MULES STRIVE TO REACH NEW HEIGHTS

FARRAR -- Ronnie Lorenz just can't get his stubborn mule Lily to jump, but she is the only one of the seven on his Perry County farm that won't perform on command.

Lorenz has tried every trick in the book -- from hazers to rewards -- to get the mule to jump. Hazers are people who stand behind the mule to encourage it to jump by waving hats, clapping or yelling. Even with that kind of commotion, Lily won't cooperate.

"Some will and some won't," he said of the mules. "You'll always find some that jump."

Lily just isn't one of them.

Luckily, Lily won't have to compete in the world championship mule jumping contest next month at the East Perry County Fair in Altenburg. The fair, which begins Sept. 25, is known for its jumping mules attraction. Nearly 5,000 people from around Southeast Missouri will gather to watch the contest.

The contest rules are fairly simple: The mules jump over a fence, and the height of the bar keeps rising until a single mule remains. To prepare for the contest, Lorenz practices with his mules about a month before the fair.

"You wouldn't think that an inch or two can make a difference, but at the fair that's what determines the winners," he said.

Some of his mules like to jump high but won't do so in front of crowds. At home, Rose, 5, will jump as high as 5 feet, but she refuses to reach that height in front of the fair crowd.

But Rose and Lucy, who is also 5, love to jump so much that they will do it simultaneously.

Although there is no rhyme or reason to how high an animal will jump or when, "some animals are just more athletic and agile" and can jump higher, Lorenz said. "They have to have a willingness and your confidence."

Tex, one of the three smaller mules on the farm, has been known to jump as high as 68 inches. In his younger days, Tex, now 20, was undefeated as a championship jumping mule for eight years running. But he has become bored with the trick lately and has retired, Lorenz said.

"Mules get bored with the repetition," he said. "And mules don't forget."

To keep their interests, Lorenz rewards his animals with corn after a successful jump.

Lorenz has been raising mules for several years. He also works the animals around the farm. Pairs of the mules work as a team to haul wagonloads of firewood back to the house each fall. And they also get plenty of exercise on raccoon hunting trips along the creeks and in the woods.

Lorenz said mules are sure-footed animals and will never jump over anything that will put them in danger. He trains them to jump only when they see a blanket thrown over a fence or board. The blanket keeps them from injuring themselves on a fence row.

Teaching a mule to jump is no different than teaching a dog to retrieve or stay. A mule likes to test its trainer's patience, and training must begin when mules are young, Lorenz said.

Lorenz and his family will perform a mule jumping show this weekend at Las Valley Lake, a private resort near Owensville. They and their mules are invited each year for the Western Weekend at the resort.