1st Choice Mules

01/16/2025

Due to no fault of his own, this coming yearling John mule, raised at our place, is for sale. He’s currently living in Tennessee and can be purchased and picked up there or in Missouri. 1st Choice Buttons is the last foal out of our black TWH mare, Robin (Caroline’s Amazing Grace) and sired by 1st Choice Jackpot. This c**t is great to handle, is show quality, is naturally gaited and has stripes for days. Buttons should mature 15H-15.2H. Buttons has been castrated, dewormed regularly and had his vaccinations. He’s ready for a great home.
Buttons is for sale but not on sale.

12/21/2024

♪ღ♪'Twas the night before Christmas & out on the ranch
The pond was froze over & so was the branch.
The snow was piled up belly-deep to a mule.
The kids were all home on vacation from school,
And happier young folks you never did see-
Just all sprawled around a-watchin' TV.
Then suddenly, some time around 8 o'clock,
There came a surprise that gave them a shock!
The power went off, the TV went dead!
When Grandpa came in from out in the shed
With an armload of wood, the house was all dark.
"Just what I expected," they heard him remark
"Them power line wires must be down from the snow.
Seems sorter like times on the ranch long ago."
"I'll hunt up some candles," said Mom. "With their light,
And the fireplace, I reckon we'll make out all right."
The teen-agers all seemed enveloped in gloom.
Then Grandpa came back from a trip to his room,
Uncased his old fiddle & started to play
That old Christmas song about bells on a sleigh.
Mom started to sing, & 1st thing they knew
Both Pop & the kids were all singing it, too.
They sang Christmas carols, they sang "Holy Night,"
Their eyes all a-shine in the ruddy firelight.
They played some charades Mom recalled from her youth,
And Pop read a passage from God's Book of Truth.
They stayed up till midnight-and, would you believe,
The youngsters agreed 'twas a fine Christmas Eve.
Grandpa rose early, some time before dawn;
And when the kids wakened, the power was on..
"The power company sure got the line repaired quick,"
Said Grandpa - & no one suspected his trick.
Last night, for the sake of some old-fashioned fun,
He had pulled the main switch - the old Son-of-a-Gun!

Author Unknown

09/06/2024

09/03/2024

Happy 4th Birthday to our boy, 1st Choice Black Tie Affair aka Brooks! We’re so excited to see his first c**t crop in 2025! He sure has filled out and grown into a beautiful donk! We love Brooks!

08/28/2024

**UPDATE-SOLD!!**

Kix and Dunn, 14 year old dun APHA mare. Kix is open and ready to breed to whatever stud or jack of your choosing. Kix will raise her own foal, another mare’s foal or will let other foals in the pen nurse. She is a mama deluxe and milks like a cow!! Kix has not been ridden to my knowledge but is gentle and great to handle! This year’s foal has just been weaned and is ready to go!
Located near Dixon, Mo
PM for info.

08/19/2024

**EDIT- SOLD!**
The first mare I’m offering is a 13-year old blue roan quarter mare. Lola was purchased from a great ranch out west where she was pasture bred using a Percheron stallion. She has raised two beautiful Molly mules here for us in Missouri. We chose to not breed her back this year.
This mare is better to be pasture bred and not hand bred. She needs an experienced handler. She has an injury to her right hind foot that is healing but she is 100% sound. She is a big stout mare and the right kind for the right person.
These cuts are incredibly difficult and lack of pasture is the only reason they are being sold. 
Located near Dixon, Missouri.
PM if seriously interested.

08/15/2024

We are getting ready for a herd reduction. I will be posting available broodmares here within the next week or so. Stay tuned!!

07/31/2024

**EDIT- SOLD!**

Here’s one that won’t last long! Color, brains, conformation and bloodlines for days!

I bred this spotted saddle horse mare in 2020 to our 1st Choice Royal Cartel jack (aka Cider). This posting is for a client located near Owensville, Missouri.

Bugsy is a 3 yr old (DOB 6/1/21) Gaited john mule with 90 days of professional training. Bugsy has a smooth and natural gait and currently stands 15.2H (should mature to 16.1-2H). Bugsy crosses water, bridges, teeter totter bridges, has had tarps and whips cracked on him. He is well desensitized, loves attention, ear scratches and has been around and ridden by children, men and women. Bugsy has a great mind, wants to learn and please. He is good with saddling, fly spraying, brushing, and picking up his feet. Bugsy is not dominant in the field and is good with cats, dogs, and chickens. He’s current on shots, coggins and shoes.

Don’t miss this opportunity! Bugsy has his whole life ahead of him and will only get better from here.

06/22/2024

06/07/2024

The brand I’ll never regret sticking on one; the 1st brand. I’m so blessed to be back to my roots at 1st Choice Mules and promoting the brand that started it all for me and my family over 30 years ago.
Our brand came about when we purchased a jack foal named Scooter’s 1st Choice from Dwayne Peterson years ago. Choice went on to be one of our foundation herd sires along with Horseshoe Hill Colonel. From those two bloodlines came 1st Choice Colonel’s Copyright. Now all three of these jacks are sterile or deceased but their story continues! The Brooks jack pictured receiving the 1st brand below has bloodlines going back to these foundation sires on the sire side which excites me greatly! Not to mention he’s NLP (No Light Points) and will produce the true blue roan mules when bred to a blue roan mare. Our Ryder jack also goes back to some of these bloodlines. Then there’s Jackpot!! He’s goes back to some of these bloodlines on the dam side but is sired by the great Ragan’s Gentle Ben. Ben is a legend on his own!
So people ask me all the time about bloodlines and I do the best I can to answer and often times refer to my “Donkey Dictionary”, my father, Jim Livengood. We don’t know the background of some of “The Legends” as I like to refer to the older foundation sires such as Texas Scooter, Ragan’s Gentle Ben and Horseshoe Hill Colonel, but what we do know is they’ve made their mark and if you’ve been in the business very long you’ve likely heard at least one, if not all of those names.
Where am I going with all this? Well, I just want to say bloodlines are important! A reputable breeder is important! Proper handling is important! There are several reputable and great breeders all over the country. We’re all trying to accomplish the same thing (or at least I hope we are!); and that is to promote the mule and donkey industry and improve it year after year. And I know in my 30+ years in the business we certainly have!
A huge thanks to my parents, Jim & Suzi Livengood, for giving me the fever and for letting me be part of 1st Choice Mules once again; to Dane Heddy for rolling up your sleeves every day and assisting with whatever it is we’re doing on the farm, to all the clients that bred mares via shipped semen or on the farm, and to each of our new, old, and repeat customers that make this gig worth while by purchasing mule foals. Our 9 foals for 2024 will make it to their new families in the fall and will call the following states home: Wisconsin (x2), Kentucky, Illinois, Arkansas, Missouri, North Dakota, Iowa and Arizona.
Thank you all for choosing 1st Choice Mules!

06/04/2024

**UPDATE** She will be joining her new family in Arkansas upon weaning in the fall.

Bay gaited molly looking for a new zip code. She was born May 9, 2024. Sire is the legendary Ragan’s Gentle Ben jack. Her dam is a great bred TWH mare, Ellies Buckskin Princess, that stands 15H. This molly is show quality, had a ton of eye appeal and is very naturally gaited. This is the only Ben baby we have this year.
Located in Missouri. PM for more info.

06/04/2024

**UPDATE** She will be joining her new family in North Dakota.

Sorrel gaited molly looking for a new zip code. She was born April 23, 2024. Sire is our black Ryder jack. Her dam is a great bred TWH mare, Skyliners Miss Rita, that stands 15.2H. This molly is show quality and is very naturally gaited. Video of baby gaiting is in comments.
Located in Missouri. PM for more info.

06/03/2024

**UPDATE** Clarabelle will be joining her new family in Wisconsin after weaning. 💙

Clarabelle is a White gaited molly looking for a new zip code. I purchased this mare with the foal on her side that was born April 18, 2024. Sire is unknown but she has red hairs that can be seen across her back so I would guess a paint jack. Her dam is a great bred TWH mare, Walking With Jose, that stands 16H. Clarabelle is super friendly and has a great disposition and gait. Located in Missouri. PM for more info.

05/07/2024

“I won't buy a weanling for that"

Then breed your own

"I won't buy a 2 year old for that"

Then breed your own and raise it for 2 years

"I won't buy a broke mule for that"

Then breed your own, raise it, and pay a trainer yourself

And again for the people in the back,
👏THEN👏 MAKE👏 ONE👏 YOURSELF.👏

Your lack of budgeting is no longer everyone elses problem..... the mule market FINALLY has made it profitable to make nice mules, and if you don't support that, then you support garbage markets that led to the reduction in quality mules being made and an influx of low quality mules hitting slaughter pipelines.

Quality breeders are finally getting their dues

Support that.

Written by: Darcy Blount (modified for mules)

04/27/2024

**Edit** He will be joining his new family in Illinois upon weaning.

Ever have one that checks all the boxes and you just wouldn’t change much about? Kitty and Jackpot produced a great dunalino gaited john mule baby! Here he is!
Grab him while you can! He won’t last!

Check out Kelli Kaye Livengood’s video.