"Welcome To Our Mule Page"

Picture below is of Mike & Patti working one of our young Mules

Patti & I started raising mules out of our Tennessee Walker Mares about 1988. Our first try brought a fine john mule foal that weighed 165 pounds at birth. He stood and started nursing right away and we were ecstatic. The next morning we found him dead in the paddock with the mare standing over him. We found no marks on him from trauma. So we called the Vet for an autopsy. While the test was out for lab work we bred the mare back to a different Jack. The preliminary blood test had showed an RH type problem as the cause of death so we used another Jack. The mare took on her foal cycle and we waited for the blood work to come back from California. This test showed the mare with Anti Ass antibodies. The Vet thought we could over come this problem by keeping the foal off the Mares first milk and feeding it Colostrum from another mare. This is easier said than done! Try and catch a seasoned mare as she is giving birth. We tried by sleeping next to a makeshift foaling shed in our camp trailer and waking up every hour. Ha Ha... we caught this one after he got a good gulp of mom's milk. We started feeding him the Colostrum we had on hand, but he continued to go down hill. The Vet was called again and they even gave him a transfusion to no avail. We lost him also.

Further description of this problem can be acquired from us by email if you need it. The term they called it was NEONATAL ISO-ERYTHROLYSIS (NI for short) email-us

This started us looking for another naturally gaited Mare. We found a good one and she has produced three good mules for us. We train our own animals and have put many hours into the three mules. They all pack and two of them we are riding. All three of them are gaited and move along at the same speed as our Tennessee Walking Horses. See our Mule Pictures for some laughs if you have trained animals. I will add more later.

Clyde Roy Avery

November 22, 1951 - September 26, 2012
Clyde Roy Avery, 60, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, passed away at his home Wednesday, September 26, 2012.

In Memory of Clyde site

http://www.memorialsolutions.com/sitemaker/sites/Coltri1/obit.cgi?user=738041Avery# 

Gus Tjeerdsma

On February 19, 2010, Gus departed this life with his family by his side.

Background Story

On February 4th at 7:30am Gus arrived at the construction site like any other work day.  Excited to be on the job looking forward to some good weather and getting some work done.  After firing off the D4 Dozer and getting a little grading done, he stepped down to talk to the first truck driver of the day.  After letting him know where to dump the load, he climbed up on to the track of the dozer.  When climbing into the cab, he accidentally hit the lever into reverse while his feet were still on the tracks.  This resulted in a crushing injury to his pelvis, both legs and left arm.  He was rushed to Skagit Valley Hospital and then airlifted to Harborview in critical condition.

On February 19, 2010, Gus departed this life with his family by his side.

You can get the latest information from the Caring Bridge website the family has setup.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/gustjeerdsma

Gus is in the back right... Clyde front in blue

David R. Harder passed away Feb. 9, 2010, in Kirkland after a brief illness. Dave was born April 9, 1932, in Duvall.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Diane Harder; his daughter, Nancy (Walt) Marth of Redmond; son, Dale (Heidi) Harder of Sultan; and daughter, Judy (Andy) Knebel of Duvall; grandchildren, Jacob, Lynn, Tony, Jeff, Jennifer, Christine, Andrew, Ashley, Steve and Shannon; great-grandchildren, Alexandra, Natalie, Jordan, Kendall and Grace.

Dave owned and operated Duvall Hardware & Appliance for 30+ years. He was a founding director for Valley Community Bank in Duvall and was also the fire chief for 34 years for KCFPD #45 — something he was passionate about.

In recent years, Dave operated Have Mules Will Travel. He thoroughly enjoyed providing wagon rides for parties, weddings and parades. He loved each of his animals, and it gave him great joy to train them. One of the highlights with his ponies was riding the John Wayne Trail.

Dave’s giving spirit benefited many. Dave never met anyone he didn’t like. Strangers became his friend within minutes. He will be greatly missed.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, February 20, at 1 p.m. at the Duvall Church. A reception will be held following at the Duvall Fire Hall.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Duvall Fire Department.

Better Read This... New for 2009

"Weed-Free" Feed Required in Northwest Forests

New for 2011

Beware.. Use of DNR lands or State Parks will need a Discover Pass

read about it here... Discover Pass

You can Navigate from links below...

Mule Pictures

Story about my good friend and a ride he broke his leg on. Near Mammoth in the Sierras.

Clyde Avery Story

Mule Links

Look on the Bishop Mule Days album for the crew in the bath tub.

"Best picture we took"

Bishop Mule Days 2003 Pictures

High Country Page

MRC Home Page

Comments or Sign Our Guest Book

Back To High Country Page                    Back to Mike & Patti's Page