whats the difference between a mule, donkey, and a horse?

Answer 1

A horse is a horse, plain and simple. A donkey is a small equine with long ears. A mule is a cross between the two

Answer 2

A mule is the size of a horse some say a cross between a horse and donkey but I think a different breed, a horse is just a horse, and a donkey is small with long ears.

Answer 3

A mule is the result of breeding a jack (male borro) to a mare. The foal you get when you breed a horse stallion to a mare borro is called a Henny ( most of the time they will have a more horse like tail, shorter ears and a smaller head. they are also considered to be mules. Either cross is supposed to be steril. but there have been a few instances in history where a mule mare has had a foal. Horses and Mules have a different number of chromosones. Ponies are always under 14'2" A donkey and a burro are the same thing. A Mamoth Jack is just a very large borro.

Answer 4

This question is more complicated than 'what is a mule' so it will require a bit more information.

Mules are very strong my husband says but are very ill tempered such that they are dangerous to use. So his father bought two big male stallion work horses to help pull out big tree stumps on their land in the forest, foot of the mountain area.
Probably the males are more dangerous than the females but males are used for working as they tend to be bigger from what I understand when I asked why they bought two males and no female horses.

From this web site The parentage of the offspring is what determines if it is called a mule or a hinnie. I knew that they are a cross between a horse and a donkey but I could not remember which was the mother or father. As they are a cross of two different species they are sterile and cannot reproduce.
The Donkey is the daddy (stallion) and the horse is the mother (mare).
Color coat, sound of the animal, genetics, hooves, mane, ear length are all different in each one. They are all genetically distinctly different animals and breeding between the two species horse and donkey creates a distinctly different hybrid offspring which is sterile except in extremely rare cases for the female offspring.
What is a Mule?

All About MULES!


The Mule is a cross between a donkey stallion (called a jack) and a horse mare. Hinnies are just the opposite - a stallion horse crossed to a donkey jennet. For all purposes, hinnies and mules are classified and shown together under the general term Mule. A mule or hinny may be a male (horse mule or horse hinny) or a female (mare mule or mare hinny). Sometimes horse mules (the males) are called Johns, and the mares are called Mollies. Both male and female mules have all the correct "parts" but they are sterile and cannot reproduce. A VERY few (about 1 in 1 million) mare mules have had foals, but these are VERY, very rare. No male mule has ever sired a foal. SO if you cross a mule to a mule - you get nothing! Mules and hinnies must be bred by crossing a donkey and horse every time. (Male mules should also be castrated, since they are sterile. They can become dangerous with too many hormones, so should always be castrated. You can't show an intact male mule, anyway, and it is useless to keep them a stallion).

What is the difference between a Donkey and a Horse now needs to be answered.

Mules ears are usually somewhat smaller than a donkeys, longer but the same shape as the horse parents. The mule's conformation will be a combination of traits from both parents. The head, hip and legs usually take after the jack. Mules do not have pronounced arches to the neck, even from breeds such as Arabians or Warmbloods. A slight arch or straight neck is preferable to a ewe, or upward curved neck.

The mule will have "combination hair", usually a thin forelock, coarse mane hair, and a tail more like the horse parent. Both mules and donkeys are shown with a variety of hairstyles from clipped to shaved (roached). Mules may wear their tails "belled" as decoration, left long and full, or clipped at the top to emphasize the shape of the hip.

Next reference
A horse, zebra and donkey look very similar. The apparent difference
between them is their height and colour of their skin, and the hair
on their neck. In one question/answer posted on cross-breeding, it
states that horses are different from donkeys. What are the any
physiological difference between them? Are the difference between
these three animals same as difference between humans & monkeys
(without tails), or difference is like whites (Europeans), blacks
(africans) and east asians (chinese, japanese, koreans, etc)?

Next Reference Ask Yahoo
Mule: A domesticated, hybrid animal that results from crossing a mare (female horse) and a jack (male donkey).
Donkey: A domesticated ***.
Which, of course, begs the question "What is an ***?" Thankfully, Mule Barn also provides a definition of this particular animal.
***: A four-footed, hoofed mammal related to the horse, but smaller, with longer ears and a shorter mane, shorter hair on the tail, and a dark stripe along the back.

Next Reference
Breed Characteristics

Donkeys, zebras and mules all differ somewhat from horses in conformation. The most noticeable difference is of course the ears. Donkey's ears are much longer in proportion to their size than a horse’s. The necks are characteristically straighter in the long-ears, and most donkeys and all zebras lack a true wither. The croup and rump are also a different shape in the donkey and its hybrids, lacking the double-curve muscled haunch.

Answer 5

As far as I know, a mule is the cross between a donkey and a horse. Mules are unfertal. A donkey on the other hand is fertal and can breed other donkeys and horses (thus making a mule.)

Don't quote me on it tho!! =-)

Answer 6

Mule: The progen of a male donkey and a female horse. It has a horse like body and donkey like ears, legs and feet.

A*sses (Jacks were bred to use on horse mares to procude mules). (Jennets, females breed to a horse stallion is known as a hinny). Mules and hinnys of both sexes are generally sterile.

The difference between an A*ss and a horse is that an as*s has longer, larger ears a sparser mane and tail, more cowlike tail and smaller hooves. The muzzle and underbelly area is usually light in color and there are no chestnuts on the inner sides of the legs.

Donkeys are small asses. usually they come in "duns". Donkeys and burros are synonymous as spanish translats donkey as burros.

A horse in general is any type of breed: Quarter, Paso, peruvian paso, TB, Arabian. Each have distinque characteristics, but simularities in their cross breeding to create a new breed as ancestors from 60 million years ago up til present time has evolved greatly by breeding and changing in development.

Answer 7

well ok you know what a horse is...
a donkey is obviously different longer ears, more intelligent (and more dangerous) thinner hair on their tail.. excellent guard animals, VERY sure footed
a mule is a cross between them both - mules cannot breed (well very rarely)

a mule has lots of advantages.. eats less than horses, and not quite as dangerous as a donkey, good guard instinct, easier to train than a donkey

Answer 8

Horses are a lot bigger and look different from donkeys. A mule is the product of breeding a horse and a donkey.

Answer 9

a mule is a mix between a horse and a donkey.

Answer 10

i thought they were all mules