THE MULE. 65 



mare, in nineteen cases out of twenty, breeds close after 

 the jack, more especially in the feet and legs. It makes 

 little difference how yon cross mares and jacks, the re- 

 sult is almost certain to be a horse's body, a jack's legs 

 and feet, a jack's ears, and, in most cases, a jack's 

 marks. 



^NTature has directed this crossing for the best, since 

 the closer the mare breeds after the jack the better the 

 mule. The highest marked mules, and the deepest of 

 the different colors, I have invariably found to be the 

 best. What is it, let us inquire, that makes the Mexi- 

 can mule hardy, trim, robust, well-marked after the 

 jack, and so serviceable ? It is nothing more nor less 

 than breeding from sound, serviceable, compact, and 

 spirited Mexican or mustang mares. You must, in 

 fact, use the same judgment in crossing these animals 

 as you would if you wanted to produce a good race or 

 trotting horse. 



We are told, in Mason and Skinner's Stud Book, that 

 in breeding mules the mares should be large barrelled, 

 small limbed, with a moderate-sized head and a good 

 forehead. This, it seems to me, wiU strike our officers 

 as a very novel recommendation. The mule's limbs 

 and feet are the identical parts you want as large as 

 possible, as every one that has had much to do with 

 the animal knows. You rarely find a mule that has 

 legs as large as a horse. But the mule, from having a 

 horse's body, will fatten and fill up, and become just as 

 heavy as the body of an average-sized horse. Having, 

 then, to carry this extra amount of fat and flesh on the 

 slender legs and feet of a jackass, you can easily see what 



