MULE
A Mule is the sterile hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Mules have strong muscles like horses but they eat less, can work longer, and are gentler, like donkeys.
A Hinny is similar to a mule, being the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey. Some hinnies look like mules while others may look more like horses.
Mules, both male and female, have all the normal organs and desire to breed. They are considered sterile, but may rarely conceive and even more rarely carry to term.
George Washington was the first person in the United States to own mules. He had heard that mules made good farm animals and he contacted the U.S. ambassador in Spain to ask about them. In 1785, King Charles III of Spain sent Washington a male donkey as a gift.
Library of Congress Local Legacies Project
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