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  • From: Clansgian AT wmconnect.com
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Beer for my Horses
  • Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:12:29 EDT



> Ah, but only initially....almost no vet bills, hoof bills, and much
> easier keep than a horse....

Of course I agree with you about the virtue of mules. But the comparison
between the keep of mules and horses stems most often from a non-subsistence
comparison.

Mules as a rule have excellent hooves, hard and durable. Belgian horses (as
an example) have notoriously poor hooves, prone to split, flake, and get
fungus infections. If one employed a vet and farrier to attend to a mule or
a
large draft breed horse, no contest. But big Duke has not seen a vet since
we've
had him and all his hoof grooming is done by us. He does not wear shoes. He
has no unusual food requirements with the single exception that (because a
2000 lb horse is NOT found in nature, no more than a mule is) there are times
he
must be supplemented with vegetable oil for the sake of his joints.

There IS a difference between keeping horses and mules with mules being
easier. But that difference diminishes with the distance from the
agribusiness
model and on a very subsistence operation it nearly disappears altogether.
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