Finding Peace Through Working Animals: A Veteran's Journey to Retirement

Step into the world of working animals with this Fourth of July conversation between Stephen Haste and Andrew, a longtime community member from the east end of Long Island. Against the backdrop of Independence Day preparations, these two passionate "mule men" share stories that reveal why these remarkable animals continue to capture hearts across America.

Andrew brings a wealth of perspective as a military veteran (Army 3rd of the 75th Ranger Battalion) and current telecommunications director planning his retirement to South Fork. His journey with mules began about a decade ago when he discovered their fascinating history—from George Washington's prized "Royal Gift" donkey (whose bloodline runs through every American mule today) to their crucial role in winning World War I by hauling equipment too heavy for horses.

"I want to go out in a field, sit behind an animal, and hear the click-clack of that machine for a couple hours and put my mind at rest," Andrew explains, describing his vision for retirement. After years of managing university campuses and interacting with hundreds of people weekly, he finds profound peace in the companionship of his rescued mule. "My wife says he's my psychologist because when I need to sit and talk to somebody and have them just listen, he'll do that."

The conversation offers listeners a glimpse into the tight-knit draft horse community at Haste Farms, where visitors regularly drop by unannounced and yearly gatherings like the October barbecue create memories that Andrew describes as "the best birthday of my life." Whether you're fascinated by working animals, considering a similar retirement path, or simply enjoy authentic conversations between kindred spirits, this episode demonstrates why these magnificent animals continue to play meaningful roles in modern lives.

Join the Haste community at drafthorsesandmulesforsale.com or call 606-303-5669 with your questions about harness equipment, farm implements, or finding the perfect horse or mule companion.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Meeting Andrew
• 3:15 Andrew's Background and Military Service
• 5:13 The History of Mules in America
• 8:08 Andrew's Animals and Retirement Plans
• 13:45 Community Life at Haste Farms
• 19:32 Upcoming July 4th Celebration
• 22:00 Final Thoughts and Closing

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

howdy folks. Stephen haste here with haste draft horses and mules. How's everybody doing? It's rare I do two podcasts in one day, but today I'm doing that and I've got a guy here that's been a member, another member of our community, just like the last episode with chris and chris. This guy's kind of been around since the start of it. I'm hanging out and, uh, he's a mule man kind of like myself. So we're going to talk to mr andrew here. But we appreciate y'all, first and foremost. Happy fourth of july, happy independence day. Thank all the veterans out there for all your service. I think you're a veteran and you're welcome. Thank you, and we appreciate all y'all and we're going to have a little talk with you today and let andrew talk about his self and how he got into horses and just kind of talk about Andrew a little bit.

Speaker 1: 0:45

So if you're new here, I'm Stephen. We run Haste Draft Horses and Mules. This is our podcast. Harness Up, check us out on YouTube, on youtubecom, at Haste Draft Horses and Mules. We also have our website, wwwdrafthorsesandmulesforsalecom, and we're all over all the social medias Facebook, instagram, tiktok X Anywhere you look, you're going to find us at Haystraft Horses and Mules. Thank you all. Andrew, how are you doing? I know you're hot and tired.

Speaker 2: 1:13

I'm doing great today. We've had a lot of fun. So I've known you for about eight months now. Came down here October for my birthday weekend when you guys had the free barbecue. It was fantastic. I learned a lot and probably I want to say best birthday of my life. It was fantastic, I had a lot of fun that is your birthday, isn't it? That is my birthday.

Speaker 1: 1:38

National mule day, as appointed by george washington, is october 26th, and that is my birthday and you're a mule man and I am a mule man through and through you've been hanging out with a donkey this week, yeah well, I like melvin, I feel for him.

Speaker 2: 1:53

He's a little youngster and they're out there beating on him a little bit, so I have to give him a little love yeah, the other horses are beating on him, yeah they are. They're beating him pretty bad, but he'll get through it.

Speaker 1: 2:04

Where are you from, Andrew?

Speaker 2: 2:06

I am from the east end of Long Island up in New York. Out there, in believe it or not, out there in the farms, you'll be the first New Yorkian.

Speaker 1: 2:19

Is that what they call? You all up there?

Speaker 2: 2:20

New Yorkians New.

Speaker 1: 2:21

Yorkers, new Yorkers, you'll be the first one on the podcast.

Speaker 2: 2:26

All right then.

Speaker 1: 2:27

You're the first one from New York. What do you do for a living up there?

Speaker 2: 2:32

Well, I'm a director for a university. We call it telecom, but really it's everything low voltage. We don't run electrical lines, but we do fiber optics, we do cable TV, we install Wi-Fi, we install cameras, we do anything that is needed that does not require an electrician on site. That's us and about seven campuses that I'm responsible and oversee the guys to make sure the work gets done.

Speaker 1: 3:02

What branch of the service was you in?

Speaker 2: 3:04

I was in Army 3rd of the 75th Ranger Battalion out of Fort Benning, Georgia, and I did two tours of combat while I was in.

Speaker 1: 3:12

And you've been out how long?

Speaker 2: 3:14

I've been out since December 19th of 1991.

Speaker 1: 3:20

So you definitely wasn't doing horses and mules and stuff when you was in the Army. No, I was not.

Speaker 2: 3:27

I did really no mules up until probably, I want to say about 10 years ago. I started really to get heavy into mules. Before that I did some riding as a kid. There's a lot of horses out on the East End but I enjoyed it stand. But I I enjoyed it, but I really didn't start to get into mules until I started to read about them, learn the history. You know the fact that we would not have won world war one without mules hauling equipment, that horses just were too weak to haul. And you know also a lot of people don't know how smart mules are. They used to use them for the medical litters. They'd send a horse from the hospital I mean from mule, from the hospital. He'd go into enemy lines, pick up people, bring them back across to the hospital with nobody directing them. They only had to bring them one time and he knew the pathway back and forth after that I remember hearing that and reading about it in books Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1: 4:27

That is true.

Speaker 2: 4:28

Yeah, used them in the coal mines, used them everywhere. I mean, this country was built on it and, honestly, the Industrial Revolution. We have George Washington to thank because of the two donkeys that got sent over. We had no mammoths until the King of spain, who said they could not be exported, graciously sent over two males and two females. Unfortunately, one of the males died, but the other two females survived, and so did the male. His name was royal gift and you'll find his bloodline in every mule in this country. Wow, yeah.

Speaker 1: 5:05

That was the start of it.

Speaker 2: 5:06

That was the start of it all. All the cotton and everything else that we did in this country before we had Mack trucks and before we had tractors Mules did that work?

Speaker 1: 5:15

Is that kind of what makes you want mules? The history, so much history behind them?

Speaker 2: 5:20

I just have a lot of respect for them. You like them, yeah them, I just have a lot of respect for them. You like them? Yeah, I mean, you could whip a horse off a cliff, but you'll have to whip the legs off the back of a donkey or a mule and they still won't move. Yeah, they're just smarter, they know. Hey, I might lose a leg, but I'm not gonna die, you know yeah guys if you hear a lot of noise in the background.

Speaker 1: 5:40

I don't know if it's coming through or not, but we got a whole lot of kids out here in the shop and people we're getting ready to have fireworks. So if they're hollering and screaming, comes through. I'm sorry, but we've had a pretty wild week with all these kids around here we're gonna have a party tonight.

Speaker 2: 5:56

We are you?

Speaker 1: 5:57

know, I think we got how many.

Speaker 2: 5:58

I don't know how many fireworks we got, oh jeez I don't, you know, it's more than I've seen in a personal display. Yeah, you know, I think. I don't know if you've heard of Grouchy, the big firework company up north. Yeah, I mean, it looks like they raided Grouchy's home and stole his fireworks to bring them down here. That's what they got out there. There's so many.

Speaker 1: 6:20

So you have tell us about your personal hurt at home. Now, what do you got at home?

Speaker 2: 6:23

Well, I only have one left at home. I'm downsizing because I'm fixing to retire in about four and a half years, as you know.

Speaker 1: 6:29

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 6:30

And I'm down to just a little mule that I adopted from a bad situation and I'll never get rid of them, no matter what happens. But I got rid of a riding mule and I was thinking about getting more. But my wife talked some sense into me and said why are you going to put a bigger barn up and do everything else if we're going to be leaving there, you know, in five years? And she's right. So I downsized and in four and a half years you and I are going to be doing some business and I'm going to be getting, hopefully, mules. But if you have a real nice team of percherons, you know I favor the percherons too, and that's it. You know, when I retire I'd like to be detached from everything that I'm into right now. You know, I'm on campuses with thousands of people and I'm talking to literally hundreds of people in a week, and not that it's stressful Sometimes. I just don't want to hear anybody's voice. I want to go out in a field, sit behind an animal and hear the click clack of that machine, you know, for a couple hours and put my mind at rest. I have no intention of being one of those guys that says, oh, I'm going to. You know, just lay around on the beach. That's not me. I still want to be active, you know, and I think working with animals keeps you active.

Speaker 2: 7:57

It's not one of those things where you walk out the door and turn a key and everything takes care of itself and once in a while you got to do an oil change and throw some tranny fluid in there. You know there's morning feedings, there's evening feedings. You got to go ahead and you know, hose them down. Once in a while you might have to nurse a wound that they got once in a while, but it's a. They get me out of bed in the morning. Yeah, you know, I get up and I try to get my exercise in. Then I go out there.

Speaker 2: 8:27

As soon as I open up that back door, that little mule sees me and he starts calling because he knows it's feeding time and he knows I'm going to spend a little bit with him.

Speaker 2: 8:36

And when I get home from work I got to sneak into the house Because if he sees me he won't stop calling until I go back out, because I get the house, because if he sees me he won't stop calling until I go back out, because I get home right around feeding time. Yeah, as soon as I come out he'll start yelling for me and I'll feed him and then I'll come out afterwards and do a little training with him. You know he's a little guy so I don't really use him for anything, but I halter, train him and stuff. And he's trained to the point where I could point at one of his hooves and he'll lift it up and hold it off the ground for me until I grab it. And he's just a fun little guy. My wife says he's my psychologist because when I need to sit and talk to somebody and have them just listen, he'll do that. He won't interrupt and try to give me his thoughts on things you know that's good.

Speaker 1: 9:25

Animals can be that way for people, he is that way for me. They can be. They sure can. Guys, if I look real sleepy and tired and yawning, it's because I am more out. I went left last night and drove all night to cullen virginia. I've never been to cullen Virginia.

Speaker 2: 9:43

You had to stop too on the way. You got so tired.

Speaker 1: 9:45

Oh, I had to stop and sleep two or three hours. Yeah, I stopped and slept in the parking lot over there at the truck stop and then drove straight home and didn't get much sleep last night and I'm leaving again tomorrow.

Speaker 2: 9:58

I was riding around with Henry yesterday looking at property that I might be interested in because, as you know, this is where I'd like to retire did you find something you think?

Speaker 1: 10:06

I saw a couple of nice things, you know you're gonna try to buy it before you retire, ain't you?

Speaker 2: 10:11

yeah, I want to be. I want to be in something down here two years before I retire that way you can get plans going and I want my barn built, if I need any reno on a farmhouse, if I need a house put on the, whatever it may be, yeah, I want two years to get it done before I come down.

Speaker 2: 10:29

I don't want to get down here and then start, you know makes it pretty rough yeah, I'm not it does do that I'm not an old man yet, but I'm not a young man either, and two years is uh, you know that's a that's a little bit of time off of my life, so I'd rather incorporate that prior to retirement instead of after retirement what's your plans when you get here like, are you gonna?

Speaker 2: 10:53

you got something planned well, I mean, I'd frankly love to start a carriage company. Y'all don't have one down here. You know, and this is a beautiful area and I see a lot of out-of-state plates come down here and visit this South Fork area down here and I think a lot of them are fascinated with the fact that the Amish and the Mennonites are on the roads down here. You see the signs for them and I think someone would love to have a chance to get into a cart and just hear the click-clack of the hooves on the pavement. You know what you could do.

Speaker 1: 11:30

You could get an Amish hat. Well, you got one. You bought an Amish hat while you was here. Yeah, I have one, so you could get clothing made while you were here, suspenders and all. And you could buy you an Amish buggy and Fenders and all. And you could buy you an Amish buggy and you could go down on South Fork Creek and set up Amish buggy rides.

Speaker 2: 11:47

I don't think that would be very fair. I think the Amish would. Probably they ain't going to do it. I think they'd run me out for impersonating Amish. I can't go in my English clothes and a baseball cap.

Speaker 1: 11:58

You could yeah, All right.

Speaker 2: 11:59

I think I'd try it that way, but I think I'd try it that way.

Speaker 1: 12:01

But you could, honestly, you could give rides down there in the community.

Speaker 2: 12:04

I'm sure.

Speaker 1: 12:05

There's enough people to come here.

Speaker 2: 12:07

There are. That's what I said. There definitely are. I mean, talk to the gentleman that owns the nursery over there and see if I could base right out of that parking lot. Let them park and pick up, or something like that.

Speaker 1: 12:19

I got the perfect place. Give rides at the Bread of Life.

Speaker 2: 12:22

Oh, I was going to say show Walters, because they feed them there as soon as they walk in. Oh God, they're just blowing off fireworks out there.

Speaker 1: 12:34

They got some stuff that's about a quarter stick of dynamite. I felt that in my chest.

Speaker 2: 12:36

The guy asked him when he bought them. He said you want something that'll take your arms off or take your legs off. And Chris said something that'll take your arms off or take your legs off. And Chris said something that'll take my legs off, that's those things. They're a quarter stick of dynamite. They put holes in the ground. Yeah, henry wanted to set one off inside. I said, henry, you will hurt somebody. The concussion alone will.

Speaker 1: 12:56

He wanted to set off one in the building.

Speaker 2: 12:57

He wanted to set off one right out there in the building.

Speaker 1: 13:06

Sounds about right. I said Henry don building.

Speaker 2: 13:07

I said, henry, don't do that, but I may go home, go to bed. For all this blowing up you, you need to hang around. This is going to be good and they've been working on them pork butts since yesterday I'm not leaving for that's done, yeah chris been working on them since before yesterday. We went down there and got them at show walters the food's more important than the fireworks I think so too definitely I think so too we're gonna eat here in about 45 minutes too yep, it's starting.

Speaker 2: 13:28

Uh, yeah, it'll start to get dark soon enough we invited a bunch of people invited the whole community.

Speaker 1: 13:34

From what I heard, pretty much I don't know how many will show up I don't know either.

Speaker 2: 13:40

But guys, we have a lot of fun and we have a lot of fun here.

Speaker 1: 13:42

Yeah, we do train and sell horses and that you know we have a lot of fun and we have a lot of fun here. Yeah, we do train and sell horses and you know we work a lot, but we have fun too, like andrew's been here all week just hanging out yeah, my people ask me they go well, what are you doing when you go down there?

Speaker 2: 13:55

what do you do? What do you like about it so much? I said I tell you it's relaxing they. Well, you just sit around all day. I said no, I said I actually walk before I get here, get up around 4.30, walk, then I try to get down here early enough and beat Henry to the barn because I like to feed him, and then during the day, if we're going to, you know, put a harness or on anything and just bring it out for a run wherever we're going. We went down across the creek, up the side of the hill, you know the one that we climb up by the graveyard up there and flipped come back down.

Speaker 2: 14:31

No, henry put one on the side on the logging road the other day. Was you with him, I was with him. I had to push it back over, but it really wasn't his fault because he backed it up to the hillside so it could not maneuver anymore. Okay, and that's really what kind of made a flip. But those horses, those belgians, solid as can be, yeah, they are. That bar got in between the lead horse's legs and no panic at all, no panic, henry just got off, took the chain, hooked the chain up to the bar so that they could pull it right back up on the trail, and I mean as calm as could be. That's the key. I mean, not everybody's like that, yeah, but, henry, don't get upset. And if you don't get upset, generally the animals won't get upset.

Speaker 1: 15:23

That's true. That's a major thing right there.

Speaker 2: 15:26

I mean he wished that you were videotaping at the time to show how it went, Because it went almost like you were setting up a demonstration for how to tip a trailer and put a trailer back up. It went perfect as perfect as something like that could go.

Speaker 1: 15:43

You could have pulled that phone out and started videoing.

Speaker 2: 15:45

I could have, but I was pushing the trailer back up. It was the big one.

Speaker 2: 15:49

The 16 passenger yeah, the big burgundy one with the black seats, yeah, and I was driving the little one that you guys always show in the river and everything like that. And I told them afterwards when we got up there because I took a different route down the river to see if the river route was clear, but it wasn't. There were trees down on the river so I had to turn around on a creek. So I had to turn around and come back. But there's no room to turn around. I pulled a Henry. I went up the bank of the creek into the field, turned around, drove him right back down the bank of the creek and came out and he made me do it again because they went the wrong way and we had to open the gate for them. So I had to do it twice.

Speaker 2: 16:28

I pulled two henrys one day. We had a good, we have had a good time. There's not. There is no time that I come down here that I don't have the best time of my life. I mean I told you when I came down for the clinic. My wife said you're going to the clinic. Clinic's not cheap, and I understand, because there's a lot that goes into it. My wife goes you're going to the clinic. What do I get? I sent my wife and daughter to Aruba and I got the better end of the deal Because they had to argue with each other over what they were doing.

Speaker 1: 17:04

And I didn't have to argue with nobody. You didn't choose to.

Speaker 2: 17:06

But I have a great time October too.

Speaker 1: 17:07

Everybody needs to come in October to our barbecue.

Speaker 2: 17:10

If you miss that barbecue, you are missing a great time, because we harness up a whole lot of horses. If we got mules here, the mules get harnessed up. We go out several times a day. Take that big wagon out People could check out individual teams. Take the little wagon out or hook them to the big wagon if they prefer like Chris and his wife did from down there in Utah, shout out and I mean it's a great time. It's amazing. If you're thinking about coming and you're a little bit scared and you're like, well, I don't know if I'm that much into it, come down. If you think that you're afraid of the animal because it's too big, come down. There's big animals, there's small animals, they're all nice. Those halflingers, 14-1, 14-2, fantastic, I mean there's something for everybody. If you at all like horses, if you at all like mules, there's something for everybody.

Speaker 1: 18:08

We got something coming this year too Two new Roberts passenger wagons. I ordered two new ones.

Speaker 2: 18:15

Don't let Henry take them up in the hills.

Speaker 1: 18:17

Blue and whites, all right. Twelve passengers, though.

Speaker 2: 18:21

A little bit smaller.

Speaker 1: 18:22

Four foot shorter.

Speaker 2: 18:24

Just enough room where Henry could have turned it around on that logging road. That's right, yeah, all right, oh Lord. Well, it's been amazing.

Speaker 1: 18:32

It has been.

Speaker 2: 18:32

I mean every time. Like I said, every time I come down here. I have a great time, yeah, and you guys are just the best hosts, I mean.

Speaker 1: 18:44

We try to be.

Speaker 2: 18:46

So great.

Speaker 1: 18:46

I don't know about Henry, but I try.

Speaker 2: 18:48

Henry's as fun as can be, and you know you might see him on videos and think he's a little standoffish. He's not. Once you get to know him he's a fantastic guy. Yeah, his wife is great, his kids are great. I mean it's a great community.

Speaker 1: 19:05

It is.

Speaker 2: 19:06

And people just pull up. All the time we were sitting around the other day and that gentleman came up from down there in tennessee that paul smith yeah, paul smith pulled up I missed him had his wife just pulled in, one looking for nothing in particular, just got out. I says I know you, he goes. What I said I know you, I watch your videos, you're Paul Smith, you're the mule trainer. He goes. That's right. And that's what happens here. I mean people just stop by for no particular reason, that's right, yeah.

Speaker 1: 19:41

Uh-oh, we got a guest coming in.

Speaker 2: 19:43

Here's one.

Speaker 1: 19:45

He's stopping by for no particular reason on winnie, come over here.

Speaker 2: 19:49

Don't kick the stand, come here come around.

Speaker 1: 19:51

We're actually on a podcast.

Speaker 2: 19:53

When you can be a guest, come here when you get up here I'm gonna lift you. Go to daddy when he wants my watch, that's what he wants. He likes my watch, I give it to him and he plays music on my uh, on my galaxy watch and you're gonna meet a lot of new people tonight too.

Speaker 1: 20:13

That's right to me that's right.

Speaker 2: 20:14

I've met a bunch of them before yeah but there'll be new ones that's right, henry.

Speaker 1: 20:20

Do I need to help?

Speaker 2: 20:21

you. What is he doing?

Speaker 1: 20:24

I could have got that for you here. There you go. Henry's in here, but he don't want to be on the podcast. I've been trying to get him to do one, but he won't do it, so henry, you should do one he's going to. Eventually, people can hear me talk on the video yeah, but it's more fun.

Speaker 2: 20:42

On the podcast they get to see how funny you are. There's dinner, they see you on the videos and they think you're all rigid and everything yeah, there's different people that listen to the podcast from what is on youtube also.

Speaker 1: 20:57

That's true. Well, they can go to youtube and watch your channel. It's always good he got an answer for everything guys, guys, we're going. I'm one of the best. No, I'm making excuses.

Speaker 2: 21:14

Goodbye Henry, bye Bye Winnie.

Speaker 1: 21:19

Uh-uh, he's going to shut the door back now before they blow something up. I didn't expect them to come in, I didn't either, but it's a good place to leave off oh yeah, well, we got to go eat. Anyway, it's almost eating, we do, it's getting there.

Speaker 2: 21:36

Happy july 4th everybody. I hope everybody's safe and I hope you keep all your fingers and toes. Yes, that's very important, that's super important.

Speaker 1: 21:46

you know, james ray is missing. A big toe Fireworks, no lawnmower, oh, he was missing a toe, so hopefully he don't lose his other one.

Speaker 2: 21:58

All right then.

Speaker 1: 21:59

Oh, poor James Ray. Guys, thank y'all. Hope you enjoy these couple podcasts we've done today with Andrew and Chris Just kind of community members. I wanted to get them on here and let them talk and voice their opinion. They mean a lot to us and you all do too. Thank you all for watching. Thank you for listening. Check us out on the website at wwwdrafthorsesandmulesforsalecom. If you need anything by the way of harness equipment, farm implements for your horses, horses, mules, anything, give us a call. We're here to help you. If you just have questions, call us too, 606-303-5669. Until the next one, thank you all, and we'll see you soon.

Speaker 2: 22:40

Thank you.