BIG Ben

Yesterday evening Hilary delivered a new critter, a very large mule that she says “takes up too much real estate” at their riding stable in Furnace Creek. He has a slight hitch in his git-along, a problem with his left hind hock. Not that he’s a broken down old nag; Ben used to hold the World Champion Single Hitch title. That means he was really good at pulling a wagon by himself. He also put in some time as one of the members of the team pulling the famous 20-Mule-Team Borax wagon in Death Valley.

Perhaps Ben can pull some logs around at the high ranch, where lack of wildfire for probably a hundred years has caused parts of the place to get overgrown with lodgepole pines, to the point of being hazardous. He responds well to the commands gee and haw, and can even sidestep after hearing repeated gees or haws. Pretty clever.

How big is Ben? Just shy of 19 hands. That’s 3.592 Egyptian Royal Cubits or 1.03 fathoms.