A mule is a cross between a male donkey and a female horse.
A donkey is its own unique species while a mule is a cross between a horse and a donkey, specifically a male donkey and a female horse (a mare). Further, mules are sterile and cannot reproduce. A mule can only come from crossing a donkey with a horse but cannot (in most cases) continue a bloodline.
Mule: The result of a donkey stallion mating with a female horse. Mules tend to have the head of a donkey and the extremities of a horse. Hinny: The result of a horse stallion mating with a female donkey.
They live longer than horses and tend to require less food than a similar-sized horse. They can also sense danger better and are more cautious than horses or donkeys, making them safer to ride when crossing difficult terrain.
slang : a person who smuggles or delivers illicit substances (such as drugs)
Extremely obstinate, as in He's stubborn as a mule about wearing a suit and tie. This simile evokes the proverbial stubbornness of mules, whose use as draft animals was once so common that the reputation for obstinacy can hardly be as warranted as the term indicates. [ Early 1800s]
We may use the words interchangeably, but donkey, jackass, burro and mule aren't really synonyms. Each term does relate to a donkey, but a jackass is not a mule, and all burros are not jackasses.
A female horse and a male donkey have a mule. But hinnies and mules can't have babies of their own. They are sterile because they can't make sperm or eggs.
“If they're left intact, males have very aggressive behavior,” McLean said. “The mules will fight with one another. They will fight with other equines. They can be very aggressive toward their human handlers.”
Mules Compared to Donkeys and Horses. Mules are larger than donkeys, which makes them more suitable for an adult to ride, and hardier than horses, which makes them easier to keep.
Due to their parents' different numbers of chromosomes male mules are considered sterile and as such they have no reproductive potential. For these reasons it is always advisable to castrate male mules, and where practical to do it as young as possible.
Usually, it's the male donkey (jack) mating with a female horse (mare) to produce a mule, which can come in either sex. Less frequently, a male horse (stallion) will mate with a female donkey (jenny) to produce a hinny, which also come in both varieties.
The term “mule” is used for either the cross of male donkey on female horse, or the cross of female donkey on male horse, although the latter cross is more correctly known as a “hinny.” Mules and hinnies each have one horse and one donkey parent, however the two crosses generally differ from each other in appearance ...
Breeding: A donkey bred to a donkey produces a donkey. Donkey jacks are crossed on horse mares to produce mules, while the opposite cross (stallion x donkey jennet) gives a hinny. There are few pure breeds of donkey in the United States, where they are known by their sizes and types.
Donkey (Jack) + Horse (Mare) = Mule
Mules make fantastic draught and pack animals and are said to have the strength and power of a horse with the hardiness and sure-footedness of an ass. As donkeys have 62 chromosomes and horses have 64, most mules are born sterile; their set of 63 cannot evenly split.
Often more intelligent than their parents, mules tend to enjoy social interaction. They tend to be gentle, docile creatures, making them great family pets as well as working animals.
Mules are often considered superior to horses when it comes to trail riding—there's nothing better for riding in the steep mountains. They are more sure-footed, tend to be smoother gaited and because of the aforementioned self-preservation and less flight response, some consider them safer than horses.
Mules have inherited the best qualities of both, being larger and faster-moving than donkeys but less picky about food and stabling than horses, and cheaper to keep. They will pull a cart or carry packs across their backs, and can be ridden.
Mules are a hybrid of a mare (female horse) and a male donkey, but a mule is more intelligent than either. This has been tested scientifically and shown. It is also an example of something called “hybrid vigor.” More on this below.
Mule is an offspring of interspecific hybridisation. Male and female animals of two different affiliated species are mated in this process. In the same conditions, the offspring will incorporate the beneficial characteristics of both the parents and may have significant economic benefit.
A mule has 63 chromosomes, intermediate between the 64 of the horse and the 62 of the donkey. Mules are usually infertile for this reason. Pregnancy is rare, but can occasionally occur naturally, as well as through embryo transfer. A few mare mules have produced offspring when mated with a horse or donkey stallion.
For a male and female mule to produce their own baby mules, the adults would have to produce gametes. Gametes, eggs and sperm, are created by a type of cell division called meiosis. During meiosis, diploid cells (normal pairs of chromosomes) divide into haploid cells (only half the number of chromosomes).
A hinny is a domestic equine hybrid, the offspring of a male horse (a stallion) and a female donkey (a jenny). It is the reciprocal cross to the more common mule, which is the product of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare).
An adult male donkey is a jack or jackass, an adult female is a jenny or jennet, and an immature donkey of either sex is a foal. Jacks are often mated with female horses (mares) to produce mules; the less common hybrid of a male horse (stallion) and jenny is a hinny.
A mule can be vicious to unwanted predators. “They can not only stomp them into the ground, but you'll see them grab them with their teeth,” Knight said. “They are very effective guard animals, as long as the mule is trained to be a guard animal.”