Baxter Black über Mulis

[HannoPilartz]

Baxter Black ist im U.S.-amerikanischen Westen jedem Kind bekannt. Als Tierarzt für Großtiere hat er wohl genug erlebt, um im vorgerückten Alter seit Leben als Cowboy-Poet oder Humorist des "Wilden Westen" zu verbringen.
Seine Serie "On the Edge of Common Sense" - zu deutsch "An der Grenze des gesunden Menschenverstandes" erscheint seit vielen jahren grundsätzlich auf der letzten seite des Traditionsblattes "Western Horseman" (erscheint seit 1931!!)

Black: Mules are peculiar, but they like to have fun
By Baxter Black
On The Edge Of Common Sense
Mules are peculiar. First, they're not real. They are the equivalent of a Caterpillar body on a Volkswagen chassis, with Cadillac suspension, a Cummins diesel and lawn mower wheels. Not to mention two dish antennae and a rear window wiper. So it is no wonder that people who are attracted to mules, are peculiar in their own right.
And, just like the animals they admire, mule people are proud of their "uniqueness." I'm not sure how to characterize this condition but I once described Bishop, Calif.'s Mule Days as, "like a cowboy poetry gathering, only more intellectual."
Yes, mules seem to have an intelligence that horses do not. This is demonstrated by their traits of not overeating grain if given the chance, not panicking in a tangle, and pooping in designated areas (which they have tried to teach the horse, who only half-heartedly, or half-hockily, have adopted.)
Mules, unlike horses, also play by the rules. Often their rules, but they always color within the lines. During Hurricane Floyd of 1999, the coastal plains of North Carolina was hit hard. Torrential rain followed by massive flooding occurred. Huge sections of the flat plain was underwater.
Dale and Jim had their property inundated. They had salvaged what they could from the house and led their four mules out to the road in knee-deep water toward safety.
The mules balked at the property line. Dale's "house rules" forbade the mules to cross that imaginary obstacle. They freed the mules, thinking when the water got high enough, they'd find a way out.
But next morning the mules were back in the barn and the water was up to their backs. Jim haltered the boss mule and tied him to the transom of a 16-foot boat with a 25 horsepower Evinrude. They putted out toward the road. The mule came right along until he reached the edge of the property. He dug in all four feet and stopped the parade.
Jim was twistin' the throttle and fishtailin', but goin' nowhere. Then surely but steadily, boss mule backed clear to the barn towing the sputtering ship like he was reeling in a 400-pound catfish.
But mules do like to have fun. Jackson Hole Jerry had a big mule that liked to stand in the back of his little two-horse trailer. Jerry came home one day to find the trailer at the bottom of the slope below the house.
"Who moved the trailer?" he asked his wife. "Not me," she said. Jerry hooked up and pulled it back to the top of the field. He unhooked, started for the house and looked back to find his big mule clomping into the trailer. The tongue lifted off the ground and down the hill he went.
Jerry thought he heard him laughing.

[Beate]

Hallo Hanno,
vielen Dank für die Maultier-Geschichten.
Baxter Black lese ich auch gerne - sofern ich die Muse habe, mir amerikanische Texte anzutun. Auf der folgenden Seite verfolge ich seit langer Zeit unter "Cowboy Poetry" seine Texte: http://www.equestmagazine.com/index.htm
Ausserdem gibt es dort allmonatlich Tips von Jerry Tindell, einem der ganz grossen US-amerikanischen Maultier-Trainer.
Gruss
Beate