WHAT happens when a dairy farmer turned beef producer with an entrepreneurial streak a mile wide and a belief that mules are enormously underestimated decides to follow his heart?
An American Mammoth Donkey jack, the son of a World Champion show animal, catches a flight from Kentucky to Melbourne.
David and Di Scholl produce feeder steers on the 260 hectare Vale Farm, Dallarnil, in Queensland.
Six years ago, on a whim, they purchased a little mule at a Victorian saleyard and were so impressed with his work ethic, nature and strength, they started investigating the commercial potential for mules in Australia.
They concluded there was a huge unmet calling for them in the livestock industry, went on to purchase close to a dozen more from places all over the country and then decided to breed their own.
That meant finding a good donkey to put over their mares.
They searched far and wide, including taking two visits to the United States and attending the world's largest donkey show in California.
They waited for, well, what seemed like donkey's years for the right animal to come onto the market.
He was found in Jonathon Waugh's Diamond Creek Moonwatcher, a son of the two-times World Champion Donkey Diamond Creek Major, who has been inducted into the World Donkey Hall of Fame.
The Scholls have given the 15 hand, or 152cm, Moonwatche the shorter name Moses.
To make it to his new home, Moses spent two weeks in quarantine in the US, took an 18 hour flight, then put in another two weeks in quarantine in Melbourne before starting his three-day truck trip to Queensland.
He arrived at the start of April, full of beans and more than ready to start the job.
"You know how a fella is after a long trip," Mr Scholl quipped.
Already, he has three mares, a purebred Clydesdale, a thoroughbred and an Appaloosa, in foal via artificial insemination.
The Scholls plan to breed saddle riding sized mules in Australia, with producers, saleyards and lotfeeders their target market.
They will market the mules at weaning age, six to ten months, halter trained.
Moses is 12 and expected to provide semen until his late 20s.
"Mules run on 75 per cent of what a horse needs, are 25pc stronger than a horse at the same size and are so much more sure-footed than a horse," Mr Scholl said.
"Their work ethic is incredible. The harder you work them the more they love it.
"They have exceptional longevity and they are very safe because of their unique ability to handle stress. They won't gallop off if they get a fright, they just step aside far enough to feel safe.
"They are brilliant in rougher country and in saleyards and feedlots."
The Scholls have taken their team of mules to country shows from Young to Mount Larcom.
There are other mule breeders across Australia, but other than being used as a pack animal, they mostly serve as paddock ornaments.
And there are very few mules over 14 hands. Most Australian mules are 11 hands, or 111cm.
The Scholls, who had one of the country's largest Brown Swiss herds when they finished dairying and dispersed in 2013, are also commercial worm farmers, supplying compost makers.
Mule manure, they've found, is one of the best worm farm inputs.
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