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It
might help you to figure out if you
will get along with a mule from Equines by
Design if we visit a little bit about how we handle and ride these mules
here.
We
don't consider any mules or horses bombproof!
Mules and horses are animals...they are going to have animal instincts
and
reactions (unless they are not breathing and
don't have brain function). Being a little more nervous than usual when
it is
really windy is normal. Breaking gait when a
plastic Walmart bag blows through their legs is expected. Jumping to
the side
when a deer that has been bedded down leaps up
out of their trail is reasonable. We like our animals to be as steady as
possible
and not offer any suprises...but to have the
expectation or guarantee that a mule is "bombproof" is unreasonable. We
treat
our mules fairly and build their confidence in
us and situations that we may run into...so that things that do worry
them
are not a very big deal and the mule will calm
down quickly...within ten seconds or so. Mules that have been hurt by
humans
or do not have a good training foundation will
react to problems in ways that usually include that dreaded 180 degree
turn
in half a millisecond, leaving at a dead
run....and getting more bothered or nervous for the next ten minutes,
maybe even
the whole ride...possibly the rest of their
life.
If one of our animals does get bothered, we have taught
them a simple
maneuver "disengagement". Before we even get on
a mule, we teach them to give to pressure, to give their face to the
side
in response to halter or snaffle bit direct
pressure, to disengage their hip (and "motor") ... then when we ride
them, we
have a way to stop their forward motion, keep
them from bucking if a green animal thinks that might be something to
try, pull
them up before they really spook etc. We bend
their face, disengage their hip and they can't do much but go in a small
circle...and
most people can ride an animal in a small circle
without being a great rider.
We train, school and trailride ride
our
mules in a smooth snaffle bit. Snaffles are
used with a "direct" rein. Its not plowreining, its direct reining,
such as
the highly trained dressage horses are ridden.
Between a little direct reining, some leg cues and our weight, they
understand
where to go...and they don't look like a plow
mule being ridden by Pa Kettle. Some of our mules that are way farther
along,
that we offer as show quality or reiners, do
neck rein and well. Our standards on neckreining (direct rein) are
high--what
most others call "neckreining" on their animals
is laughable to us. I think its a mistaken notion that you have more
control
with a curb bit...you certainly don't have
access to "disengagement" which requires that you be able to bend your
mule's
nose toward your knee and the mule's hip to kick
out of gear by stepping the inside hind leg across the outside hind
leg.
We ride in a snaffle and our mules are trained
in a snaffle...however our mules can learn to go in any type of bit with
some
schooling.
The proverbial "hard to catch
mule"...we hear about it a lot, we've never had one. And don't want
one!
Who wants to be traipsing around in the pasture
for 20 minutes with a feed bucket trying to entice a mule to come to
them...or
concocting some panels into some kind of funnel
in the corner of the pasture so you can "run them in" and slam the gate
behind
them. And then have to walk slowly, slowly up
with outstretched palm and the halter/leadrope hidden behind your back.
That's
not for us...and I can't imagine why anyone
would want to have to start their ride each time that way!
Now we
kind
of have the opposite situation of the "hard to
catch mule", the mules here all crowd the gate saying "pick me", so we
are
careful when we go out to make sure all the
mules respect our space, don't learn to "run" out thru the gate, etc.
But
I can figure out how a mule gets "hard to
catch", if the only time the human catches him he gets worked reall
hard-- or gets
a vaccination or pastewormer--or especially if
he gets mistreated or hurt by his trainer or rider, then his response
becomes
ingrained..."I can protect myself by not going
near that person". I don't want that kind of attitude in anything,
mule,
person, anything ... that they dread seeing me
coming.
Mules are smart, they are opportunists (especially the
johns).
They look out for their best interests and if
they decide there is something they want to do, then their brain starts
coming
up with ideas, the body follows.
A person
who really appreciates mules won't be mad about the fact that mules are
opportunists.
We brag about the fact that mules are so smart,
well anything, human or animal, that takes care of itself and its needs
and
wants is an opportunist. You just have to have a
little bit of smarts yourself and don't let their little behaviors turn
into something that is not enjoyable to be
around.
An example of this would be a mule that takes over when
you are
leading him. We don't lead our horses or mules
by teaching them to keep their shoulder even with us...we keep our
pecking
order by staying in front of the animal...once
his head is in front of us...he's already in control...he thinks he is
the
one that is leading (the only exception would be
our show mules that we plan on entering in Halter or Showmanship At
Halter
competitions). Once they are ahead of you and
naturally assume they are calling the shots, the next thing you can
expect
is that the mule might either stop to eat grass
or pull away so that he can eat or wander unfettered. Don't even let
this
get started. If you have to wave the leadrope
back at them, snap the lead or leadsnap under their chain to back them
away
or wave a flag at them to back them off, do
it...now...
A person can unknowingly get their mule not liking
them, by
having a saddle that doesn't fit the mule. We
use good saddles here, most of them are bench made saddles on a wade
tree,
semi-quarterhorse bars with a 7/8th
rigging...but we have some others that fit good...all on a rawhide
covered wooden tree.
No treeless, fiberglass or otherwise
"new-fangled gimmicky" saddles. And all of our saddles are regular
horse saddles, we
don't have any special "mule saddles".
You
can TEACH a mule to BUCK easy...put an ill-fitting saddle on him and
make
his back sore...he'll figure out a way to get
rid of the pain, usually by finally bucking. When you are bucked off or
get
off to see what the problem is, you have just
rewarded him for bucking and the mule is a quick learner.
Congratulations,
you have taught him to buck!
We use
neoprene girths so we don't sore the mule behind their elbow...we've
tried a
lot of different ones, fleece, mohair, etc. but
the neoprene work the best. When we go to cinch a mule up, we run the
latigo
thru and hook it loosely, just enough to keep
the saddle from falling off. When we get ready to take the mule out to
ride,
we take it up another hole or two...then before
we get on, we check the girth and maybe take it up another hole or two.
We
don't just jerk it up tight as soon as we throw
the saddle on--that would be comfortable for us so we figure the mule
wouldn't
like it easier. Our mules are NEVER cinchy or
get to dancing around, trying to avoid being saddled because it is an
unpleasant
experience.
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