Things will go wrong, and it sometimes it will be your fault.  Remember the adage - its not whether you get knocked down, its whether you get back up again.

• Mules are a cross between a donkey stallion and a horse mare.

Although mules are non-fertile, castration of stallions is still advisable to limit undesirable behaviour.

Fearful mules initially show subtle behavioural signs of fear like the donkey, then rapidly switch between the flight responses of the horse and the fight responses of the donkey.

When the subtle signs of fear are missed, stressed mules can appear explosive and aggressive and can pose a high risk to the handler.

Mules tend to exhibit pain behaviour more readily than the donkey and so may show more obvious signs of colic.

If a mule has not had any formal training, is stressed or has previously shown any dangerous behaviour, early sedation should be considered for veterinary procedures prior to catecholamine release.

Use of oral or intramuscular sedation may be more appropriate in a mule than trying to gain intravenous access.

Doses of sedation may need to be significantly increased in stressed/fearful mules due to circulating catecholamines.

Nose twitches can be effective for mules, however due to their negative side effects their use should be carefully considered and limited to a short length of time, for example to administer sedatives.

Mules are less susceptible to hyperlipaemia than donkeys.

Mule foals are highly susceptible to neonatal isoerythrolysis due to ‘donkey factor’ antigen present in donkey red blood cells.

The position of the nasolacrimal duct varies greatly between mules.

The mule hoof is more similar to the horse or pony and is less susceptible to white line disease than the donkey.