We went to Snow Mountain Ranch a couple weekends ago. We started going a couple of years ago at the recommendation of a friend. We love it up there. Except for the weird patriarchal registration system (my wife makes the reservations, but everything defaults to my name) and the fact that we’re just about the only liberal “mask-wearing” folks staying there…
Anywho, our favorite thing to do is ride the horses there. Since I’m on the heavier side… 200 lbs. Our guide wanted to get a bigger horse for me. He didn’t have one ready, but instead gave me a mule by the name of Radar. Looked like a horse only big ears and a slightly different body shape.
Let’s talk about mules. It’s a cross between a male donkey and a female horse. Horses have 64 chromosome and donkeys have 62. So a mule gets 63. This creates a diploid problem with gametes (sperm and eggs) Basically, reproductive cells only have half as many chromosomes as normal cells so that way when they combine you get a full complement of two sets of chromosome. Chromosomes come in sets of two one from mom and one from dad. So it’s standard for organisms to have even numbers of chromosome. If you have an odd number like Radar here, when meiosis occurs to make gametes the odd chromosome can’t be divided evenly and missing genetic coding is generally fatal to a developing organism. Thus, mules are generally infertile.
Interesting fact to look into: Our guide, Steve, mentioned that horses and donkeys each live about 30 years, but mules can live 50. I looked around a little and it looks like donkeys are actually pretty long-lived and generally just pretty hardy organisms.
I was able to bring along my new shave horse and spent a few hours testing it out on the porch of our cabin. It’s been exceedingly useful in the last couple of weeks and really makes shaping a pleasure.
I also brought along some of my most used tools and spent a couple of hours sharpening them. Really sharpening them. What a difference really sharp tools make. Also increases the efficiency and enjoyment of the shaping immensely. I’m now starting to get in the habit of a quick stropping (just running them along a strip of leather with some very fine honing compound to touch up the edges) of my tools every time I use them.
Szience.com 