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and the frogs of the hooves are in a different position. Donkeys ' backs are flatter than horses ' and more often than not cannot hold a saddle. Donkeys and horses differ on a genetic level: horses have 64 chromosomes and donkeys 62. Both horses and donkeys are social creatures, but horses are naturally herd animals and prefer to live in a larger group, whereas donkeys tend to pair off and form a strong bond with just one other of their kind. Horses have an extremely strong flight response and will run from any perceived danger, but donkeys are harder to startle and will consider the risk before they decide to either run or stick around. So what are mules? A mule is produced when you breed a male donkey to a female horse, also known as a mare. A hinny, meanwhile, is produced when you breed a stallion, or male horse, to a female donkey. Mules possess characteristics of both of their parents. Mules and hinnies have 63 chromosomes. Because of their parents ' incompatible chromosomes, these creatures are generally sterile. Mules can take after their horse parent or their donkey parent, making easy identification a little bit trickier than it is with an animal which is 100 percent horse or donkey. Mules often have the flatter spines and larger ears that their donkey heritage passes on to them. However, mules tend to be larger than donkeys, with more delicate bone structure. Mules can be used for many of the same riding disciplines that horses are used for, depending on the quality of the mule. The physical characteristics that mules share with horses include shape of the body, the coat, and teeth. The hooves of a mule are harder
HORSEMANSHIP
than those of a horse. There is a large variation in the colour and size for both donkeys and mules worldwide. The coat of a mule is usually brown( sorrel) or bay but there is considerable variety just like horses. Other common colours are black and grey, while less common coats are white, roans( both blue and red), palomino, dun and buckskin. Donkeys are usually grey but some are dark brown, black or light-faced roan. They also have dorsal stripes( a dark stripe from mane to tail) and a crosswise stripe on the shoulders. Every mule hasaunique Mule bray that is a combination of the horse ' s whinny and the grunting of the wind-down of a bray. Most mules start out Whinee..... like a horse and end in-aw ah aw like a
donkey. Both donkeys and mules love broad-leaved weeds and roughage such as barley straw. This should form a large part
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