Bob and Deb Tomaskie have been coming to the Montana State Fair in Great Falls with their mules for 25 years.
In the early 1990s, Bob used his background in team roping to train mules for working and to ride, eventually taking them to compete in shows and growing his hitch. It is now one of the largest hitches currently showing in the state.
Bob says mules are “very versatile, you know, except for speed, they can do just about anything a horse can do and with a better personality, I think. So that's kind of why we like them. They're just kind of fun to be around.”
Today, Bob and his wife Deb have eleven mules, and demonstrate an 8-up hitch all over the region for parades, shows, competitions, and even films.
Their mules have been used in several films, notably featured in the 2022 movie Butcher’s Crossing.
Bob explains, “We’re driving around the fair and they don't shy from very many things,and there's a lot of strange stuff here and they just cope with it. And like with the movies, they do some crazy things that they want done with them and they cope with it. That does make me feel good, you know, like maybe I didn’t do all that bad a job of breaking them.”
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Deb says she enjoys meeting all kinds of different people while traveling with the mules. She especially likes when families come in that have never seen a mule before.
A mule is a hybrid between a donkey and a horse - the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare).
Deb noted, “We don't realize in our little world that we live in how many people really don't know what a mule is. So then we start explaining what the combination is and how they became a mule. And you just see the light just come on. And how excited they were to actually see something and learn something new.”
Bob and Deb Tomaskie’s Mules are at the Montana State Fair in the Mule Barn through August 3rd, located at 400 Third Street NW in Great Falls.
