Mule (redirected from horse mule)

mule, in manufacturing

mule, in manufacturing: see spinning.

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mule, in zoology

mule, hybrid offspring of a male donkey (see ass) and a female horse, bred as a work animal. The name is also sometimes applied to the hinny, the offspring of a male horse and female donkey; hinnies are considered inferior to mules. The mule has many donkey characteristics—long ears, a tufted tail, slender legs, small hooves, and a loud bray—but it resembles a horse in size and strength. Most mules weigh from 1,100 to 1,400 lb (500–640 kg). They lack the speed of horses, but are more surefooted and have great powers of endurance. Like donkeys, they are of a cautious and temperamental disposition and require expert handling to perform well. Both sexes are sterile. Mules have been bred as pack and draft animals since prehistoric times, and are still used throughout the world, particularly in regions where mechanized farm equipment is uncommon. They have been widely used in the United States, where they were first bred by George Washington, but are now found mainly in the southeastern states. Mules were used extensively for military transport before the advent of mechanization. They are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Perissodactyla, family Equidae.

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mule

Offspring of a male ass and a female horse. The less common cross of a female ass and a male horse is called a hinny. Most mules are sterile. The mule resembles the horse in height and in shape of neck and croup (rump); it resembles the ass in its long ears, small hooves, and short mane. The coat is usually brown or bay. Mules are 12–17.5 hands (50–70 in., 120–180 cm) high and weigh 600–1,500 lbs (275–700 kg). They have been used as pack animals for at least 3,000 years because of their ability to withstand hardships.

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mule

1. the sterile offspring of a male donkey and a female horse, used as a beast of burden

2. any hybrid animal

3. a machine invented by Samuel Crompton that spins cotton into yarn and winds the yarn on spindles

4. Slang a person who is paid to transport illegal drugs for a dealer

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mule [myül]

(mining engineering)

barney

(vertebrate zoology)

The sterile hybrid offspring of the male ass and the mare, or female horse.

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mule

symbol of obstinacy: “stubborn as a mule.” [Folklore: Jobes, 462]

See : Obstinacy

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(text, tool)

Mule - A multi-lingual enhancement of GNU Emacs. Mule can handle not only ASCII characters (7 bit) and ISO Latin 1 characters (8 bit), but also 16-bit characters like Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. Mule can have a mixture of languages in a single buffer. Mule runs under the X window system, or on a Hangul terminal, mterm or exterm. Latest version: 2.3. ftp://etlport.etl.go.jp/pub/mule.

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Mule

a domestic animal; the hybrid offspring of a horse (mare) and an ass (jackass). The mule has characteristics of both parents. It has the size and swiftness of the mare. From the jackass it inherits hardiness and a capacity for work exceptional for its size. The mule is known for its long life-span (as long as 40 years) and low susceptibility to illness. It does not require special feed or maintenance. The mule is almost always sterile. Some instances have been recorded in which the mating of a female mule with a stallion or jackass has resulted in offspring. The general color of the mule is determined by the mare.

Mules are classified according to work capacity as pack or draft animals. Pack mules are 110–140 cm high at the shoulders, and draft mules up to 160 cm. Pack mules weigh 300–400 kg, and draft mules 400–600 kg. A mule can pull 18–20 percent of its weight, depending on the nature of the load and the individual characteristics of the animal. All males are castrated between the ages of 1½ and two years. Mules are first trained for work at the age of two; they carry a full load after four years of age. Mule raisers house the young and adult animals under the same conditions as horses.

Mules are widely used in Asia, Southern Europe, and North and South America. In 1960–65 the world’s mule population was 13.8 million, and in 1971, 14.7 million. In the USSR, mules are raised in Transcaucasia and Middle Asia. On Jan. 1, 1941, there were 6,300 mules in the USSR, in 1965, 3,400, and in 1971, 3,200.

REFERENCE

Lakoza, I. I., and V. A. Shchekin. Verbliudovodstvo i osnovy oslovodstva i muloproizvodstva. Moscow, 1964.