Mules are a cross between a donkey and a horse.
If the horse is the male, then the resulting cross is called a MULE.
If the donkey is the male, then the cross is called a genet. The genet is smaller than a mule.
I seem to remember that we had an enormous donkey which came from the Sudan. I can visualise him today. He was dark brown in colour with a whitish strip down from his ears to his mouth. I think we called him Sultan.
We also had a whitish mule called Georgina who was much smaller.
Mules have much smaller hooves than horses so were very useful on rocky pathways.
For some reason, if you had a mule —it meant you were a more important person than if you rode a horse.
A mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare).
The horse and the donkey are different species with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two possible first generations, the mule is easier to obtain and more common than the hinny. The hinny is a cross between a female donkey (a Jenny) and a male horse (a stallion).
Mules vary widely in size and may be of any colour.
They are more patient, hardier, and longer living than horses and are perceived as less obstinate and more intelligent than donkeys…
However, I remember Georgina being very obstinate whenever we asked her to do anything she did not want to do so she was definitely very intelligent.
We rode horses nearly every day and found them far easier to ride than mules and far more responsive to do what we wanted them to do.
KT the lady who lived with us always rode Georgina the mule who was quieter to manage than any of our horses. But our horses became almost members of our family and far less obstinate than mules and I think more intelligent. Perhaps that was because we spoiled them more than we ever spoiled our mules.