Marvin Winkels can tell many stories about mules but one he is swift to dispute is “stubborn as a mule.”
“That’s not true,” he said. “They’re extremely intelligent and protective of themselves.”
He ought to know because he has been selling mules to happy customers for the past 13 years along with raising the animals and farming slightly over an acre of corn with his mules — last fall and again this year. That land produced over 200 bushels for Winkels.
Although his interest in mules goes back nearly two decades, the 76-year-old explained how the lineage started with registered Percheron mares and a Rat Terrier puppy. Since a mule is a cross between a horse and a donkey, he got two mares and got them bred to a donkey. He kept the two mules. The puppy was a peace offering to his wife as he began his venture.
“I never buy or trade,” said the rural LeRoy farmer. “I raise them.”
His sales included seven states and Canada. Then a year ago in March he decided to cut back. He sold the mares’ and donkey’s offspring but kept four mules. He has a full line of plows and planters that be can pulled by the mules; his many trophies attest to the strength, stamina and intelligence of the animals.
Winkels also built a mule-driven funeral coach and wedding coach to rent along with several buggies. At one time he had both a white and a black buggy. All totaled, he has done hundreds of weddings, anniversaries and funerals.
