Mules?

[AppyLover]

Never worked with one but I have thought about it. People tell me that they are nothing like horses when it comes to working and training them. Just how different are they from horses?

Anyways, long ear gurus please speak up would love the input.

[mare]

I've only ridden a few and they were already well trained.

You got mule super-guru Meredith Hodges not more than 40 miles from you. I've heard she's pretty nice and welcomes visitors to watch lessons and see the place.

[CaddoCinnamon]

That is who I was going to suggest.

[AppyLover]

Cool I will have to look her up. There is a good chance I will be saddle training one this next year, but nothing is for sure yet.

[WashingtonBay]

They are different. I think mules have more sense of self than horses do. I'd say they have an ego but I'm not sure that's the right word for it. I'll put it this way. Horses can be bullied into doing your bidding. They may resist and be difficult, but in the end, they'll do what they're told to do just because you're the boss.

Mules aren't quite that simple. They will ask not only 'are you the boss of me?', but 'is your request fair?' If they don't think it's fair, bullying them into it won't work. Neither will lying to them. You can fool them once, but if you blow it, they will remember they can't trust you. Much more than a horse will.

[Buckpoco]

I've always heard people say that a mule never forgets...mess up with that mule and you'll get yours. Having said that, I've always wanted one. It would be awesome if you could watch Meredith Hodges...she's really good. By the way, is she still on RFD? I haven't seen her lately:(

[AppyLover]

Interesting. So then how different are the approaches to training the two? I know horses pretty good, but a mule is new territory I am not familiar with.

[lacyloo]

I have heard that mules do not forgive like horses and with training you need to do it right the first time.

[WashingtonBay]

Interesting. So then how different are the approaches to training the two? I know horses pretty good, but a mule is new territory I am not familiar with.

You just have to reason with them more. Be worthy of their trust. If you say it's safe, make sure it really is. If they do what you want.... pay them a fair wage... no more, no less.

Honestly, from my perception of Abby... it may not be a lot different for you, because I have a perception that she's got a bit of a personality and a temper. Like an Arab in a sense, they benefit from a give and take relationship that is based on mutual trust. They'll do it because they like you. And if they don't like you.... You're not going anywhere. :)

[AppyLover]

You just have to reason with them more. Be worthy of their trust. If you say it's safe, make sure it really is. If they do what you want.... pay them a fair wage... no more, no less.

Honestly, from my perception of Abby... it may not be a lot different for you, because I have a perception that she's got a bit of a personality and a temper. Like an Arab in a sense, they benefit from a give and take relationship that is based on mutual trust. They'll do it because they like you. And if they don't like you.... You're not going anywhere. :)

Wow Thank you WB.

[madelequestrian]

They say that when it comes to Mules you either try a Mule and sell all your horses, or you try a horse and sell all your mules! You either like them or you don't. Personally I like donkeys better! We have saddle trained some mules and for a hardy trail mount I still prefer a Mustang. They have some similarities to Mules in that you cannot "bully" train them, but they will look out for you once you have a good relationship, where as with a mule when a really bad situation hits they are going to look out for themselves, not for you.

[42many]

My mare was pregnant when I bought her and ended up having a mule - what a surprise!! Anyhow, I raised him just as I would a horse and had no real problems with that (not having any idea how to deal with a mule, beyond the sorts of things like you've heard here). He was about 1 1/2 when I finally ended up selling him to a guy with a mule train who packed across the country. I just decided I didn't want to branch out, but he was a sweet little guy and very co-operative (if you went about it right!). He definitely was different in how he looked at the world, compared to my horses, but not so much that with common "horse-sense" I had any problem working with him. Of course, I'm not too rough in my training methods and I've always changed them as needed on a horse-by-horse basis (some of mine have done better being told they HAD to, some have done better being convinced they SHOULD), so that helped...

[gabhainn]

I have had both, I think there is a pic of my last one in one of my albumshttp://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=61&pictureid=430&thumb=1 (http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/album.php?albumid=61&pictureid=430) yep there she is. The best description I can give is horses are like dogs, in most cases they really want to please. A mule on the other hand is like a cat they know how to say no. They have an extremely developed sense of self preservation.
example, I was riding Leggs one day and she just flat stopped wouldnt move all the cussing, goading, and kicking wouldnt work. About the time i just said to hell with it and was gonna get off and lead her I saw the snake.......Kevin
btw as an interesting side note when I got my mule I started googling around to find info, and I found the mule sub forum on horse.com's forum which is how I ended up there and ultimately here

[cowgirlup@idaho]

I took in a mule for 90 days. She was 3yrs old and had been ridden the year before leading the pack string for a season. My job was to teach her to back up. In order to accomplish this I had to give her a reason, so she had to back out of the arena :cowboy: She was pretty smart and caught on, I would lengthen the distance and keep it up once we were through the gate. End result was you could back her anywhere on a loose rein with her head level to her withers. She went on to be even better than that and could roll-back, lead change and had a very nice lope. But! if she wasn't geared up in her usual riding tack all bets were off and she would run away :doh: She was fun and quite an experience, I've loved mules eversince. I still prefer a horse ;)

[BlaiseGlaze]

They are different. I think mules have more sense of self than horses do. I'd say they have an ego but I'm not sure that's the right word for it. I'll put it this way. Horses can be bullied into doing your bidding. They may resist and be difficult, but in the end, they'll do what they're told to do just because you're the boss.

Mules aren't quite that simple. They will ask not only 'are you the boss of me?', but 'is your request fair?' If they don't think it's fair, bullying them into it won't work. Neither will lying to them. You can fool them once, but if you blow it, they will remember they can't trust you. Much more than a horse will.

Yep. ^^ Precisely all that ^^
I have had a few. I Love me some long ears, but am never training one again.

[miatapony]

i love my horses ... i dont think i could get over those HUGE ears... .nope....

[3equines]

been wanting to comment here but haven't had time the last couple days - funny how that happens some days!

I had 2 donkeys but no mules yet, the donks gave me a pretty good insight into the mind of the "ass" in the taxonomic sense. The donkeys were very emotional compared to horses. To sum up Brew, his mind went like this: "You want me to do what? You really want me to do do that? Are you sure? I don't know...... OK OK since you insist.... but, well, I don't like it.... but, ALLRIGHT, I will do it."

Everything had to be broken down into steps and trained only one step at a time. With a horse, you can work on "whoa" and then switch gears and work on sidepassing. With the donkeys, whoa would be the ONLY lesson for like a week. Push too hard and they shut down. But, once it was there - it was there forever, no repeating needed. I guess they are black and white thinkers - everything is an absolute, and you will be held to whatever you taught them, be it good habits or bad.

unteaching was the hardest part with my donkeys. Brew was aggressive and a biter when I first got him. negative reinforcement got me nowhere, so I had to use bribery. I kept treats in my pocket to reward good behavior, and a small spray bottle in the same pocket, trigger side out, with water. Before rewarding him, I made him back up two paces. If he tried to nip I coy-ly squeezed the trigger of the spray bottle and he got a mist of water in his face as a response to invading my space. The hard part was keeping my own demeanor calm and relaxed both when punishing and rewarding him. It worked, though. The other donkey I had never did break through with me, he was a rescue with a lot of emotional baggage and I had to pass him on to a professional donkey ranch.

Brew now resides in a forever home with 2 school age children, whom he loves to the Earth's end, and they both ride him - yes, in saddle with a snaffle bridle. On the occasion that I do visit he greets me enthusiastically with his bray and wants me to just love on him, like an elephant they never forget.

I have some hilarious stories about "training" Brew but that would take another thread to tell.....

Brew: Are you looking at my ass?
http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/zz241/susnakela/Pictures%20Past/CCF10292010_00008.jpg

Me ponying him off of Taz:
http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/zz241/susnakela/Pictures%20Past/bw2.jpg

[AppyLover]

Thanks 3E. I would love to hear more about Brew, please if you feel like sharing his and the other "ass" stories you have; feel free to post them here. These are animals I have very little to no experience with and want to know the good, the bad, the ugly, and the fun of working with them so I go into this future arrangement I am considering at least mildly educated on what I could expect. :)


@miata: you crack me up.

[AppyLover]

Thanks for all the responses to far. I am not sure yet if I will be taking on this mule yet or not, but come next week I should know whether or not I am working with her. I really do appreciate all the insight and ask anyone to please post their experiences or stories they know of, heck even rumors they know about these critters.

I have to learn a lot about them in a very short amount of time, if this is going to happen.

@gabhainn, I love Legs.

[3equines]

So many Brew stories, but one of my favorites was teaching him to cross water. I had a creek running behind the property, about knee deep in the deepest places and probably 12 feet wide. I took Brew for walks every day, just working on basic lead rope manners and trust, but I could not get him near the water. Well, once day I decided this was The Day, if I could just get him IN the water....

Well, the way to Brew's heart was through his mouth, and he LOVED peanut butter Clif bars. So I put a couple in my pcket, led him up to the creek bank, and crossed the water myself several times just to show him it wasn't dangerous. I spent the next hour standing in the water holding onto his lead rope and coaxing him with pieces of that Clif bar, holding it just beyond his reach. Everytime he inched a foot forward he got to eat a piece of 'cookie'. It was a long process with many setbacks and I was the one at the end of their rope more so than the donkey. At one point I just said, "G* D*mit, Brew, what's the matter with you?" and just then he finally got all 4 feet in the water! I fed him the rest of the Clif bar plus some horse cookies in my pocket and called it good for the day.

The next day I was able to get him to the exact point he stopped, without a fight, but it took another 30 minutes and a CLif bar to get him to cross to the other bank - again, with me standing in the creek, my feet cold and numb.

I eventually got him to cross on the plank bridge using the same technique, but as we got onto the local trails each bridge was its own thing - even identical puncheon bridges. It's like, Brew would cross a bridge - but any new bridge wasn't his bridge and he treated it suspiciously.

[TheRedHayflinger]

I was one of the two lucky people in my colt training class that got a mule instead of a horse. The teacher took into consideration how he'd seen us working with the horses in classes leading up to this class and I lucked out. Unlucky for me she was 17hh and I'm short..haha. But she was a dream to work with. Super intelligent, and a wonderful animal. That being said, I didn't have as much freedom to work by myself as the students with horses were given. Students with horses were allowed to come and work, just so long as an instructor or barn manager was at the barn. The two of us with mules had to have an instructor standing there at all times. They did not want us to mess up these mules. These same mules were used in my team driving class that quarter and we had the fun job of teaching them NOT to be runaways in harness (which is why they were given to the college). Very difficult to get them to unlearn something...we even had a team of runaway horses in that class and they picked up on not running away in about a week..the mules it took nearly all quarter.

[gabhainn]

@gabhainn, I love Legs.
yep she was a sweetie, the perfect beginer ride, she taught my kids and now she is with a friend from work who wanted to get into trail riding but neede a solid mount....Kevin