THE QUESTION: Which is more intelligent, a horse or a mule? (Asked at the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden)

MRS. ALBERT E. HART JR.
Cedarhurst, N.Y.
The mule is smarter. I know. I own a mule. The British say that a horse will eat himself to death if you give him enough oats. But a mule will eat only what he needs to remain his stubborn self. He is willing to do just so much work and no more. That's intelligence.

MRS. EDWARD WHITEHEAD
Wife of president of Schweppes (U.S.) Ltd.
"Stubborn as a mule." You wouldn't call that intellect, would you? Suppose you apply the expression to humans. How intelligent is a man who is "stubborn as a mule"? A horse will work for you all his life. All you need with reasonable men and horses are hands to lead them.

ELEONORA SEARS
Boston
Famous horsewoman
A horse won't run out of a burning building, and he may run back into one. A mule is smart enough to stop working when he has had enough. If you start a fire under him he won't move, but a horse can be driven until he drops dead. All this may be instinct, but I'll take the horse any time.

WILLIAM JOSHUA BARNEY JR.
President
National Horse Show
A horse. He is a highly intelligent animal. I disagree with Rex Ellsworth that "horses, including Swaps, are stupid animals." I rate the intelligence of a good horse with dogs and cats. The mule's only claim to intelligence is his stubbornness when he doesn't want to work.

ALAN BETHEL
President
Standard Triumph Motor Co.
A horse. He doesn't have as hard a working life as the mule, and he is allowed to share more of the arts and the graces of life. There are horse shows for the horse, and he makes possible "the sport of kings." A horse has been sold for more than a million dollars. That's horse sense.

LIEUT. GENERAL BLACKSHEAR M. BRYAN
Commander, First U.S. Army
Mules are no exhibitionists, and they tend to be "cussed and ornery," as well as "set in their ways" but, when compared in intelligence to horses, you are insulting the mule. When thirsty, mules will drink only what is necessary, while horses will drink their fill at once if allowed to do so.

JACK KEESHAN
Greenwich, Conn. Advertising executive
Although my hobby is yachting, I used to live on a farm. I think the horse is more intelligent. They say that a dog is man's best friend. He isn't, not really. The horse is man's best friend. He has been doing man's work over the centuries, and there is a camaraderie between a man and a horse.

W. R. BALLARD
Captain, Canadian Equestrian Team
I think that a horse is the more intelligent. People can't love a really dumb beast. Everyone loves a horse, but I have yet to hear anyone say he's crazy about a mule. In fact, an occasional horsewoman has such a large place in her heart for a horse that there's no room for a man.

ADRIAN VAN SINDEREN
President, American Horse Show Assn.
A mule is much safer. I believe I know as much about mules as I know about horses. They're ornery critters and they often do what they want, not what you want. But a mule will take better care of a man. Only mules are used in the bottom of the Grand Canyon; but I'd never own one.

GENERAL HUMBERTO MARILES
Captain, Mexican Equestrian Team
The horse. I've worked with both. A mule is not intelligent. True, you can't force him to do some things, but that's stubbornness. A horse can be trained. He knows the difference between reward and punishment. When he does something wrong and is punished, he understands. Not so the mule.

ELEVEN PHOTOS