Amy McLean: A Doctorate in Donks

introduction by Anna Arnold, Romoland, Calif

(Originally published in our May 2019 issue)

I haven't been out on my mule in some time and haven't attended any mule shows lately, so I will use this time to talk about the incredible woman I mentioned in my “Donkey” article from the March 2019 issue. Amy McLean represents the donkey world so well, and has influenced me and so many others in the mule show world. She has been dedicated to donkeys and mules most of her life. She didn't quit when she left home, but went on to become a Professor and Lecturer, and now works with the Animal Science Department at University of California, Davis. 

I hope you enjoyed Amy’s story, and those of you who will be at Bishop Mule Days will have another reason to watch for her. I’ll be there, too! Watch for me surrounded by so many of our beautiful and talented mules. I’ll be wearing my big hat and fancy boots with a handsome man on my arm.

The following is what Amy shared with me about her life.

I was born to parents from the city. My father was from Atlanta, Ga., and my mother was from Manhattan. They met in an art class that my mom was teaching. He had enrolled because he heard there were a lot of ladies that took the class and nude models. The rest is history! 

We lived in the suburbs and the neighbors had a guard donkey named PJ. My dad would take me to see PJ every day and told my mom he wanted to move to the country and start a donkey and mule farm. So, that’s what he did! Back then, I had no idea there was a difference in horses, mules and donkeys. I just thought all equids had long ears. I was so fortunate to have parents that introduced me to the long-eared world.

The first show I attended was the Red Carpet Georgia State Champion Mule and Draft Horse Show in Chatsworth, Ga., when I was five years old. My dad got into gaited mules early on and we had two, Queen and a spotted mule named Polly. They were fantastic! 

My dad started the “Racking Mule Association” in the mid-80s as a joke because some of his friends who were doctors and lawyers had ‘highfalutin’ show horses that racked. 

In 1988, we had “88,” our first mule foal, sired by a black mammoth jack and out of a Walkaloosa (gaited-appaloosa horse) named Midnight. Midnight was a very kind horse and did an excellent job raising 88. 88 started out her life very sick and had a rare form of pneumonia. She required daily medication, which is where my Mom and I came into play. From then on I knew I wanted to be an equine veterinarian when I grew up! 

Over 30 years, my family showed from one end of the country to the other. We outgrew our first farm and moved to another farm in Madison, Ga., the home of Sowhatchet Mule Farm. Then the farm expanded to both sides of the road. The first farm was located on a corner piece of property with an old store building built in the late 1700s where I grew up and called home. Later on, mules and donkeys covered both corners. In the heyday before I left to start my PhD at Michigan State University in 2006, we had close to 60 head of mules, donkeys and horses. We had many walking mule and gaited mule world champions and I was lucky enough to show many all-around mules. There were so many wonderful people that came into our lives and connected us with like souls because of the mules and donkeys. I’m still friends with many of them today. 

After I went to work on my PhD where I had the opportunity to further my studies in donkey science, I began my passion for research for mules and donkeys. There was so little information in 2006, and there’s still very little today. But a lot more information in the past 13 years has come about. The global equine population is close to 114 million, about 42 million donkeys, 13 million mules and hinnies, and the rest are horses. A majority of these animals are still working as beasts of burden in developing countries. The mule and donkey has taken me to 26 countries now. I’ve worked with donkeys in a working capacity, a dairy capacity in Italy, and I’ve recently been to China twice attempting to improve donkey welfare for donkeys being raised for meat and skin. I’ve seen over 10,000 donkeys at one farm in China and over 500 in Italy, and 10 different breeds.

Coming to UC Davis has literally been a dream come true! My first trip to UC Davis was in 2012 to speak at the first Donkey Welfare Symposium. I spoke about donkey nutrition and donkey welfare. I traveled with the chairman of my PhD committee, Dr. Camie Heleski, who I’ve literally traveled all over the world with now looking at mules and donkey welfare and behavior (including Mexico, Mali and Egypt, to name a few). I fell in love with UC Davis when I visited the campus and had the opportunity to speak seven years ago. I came on board at UCD in 2016 as an emergency hire to manage the Horse Barn and assist with the reproduction program, which included two breeding jacks, and a mule program, I had years of experience helping my dad collect various mammoth jacks over the years, so I felt right at home getting to handle donkeys and pet the mule foals! It was such an exciting opportunity to be a part of a program that understood the importance of mules and donkeys. 

In 2017, I moved into an Equine professor position and have continued to conduct mule and donkey research with my colleagues on campus (Dr. Eric Davis) and around the world. In addition, I’ve had the opportunity to help Dr. Davis co-host and organize the past several Donkey Welfare Symposiums. This past year we had over 250 people attend with experts from 16 countries. It’s a fantastic opportunity to expand your knowledge on mules and donkeys and interact with some of the world’s most knowledgeable people in this area. I look forward to continuing to conduct studies to improve our understanding of these amazing creatures that have enriched my life so much. 

I’m forever grateful to my parents for bringing me up in the mule and donkey world. I miss them both every day. They both passed away at very young ages in 2015 and 2016. They were my inspiration and I’m not sure if anyone loved donkeys as much as my mom. I just hope that my efforts will continue to help mules and donkeys, as well as the people they help around the world. Meanwhile, I hope to continue to show, and I’m looking forward to my new and young mule, Greystone’s Silhouette (aka Big Star Sarge). He’s in training with a longtime friend and mule ambassador, Julie Kennedy in Eastover, South Carolina. She’s made many world champions and we are hoping Sarge will fill the shoes of my late mule Wild Bill, who was raised and trained by my dear friend Mary Wasson. We lost Wild Bill on June 13, 2014, after I had won the World Amateur Championship for the third time in a row. Wild Bill was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016. I rode his full sister, My Lasst Dance, owned by another dear friend, Dianne Smith, in the parade that year. 

I’m looking forward to the 50th Anniversary for Bishop. I started coming to Bishop in 1996. I missed two years, in 2006 when my mom had a surgery, and in 2015 when my father passed away the week before. I’ve shared my parents and Wild Bill’s ashes in the Sierras overlooking one of our favorite places where so many memories were made on a three-week trek across the country with four to six mules and two or three Jack Russells.