(this is a series if you're confused)
When Mary lay Jesus down in the manager she used hay to cushion him. When the Ox, Cow and Horse came back from wherever they were (avoiding a woman going through labour probably), the Ox and Cow ate some of the spare hay and went to sleep. The Horse though, ate all the spare hay and then started eating Jesus' cushion'o'hay. Mary, not best pleased by this, cursed the Horse condemning it to future centuries of heavy burden carrying duty, while the Cow and Ox just eat grass in fields all day.
In another similar story, the mule is cursed because when Mary puts baby Jesus between a mow and a mule to keep him warm the mule keeps stealing the hay under baby Jesus. I like this story a lot less than the last one, because it seems rather unfair on the poor mule who's just carried the pregnant Mary all the way from Nazareth (I'm not sure the story says it was the same donkey / mule, but I'm assuming it is). Also it doesn't really ring true as Mary, tired and worn out as she is, still doesn't seem like the sort of person to put the Son of God between two large, heavy animals that in all probability don't grasp the concept of not rolling over and killing baby Jesus.
actually, a mule and a donkey are entirely different creatures...
Mule: A domesticated, hybrid animal that results from crossing a mare (female horse) and a jack (male donkey).
Donkey: A domesticated ass.
Which, of course, begs the question "What is an ass?" Thankfully, Mule Barn also provides a definition of this particular animal.
(Ass: A four-footed, hoofed mammal related to the horse, but smaller, with longer ears and a shorter mane, shorter hair on the tail, and a dark stripe along the back.
I think I knew the last bit, but I'm not sure if the writer of the legend or maybe the writer of Luke (or is it Matthew that it's in?) did because the story as wrote down in this book implies the mule was the donkey of fame. I'm not sure Greek has two different words for them, so it's almost a moot point. I should have been clearer though.
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Sheepie
Surely horses were burden-carrying animals before 6 BC, or whenever it was?