July 8, 2025 • 24 mins
Step into the world of working animals with this Fourth of July conversation between Stephen Haste and Andrew, a longtime community member from the east end of Long Island. Against the backdrop of Independence Day preparations, these two passionate "mule men" share stories that reveal why these remarkable animals continue to capture hearts across America.
Andrew brings a wealth of perspective as a military veteran (Army 3rd of the 75th Ranger Battalion) and current telecommunications director planning his retirement to South Fork. His journey with mules began about a decade ago when he discovered their fascinating history—from George Washington's prized "Royal Gift" donkey (whose bloodline runs through every American mule today) to their crucial role in winning World War I by hauling equipment too heavy for horses.
"I want to go out in a field, sit behind an animal, and hear the click-clack of that machine for a couple hours and put my mind at rest," Andrew explains, describing his vision for retirement. After years of managing university campuses and interacting with hundreds of people weekly, he finds profound peace in the companionship of his rescued mule. "My wife says he's my psychologist because when I need to sit and talk to somebody and have them just listen, he'll do that."
The conversation offers listeners a glimpse into the tight-knit draft horse community at Haste Farms, where visitors regularly drop by unannounced and yearly gatherings like the October barbecue create memories that Andrew describes as "the best birthday of my life." Whether you're fascinated by working animals, considering a similar retirement path, or simply enjoy authentic conversations between kindred spirits, this episode demonstrates why these magnificent animals continue to play meaningful roles in modern lives.
Join the Haste community at drafthorsesandmulesforsale.com or call 606-303-5669 with your questions about harness equipment, farm implements, or finding the perfect horse or mule companion.
Find us online at DraftHorsesAndMulesForSale.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
howdy folks.
Stephen haste here with hastedraft horses and mules.
How's everybody doing?
It's rare I do two podcasts inone day, but today I'm doing
that and I've got a guy herethat's been a member, another
member of our community, justlike the last episode with chris
and chris.
This guy's kind of been aroundsince the start of it.
I'm hanging out and, uh, he's amule man kind of like myself.
So we're going to talk to mrandrew here.
(00:25):
But we appreciate y'all, firstand foremost.
Happy fourth of july, happyindependence day.
Thank all the veterans outthere for all your service.
I think you're a veteran andyou're welcome.
Thank you, and we appreciateall y'all and we're going to
have a little talk with youtoday and let andrew talk about
his self and how he got intohorses and just kind of talk
about Andrew a little bit.
(00:45):
So if you're new here, I'mStephen.
We run Haste Draft Horses andMules.
This is our podcast.
Harness Up, check us out onYouTube, on youtubecom, at Haste
Draft Horses and Mules.
We also have our website,wwwdrafthorsesandmulesforsalecom
, and we're all over all thesocial medias Facebook,
instagram, tiktok X Anywhere youlook, you're going to find us
(01:08):
at Haystraft Horses and Mules.
Thank you all.
Andrew, how are you doing?
I know you're hot and tired.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
I'm doing great today .
We've had a lot of fun.
So I've known you for abouteight months now.
Came down here October for mybirthday weekend when you guys
had the free barbecue.
It was fantastic.
I learned a lot and probably Iwant to say best birthday of my
life.
It was fantastic, I had a lotof fun that is your birthday,
(01:37):
isn't it?
That is my birthday.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
National mule day, as appointed by george washington,
is october 26th, and that is mybirthday and you're a mule man
and I am a mule man through andthrough you've been hanging out
with a donkey this week, yeahwell, I like melvin, I feel for
him.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
He's a little youngster and they're out there
beating on him a little bit, soI have to give him a little love
yeah, the other horses arebeating on him, yeah they are.
They're beating him pretty bad,but he'll get through it.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Where are you from, Andrew?
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I am from the east end of Long Island up in New
York.
Out there, in believe it or not, out there in the farms, you'll
be the first New Yorkian.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Is that what they call?
You all up there?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
New Yorkians New.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yorkers, new Yorkers, you'll be the first one on the
podcast.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
All right then.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
You're the first one from New York.
What do you do for a living upthere?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Well, I'm a director for a university.
We call it telecom, but reallyit's everything low voltage.
We don't run electrical lines,but we do fiber optics, we do
cable TV, we install Wi-Fi, weinstall cameras, we do anything
that is needed that does notrequire an electrician on site.
(02:54):
That's us and about sevencampuses that I'm responsible
and oversee the guys to makesure the work gets done.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
What branch of the service was you in?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
I was in Army 3rd of the 75th Ranger Battalion out of
Fort Benning, Georgia, and Idid two tours of combat while I
was in.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
And you've been out how long?
Speaker 2 (03:14):
I've been out since December 19th of 1991.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
So you definitely wasn't doing horses and mules
and stuff when you was in theArmy.
No, I was not.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
I did really no mules up until probably, I want to
say about 10 years ago.
I started really to get heavyinto mules.
Before that I did some ridingas a kid.
There's a lot of horses out onthe East End but I enjoyed it
(03:49):
stand.
But I I enjoyed it, but Ireally didn't start to get into
mules until I started to readabout them, learn the history.
You know the fact that we wouldnot have won world war one
without mules hauling equipment,that horses just were too weak
to haul.
And you know also a lot ofpeople don't know how smart
mules are.
They used to use them for themedical litters.
They'd send a horse from thehospital I mean from mule, from
(04:11):
the hospital.
He'd go into enemy lines, pickup people, bring them back
across to the hospital withnobody directing them.
They only had to bring them onetime and he knew the pathway
back and forth after that Iremember hearing that and
reading about it in books Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
That is true.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yeah, used them in the coal mines, used them
everywhere.
I mean, this country was builton it and, honestly, the
Industrial Revolution.
We have George Washington tothank because of the two donkeys
that got sent over.
We had no mammoths until theKing of spain, who said they
(04:48):
could not be exported,graciously sent over two males
and two females.
Unfortunately, one of the malesdied, but the other two females
survived, and so did the male.
His name was royal gift andyou'll find his bloodline in
every mule in this country.
Wow, yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
That was the start of it.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
That was the start of it all.
All the cotton and everythingelse that we did in this country
before we had Mack trucks andbefore we had tractors Mules did
that work?
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Is that kind of what makes you want mules?
The history, so much historybehind them?
Speaker 2 (05:20):
I just have a lot of respect for them.
You like them, yeah them, Ijust have a lot of respect for
them.
You like them?
Yeah, I mean, you could whip ahorse off a cliff, but you'll
have to whip the legs off theback of a donkey or a mule and
they still won't move.
Yeah, they're just smarter,they know.
Hey, I might lose a leg, butI'm not gonna die, you know yeah
guys if you hear a lot of noisein the background.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
I don't know if it's coming through or not, but we
got a whole lot of kids out herein the shop and people we're
getting ready to have fireworks.
So if they're hollering andscreaming, comes through.
I'm sorry, but we've had apretty wild week with all these
kids around here we're gonnahave a party tonight.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
We are you?
Speaker 1 (05:57):
know, I think we got how many.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
I don't know how many fireworks we got, oh jeez I
don't, you know, it's more thanI've seen in a personal display.
Yeah, you know, I think.
I don't know if you've heard ofGrouchy, the big firework
company up north.
Yeah, I mean, it looks likethey raided Grouchy's home and
stole his fireworks to bringthem down here.
That's what they got out there.
There's so many.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
So you have tell us about your personal hurt at home
.
Now, what do you got at home?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Well, I only have one left at home.
I'm downsizing because I'mfixing to retire in about four
and a half years, as you know.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
And I'm down to just a little mule that I adopted
from a bad situation and I'llnever get rid of them, no matter
what happens.
But I got rid of a riding muleand I was thinking about getting
more.
But my wife talked some senseinto me and said why are you
going to put a bigger barn upand do everything else if we're
going to be leaving there, youknow, in five years?
(06:50):
And she's right.
So I downsized and in four anda half years you and I are going
to be doing some business andI'm going to be getting,
hopefully, mules.
But if you have a real niceteam of percherons, you know I
favor the percherons too, andthat's it.
You know, when I retire I'dlike to be detached from
(07:14):
everything that I'm into rightnow.
You know, I'm on campuses withthousands of people and I'm
talking to literally hundreds ofpeople in a week, and not that
it's stressful Sometimes.
I just don't want to hearanybody's voice.
I want to go out in a field,sit behind an animal and hear
(07:35):
the click clack of that machine,you know, for a couple hours
and put my mind at rest.
I have no intention of beingone of those guys that says, oh,
I'm going to.
You know, just lay around onthe beach.
That's not me.
I still want to be active, youknow, and I think working with
animals keeps you active.
(07:57):
It's not one of those thingswhere you walk out the door and
turn a key and everything takescare of itself and once in a
while you got to do an oilchange and throw some tranny
fluid in there.
You know there's morningfeedings, there's evening
feedings.
You got to go ahead and youknow, hose them down.
Once in a while you might haveto nurse a wound that they got
once in a while, but it's a.
(08:18):
They get me out of bed in themorning.
Yeah, you know, I get up and Itry to get my exercise in.
Then I go out there.
As soon as I open up that backdoor, that little mule sees me
and he starts calling because heknows it's feeding time and he
knows I'm going to spend alittle bit with him.
And when I get home from work Igot to sneak into the house
(08:40):
Because if he sees me he won'tstop calling until I go back out
, because I get the house,because if he sees me he won't
stop calling until I go back out, because I get home right
around feeding time.
Yeah, as soon as I come outhe'll start yelling for me and
I'll feed him and then I'll comeout afterwards and do a little
training with him.
You know he's a little guy so Idon't really use him for
anything, but I halter, trainhim and stuff.
And he's trained to the pointwhere I could point at one of
(09:02):
his hooves and he'll lift it upand hold it off the ground for
me until I grab it.
And he's just a fun little guy.
My wife says he's mypsychologist because when I need
to sit and talk to somebody andhave them just listen, he'll do
that.
He won't interrupt and try togive me his thoughts on things
you know that's good.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Animals can be that way for people, he is that way
for me.
They can be.
They sure can.
Guys, if I look real sleepy andtired and yawning, it's because
I am more out.
I went left last night anddrove all night to cullen
virginia.
I've never been to cullenVirginia.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
You had to stop too on the way.
You got so tired.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Oh, I had to stop and sleep two or three hours.
Yeah, I stopped and slept inthe parking lot over there at
the truck stop and then drovestraight home and didn't get
much sleep last night and I'mleaving again tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
I was riding around with Henry yesterday looking at
property that I might beinterested in because, as you
know, this is where I'd like toretire did you find something
you think?
Speaker 1 (10:06):
I saw a couple of nice things, you know you're
gonna try to buy it before youretire, ain't you?
Speaker 2 (10:11):
yeah, I want to be.
I want to be in something downhere two years before I retire
that way you can get plans goingand I want my barn built, if I
need any reno on a farmhouse, ifI need a house put on the,
whatever it may be, yeah, I wanttwo years to get it done before
I come down.
I don't want to get down hereand then start, you know makes
(10:33):
it pretty rough yeah, I'm not itdoes do that I'm not an old man
yet, but I'm not a young maneither, and two years is uh, you
know that's a that's a littlebit of time off of my life, so
I'd rather incorporate thatprior to retirement instead of
after retirement what's yourplans when you get here like,
are you gonna?
(10:53):
you got something planned well,I mean, I'd frankly love to
start a carriage company.
Y'all don't have one down here.
You know, and this is abeautiful area and I see a lot
of out-of-state plates come downhere and visit this South Fork
area down here and I think a lotof them are fascinated with the
(11:14):
fact that the Amish and theMennonites are on the roads down
here.
You see the signs for them andI think someone would love to
have a chance to get into a cartand just hear the click-clack
of the hooves on the pavement.
You know what you could do.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
You could get an Amish hat.
Well, you got one.
You bought an Amish hat whileyou was here.
Yeah, I have one, so you couldget clothing made while you were
here, suspenders and all.
And you could buy you an Amishbuggy and Fenders and all.
And you could buy you an Amishbuggy and you could go down on
South Fork Creek and set upAmish buggy rides.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
I don't think that would be very fair.
I think the Amish would.
Probably they ain't going to doit.
I think they'd run me out forimpersonating Amish.
I can't go in my Englishclothes and a baseball cap.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
You could yeah, All right.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
I think I'd try it that way, but I think I'd try it
that way.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
But you could, honestly, you could give rides
down there in the community.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
I'm sure.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
There's enough people to come here.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
There are.
That's what I said.
There definitely are.
I mean, talk to the gentlemanthat owns the nursery over there
and see if I could base rightout of that parking lot.
Let them park and pick up, orsomething like that.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
I got the perfect place.
Give rides at the Bread of Life.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Oh, I was going to say show Walters, because they
feed them there as soon as theywalk in.
Oh God, they're just blowingoff fireworks out there.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
They got some stuff that's about a quarter stick of
dynamite.
I felt that in my chest.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
The guy asked him when he bought them.
He said you want somethingthat'll take your arms off or
take your legs off.
And Chris said somethingthat'll take your arms off or
take your legs off.
And Chris said somethingthat'll take my legs off, that's
those things.
They're a quarter stick ofdynamite.
They put holes in the ground.
Yeah, henry wanted to set oneoff inside.
I said, henry, you will hurtsomebody.
The concussion alone will.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
He wanted to set off one in the building.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
He wanted to set off one right out there in the
building.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Sounds about right.
I said Henry don building.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
I said, henry, don't do that, but I may go home, go
to bed.
For all this blowing up you,you need to hang around.
This is going to be good andthey've been working on them
pork butts since yesterday I'mnot leaving for that's done,
yeah chris been working on themsince before yesterday.
We went down there and got themat show walters the food's more
important than the fireworks Ithink so too definitely I think
so too we're gonna eat here inabout 45 minutes too yep, it's
(13:27):
starting.
Uh, yeah, it'll start to getdark soon enough we invited a
bunch of people invited thewhole community.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
From what I heard, pretty much I don't know how
many will show up I don't knoweither.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
But guys, we have a lot of fun and we have a lot of
fun here.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Yeah, we do train and sell horses and that you know
we have a lot of fun and we havea lot of fun here.
Yeah, we do train and sellhorses and you know we work a
lot, but we have fun too, likeandrew's been here all week just
hanging out yeah, my people askme they go well, what are you
doing when you go down there?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
what do you do?
What do you like about it somuch?
I said I tell you it's relaxingthey.
Well, you just sit around allday.
I said no, I said I actuallywalk before I get here, get up
around 4.30, walk, then I try toget down here early enough and
beat Henry to the barn because Ilike to feed him, and then
(14:15):
during the day, if we're goingto, you know, put a harness or
on anything and just bring itout for a run wherever we're
going.
We went down across the creek,up the side of the hill, you
know the one that we climb up bythe graveyard up there and
flipped come back down.
No, henry put one on the side onthe logging road the other day.
Was you with him, I was withhim.
(14:37):
I had to push it back over, butit really wasn't his fault
because he backed it up to thehillside so it could not
maneuver anymore.
Okay, and that's really whatkind of made a flip.
But those horses, thosebelgians, solid as can be, yeah,
they are.
That bar got in between thelead horse's legs and no panic
(15:00):
at all, no panic, henry just gotoff, took the chain, hooked the
chain up to the bar so thatthey could pull it right back up
on the trail, and I mean ascalm as could be.
That's the key.
I mean, not everybody's likethat, yeah, but, henry, don't
get upset.
And if you don't get upset,generally the animals won't get
(15:22):
upset.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
That's true.
That's a major thing rightthere.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
I mean he wished that you were videotaping at the
time to show how it went,Because it went almost like you
were setting up a demonstrationfor how to tip a trailer and put
a trailer back up.
It went perfect as perfect assomething like that could go.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
You could have pulled that phone out and started
videoing.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
I could have, but I was pushing the trailer back up.
It was the big one.
The 16 passenger yeah, the bigburgundy one with the black
seats, yeah, and I was drivingthe little one that you guys
always show in the river andeverything like that.
And I told them afterwards whenwe got up there because I took
(16:06):
a different route down the riverto see if the river route was
clear, but it wasn't.
There were trees down on theriver so I had to turn around on
a creek.
So I had to turn around andcome back.
But there's no room to turnaround.
I pulled a Henry.
I went up the bank of the creekinto the field, turned around,
drove him right back down thebank of the creek and came out
and he made me do it againbecause they went the wrong way
and we had to open the gate forthem.
(16:26):
So I had to do it twice.
I pulled two henrys one day.
We had a good, we have had agood time.
There's not.
There is no time that I comedown here that I don't have the
best time of my life.
I mean I told you when I camedown for the clinic.
My wife said you're going tothe clinic.
(16:48):
Clinic's not cheap, and Iunderstand, because there's a
lot that goes into it.
My wife goes you're going tothe clinic.
What do I get?
I sent my wife and daughter toAruba and I got the better end
of the deal Because they had toargue with each other over what
they were doing.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
And I didn't have to argue with nobody.
You didn't choose to.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
But I have a great time October too.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Everybody needs to come in October to our barbecue.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
If you miss that barbecue, you are missing a
great time, because we harnessup a whole lot of horses.
If we got mules here, the mulesget harnessed up.
We go out several times a day.
Take that big wagon out Peoplecould check out individual teams
.
Take the little wagon out orhook them to the big wagon if
they prefer like Chris and hiswife did from down there in Utah
(17:33):
, shout out and I mean it's agreat time.
It's amazing.
If you're thinking about comingand you're a little bit scared
and you're like, well, I don'tknow if I'm that much into it,
come down.
If you think that you're afraidof the animal because it's too
big, come down.
There's big animals, there'ssmall animals, they're all nice.
(17:55):
Those halflingers, 14-1, 14-2,fantastic, I mean there's
something for everybody.
If you at all like horses, ifyou at all like mules, there's
something for everybody.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
We got something coming this year too Two new
Roberts passenger wagons.
I ordered two new ones.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Don't let Henry take them up in the hills.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Blue and whites, all right.
Twelve passengers, though.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
A little bit smaller.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Four foot shorter.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Just enough room where Henry could have turned it
around on that logging road.
That's right, yeah, all right,oh Lord.
Well, it's been amazing.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
It has been.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
I mean every time.
Like I said, every time I comedown here.
I have a great time, yeah, andyou guys are just the best hosts
, I mean.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
We try to be.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
So great.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
I don't know about Henry, but I try.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Henry's as fun as can be, and you know you might see
him on videos and think he's alittle standoffish.
He's not.
Once you get to know him he's afantastic guy.
Yeah, his wife is great, hiskids are great.
I mean it's a great community.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
It is.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
And people just pull up.
All the time we were sittingaround the other day and that
gentleman came up from downthere in tennessee that paul
smith yeah, paul smith pulled upI missed him had his wife just
pulled in, one looking fornothing in particular, just got
out.
I says I know you, he goes.
(19:28):
What I said I know you, I watchyour videos, you're Paul Smith,
you're the mule trainer.
He goes.
That's right.
And that's what happens here.
I mean people just stop by forno particular reason, that's
right, yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Uh-oh, we got a guest coming in.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Here's one.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
He's stopping by for no particular reason on winnie,
come over here.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Don't kick the stand, come here come around.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
We're actually on a podcast.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
When you can be a guest, come here when you get up
here I'm gonna lift you.
Go to daddy when he wants mywatch, that's what he wants.
He likes my watch, I give it tohim and he plays music on my uh
, on my galaxy watch and you'regonna meet a lot of new people
tonight too.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
That's right to me that's right.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
I've met a bunch of them before yeah but there'll be
new ones that's right, henry.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Do I need to help?
Speaker 2 (20:21):
you.
What is he doing?
Speaker 1 (20:24):
I could have got that for you here.
There you go.
Henry's in here, but he don'twant to be on the podcast.
I've been trying to get him todo one, but he won't do it, so
henry, you should do one he'sgoing to.
Eventually, people can hear metalk on the video yeah, but it's
more fun.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
On the podcast they get to see how funny you are.
There's dinner, they see you onthe videos and they think
you're all rigid and everythingyeah, there's different people
that listen to the podcast fromwhat is on youtube also.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
That's true.
Well, they can go to youtubeand watch your channel.
It's always good he got ananswer for everything guys, guys
, we're going.
I'm one of the best.
No, I'm making excuses.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Goodbye Henry, bye Bye Winnie.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Uh-uh, he's going to shut the door back now before
they blow something up.
I didn't expect them to come in, I didn't either, but it's a
good place to leave off oh yeah,well, we got to go eat.
Anyway, it's almost eating, wedo, it's getting there.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Happy july 4th everybody.
I hope everybody's safe and Ihope you keep all your fingers
and toes.
Yes, that's very important,that's super important.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
you know, james ray is missing.
A big toe Fireworks, nolawnmower, oh, he was missing a
toe, so hopefully he don't losehis other one.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
All right then.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Oh, poor James Ray.
Guys, thank y'all.
Hope you enjoy these couplepodcasts we've done today with
Andrew and Chris Just kind ofcommunity members.
I wanted to get them on hereand let them talk and voice
their opinion.
They mean a lot to us and youall do too.
Thank you all for watching.
Thank you for listening.
Check us out on the website atwwwdrafthorsesandmulesforsalecom
(22:20):
.
If you need anything by the wayof harness equipment, farm
implements for your horses,horses, mules, anything, give us
a call.
We're here to help you.
If you just have questions,call us too, 606-303-5669.
Until the next one, thank youall, and we'll see you soon.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Thank you.
howdy folks.
Stephen haste here with hastedraft horses and mules.
How's everybody doing?
It's rare I do two podcasts inone day, but today I'm doing
that and I've got a guy herethat's been a member, another
member of our community, justlike the last episode with chris
and chris.
This guy's kind of been aroundsince the start of it.
I'm hanging out and, uh, he's amule man kind of like myself.
So we're going to talk to mrandrew here.
(00:25):
But we appreciate y'all, firstand foremost.
Happy fourth of july, happyindependence day.
Thank all the veterans outthere for all your service.
I think you're a veteran andyou're welcome.
Thank you, and we appreciateall y'all and we're going to
have a little talk with youtoday and let andrew talk about
his self and how he got intohorses and just kind of talk
about Andrew a little bit.
(00:45):
So if you're new here, I'mStephen.
We run Haste Draft Horses andMules.
This is our podcast.
Harness Up, check us out onYouTube, on youtubecom, at Haste
Draft Horses and Mules.
We also have our website,wwwdrafthorsesandmulesforsalecom
, and we're all over all thesocial medias Facebook,
instagram, tiktok X Anywhere youlook, you're going to find us
(01:08):
at Haystraft Horses and Mules.
Thank you all.
Andrew, how are you doing?
I know you're hot and tired.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
I'm doing great today .
We've had a lot of fun.
So I've known you for abouteight months now.
Came down here October for mybirthday weekend when you guys
had the free barbecue.
It was fantastic.
I learned a lot and probably Iwant to say best birthday of my
life.
It was fantastic, I had a lotof fun that is your birthday,
(01:37):
isn't it?
That is my birthday.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
National mule day, as appointed by george washington,
is october 26th, and that is mybirthday and you're a mule man
and I am a mule man through andthrough you've been hanging out
with a donkey this week, yeahwell, I like melvin, I feel for
him.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
He's a little youngster and they're out there
beating on him a little bit, soI have to give him a little love
yeah, the other horses arebeating on him, yeah they are.
They're beating him pretty bad,but he'll get through it.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Where are you from, Andrew?
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I am from the east end of Long Island up in New
York.
Out there, in believe it or not, out there in the farms, you'll
be the first New Yorkian.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Is that what they call?
You all up there?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
New Yorkians New.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yorkers, new Yorkers, you'll be the first one on the
podcast.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
All right then.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
You're the first one from New York.
What do you do for a living upthere?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Well, I'm a director for a university.
We call it telecom, but reallyit's everything low voltage.
We don't run electrical lines,but we do fiber optics, we do
cable TV, we install Wi-Fi, weinstall cameras, we do anything
that is needed that does notrequire an electrician on site.
(02:54):
That's us and about sevencampuses that I'm responsible
and oversee the guys to makesure the work gets done.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
What branch of the service was you in?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
I was in Army 3rd of the 75th Ranger Battalion out of
Fort Benning, Georgia, and Idid two tours of combat while I
was in.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
And you've been out how long?
Speaker 2 (03:14):
I've been out since December 19th of 1991.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
So you definitely wasn't doing horses and mules
and stuff when you was in theArmy.
No, I was not.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
I did really no mules up until probably, I want to
say about 10 years ago.
I started really to get heavyinto mules.
Before that I did some ridingas a kid.
There's a lot of horses out onthe East End but I enjoyed it
(03:49):
stand.
But I I enjoyed it, but Ireally didn't start to get into
mules until I started to readabout them, learn the history.
You know the fact that we wouldnot have won world war one
without mules hauling equipment,that horses just were too weak
to haul.
And you know also a lot ofpeople don't know how smart
mules are.
They used to use them for themedical litters.
They'd send a horse from thehospital I mean from mule, from
(04:11):
the hospital.
He'd go into enemy lines, pickup people, bring them back
across to the hospital withnobody directing them.
They only had to bring them onetime and he knew the pathway
back and forth after that Iremember hearing that and
reading about it in books Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
That is true.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yeah, used them in the coal mines, used them
everywhere.
I mean, this country was builton it and, honestly, the
Industrial Revolution.
We have George Washington tothank because of the two donkeys
that got sent over.
We had no mammoths until theKing of spain, who said they
(04:48):
could not be exported,graciously sent over two males
and two females.
Unfortunately, one of the malesdied, but the other two females
survived, and so did the male.
His name was royal gift andyou'll find his bloodline in
every mule in this country.
Wow, yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
That was the start of it.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
That was the start of it all.
All the cotton and everythingelse that we did in this country
before we had Mack trucks andbefore we had tractors Mules did
that work?
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Is that kind of what makes you want mules?
The history, so much historybehind them?
Speaker 2 (05:20):
I just have a lot of respect for them.
You like them, yeah them, Ijust have a lot of respect for
them.
You like them?
Yeah, I mean, you could whip ahorse off a cliff, but you'll
have to whip the legs off theback of a donkey or a mule and
they still won't move.
Yeah, they're just smarter,they know.
Hey, I might lose a leg, butI'm not gonna die, you know yeah
guys if you hear a lot of noisein the background.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
I don't know if it's coming through or not, but we
got a whole lot of kids out herein the shop and people we're
getting ready to have fireworks.
So if they're hollering andscreaming, comes through.
I'm sorry, but we've had apretty wild week with all these
kids around here we're gonnahave a party tonight.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
We are you?
Speaker 1 (05:57):
know, I think we got how many.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
I don't know how many fireworks we got, oh jeez I
don't, you know, it's more thanI've seen in a personal display.
Yeah, you know, I think.
I don't know if you've heard ofGrouchy, the big firework
company up north.
Yeah, I mean, it looks likethey raided Grouchy's home and
stole his fireworks to bringthem down here.
That's what they got out there.
There's so many.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
So you have tell us about your personal hurt at home
.
Now, what do you got at home?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Well, I only have one left at home.
I'm downsizing because I'mfixing to retire in about four
and a half years, as you know.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
And I'm down to just a little mule that I adopted
from a bad situation and I'llnever get rid of them, no matter
what happens.
But I got rid of a riding muleand I was thinking about getting
more.
But my wife talked some senseinto me and said why are you
going to put a bigger barn upand do everything else if we're
going to be leaving there, youknow, in five years?
(06:50):
And she's right.
So I downsized and in four anda half years you and I are going
to be doing some business andI'm going to be getting,
hopefully, mules.
But if you have a real niceteam of percherons, you know I
favor the percherons too, andthat's it.
You know, when I retire I'dlike to be detached from
(07:14):
everything that I'm into rightnow.
You know, I'm on campuses withthousands of people and I'm
talking to literally hundreds ofpeople in a week, and not that
it's stressful Sometimes.
I just don't want to hearanybody's voice.
I want to go out in a field,sit behind an animal and hear
(07:35):
the click clack of that machine,you know, for a couple hours
and put my mind at rest.
I have no intention of beingone of those guys that says, oh,
I'm going to.
You know, just lay around onthe beach.
That's not me.
I still want to be active, youknow, and I think working with
animals keeps you active.
(07:57):
It's not one of those thingswhere you walk out the door and
turn a key and everything takescare of itself and once in a
while you got to do an oilchange and throw some tranny
fluid in there.
You know there's morningfeedings, there's evening
feedings.
You got to go ahead and youknow, hose them down.
Once in a while you might haveto nurse a wound that they got
once in a while, but it's a.
(08:18):
They get me out of bed in themorning.
Yeah, you know, I get up and Itry to get my exercise in.
Then I go out there.
As soon as I open up that backdoor, that little mule sees me
and he starts calling because heknows it's feeding time and he
knows I'm going to spend alittle bit with him.
And when I get home from work Igot to sneak into the house
(08:40):
Because if he sees me he won'tstop calling until I go back out
, because I get the house,because if he sees me he won't
stop calling until I go back out, because I get home right
around feeding time.
Yeah, as soon as I come outhe'll start yelling for me and
I'll feed him and then I'll comeout afterwards and do a little
training with him.
You know he's a little guy so Idon't really use him for
anything, but I halter, trainhim and stuff.
And he's trained to the pointwhere I could point at one of
(09:02):
his hooves and he'll lift it upand hold it off the ground for
me until I grab it.
And he's just a fun little guy.
My wife says he's mypsychologist because when I need
to sit and talk to somebody andhave them just listen, he'll do
that.
He won't interrupt and try togive me his thoughts on things
you know that's good.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Animals can be that way for people, he is that way
for me.
They can be.
They sure can.
Guys, if I look real sleepy andtired and yawning, it's because
I am more out.
I went left last night anddrove all night to cullen
virginia.
I've never been to cullenVirginia.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
You had to stop too on the way.
You got so tired.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Oh, I had to stop and sleep two or three hours.
Yeah, I stopped and slept inthe parking lot over there at
the truck stop and then drovestraight home and didn't get
much sleep last night and I'mleaving again tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
I was riding around with Henry yesterday looking at
property that I might beinterested in because, as you
know, this is where I'd like toretire did you find something
you think?
Speaker 1 (10:06):
I saw a couple of nice things, you know you're
gonna try to buy it before youretire, ain't you?
Speaker 2 (10:11):
yeah, I want to be.
I want to be in something downhere two years before I retire
that way you can get plans goingand I want my barn built, if I
need any reno on a farmhouse, ifI need a house put on the,
whatever it may be, yeah, I wanttwo years to get it done before
I come down.
I don't want to get down hereand then start, you know makes
(10:33):
it pretty rough yeah, I'm not itdoes do that I'm not an old man
yet, but I'm not a young maneither, and two years is uh, you
know that's a that's a littlebit of time off of my life, so
I'd rather incorporate thatprior to retirement instead of
after retirement what's yourplans when you get here like,
are you gonna?
(10:53):
you got something planned well,I mean, I'd frankly love to
start a carriage company.
Y'all don't have one down here.
You know, and this is abeautiful area and I see a lot
of out-of-state plates come downhere and visit this South Fork
area down here and I think a lotof them are fascinated with the
(11:14):
fact that the Amish and theMennonites are on the roads down
here.
You see the signs for them andI think someone would love to
have a chance to get into a cartand just hear the click-clack
of the hooves on the pavement.
You know what you could do.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
You could get an Amish hat.
Well, you got one.
You bought an Amish hat whileyou was here.
Yeah, I have one, so you couldget clothing made while you were
here, suspenders and all.
And you could buy you an Amishbuggy and Fenders and all.
And you could buy you an Amishbuggy and you could go down on
South Fork Creek and set upAmish buggy rides.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
I don't think that would be very fair.
I think the Amish would.
Probably they ain't going to doit.
I think they'd run me out forimpersonating Amish.
I can't go in my Englishclothes and a baseball cap.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
You could yeah, All right.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
I think I'd try it that way, but I think I'd try it
that way.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
But you could, honestly, you could give rides
down there in the community.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
I'm sure.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
There's enough people to come here.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
There are.
That's what I said.
There definitely are.
I mean, talk to the gentlemanthat owns the nursery over there
and see if I could base rightout of that parking lot.
Let them park and pick up, orsomething like that.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
I got the perfect place.
Give rides at the Bread of Life.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Oh, I was going to say show Walters, because they
feed them there as soon as theywalk in.
Oh God, they're just blowingoff fireworks out there.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
They got some stuff that's about a quarter stick of
dynamite.
I felt that in my chest.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
The guy asked him when he bought them.
He said you want somethingthat'll take your arms off or
take your legs off.
And Chris said somethingthat'll take your arms off or
take your legs off.
And Chris said somethingthat'll take my legs off, that's
those things.
They're a quarter stick ofdynamite.
They put holes in the ground.
Yeah, henry wanted to set oneoff inside.
I said, henry, you will hurtsomebody.
The concussion alone will.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
He wanted to set off one in the building.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
He wanted to set off one right out there in the
building.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Sounds about right.
I said Henry don building.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
I said, henry, don't do that, but I may go home, go
to bed.
For all this blowing up you,you need to hang around.
This is going to be good andthey've been working on them
pork butts since yesterday I'mnot leaving for that's done,
yeah chris been working on themsince before yesterday.
We went down there and got themat show walters the food's more
important than the fireworks Ithink so too definitely I think
so too we're gonna eat here inabout 45 minutes too yep, it's
(13:27):
starting.
Uh, yeah, it'll start to getdark soon enough we invited a
bunch of people invited thewhole community.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
From what I heard, pretty much I don't know how
many will show up I don't knoweither.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
But guys, we have a lot of fun and we have a lot of
fun here.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Yeah, we do train and sell horses and that you know
we have a lot of fun and we havea lot of fun here.
Yeah, we do train and sellhorses and you know we work a
lot, but we have fun too, likeandrew's been here all week just
hanging out yeah, my people askme they go well, what are you
doing when you go down there?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
what do you do?
What do you like about it somuch?
I said I tell you it's relaxingthey.
Well, you just sit around allday.
I said no, I said I actuallywalk before I get here, get up
around 4.30, walk, then I try toget down here early enough and
beat Henry to the barn because Ilike to feed him, and then
(14:15):
during the day, if we're goingto, you know, put a harness or
on anything and just bring itout for a run wherever we're
going.
We went down across the creek,up the side of the hill, you
know the one that we climb up bythe graveyard up there and
flipped come back down.
No, henry put one on the side onthe logging road the other day.
Was you with him, I was withhim.
(14:37):
I had to push it back over, butit really wasn't his fault
because he backed it up to thehillside so it could not
maneuver anymore.
Okay, and that's really whatkind of made a flip.
But those horses, thosebelgians, solid as can be, yeah,
they are.
That bar got in between thelead horse's legs and no panic
(15:00):
at all, no panic, henry just gotoff, took the chain, hooked the
chain up to the bar so thatthey could pull it right back up
on the trail, and I mean ascalm as could be.
That's the key.
I mean, not everybody's likethat, yeah, but, henry, don't
get upset.
And if you don't get upset,generally the animals won't get
(15:22):
upset.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
That's true.
That's a major thing rightthere.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
I mean he wished that you were videotaping at the
time to show how it went,Because it went almost like you
were setting up a demonstrationfor how to tip a trailer and put
a trailer back up.
It went perfect as perfect assomething like that could go.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
You could have pulled that phone out and started
videoing.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
I could have, but I was pushing the trailer back up.
It was the big one.
The 16 passenger yeah, the bigburgundy one with the black
seats, yeah, and I was drivingthe little one that you guys
always show in the river andeverything like that.
And I told them afterwards whenwe got up there because I took
(16:06):
a different route down the riverto see if the river route was
clear, but it wasn't.
There were trees down on theriver so I had to turn around on
a creek.
So I had to turn around andcome back.
But there's no room to turnaround.
I pulled a Henry.
I went up the bank of the creekinto the field, turned around,
drove him right back down thebank of the creek and came out
and he made me do it againbecause they went the wrong way
and we had to open the gate forthem.
(16:26):
So I had to do it twice.
I pulled two henrys one day.
We had a good, we have had agood time.
There's not.
There is no time that I comedown here that I don't have the
best time of my life.
I mean I told you when I camedown for the clinic.
My wife said you're going tothe clinic.
(16:48):
Clinic's not cheap, and Iunderstand, because there's a
lot that goes into it.
My wife goes you're going tothe clinic.
What do I get?
I sent my wife and daughter toAruba and I got the better end
of the deal Because they had toargue with each other over what
they were doing.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
And I didn't have to argue with nobody.
You didn't choose to.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
But I have a great time October too.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Everybody needs to come in October to our barbecue.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
If you miss that barbecue, you are missing a
great time, because we harnessup a whole lot of horses.
If we got mules here, the mulesget harnessed up.
We go out several times a day.
Take that big wagon out Peoplecould check out individual teams
.
Take the little wagon out orhook them to the big wagon if
they prefer like Chris and hiswife did from down there in Utah
(17:33):
, shout out and I mean it's agreat time.
It's amazing.
If you're thinking about comingand you're a little bit scared
and you're like, well, I don'tknow if I'm that much into it,
come down.
If you think that you're afraidof the animal because it's too
big, come down.
There's big animals, there'ssmall animals, they're all nice.
(17:55):
Those halflingers, 14-1, 14-2,fantastic, I mean there's
something for everybody.
If you at all like horses, ifyou at all like mules, there's
something for everybody.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
We got something coming this year too Two new
Roberts passenger wagons.
I ordered two new ones.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Don't let Henry take them up in the hills.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Blue and whites, all right.
Twelve passengers, though.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
A little bit smaller.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Four foot shorter.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Just enough room where Henry could have turned it
around on that logging road.
That's right, yeah, all right,oh Lord.
Well, it's been amazing.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
It has been.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
I mean every time.
Like I said, every time I comedown here.
I have a great time, yeah, andyou guys are just the best hosts
, I mean.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
We try to be.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
So great.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
I don't know about Henry, but I try.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Henry's as fun as can be, and you know you might see
him on videos and think he's alittle standoffish.
He's not.
Once you get to know him he's afantastic guy.
Yeah, his wife is great, hiskids are great.
I mean it's a great community.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
It is.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
And people just pull up.
All the time we were sittingaround the other day and that
gentleman came up from downthere in tennessee that paul
smith yeah, paul smith pulled upI missed him had his wife just
pulled in, one looking fornothing in particular, just got
out.
I says I know you, he goes.
(19:28):
What I said I know you, I watchyour videos, you're Paul Smith,
you're the mule trainer.
He goes.
That's right.
And that's what happens here.
I mean people just stop by forno particular reason, that's
right, yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Uh-oh, we got a guest coming in.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Here's one.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
He's stopping by for no particular reason on winnie,
come over here.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Don't kick the stand, come here come around.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
We're actually on a podcast.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
When you can be a guest, come here when you get up
here I'm gonna lift you.
Go to daddy when he wants mywatch, that's what he wants.
He likes my watch, I give it tohim and he plays music on my uh
, on my galaxy watch and you'regonna meet a lot of new people
tonight too.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
That's right to me that's right.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
I've met a bunch of them before yeah but there'll be
new ones that's right, henry.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Do I need to help?
Speaker 2 (20:21):
you.
What is he doing?
Speaker 1 (20:24):
I could have got that for you here.
There you go.
Henry's in here, but he don'twant to be on the podcast.
I've been trying to get him todo one, but he won't do it, so
henry, you should do one he'sgoing to.
Eventually, people can hear metalk on the video yeah, but it's
more fun.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
On the podcast they get to see how funny you are.
There's dinner, they see you onthe videos and they think
you're all rigid and everythingyeah, there's different people
that listen to the podcast fromwhat is on youtube also.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
That's true.
Well, they can go to youtubeand watch your channel.
It's always good he got ananswer for everything guys, guys
, we're going.
I'm one of the best.
No, I'm making excuses.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Goodbye Henry, bye Bye Winnie.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Uh-uh, he's going to shut the door back now before
they blow something up.
I didn't expect them to come in, I didn't either, but it's a
good place to leave off oh yeah,well, we got to go eat.
Anyway, it's almost eating, wedo, it's getting there.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Happy july 4th everybody.
I hope everybody's safe and Ihope you keep all your fingers
and toes.
Yes, that's very important,that's super important.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
you know, james ray is missing.
A big toe Fireworks, nolawnmower, oh, he was missing a
toe, so hopefully he don't losehis other one.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
All right then.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Oh, poor James Ray.
Guys, thank y'all.
Hope you enjoy these couplepodcasts we've done today with
Andrew and Chris Just kind ofcommunity members.
I wanted to get them on hereand let them talk and voice
their opinion.
They mean a lot to us and youall do too.
Thank you all for watching.
Thank you for listening.
Check us out on the website atwwwdrafthorsesandmulesforsalecom
(22:20):
.
If you need anything by the wayof harness equipment, farm
implements for your horses,horses, mules, anything, give us
a call.
We're here to help you.
If you just have questions,call us too, 606-303-5669.
Until the next one, thank youall, and we'll see you soon.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Thank you.
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!