Hooked on Mules : Owners Gather at Annual Races and Defend Animals’ Reputation

Forget the Preakness. The real competition over the weekend was at the ninth annual Mules in Motion races near the tiny town of Neenach in the far northern reaches of Los Angeles County.

More than 70 mules, some from as far away as Arkansas, were brought to compete in races--from the 11-mile endurance run to the 300-yard dash--that carried $15,000 in prize money.

While the animals are reputed to have a real kick, it was the owners you had to watch out for. These folks are stubborn about defending their beloved animals from people who continue to saddle the beasts with a less-than-flattering reputation.

“A lot of people think mules are stubborn and stupid,” said Hank Boudreau of Palmdale. “They’re not. They are safety-conscious and a lot smarter than horses. A horse will eat itself to death if you don’t stop it. Not a mule. He’ll eat until he’s filled and stop.”

Boudreau should know. He’s been racing mules for 20 years. His mule, Ely, won the first of the flat-track races Sunday.

“I came out here from Boston and didn’t even know what a mule was,” Boudreau said. “Then I saw one of the races and kind of got hooked. That’s what happens with most people when they see this.”

The second day of the weekend mule extravaganza, sponsored by the High Desert Mules Assn., drew about 200 people to the Erstad Ranch on Three Point Road.

Out-of-towners and locals backed their pickups and campers up along the dirt track to watch and wager on the races.

Men in ten-gallon hats and lizard-skin boots, wearing belts with buckles nearly the size of hubcaps to hold up their blue jeans, crowded the rail and talked mules. It was a family outing for some, with hot dogs, hamburgers and lemonade sold at the concession stand.

“It’s a place to have a beer and enjoy the day--a step back into a 1930s movie,” said Al Jacobs, who came from La Crescenta. Jacobs owns no mules and knew little about the animals until Sunday.

“Well, you do lose that ‘dumb ass’ concept about them when you see what they can do,” he said. “There is a whole lot more to them than I think most people know.”

A review such as that was music to Norm Noftsier’s ears. The Lancaster mule owner is president of the High Desert Mule Assn., which has about 25 members.

“The mule has this past history of stubbornness,” he said. “Until you get to understand them, you don’t realize that’s not the case. They are very patient and intelligent.

“People come out to these races and see it’s not what they think. Mules are smarter than some humans,” Noftsier said.

Intelligence aside, the skills tested Sunday were speed and endurance. And it wasn’t all for show. There was some real money competition--with the purses coming from entry fees and contributions from businesses that sponsored individual races.

The Mules in Motion races kick off a circuit of weekend mule races throughout the western United States, lasting through the summer.

One of those on the circuit is Allen Askins, of Askins Asses of Dryden, Tex., one of the largest breeders of racing mules. He entered eight mules in the Neenach competition and said he was headed to Bishop for next weekend’s competition.

A ruddy-faced man with the look of an Old West cowboy, Askins rode his own mule to a victory in the “Cowboy Handicap”--a race you won’t see at any horse track. To win, he rode the mule 300 yards down the track, took off the saddle and ran off the track. Then he had to run back onto the track, re-saddle the animal and ride it 300 yards back up the track. The winning time: one minute, 16 seconds.

“There’s a lot of pride and prestige in mule racing,” Askins said. “Everybody wants to have the best mule.”