In line with the "new subject, anything" idea, here is a theoretical question for the mule experts:
Is there a place for a medium and small-sized mule?
The reasoning would be that in some harsh, mountainous environments donkeys and pack ponies are better suited than 15 hh + horses and so I deduce that a mule bred from these ponies and donkeys would be better than the parents, but still small animals.
This against the standard advice of always breeding your best horse mares to the biggest and strongest donkey jack.

In the american south west and northern mexico they use to have lots of what were called "Spanish mules". bred the local mustang/spanish mares that went 13-14 hands to jacks. were much smaller than traditional american mules.I have been told they weighed 700-800 lbs and were tougher than a boot. if Ray will chime in he might remember them and know more, since he was around out there since before the spaniards showed up.

A mules height will normally match the height of the mare, regardless of the height of the sire.

Thanks. That answers the question.
More anecdotes and information will still be interesting.

My good friend rancher Sean Russel gave me a telephone call on this and asked me to post on it..Just got back from an elk hunt so here is my take on medium and small mules.

I was raised on big ranch in the Big Bend of Texas and we used a lot of mules in some of the roughest country in the world..I also ranched the Rosillas ranch that borders the Big Bend Nat;l. park and Mexico for some years.

The Spanish Jack is a hot blooded little beast that is easy to train and gentle but when bred to a horse mare produces a firey mule of about 800 pounds average, they are tough as nails and can pack a man with a deer in his lap for miles on end without ill effects. Fairly hard to break and train but worth the effort. They run pretty good, but not like a horse. They are hard footed as marble and most folks that have them do not shoe them as they are used in slick rock country, however the ones that I have shoed and added a borum strip were better than the barefooted mules..

The 800 to 900 pound Mamoth Jack is bred to larger horse mares and produces a large 1000 to 1300 pound long legged animal that can step over blow down timber and carry a heavy load of 30% of his body weight as opposed to a horse that carries 10% of this body weight. he is normally sluggish and rather slow and usually a calm laid back animal. I have never cared much for this animal, but they do serve a purpose especially with packers, and some ride well enough, and carry hunters to camp and back.

The best mules we ever raised were from cross bred Jacks, a cross between the Spanish Jacks of Mexico, Texas, and Arizona, crossed with the Mamoth Jacks of Tenn or there abouts. Used these on some of our better mares, and the results were phenominal, they had size, strength, disposition, and were just damn good mules overall..

Mules, early on got a bad rap, in that most ranchers (us included) used our worst mares to breed to our Spanish Jacks..They tended to be on the mean side, but were tough and I liked them once they got broke..

Our best mules were 20 to 35 years old, they were calm, broke, broke, broke, and paced themselves and would never stop or give out as some younger mules tended to do as they were chargie and tended to wear out..Today few folks would even consider buying a 20 or 30 year old mule..Thats too bad as they are cheap and the best deal in town..A mule lives and functions longer than a horse as a rule.

Another option is the Henny, the Henny is the get of a stud horse and a mare jackass or burro. They are a beautiful animal, very horse looking in that they have shorter ears than a mule, long flowing main and tail and they are hot and meanor than hell, hard and slow to learn and just plain mean, but when finished they are an awesome little animal with the best traits of both mule and horse..They tend to be smaller at 700 to 800 pounds, but that makes them easy to get on and off in steep country..

As a side note we would take 18 to 20 mules to Chimney Rock store where the trail head to the Wimenouche (sp ??) Wilderness in Colorado is or used to be???. We would pack in and hunt until all of us tagged out a bull, regardless of time involved..When we came out the packers and guides would be waiting and buy all our animals. I don't know how many years in a row we did that..Those packers in the beginning were not impressed with those small mules but as years went by they changed their tune and we got big bucks for them..I was only a high school kid at the time. I spent each following year with my brother and cousins breaking mules for the next elk hunt..Some great times for a kid growing up in that enviorment, Most of that old crew have now passed on and just a couple of us kids are still around..I remember the old men smoking coughing and drinking coffee in the morn and a little whiskey in the evening, they were tough as nails and immune to bad weather..I recall the guns being 30-30s, 25-35s, 250-3000s, 30-40 Krags, and one uncle had a 300 Savage and took a lot of flack over that big kicking magnum, that wasted too much meat..

Thanks, Ray.
Other than a lot more experience, that is exactly my experience with donkeys and mules.
You hit the nail on the head!

Don

My little Morgan mule is right at 875 pounds and has hauled her original owner of 245 pounds plus full size saddle, breast collar and britchen all day up and down the hills of Hell's Canyon. While my larger quarterhorse mule from the same jack MAY haul a bigger load, I have not found anything my smaller molly can't or won't do for me. Besides, at 2"-3: shorter, she is a heck of a lot easier to get on at the end of the day. That is her on the left end of the row when we were taking a break at an old cabin back up above the Snake.

The second mule is her half sister out of the same jack and I agree with Mr. Atkinson's friend, the size of the mule seems to come mostly form the mare. These girls are out a sorrel standard jack who seems to give his get a real good mind and want to learn attitude.

Some great information and anecdotes here and thanks for sharing them.
I have been intrigued by mules since reading in my great-grandfather's 1906 diary that he imported a pair of mules from Argentina to our present South African ranch at 96 UK pounds. This the price of his first motor car and despite the fact that there were plenty of mules in the country already.
He took them seriously as a working tool.
I would love to own a riding mule one day but have learnt that there is little short cut to a good mule and they are very scarce out here.
I am also tempted to breed one for the hell of it, but will have to ensure that it is appreciated.

Although I have broke and trained many mules in my lifetime, I still prefer the horse as he is faster, quicker, and in many cases just as strong on most diciplanes..but most of all horses love people, mules only tolerate us.

A little known fact is God put mules on this earth, to get even with the abundance of sinning cowboys!! If you ever get around to breaking and traning a mule, you will agree unless your just stupid!!

I as a previously sinning cowboy, repented early in life on the first mule. I now live fairly guilt free. My brother who has not repented, at least on mules, carries on. He knows all the EMT's by first name however. Not a bad thing. No doubt he goes and does things on his mules that we never did on our best rough country horse. However I have never seen a mule that could beat my horses in the pen. So each have their place. Horses at my place and mules at my brothers. How's that for compromise?

Fury1, Good plan and try and stay away from your brother except on Christmas and be sure he's been drinking before you get there...

Well I am here on the Prairie working in dress pants most days and he is riding the high lonesome and rocky canyons of the prettiest places on earth on his mules. Life is just not fair it has been said. He always invites me and sends pictures though so I can't complain too much. I could go anytime I wanted to drive 12 hours.

Well keep in mind a mule ain't really all that bad, if you can pack a rifle on him and he will stan ground tied and not run off when you shoot, and will let you pull a deer up in your lap and getcha back to camp..

My better mules would do these things, plus they didn't need shoes and could walk on slick rock of which we had plenty far south of Marathon Texas in the Rim rock country!

Meaning a mule has its place, an oh yeah, you can eat him if you have to..