims.com/henry

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

He stands at just 14″ now and will probably grow to under 34″, but already, Muffin, the miniature mule is causing quite a stir.

Muffin was born on Sunday, 3 June and is believed to be the first bred in this country – although there have been a number born in America.

When he’s not running around in a field, the new arrival spends much of his time tucked up with his mother, a miniature Shetland mare called Sable.

“She has taken to him fine, says Carol Hutchings, owner of the MiniaturePony Centre near Moretonhampstead on Dartmoor.

“She hasn’t had a foal for some time, but Muffin is feeding from her well.

He will probably go on show to the public by the weekend.

“Muffin does look a bit different with larger ears than apony, a donkey’s nose, but a pony’s head, a donkey’s body shape with a cross on his back and a pony’s tail.

Muffin is already getting used to people and they will be able to pet and play with him. He’s not stubborn like a mule, but very curious andplayful”.

Carol Hutchings says:”The sire, Merlin, is quite a masculine donkey and although he was in a separate field, somehow, he and the mare got together.

We don’t watch them in the field all the time, but the mares are all scanned every year.

We will have to see how this one goes before we plan any more.”

Muffin is expected to be one of the big draws for tourists at the centre which keeps 130 miniature ponies and donkey.”

For more information visit : www.sdta.co.uk or contact (tel: 01647 432 400).

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now