Tiny mule Pedro delights crowd

The little mule who could, Pedro, 8 years old, stands 49 inches at the withers. He cleared 60 inches, but didn't clear 61.5". The little white mule, shown by preacher Richie Dement from Centerville, Mo., made his first appearance in the Pea Ridge Mule Jump this past Saturday.

Praising the little mule's attitude, winning mule owner Les Clancy applauded Pedro's successes.

An obvious audience favorite, the mule responded to the crowd's chanting "Pedro, Pedro, Pedro" on his last successful jump.

"Here we go with Pedro with 57" -- gotta get excited for Pedro," announcer Kent Morris said.

"Wow!" he said the little mule cleared the jump which was 8 inches taller than he is.

In addition to the newcomer, an old favorite and winner of the first pro jump, Red, returned to the field. Red, own and showed by Rodney Hayes of Lathrop, Mo., cleared 60 inches to tie for second with Pedro and Dan, owned by Doug Fletcher, Seligman, Mo. Red won the first pro jump in 2003 by clearning 62.5 inches. He was owned and shown by Kenny Friend of Huggins, Mo. Lathrop said Friend is his nephew.

Morris teased the mule owners and delighted the crowd.

"Have a little talk about it. What do you think, can we do it?" Morris said as the big mule Bulls Eye approached the jump with owner Ronnie Smith of Avoca, then easily cleared it. "No problem!"

"Just like that," Morris said when Sadie cleared the first height of the 51-inch and over jump. "Already everybody's clear at 39 inches."

As the tiny Mighty Mouse cleared the jump in the smaller mule category, Morris said she "Made it look easy."

When Becki Sams, owner of Gentle Ginger, stepped over the jump to encourage Giner to jump, Morris said: "Now we know Becki has a 32-inch inseam. Come on, guys, lets' talk Ginger into doing this... here we go, help 'er out."

Both small mules cleared 30 inches but neither cleared 32.5 inches.

During one speed event, You're a Daisy if you Do stopped abruptly throwing rider Becki Sams to the ground. Once Sams was up and out of the ring, Morris said: "She's tough. Just watch, she'll be back."

And, back she was, as she continued to compete throughout the event. Sams and her daughter, Maranda Stites, competed in several events. They two have competed for years with Sams' father, Joe Sams, formerly of Anderson, Mo. The elder Sams passed away this year. Stites won the Negel Hall Memorial High Point award in the adult category.

Children's events and the boot race were cancelled as organizers attempted to finish the jump events before heavier rain descended on the area.

"We were down on the mules, but we had some new mules," Nathan See, committee chairman said. "We had about 1,500 people."

"We really appreciate Harry Palmer, Martha Ruth Hall and David Creech for allowing us to use the land," See said, adding that there were several people in attendance from out of town and he believes the site will allow plenty of room for expanding.

Editorial on 10/17/2018