Where there's a mule, there's a mission.

• Author: TAYLOR, HELEN
• Position: Brief Article

Out back of Meredith Hodges' sprawling Loveland ranch house stands a row of stalls that houses some of the most remarkable animals you're likely to see: mules.

Yes, mules.

Hodges' 16 impressively large, chestnut-colored mules belie every clich[acute{e}] you've ever heard and every cartoonish stereotype you've ever seen depicting the mule as a stubborn, stupid, stocky beast of burden. Hodges, their owner and champion, knows how gifted these animals really are, and she's fought for nearly 25 years to win them respect. Her books and videos on the care and training of mules and donkeys are considered tops in the equine industry. Her own mules and donkeys have won competitions all over the country. And this year, she'll take her message to an even wider audience with a television series, an e-commerce website and a possible appearance on the Tonight Show.

Hodges is the eldest daughter of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz, and the inspiration, her father once said, for his strip's irascible Lucy character.

"What my father gave me was the inspiration to stick with it," she said shortly after Schulz's recent death. "My father taught us to discover our talents, and then pursue our dreams and make them our own.

Hodges' talent for training donkeys and mules revealed itself more than 20 years ago, when she went to work on her mother's ranch in Healdsburg, Calif. There, she learned to appreciate the animals' intelligence and personality.

Mules result when a male donkey mates with a female horse. They have an odd number of chromosomes, so they can't breed, but according to Hodges, mules outperform horses in almost every other way: They're smarter and tougher than horses, eat less, live longer, and have more stamina. And, if you do it right -- with patience and kindness -- mules are easier to train than horses...