I mean I don’t think anyone eating steak ums thinks they’re eating a healthy meal but it’s a little worse then most people would think. I’m not gonna post it because I don’t want to ruin them for anyone and google is a click away for those who want to know.
It ain’t gonna kill you or anything 
No mules on kijiji in ontario. Nuts. Read they live a long long time. Deffinetly want a Mule.
I’ve been around all types of mules. My dad bought a Tennessee Walking Mule years ago that was the best mule ever. She was 10 years old when he got her, stood 16.5 hands and was the ugliest thing you’ve ever seen. But she was broke, broke. She was gated, broke to drive, cut cattle and rope off of and had also been trained as a coon hunting mule. You could shoot off of her and she was trained to jump fences with a blanket across it. We had her for 20 years until she died, I don’t think she ever done anything wrong, except she damn sure learned to jump a fence, she ran free range for 20 years, we couldn’t keep her in
Now that sounds like a valuable member of the farm. Not the free-range part, but all the rest.
@Chronickyle or all the other cattle farmers/ranchers
At what age/size are the cattle slaughtered? What’s the oldest/largest you have sampled?
I know in the US the animals get taken pretty small/young. Ive been fortunate enough to eat in some other countries where they let them go longer and I much preferred the deeper flavor as a trade off for a tiny bit of tenderness. I find the older animals, much like wild game or offal/off cuts, just require more careful cooking, but the reward in flavor is incredible.
One particular hog in Italy comes to mind, they had rubbed, hung and cured half of the hogs torso all together with spicing similar to pancetta, but more heavily to help penetrate the thicker parts. It was massive and incredibly delicious. The only pork memory I have that comes close is the first time I got to try iberico or Mangalica. Sorry to resort to a pork memory on a cattle thread…
Mule’s and horses are two entirely different critters. They take a different hand. A mule is smarter, in general, than a horse and thinks things through in training and trails different.
They are, in fact, smart enough to keep you from getting into a bad situation that you might not see. And virtually no horse is as sure footed as a mule.
Having said that, I’ll keep riding my horses.
Missouri Foxtrotters are what I own. I can only ride gaited horses because of health issues.
I guess the difference boils down to this; a horse wants a good, confident fair minded leader but a mule is looking for a partner.
I do miss my Quarter Horses though.
Scottish highlanders are typically slaughtered around the 2.5 year of age to get the best bang for your buck, most cattle around here are sold at at between a year and a half and 2 years depending upon how old they are when winter comes. Sometimes its more profitable too sell younger and not feed hay all winter. I’ve had ground beef that was from a 10 year old bull and it was just fine. I believe it has a lot to do with how the animal was killed, it’s better if they don’t know its coming as it produces a more tender meat then I also feel how quickly it’s processed has a lot to do with how tender it is. If I kill an old bull or an old milk cow I would just have it all made into ground beef
Amount of hang time is especially important,. Especially in pork I’ve heard. It’s rare we hang anything as long as they use to.
Taste and health of the product is everything to me and that’s why I’m fine having the scottish highlanders take longer and finished on grass even though I get less yeild than if I were to switch to grain.
Farmings, farming man. All animals have a place in my heart. Pigs and cows get along in real life no reason they can’t in here too haha
I see all my animals as partners as much as possible I don’t see my self reigning over them, a partner sounds much more appealing to work with. Then again all this comes with no experience in horses or mules. So maybe I would change my mind.
Being raised on a farm, lol I damn sure gotta agree with Chronicklye! Also, don’t forget them damn chickens! I do love my some good fried chicken! Or, Bar-B-Q…or roasted…or etc etc… 
hell you get the idea lol
@MoBilly you are 100% correct about that. They also say a mule will never hurt himself, so you are safe as long as your on it. Plus they never forget…lol. If you beat them they will get even some day. I’m sure you’ve heard them all.
ALl this talk about farms, pigs and cattle etc reminded me of a story from my youth lol Grampa always did his own slaughtering and smoking/aging etc He had this old prize boar that he used to stud the pigs, that damn boar had one tusxk broke half off and ws an ill-tempered asshole. He had his own little pasture, but…this pasture was inthe direct path to the swimming hole we had at the egde of the property. All us kids (17 cousins and my own sisters and brothers, 6 of us, for total of 23 kids) had to go around the pen that boar had, unless… we caught him asleep, then we’d cut across the corner of his paddock. He liked to lay there in the middle and act like he was asleep hoping we’d take the short cut. Well, I got halfway across the corner we always cut and HERE HE CAME grunting and charging lol I almost made it to the fence and was in the process of jumping over when he caught my thigh with his one good tusk…I was bleeding like hell but went into the house, got grampa’s shotgun and killed him! Grampa beat the hell outta me then hung him to bleed and smoked…damn good eating!
I went to a huge trail ride in Popular Bluff, Cross Country trail rides, if memory serves me right, several times 35-40 years ago. What I remember most is the Foxtrotters. They are fast and smooth as silk.
Edit, those rides where in Eminence. My grandfather was from Popular Bluff
Thanks for the thorough answer. Interesting about the hang time. These simple processes fascinate me, and I spend a lot of time nerding out on stuff like that(fermentation, curing, preserving, aging of all kinds of things).
I always look at it as when you begin working with something, it has X amount of potential. By choosing to work with it, it is all up to you to not fuck it up and realize that potential. All of the different steps, processes, techniques, and time that happen along the way are all chances for varying degrees of success and failure.
I have heard from some farmers in the states, that it is harder to produce grass fed beef here do to having to chill the carcasses the same way same timeframe as grain fed. The issue being that the muscles in the grain fed under the same conditions chill more slowly due to the insulation from the extra fat. This was years ago, and since then there is much more grass fed available in the states.
Have you gotten to experiment with different hang times and things with your herd? Maybe just for friends and family or certain customers who would be willing to pay a premium? Does the regulation give you much room to do so?
If this is getting too far off topic let me know and I can move it or take it to DM.
Foxtrotters are great
Quarter horse are great
I love appaloosas
I had two mustangs I would put up against anything…each breed has it’s value
If you want tough and smart and low maintenance nothing beats a little old brown feral horse…mustangs are available from the BLM and some are already broke to ride by prison inmates
Letterkenny for the win! Love that show, though the last few seasons seem a bit rushed
That’s crazy. I didn’t realize how into your story I was until u killed the pig
I was just a 12-13 yr old kid lol but still have the scar on my thigh
Letterkenny is friggin’ hilarious!
Look where it is from OXFORD Language yes maybe in UK all are Farms Western US California most are Milk Farms BUT IN TEXAS WE call it Them RANCHES Check out Cow Flies in your definitions this is my last remark from this 79 year young Female Horse fly bites are very painful, but worse, these flies can transfer bacteria and blood contaminants from one host to another. They can make livestock and humans extremely sick, and even cause reduced growth rates and milk output in unsheltered cattle. Effects are worse if a bitten human or animal has an allergy cowboy mask: