Mule sells for $61K at auction

Posted 6/25/15

And that wasn’t the only record-high bid.

Two new records were set at this year’s Mule Days. Peaches, a palomino mare mule consigned by Loren Loesch went for $61,000 and PairADice’s Jazzy from Loren Basham of Pair A Dice Mules sold for …

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Mule sells for $61K at auction

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Two record sales made at 2015 Mule Days

There are a lot of things that can be bought for $61,000 — a new truck, an RV, a fleet of 4-wheelers, even a small house (depending on the location) — but, on Sunday, that was how much one person bid for a mule at Jake Clark’s Mule Days.

And that wasn’t the only record-high bid.

Two new records were set at this year’s Mule Days. Peaches, a palomino mare mule consigned by Loren Loesch went for $61,000 and PairADice’s Jazzy from Loren Basham of Pair A Dice Mules sold for $34,000.

 “It was very successful,” founder Jake Clark said. “Three women loved her (Peaches); that is the whole deal for the top sale. She was a nice trail mule that belonged to a longtime consigner. People buy with confidence, because I don’t allow guys that aren’t standing by their product; they need to be sound and sane.”

The previous record-high mule sold for $29,500, less than half of what Peaches sold for, Jake Clark said.

Other big sellers at Sunday’s auction were:

• George White’s mare mule, Candy, which sold for $19,000.

• Codi and Colby Gines’ brown horse mule, Slim, which sold for $17,000.

• Loren Basham’s mare mule, PairADice’s Fancy, which sold for $16,500.

• Gabe Whittle’s mare mule, Sammy Joe, which sold for $16,000.

Several others sold for more than $10,000 and more than 20 mules sold for more than $5,000 at Sunday’s auction.

“We knew it would be high; the horse market is high all over the country,” Jake Clark said. “We have a shortage of broke mules and broke mares. They (the buyers) want the insurance that they won’t get hurt.”

A lack of well-trained mules, combined with several years in a row of increased horse-slaughter activity has cut the supply of good quality horses and mules down by half, going from 400-600 at sales down to 200-300, Jake Clark said.

“All of the mom-and-pop outfits got out of it, and it will stay that way,” Jake Clark said. “It is like the cattle market — when you got a shortage, you got high money.”

Smarter than your average equine

“They don’t give mules much credit,” Jake Clark’s wife, Kay Clark said.

Quarter horses can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars based on their ability and bloodline, and mules can be in the same category, Kay Clark said. Mule Days aimed to prove it with all of their events last week. 

“They aren’t too great in the arena, but we are showing people what they can be — they are just a little different than horses,” Kay Clark said.

Some of the consigners heard some negative comments on the high price tag attached to the mules, but it is “easier to pay a little more for a good mule” than it is to pay for vet bills in the future, Kay Clark said.

Mule Days had a slew of competitions to show what the mules were capable of, both athletically and intellectually. Rather than go over a log, mules are more likely to problem solve and go around an obstacle — which made the trail course a little tricky.

“They are really smart,” Kay Clark said. “They take care of the riders, and that is important in the mountains. Horses will throw a fit, but mules won’t.”

Kay Clark recalled a time when Jake Clark needed a team of mules to cross some icy terrain and the mules all laid down and wouldn’t go until some sand was laid out for stable footing.

“It is amazing; they are smart enough to outsmart their owners,” Kay Clark said. “Depending on their personality, they are like kids, and when they find out what they can’t get by with they are great.”

Kicking up interest

Mule Days takes a unique approach that nobody else does by bringing together the best mules in the country, Kay Clark said.

“It is the best saddle mule sale in America, period,” Jake Clark said. “It is the only place they can come to find this kind of quality. It is the best gathering of saddle mules in the country.”

“It isn’t like any auction where people bring in their junk to sell for a big price,” Kay Clark added. “We bring in the best to match with the right buyers, and consigners get a good price — and it is a good time with fun and excitement to show off their mules, and mule people love them.”

A colt was born on the first day of Mule Days last week, she said. Unlike mules of the past, the mules at Mule Days are the result of pairing up good mares with good jacks.

“Now they breed a better animal with better quality,” Kay Clark said.

Basically, the best mares available are bred with trainable donkeys.

“It makes a big, big difference,” Jake Clark said. “You get a good mule by breeding to good mares.”

Knowing that it’s a limited sale is what has drawn in visitors from 28 different states over the last 18 years, Jake Clark said. All of the mules are screened before they are allowed to participate in Mule Days, he said.

“It takes a year to get ready for next year,” Jake Clark said.

Kay Clark estimated the crowd to be somewhere between 800-900 people.

“It was a great crowd,” Kay Clark said. “We had some new faces and some old faces — quite a few that had been here before.” 

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