Springville man rides donkey across Iowa for a good cause

According to Google, it’s 292 miles from Rock Valley to Guttenberg, a five-and-a-half-hour drive across most of Iowa, mostly along U.S. Hwy. 18. Or you might take a month to ride it on a mule.

“I would do it again, and I was a little bit intimidated in the beginning,” Mike Siddall said. “I’m really kind of sad it’s over with.”

Siddall of rural Springville, his wife Anita Siddall, and their mules John and Faye were in the yard of the 1858 German Evangelical Lutheran Church north of Guttenberg the morning of May 31. The handsome stone structure surrounded by a grove of oak trees was the starting point for Mike Siddall’s final day’s ride, ending a journey that began April 30.

“I had never done a trip like this,” Siddall said. “The people have been so generous. Restaurants wouldn’t let us pay for a meal. We really have met some super-nice people.”

The Siddalls conceived the journey as a way to raise awareness, and some funds, for Toothbrushers and Balaam’s Donkey. Anita Siddall, a dental hygienist, formed the nonprofit in 2018 to promote oral health care for underserved Iowans.

“If a guy riding 300 miles on the back of a mule doesn’t draw attention, nothing will,” said Mike Siddall. “Between social media and people we spoke to on the way, I think there’s a lot more people concerned. They can’t help but think about it when we talk about it.”

The organization takes its name from the biblical tale of Balaam, whose donkey was given the power of speech by an angel.

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The Siddalls’ donkey, Jack, and his tooth-baring grin is featured on the organization’s logo. Neglected and malnourished when the Siddalls took him in, Jack has recovered since joining the Siddalls, but they didn’t want to subject him to the rigors of the trip. He accompanies the Siddalls on visits to care centers, children’s day camps, and other gathering places to promote Toothbrushers’ mission.

“Our goal is to provide lots of care with very little money,” Anita Siddall said.

The organization, which has one full-time employee, packages oral-health kits for dental aides who care for residents of assisted-living and care centers.

“Our goal is to care for them forever,” said Anita Siddall. “We have seen profound health impacts, but we really need a grant writer.”

“My part of the job is as simple as the animal part,” said Mike Siddall.

Mike Siddall, 61, worked as a farrier shoeing horses, mules and donkeys “off and on, most of my life.” He also worked as a welder and car salesman after graduating from high school in Forest City.

Through his careers, Mike Siddall owned horses until about a decade ago, when a friend invited him on a day’s mule ride.

“I sold all my horses and bought a mule and never looked back,” he said. While a horse typically puts about 60 percent of its weight on its front legs, “mules use their front and their back feet equally. That makes them a better athlete.”

Mike Siddall nodded toward his traveling companions, tethered to the picnic pavilion outside the church, munching on grass in the shade.

“He’s my favorite,” he said of John. “He can go 35, 40 miles a day. If I concentrate on looking ahead, he takes care of me. Going through towns and construction zones, he has no fear. He’s my go-to mule, but when I want to cover ground a little faster, I ride Faye.”

Mike Siddall and the mules camped out some nights on their journey, but the cool, rainy spring often forced him indoors at the homes of friends and family.

“That wind is what kills me,” he said. “I can get wet and it doesn’t bother me, but the wind just kills me.”

“Even the mules would just stop,” said Anita Siddall, who scouted overnight locations in their pickup and trailer stocked with supplies. The team spent nights at home during the ride’s later stages, trailering John and Faye home from each day’s end point and returning the next morning.

“We decided we didn’t have to kill ourselves getting across if we wanted to stop and talk to people,” Mike Siddall said.

The trip’s final six miles only took about two hours. Members of Dragonfire Dancing Horses joined Mike Siddall and his mules at the city limits.

Kelly Christine, who operates Dragonfire out of her horse boarding and care business in Hampton, encountered the Siddalls at their Mason City stop.

“We were at a horse show and they were camping out,” Christine said. “I asked, ‘Do you want us to lead you into town?’”

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So, aboard John with Faye following, Mike Siddall was escorted by a Guttenberg police cruiser and a star-spangled troupe of eight riders age 10 to 72, to the town’s riverfront park, collecting curious onlookers who joined the welcoming delegation. At the park, Mike Siddall answered their questions as children and older residents petted the animals. Faye munched on grass.

“I started out with two really good mules,” Mike Siddall said. “I’ve got two great mules now.”