COON MULE JUMPING
So this won't get lost at the end of the pulling photos, I wanted to start off with this photo of Carrie, a little white molly mule owned by Junior Gregg.  Carrie was famous for her skills at coon mule jumping, a timed event where the mules (with or without saddle) jump from a standstill without moving outside a box marked on the ground.  Carrie is setting a record here at the HLS&R, jumping 78 inches (six and a half feet)!  The tarp was needed since Carrie, at only 13.2 hands (54 inches), could have easily walked under the jump!  She was an AWESOME coon-jumping mule.  For those not familiar with coon-mule jumping, there are those who hunt raccoons on mules, following the baying of the hounds.  Often, a fence is encountered, whereupon the rider dismounts and encourages the mule to jump from a standstill.  A piece of rope and rag is carried to tie the strands of barbed wire together and to cover the fence so that it is more visible (coon hunting takes place at night).  The show competition evolved from the practice of using mules while coon hunting.

MULE PULL PHOTOS
These photos were taken by our photographer friend, Gary Marches, at Gulf Coast Donkey & Mule Association shows.  Since we competed with a lightweight team, most of the photos are of the small mules.  Some of these little mules were so small that they didn't even tip the scales at 500 pounds together as a team.  They averaged 500-700 pounds and often pulled over 400% of their body weight!!  Depending on the show and rules, and whether they were combined with the super heavyweights, it was not unheard of for these little teams to win against the big mules, as the judging goes by percentages of weight pulled according to the weight of the team, not the amount of weight on the sled.
 

	ANGLETON, TEXAS DONKEY & MULE SHOW The mini mules are patiently awaiting their go-round.     More Mule Pulling Photos