"Daisy," Paul Arnold called, taking a break during the middle of hay harvesting, alternately whistling for the mules, who came running through the pasture to the men.
Paul Arnold and Rick McCrary are two of the men who helped organize a mule jump as part of a fall festival in 1985 at the request of Tim Summers at the Bank of Pea Ridge. That was the beginning of what is now the Pea Ridge Mule Jump, numbered from 1989 when the Lions Club made it a singular event.
"That first year, we had a learning curve," Arnold said.
Raccoon hunters have used mules to jump fences for years. Jumping mules for entertainment began in Pea Ridge 37 years ago as just one of many events of the 1985 fall festival called "Battlefield Daze," sponsored by the Pea Ridge Chamber of Commerce.
"Tim Summers at the bank asked me about mule jumps," said Arnold, who was vice president of the Pea Ridge Coon Hunter's Association at the time. He said McCrary was president. Arnold said he went to Oklahoma to see a mule jump to get an idea about it and came home to put one on here.
"The first four people I talked to were Tommie Yeargain Sr., Negel Hall, Don Shockley and Dale Shrader. We hunted together," Arnold said, adding that Ronnie Smith, Mitchell Hufford and several others were involved.
That first year, they had a trail ride with the mules riding up Arkansas Highway 265 to State Line Road and down Patterson Road and back to the school grounds, Arnold said. They had a coon hunt on Saturday night after the festival, which included a UKC Coon Hunters' Association coon dog show and hunt.
"We had a dog show where the kids showed the dogs and we handed trophies out to them," McCrary said.
In 1987, the name was changed to the Fall Fest. In 1988, the event was taken over by the Lions Club and named the Pea Ridge Mule Jump in 1989. Since 2002, it has been run by the city.
"It's grown into something fantastic," McCrary said of the growth of the jump. "Negel Hall took it over for a long time, then Jack Kelly did an awful good job with it."
"Every day is a different day with a mule," he said. "This is what's critical with a mule, working with them when they're young."
McCrary said mules are "by far" smarter than horses.
Laughingly he told a tale of a mule he had named Rosco who would rear up on the top wire of a fence, pull it down, and allow all the other mules to get out of the pen.
"He's creating for me a whole lot of work," he said, explaining that he sold him back to his original owner.
Buttercup, Shasta and Biscuit are all out of Rose, a red-roan mare and a gaited jack the men own. He said Clover and Priscella were two good mules he sold at a mule jump a few years ago.
Neither man still hunts, but some of their children do.
"I haven't rode for a year," Arnold said, explaining that it's been a busy year. He also had an accident two years when riding, breaking six ribs and a collarbone and being sidelined for a time.
"Me and a mule had a ride that wasn't good," Arnold said. "I was sitting there daydreaming, like I always do."
He said he thinks bees or hornets started the mule. "I've never had her go that fast before," he said, as she ran him into a tree.
Both men had mules in the 1980s and recalled some of the events during the first event.
"He asked us coon hunters what we could do to make some activities for this mule jump," McCrary said, describing the chicken race and the bat race. "The chicken race was probably the hardest thing we ever did."
"She (Daisy) hasn't jumped in three years," Arnold said. "I just do the amateur."
Daisy is about 12 years old.
"Daisy wants her nose in everything."
The other mules are Buttercup, 3; Shasta, 2; and Biscuit, 5 months.
"They get up there and they'll mess with ya'," Arnold said.
"They've all got a different character to them," McCrary said.
"The thing about a mule is, they'll make you think they're tired, you'll turn 'em loose and they'll go running," Arnold said. "Mules are smart."
"They don't get spoiled or nothing," he said, smiling as McCrary gave each a treat.
"They're so sure footed," McCrary said. "It's hard to get a good one."
Nathan See, chairman of the Pea Ridge Mule Jump, said mule jumps are part of the heritage of this rural Ozark community. "It's important to keep it going."
Mule jumping comes from a tradition with coon hunters of having mules jump over fences rather than finding gates. Hunters throw a blanket over the fence so the mule will jump it. It wasn't long before hunters started having competitions for jumping mules along with their coon dog competitions.
Jumping competitions vary -- some require the mules to wear saddles. At Pea Ridge, the mules are bare backed. Once a mule walks up to the jumping barrier, it has three minutes to jump.
The mule has two tries to clear the barrier without knocking it down. Trainers can not touch the mule. They must get the mule to jump by word commands. They can hold the reins and tug them. If an owner is caught mistreating a mule, he is disqualified.
Mules are eliminated until only one remains and continues to jump until it reaches its limit. The mule seems to know instinctively when that limit is reached because it just won't jump any more.
Three jumping events are held -- for mules under 51-inches tall, over 51-inches tall and professional jumpers. Sometimes, when there is time, a green jump is held. The green jump is for mules just learning to jump.
Some of the other events are similar to rodeo events, except contestants ride mules instead of horses. Amusing incidents ensue as mules exhibit their characteristic stubbornness.
In halter class events, the mules are shown for judges to pick the best-looking mule.
The 33rd annual Mule Jump will be held Saturday, Oct. 8, at 975 Weston St.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard Rick McCrary and Paul Arnold were two of the original founders of the Pea Ridge mule jump in the mid-1980s. They still enjoy their mules — Daisy, Shasta, Jewels, Shasta and Biscuit.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard Rick McCrary and Paul Arnold were two of the original founders of the Pea Ridge mule jump in the mid-1980s. They still enjoy their mules — Daisy, Shasta, Jewels, Shasta and Biscuit.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard Rick McCrary and Paul Arnold were two of the original founders of the Pea Ridge mule jump in the mid-1980s. They still enjoy their mules — Daisy, Shasta, Jewels, Shasta and Biscuit.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard Rick McCrary and Paul Arnold were two of the original founders of the Pea Ridge mule jump in the mid-1980s. They still enjoy their mules — Daisy, Shasta, Jewels, Shasta and Biscuit.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard Rick McCrary and Paul Arnold were two of the original founders of the Pea Ridge mule jump in the mid-1980s. They still enjoy their mules — Daisy, Shasta, Jewels, Shasta and Biscuit.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard Rick McCrary and Paul Arnold were two of the original founders of the Pea Ridge mule jump in the mid-1980s. They still enjoy their mules — Daisy, Shasta, Jewels, Shasta and Biscuit.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard Rick McCrary and Paul Arnold were two of the original founders of the Pea Ridge mule jump in the mid-1980s. They still enjoy their mules — Daisy, Shasta, Jewels, Shasta and Biscuit.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard Rick McCrary and Paul Arnold were two of the original founders of the Pea Ridge mule jump in the mid-1980s. They still enjoy their mules — Daisy, Shasta, Jewels, Shasta and Biscuit.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard Rick McCrary and Paul Arnold were two of the original founders of the Pea Ridge mule jump in the mid-1980s. They still enjoy their mules — Daisy, Shasta, Jewels, Shasta and Biscuit.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard Rick McCrary and Paul Arnold were two of the original founders of the Pea Ridge mule jump in the mid-1980s. They still enjoy their mules — Daisy, Shasta, Jewels, Shasta and Biscuit.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard Rick McCrary and Paul Arnold were two of the original founders of the Pea Ridge mule jump in the mid-1980s. They still enjoy their mules — Daisy, Shasta, Jewels, Shasta and Biscuit.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard Rick McCrary and Paul Arnold were two of the original founders of the Pea Ridge mule jump in the mid-1980s. They still enjoy their mules — Daisy, Shasta, Jewels, Shasta and Biscuit.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard Rick McCrary and Paul Arnold were two of the original founders of the Pea Ridge mule jump in the mid-1980s. They still enjoy their mules — Daisy, Shasta, Jewels, Shasta and Biscuit.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard Rick McCrary and Paul Arnold were two of the original founders of the Pea Ridge mule jump in the mid-1980s. They still enjoy their mules — Daisy, Shasta, Jewels, Shasta and Biscuit.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard Rick McCrary and Paul Arnold were two of the original founders of the Pea Ridge mule jump in the mid-1980s. They still enjoy their mules — Daisy, Shasta, Jewels, Shasta and Biscuit.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard Rick McCrary and Paul Arnold were two of the original founders of the Pea Ridge mule jump in the mid-1980s. They still enjoy their mules — Daisy, Shasta, Jewels, Shasta and Biscuit.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard Rick McCrary and Paul Arnold were two of the original founders of the Pea Ridge mule jump in the mid-1980s. They still enjoy their mules — Daisy, Shasta, Jewels, Shasta and Biscuit.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard Rick McCrary and Paul Arnold were two of the original founders of the Pea Ridge mule jump in the mid-1980s. They still enjoy their mules — Daisy, Shasta, Jewels, Shasta and Biscuit.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard Rick McCrary and Paul Arnold were two of the original founders of the Pea Ridge mule jump in the mid-1980s. They still enjoy their mules — Daisy, Shasta, Jewels, Shasta and Biscuit.