OZARK, Mo. -- Standing in the center of the 151-year-old barn built from hand-hewn black walnut, surrounded by bridles, halters, bits, saddles, blankets and all-terrain vehicles, Josey's Moon Shadow stands quietly under the watchful eyes of Sadie and Luke -- veteran jumping mules. Pepper, the dog, and a small, black kitten wander in and out.
The animals watch owner Les Clancy, waiting for attention or instruction.
Clancy and his mules recently returned from a elk-hunting trip to Colorado ,where Sadie packed the gear and followed the group without a lead.
"Jumping is just about having fun," Clancy said, explaining that he rides his mules, takes them on elk hunts and uses them for packing, uses them to pull wagons and rides them when rounding up his cattle. "I work all my cattle off my mules," he said.
Luke, 19 years old and 15 hands tall, doesn't jump as much as he used to due to a bit of arthritis that set in after getting kicked by a horse a couple of years ago, Clancy said. "I don't jump him really hard."
Josey, a strawberry roan, is "in the stage of learning about life. She'll be at Pea Ridge next year," he said. "She's got the build; she's got the attitude."
Luke, Sadie, Josey, Lucky, Gus -- all are voice trained.
A "Walk-Trot Treadmill" is in the barn to provide exercise for the mules. Luke has figured out how to rest his chin on the bar at the front and resist the belt, Clancy said, and even wore out the first motor on the treadmill.
Mule memorial
There are a dozen mules on the farm. Across the road, beneath a large oak tree, is a cross marking the grave of Powder River, the jumping mule previously owned by Kenny Vaught of Crane, Mo. Powder River won first place in Pea Ridge in 1992 and 1993.
Clancy credits Vaught with getting him involved in mule jumping.
"I realized I had a couple that were pretty good," he said, "thanks to Kenny Vaught. We used to put on mule rodeos in the early '80s and'90s. ... Powder River is buried right over there. ... Kenny hated to see Powder getting old so he came here." Powder River was 32 when he died, Clancy said.
"She was a true champion; she won the world. She was a good one. That's what got me into jumping," Clancy said. "Kenny helped me get started and started showing me a little bit of the ropes."
Both Sadie and Luke cleared 69 inches at a jump in West Plains, Clancy said.
Stubborn as a mule
But, as any mule owner knows, a mule can be contrary. Clancy said he learned the hard way about a mule's stubborn streak when he was invited to a jump in Forth Worth.
"We were invited to Forth Worth, Texas," he recalled. "I was hoping to take a first and a second; I had 'em both in shape. We were ready. The crowd was excited. They really hyped us up.
"Luke was up first. He would not even jump over his own shadow. He would not jump -- he literally would not jump," Clancy said with a wry grin. "If anybody knows anything about a mule, they're not going to do anything they don't want to. I looked like a little fool."
Then, Sadie was up. Clancy said it was as though Sadie and Luke had talked and she said to him: "Hey, I got this one."
"She won it with flying colors," he said.
An Army mule
The mules have graced the cover of Mules & More magazine and been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Clancy said.
"No matter where I go, people have not so much heard of me as Luke; Luke is more famous than I am," Clancy said. "He goes to elementary schools, he jumped over first base at a Cardinals ball game, he's been in a bar and he's been invited to ride through the Titanic in Branson.
"Luke is a corporal in the U.S. Army," Clancy said, showing the formal certificate promoting Luke, who is branded with sergeants bars on one side and US on the other.
Clancy hosts the Ozark Mule Days on Labor Day weekend in Springfield, Mo. The mules and Clancy travel to six or seven mule jumps every year -- the Sedalia State Fair, PFI Invitational, West Plains, Fort Worth, Texas, and Columbia, Mo.
"Sadie has pretty much ruled this past year. As for Luke, I quit kind of pushing Luke," Clancy said. He said landing on hard-packed ground is hard on the mule's joints.
Clancy, a retired first sergeant from the Missouri National Guard after 26 years, five months and one day of active service, spends more time with the farm and mules than he did before.
"I was never a part-time soldier," he said, explaining that his whole military career was in active service.
He enjoys working cattle, auctioneering, selling cattle and trading livestock.
Now, he manages 600 acres of farm land and runs cattle.
Clancy and his wife, Susan, have two children, Courtney, 22, and Caleb, 15. They all enjoy working with the mules, as does nephew Ryan Pope, 22.
"They help 100 percent!"
Community on 10/05/2016