In the past, mares unsuitable for improved horse-breeding programs were the mares used for mule breeding. Looks and conformation were of little concern, since the animal that was produced had limited use for draft and farm work. In 1967, with the founding of the American Donkey & Mule Society, a new type of mule began to emerge—the American Saddle Mule—limited only by the imagination in his uses. As the mule’s popularity grew, so did the need for more carefully organized breeding programs to try to produce only the most superior mules in overall appearance and athletic ability.
In what I refer to as Phase I of our Lucky Three Ranch breeding program, my mother, Joyce Doty, successfully bred attractive, athletic and versatile mules at Windy Valley Mule Ranch in Healdsburg, California, between 1973 and 1979. They were bred for pleasure, work and show from 60 head of assorted breeds of mares. These mares included Arabians,
Thoroughbreds, Tennessee Walkers, Morgans and Draft horses, but no Warmbloods.
We learned that the jacks would produce a stronger and more durable offspring, but that the heavy-boned Mammoth Jacks were not necessarily producing the most athletic—or the most attractive—saddle mule offspring. It seemed that the smaller, more refined Large Standard (48″ to 56″) and Standard Jacks (40.01″ to 48″) were better for the production of Saddle Mules. This led to Phase II of our breeding program.
Little Jack Horner, a Large Standard, was the last jack born at Windy Valley Ranch before its dispersal in 1979. In 1980 I brought him to my new Lucky Three Ranch in Colorado to become the sire supreme. My main focus was on the production of attractive, athletic, amiable and multiple-use saddle mules that would be suitable for the widest variety of uses. Beginning in 1982, Little Jack Hornerwas used with a number of different breeds of mares, including Quarter Horses, Appaloosas and a Half-Arab/Half-Quarter Crossbred. Over the next six years, as the offspring aged and matured, their abilities were quickly recognized. They excelled in all events at the shows and gave the Lucky Three its current reputation for breeding only the best.
In late 1985 I began taking a special interest in Dressage and Combined Training—the Breed shows no longer held a challenge for me. Our Quarter Horse, Appaloosa and Arabian mules competed against horses in Dressage and Combined Training and our mules were quite competitive. They were exceptional in their gaits, responsive, submissive and lovely to watch. Only two real major problems became apparent if we were to continue on this path: 1) The mules were a little too small (only14.2 to 15.3 HH) and, 2) the Quarter Horse influence caused them to be built slightly downhill, creating problems with overall balancing. It was time again to revise our breeding program.
Midnight Victory (or “Vicki,” as she was nick-named), a Trakehner cross, was born just before midnight on June 21, 1990. I had seen only one Trakehner-bred mule in my entire life, and it was the most elegant and refined mule I had ever seen, with conformation to spare. And now I had one!
Vicki was everything I have always bred for in a mule, exhibiting quality in her looks and her movement, and in and the kind of intelligence that is exalted by horsemen and women everywhere. She was the product of 17 years of selective breeding, which, in the case of the hybrid mule, can be a very lucrative and frustrating business. Frustrating because of people’s preconceived ideas about mules, because of the close attention that must be paid to selection of the right jacks and mares, and because of genetic considerations when breeding, such as Neonatal Isoerythrolisis (a condition that occurs when the mother’s blood is incompatible with her foal’s—similar to the RH negative factor that can occur in human mothers and babies).
Why a Trakehner cross? We spent years breeding donkeys before we finally got Little Jack Horner, a sire that predictably throws refined, attractive and athletic offspring, as well as producing some of the top halter mules in the country. Crossing him on Warmblood stock seemed like the natural thing to do next. We did need to be careful in choosing the type of Warmblood mare that would make the best match.
The Trakehner horse was carefully bred as a versatile and durable animal, with refinement and elegance in mind. Today, this horse plays an important role in the evolution of the mule from an ugly duckling into another beautiful swan in the American Horse Show ring.
After careful consideration of refinement and movement, we decided that the Trakehner would be the best cross. We feared that some of the other Warmblood breeds might produce too heavy an animal, something we had spent the last 17 years breeding out. In using caution and a careful breeding program, the Lucky Three Ranch was well on its way to producing the best in Sport Mules. Heartier and more athletic than their Thoroughbred and Trakehner dams, they were capable of performing in more versatile ways than were ever before imagined.
Phase III was the most exciting phase of the Lucky Three Ranch breeding program. The size and “downhill” problems had been solved, and the offspring made our dreams come true and their “presence” known. My deepest gratitude goes to all the conscientious people in the Thoroughbred and Trakehner industries for their special attention to selective breeding programs that have made it possible for us to produce such a lovely and remarkable hybrid.
It’s hard to put your finger on it, but there’s just something a little more special about Vicki. She is way above average when it comes to mules and she definitely commandsyour attention. She embodies the spirit of free expression and an almost eerie reincarnation of a perfect dream…with long ears! Could this “presence” be something genetic, passed down through the ages of Trakehner (and possibly Arabian) breeding? It would seem so.
The mules of Lucky Three Ranch are living proof of what quality breeding produces. They are elegant, first-class animals that are easy keepers, inexpensive eaters and loyal, personable companions—you need only feast your eyes upon these mule offspring to be convinced!
Many of you know me as the foremost authority on the contemporary saddle mule, but what you may not know is how I earned such a title. Most of us who have become trainers began by riding and showing. Through our success, we gained recognition and subsequently clients who brought their animals to us for training. Our success with their animals posed a question for each of us at a critical stage in our careers and we had to make a decision whether we were going on the road to do clinics or something different. I opted for something different!
Instead of going on the road to do clinics, I thought long and hard and decided to do an equestrian correspondence training course instead. I opted for this after considering that when I went to clinics as a student, I was one of 20 people and only got limited attention during those clinics. When I put into practice at home what I had learned at the clinics, I realized that I had only received the highlights of training and it was full of holes! When I tried to contact the clinicians to ask a question, I was either answered by someone in the office, or not answered at all. The clinicians were most often too busy and out of touch. The one thing I didn’t realize by making this decision was the incredible learning opportunity I had opened up for myself that I could, in turn, pass on to my clients.
I did my resistance-free video training series in as much detail as I could possibly muster. Each video represents a year’s worth of training, but as we all come to know, you can never know everything. The more you learn, the more you learn what you don’t know. I did learn fairly quickly that the relationship between equine and owner is unique to those individuals. That is, I realized it made more sense that I teach people how to train their own animals. After all, you wouldn’t ask someone to go out and make a friend for you? The relationship is truly your own and I adopted the policy that as a trainer, my responsibility would be to guide people through the process of training their own animals for the best possible results. This has proven to be true far beyond any expectations that I might have had!
This decision afforded me more time at home where I could communicate with others and help them with their animals. It also afforded me more training time with my 30 head of mules, horses and donkeys. I have always done the training of my own animals myself. I had an assistant for awhile who kept the old school masters and other broke mules exercised from time to time. However, the actual training of the mules I did solely by myself because I wanted to keep learning new things that would enhance my training program and make it better. The new things I learned I documented in the form of books, videos and television shows. What began as a quest to train and show mules in every equestrian discipline expanded beyond my wildest dreams!
When they told me mules would not work well in a snaffle bit, I learned how to make that work. When they said they were not suitable for Dressage, I based my entire training program on those principles. When they told me not to give food rewards, I paid my mules for their efforts with a generous reward of crimped oats. When they told me not to talk to my equines, I spoke three languages to them: verbal language, body language and “touch” language. I can truthfully say that today I realize that it wasn’t the mules that were so stubborn, but rather…it was me! This positive kind of stubbornness did pay off, as I was to soon discover.
Beginning with the “A B C’s” (walk, trot, canter, whoa, back), my verbal language with them evolved over time into actual conversations. The tone of my voice indicated my pleasure or displeasure with their actions. Calling their names and then stating a command prompted their immediate attention. When working with multiple animals, phrases like “Get back on the rail!” and “Stop kicking your brother!” initiated a positive response and validated my expectations that they could indeed understand what I was saying beyond the normal commands. I watched their reactions to the tour guests we had at the ranch as they walked through the barn and met these animals. If a guest made a remark, the animals responded with an appropriate show of emotion. If it was a snide remark, they would lower their heads and splay their ears in a most dejected way. A positive remark would elicit a show of attention with ears perked toward the person who made the comment. This has shown me that they do understand English, even if they cannot speak it!
Body language is probably the most important of all the “languages.” These animals will mirror you and react to what your body is telling them. If you position yourself in front, you can turn them or stop them. If you walk up to them in an aggressive way, they will show fear. If you go to a gate or the stall door and wait with an inviting attitude, they will come to you. Of course, learning accurate body language is a responsibility that we must put upon ourselves to really be effective. I just watched the reactions of my animals to everything I did and said. If I received a negative response, I would change my approach until I got it right. When I got it right, so did they!
“Touch” language is simply how you touch your animal whether it is with your hand, a grooming tool or a whip. Touch needs to be empathetic but firm enough to do the job. Touch is a powerful tool. It can be soothing and relieve anxiety. It can be pleasurable or painful. Touch can indicate direction depending on how it is used. We begin with imprinting, or touching of the foal all over its body, but this is not the beginning and end of imprinting. Imprinting sets the stage for the kind of interaction you and your equine will have during your entire life together and can often bridge a gap of misunderstanding when the other two languages are not working. Never was this more apparent to me than just recently!
Little Jack Horner had gone through my entire training series right along with my mules and had learned everything that I taught them. He may not have made it to Fourth Level Dressage, but he made it to Second Level Dressage with gait lengthening and lateral work. He overcame his “donkey” behaviors and gave a phenomenal performance, jumping four feet in exhibition at Bishop Mule Days. His Reining was accurate though somewhat limited by his donkey conformation. Still, he could always elicit a supportive laugh and a wide grin! He competed successfully at dressage driving shows and won world championships in driving at Bishop Mule Days.
Little Jack Horner was to star yet again in the making of my biography, our latest Those Magnificent Mules documentary project. I doubt that I had driven Little Jack Horner in fifteen years. In fact, since he turned twenty, he had not done much but take part in more sedate roles in our TV shows and videos with an occasional bareback ride around the ranch. At 30 years old, I wasn’t really sure how he would react to being hitched to the Meadowbrook cart again after so many years, so I thought I had better do a dress rehearsal.
During the dress rehearsal, I discovered that Little Jack Horner didn’t know what to do once I put on the harness. He was tied in the tack barn and when I tried to ground drive him forward, he just backed up until he was out of the building, then he went forward to the hitching area. I was rather puzzled. Still, I went ahead and hitched him to the cart and we stood there for some photos before I backed him from the hitch rail. I verbally asked him to go forward…nothing. I did not have my driving whip with me, so I used the end of the reins on his fanny to move him forward which he then did, but kept going straight until he ran into the fence and stopped.
I thought this was very strange, so I asked my ranch manager to get my driving whip. With the whip in hand, I began to talk to him with the whip. A simple tap to the side and he turned from the fence. Another tap in the middle of his spine sent him smartly forward at an animated walk. Another tap to the other side turned him the other way and we were soon doing figure eights, stopping, backing and driving as if there was never a problem at all. During the film shoot, he did all these things and even offered several hundred feet of trot before he was too tired to continue.
It was during this experience that I realized that Little Jack Horner had become deaf and could not hear one word of what I was saying, even when I was yelling. I was sitting in the Meadowbrook cart, he had blinders on his harness bridle and could not see me, so verbal language and body language were of no help to him at all. Lucky for us, we still had the “touch” language that we had developed between us and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience of driving yet again.
It is evident to me that every detail that I had taken the time to learn in our 30-plus years together culminated in the results I see now with all of my equines. We have learned so much about each other! Now that we are all a lot older, a lot slower and a lot less coordinated, we are still afforded the luxury to continue to learn and grow together in a safe and enjoyable way. It doesn’t get any better than this!
Wrangler was introduced to our new donkey jennet, Chasity, with a double fence between them and has seen me working with her for two months now. After being alone in turnout for three years, he will finally have a turnout buddy once she is out of quarantine. This will happen in just a few days. However, I could sense that Wrangler was jealous of the time I was spending with Chasity, so I decided to surprise him! He obediently came to the stall door and waited patiently to be haltered, but it had been such a long time since he had seen the Tack Barn work station that he needed to PAUSE…
…and take a good look at the metal drainage grating before entering. He was rewarded at the hitch rail for being brave and was somewhat curious about what would be happening next.
Wrangler was so pleased when I walked through the door with his new love, Chasity! They both looked expectantly as I walked from the Tack Room with the familiar towel. I cleaned their eyes, ears and nostrils.
Wrangler showed Chasity that the “monster vac” was nothing to be afraid of. He stood quietly while I put on his Passier All Purpose English saddle. With the girth four inches back on the swell of his barrel, so as not to chafe the sensitive skin right behind his forearms, I adjusted his crupper to hold it firmly in place.
They both watched me intently as I returned to the Tack Room for the bridles. Wrangler politely lowered his head to make bridling much easier. I always return the favor by being VERY CAREFUL about pushing their ears through the headstall by protecting them with my hand as I slide the crown piece over them.
I took Wrangler to the Round Pen. Then I went back to the Tack Barn, got Chasity and tied her outside so she could watch him being lunged. I hoped this would help her to “get it” when it became her turn!
Wrangler was in pretty good shape when I got him three years ago. He’s always kept himself balanced and in good shape, so he was able to go straight to lunging for core strength in his “Elbow Pull.” He only had two lessons two years ago, but his good posture and core strength has endured. The “Elbow Pull” remained loose throughout his entire workout in the Round Pen.
He planted his pivot foot, easily executed his reverse and continued the same way in the other direction. I was so proud of him! Wrangler reminds me a lot of my super champion jack from 1980-2014, Little Jack Horner! What a classy guy!
Since Wrangler was doing so well, I decided to go ahead and let him try lunging with Chasity. They had not yet been in the same pen together, but I trusted he would behave himself and he surely did! He encouraged her to go forward and then did his reverse promptly on command. She took a bit more persuading to reverse, but he patiently walked until she caught up with him.
With Wrangler in the lead, they did five more rotations and Wrangler never swayed from his good equine posture. When we were done, I tied Chasity to a post in the Round Pen and returned to the Tack Barn with Wrangler. He was so happy to finally be able to spend some time with me and to share his experience with Chasity!
When choosing a jack to breed to your mares and jennets, there are many important factors to consider. Conformation is the most obvious, but size, type, disposition and genetics are equally significant. As a direct result of the donkey’s evolution our choices in jacks are considerably limited these days. In the days when donkeys were widely used as beasts of burden, conformational soundness was an important consideration in their ability to do physical work. Today, the donkey is not as widely used in this manner, becoming more of an owner’s pleasure animal. In some cases, he is simply another pet. As a result, not much care has been taken to preserve his conformational integrity, thus limiting the availability of true breeding stock.
Although the conformation of the ideal jack can only be approximated, you should always try to choose a jack that is as close to the ideal as possible for your breeding programs. (Perpetuating undesirable conformation traits will only compound future breeding problems.) The first conformational consideration is the jack’s overall balance and proportion. His torso should be well connected to the front and rear quarters, with plenty of width and depth from heart girth to the flank, which allows for maximum efficiency of the heart and lungs. The topline from the withers to the tail should be relatively straight, with only a gentle slope from the withers to the croup, and neither excessively long nor short-backed. A longish back is acceptable, provided there is not a lot of distance between the last rib and the point of the hip, as this causes weakness through the loins. The unusually short-backed jack does not have adequate lateral and vertical flexibility in his movement. A rigidly straight back is discouraged, as is a back that sags too drastically in the middle (except in the case of an aged animal).
Proportionately, the jack should not be too narrow in the chest, through the rib cage and in the rear quarters—nor should he be too wide in these areas. These faults in proportion can interfere with his action, causing him to be “pin-toed” (splay-footed) or “pigeon-toed” (toed-in). The pin-toed jack will brush his knees and fetlocks together in deep footing, causing him to be a slow mover, or he may even cross his legs over one another, increasing the possibility of a fall.
The closest approximation to a 45-degree angle in the hips and shoulders is preferred, with an adequate balance of muscle and sinew in all four quarters. One of the most common faults in donkeys today is straight and slight shoulders and hips. The withers and croup should be even across the topline, and the jack with withers slightly higher than the croup is preferred over the opposite, as this could set the animal’s body weight too far on the forehand, making turns and stops more difficult. It could also increase the possibility of falling. The croup should be smooth and round over the rump, with a tail set neither too high nor too low.
The feet and legs of the jack are the foundation of his conformation. They should be straight and true, with flat bone and adequate angles at the shoulders, hips, stifles, and hock and fetlock joints. The foot should be trimmed and shaped to compliment the angles in his joints to maintain the good conformation that should be present in the four quarters of the animal. For example, on a jack with good shoulders, the slope of the pasterns should be parallel to the slope of the shoulders. When dropping a plumb line on the front legs, which should be neither too far forward nor too far underneath him, the plumb line should fall from the point of the withers to the ground, directly at the back of the front legs. When dropping a plumb line on the hind legs, it should fall from the base of the tail to the point of the hock, and straight down the back of the cannon bone to the ground.
As far as a donkey’s hoofs are concerned, the expression, “No foot, no donkey” is literally true. Faults such as buck-kneed, calf-kneed, tied-in at the knee, round bone, short straight pasterns, coon-footed, too-long cannon, sickle hocks, splay-footed, knock-kneed, bowlegged, pigeon-toed, broken forward or backward feet, or too straight through the stifle and hock are all serious faults and should be avoided when breeding. Being slightly cow-hocked behind can be overlooked, as this usually increases maneuverability. The hoof itself should not reflect a ribbed appearance — it should be smooth and inclined to look sleek and oily. Even on the donkey, the hooves should not be contracted, but well-sprung (although less sprung than a mule or horse), and supported with a well-extended, healthy frog. Donkeys have a multi-layered hoof wall that will shed off in the event of mild or even severe trauma to the coronet or hoof wall, so many donkeys exhibit a “peeling” or “scabbing” of the hoof wall. A jack with this damage to the hoof should be inspected carefully to determine the severity of the problem and the extent of possible weakness in the hoof itself. If it is a cosmetic problem, it can often be managed successfully by adding one ounce a day of Mazola corn oil to the diet. If it is a genetic problem, a jack with hoof problems should be avoided when breeding and should probably be castrated.
The head and neck of the ideal jack should be attractive and set-in correctly, giving an overall balanced look to the animal. He should have good length to the ears, neither too far forward nor too far back, so the poll is clearly apparent. His eyes should be set so they give him a maximum field of vision forward, backward and peripherally. The eyes should not be set too high nor too low, which would offset the overall balance of the head. He should have adequate width and fine enough bone in the head, to allow for plenty of space for the brain and internal organs of the scull cavity. The length of his head should compliment the balance of his body and taper to a smaller and delicate muzzle. His jaw should be straight and aligned, showing neither a parrot mouth (under bite), nor be undershot (over bite, or buck toothed). This is critical for feeding and nutrition. The slightly dished-face, straight-faced or Roman-nosed jack should not be ruled out, provided the other criteria are met. The neck should be set in so that it flows easily into the withers and has adequate length for the ability to bend and maintain balance. He should have neither a U-neck nor an excessively crested neck. It should not be too wide, or too narrow, and should tie into the throatlatch in a trim and flexible way.
The basic conformation for the breeding jack should be the same regardless of size, although there are specific considerations with regard to type and use. The jack generally contributes more to the thickness of bone in his offspring, but not necessarily to their height. Therefore, when breeding for saddle mules and donkeys, the more refined-boned Standard or Large Standard jacks are preferred. On the other hand, when breeding for a draft mule or donkey, you would want to preserve more thickness of bone and use a stockier jack, such as a Large Standard or Mammoth. Use the same guidelines when breeding for miniatures; stocky begets stocky and refined begets refined. When breeding for saddle mules, you may want to keep the refinement, so you would use a Standard or Large Standard jack to breed to a saddle horse mare. However, if you wish to have a pack mule that is not overly tall, you might then want to breed a Mammoth jack to a saddle horse mare.
The genetic pool is a very important consideration when breeding. A particular jack may be a beautiful specimen, but, regardless of how lovely and balanced he may be, he may possess genes that produce offspring with many conformation faults. Since donkeys have been so inbred, this can happen more frequently than you might imagine. When choosing a jack to breed to your mares and jennets, it is wise, if possible, to take a look at some of his offspring from different mares and jennets, so you can better assess his stronger traits and determine which traits appear to be pre-potent. If this is not possible, your alternative is to breed him with only the best mare or jennet you own, in order to increase the odds for positive traits to come through in the offspring. Sometimes you can try to compliment the mare with the jack, such as a long-backed mare with a short-backed jack to get a medium-backed mule, but this doesn’t always work. A reputable jack owner should have records to show how and what his jack has produced and be able to attest to the consistency of his jack’s production. Granted, in the past this was virtually impossible, but today we have the American Donkey & Mule Society registry (and other Longears registries), and many conscientious breeders who realize the importance of recording their breeding information, thereby giving us all a better understanding of Longears production. So, don’t be afraid to ask the breeder whatever questions you may have.
Disposition is of the utmost importance when choosing a jack. However, there is a difference between the jack’s natural instincts, his personality and his acquired personal attitudes, so you should learn to distinguish between a natural instinct, a distinctive personality trait and behavior that was the result of improper handling. I have found most donkeys to be quite cooperative and affectionate when patiently and fairly treated, but some can also be more obstinate about things than others. Remember, in addition to the inherited traits of the jack, it is the mare, or jennet, from which the offspring learns most of his behaviors while he is growing up. So learn to make educated choices concerning your breeding stock and, in order to maintain the integrity of the breed, use only jacks with the best conformation for breeding.
A donkey jack can be your best friend or your worst enemy! Because he is a donkey, he possesses all the wonderful characteristics particular to donkeys—intelligence, strength, easy maintenance, suitability for many equine sports and, probably most important, an innate affectionate attitude. You must, however, realize that he is still an intact male, often governed by the hormones in his body. When nature takes over, the jack’s conscious thought is greatly diminished and he can become quite hazardous to your health. The jack’s aggressiveness is often masked by his sedate and affectionate attitude, but it can arise in a split second and do more damage than even a stallion. Usually, there is an awkwardness, or indecisiveness, in an agitated stallion that will allow you time to get out of the way, but the jack reacts strongly, swiftly and right on target, allowing you little or no time for retreat. By keeping a few simple things in mind, you can greatly reduce your chances of injury when handling jacks.
First, try to keep your jack in a comfortable atmosphere. Jacks can be great worriers, particularly about their mares and jennets. Ideally, you should keep the jack well out of sight and smell of the females, but this is not always practical. If he must be near females, make sure your jack has a roomy area, free of refuse and debris, and adequately fenced. The fences should be high enough to discourage his leaning over the top and strong enough to bear his weight on impact. Also, they must be constructed so that there are no protrusions that could cause him injury. If females (or other animals) are present, the jack may run back and forth along the fence and catch his head on anything that is protruding. Hot wires along the inside of a weaker fence will often serve this purpose. However, a hot wire used alone is not sufficient. If your jack becomes frightened, he could run through an electric wire before he even knows that it is there. Giving him a clean, comfortable area where his limits are clearly defined will help him to be a calmer and more manageable animal.
Always make sure your jack’s pen is cleaned daily and that he has free access to clean water, a trace mineral salt block and good grass hay. If he gains too much weight with free choice grass hay, then simply limit his intake to two flakes at each feeding in the morning and evening. He can have a limited amount of oats during one feeding a day (preferably in the evenings), mixed with an appropriate vitamin supplement such as Sho Glo, and one ounce of Mazola corn oil (I suggest this particular brand—other brands of corn oils are not the same) for management of his coat, his feet and his digestive tract regularity. During feeding times, you should check him from top to bottom for any new changes to his body like cuts, bruises, lameness, etc. This is also a good way to reinforce his acceptance of being handled all over and to solidify your relationship with him. This consistent management practice paves the way for good manners in the jack, because he then knows with no uncertainty that you are a true friend and really do care about his well-being.
Many people opt to keep jacks in solitude, but this is not really good for them. Being a natural herd animal, they need social interaction. When they don’t have company nearby, jacks can become depressed (donkeys have actually been known to die from depression—they can stop eating and simply give up). To remedy this, jacks can be pastured or penned next to other animals, as long as the fencing is adequate between them. Of course, you also need to take into consideration the personality types of the animals involved, as well as being careful to make sure they are compatible. This can fulfill their need for companionship and keep them happy in confinement. As long as there are no cycling horse or donkey females around, jacks can be pastured next to mules of both genders. I had my own jack, Little Jack Horner, penned next to our teaser stallion for many years and they actually liked each other! We never had any trouble with them at all.
You can spend more time with your jack by using him for more than just breeding. Animals, like people, always do better when they have a regular job to do that affords them some purpose in life beyond propagation. Some sort of job will give your jack an alternative purpose, which can help to diffuse his obsession with the female. It will also attend to the strength of his core muscles that surround the skeletal system and vital organs and teach him self-discipline. And it affords more time for you to develop your relationship with him, have fun together and to deepen the bond between you, which helps the jack to develop a healthy mental attitude. There are many jack owners who use their jacks for riding and driving, as well as for breeding. This is an excellent and actually the best plan, but if you lack the time or inclination to use your jack this way and wish to use him exclusively for breeding, you should still take some time—at least two or three days a week—to work on halter training and groundwork, such as ground driving, for manageability. Teach your jack to walk, trot, whoa and stand still on the lead. During these sessions, keep a positive and relaxed attitude, with more emphasis on your rapport with him than on his performance. Be his friend so he has something to look forward to besides females and breeding, and he will have a much better attitude overall.
When he is flawless with his leading training, you can get him used to the bridle and a surcingle or lightweight saddle, and then move on to ground driving. Lunging is not as important, since most donkeys do not like to lunge. I suppose they don’t see much purpose in going around in a circle more than once to come back to the same place over and over again. Taking the time to properly train your donkey jack at halter and in the drivelines will enhance his obedience, and will make him more comfortable and relaxed. During the breeding process, it can even speed up his readiness.
When using your jack for breeding, develop a routine that he can count on every time. When you go to the stall or pen to catch the jack, wait for him to come to you at the gate or stall door, and then reward him with oats when he comes to you. Then put on the halter, ask him to take one step backwards, and then reward him again (which is very important to prevent him from running over you and barging through the gate or out the door). If you are going to breed him, the mare should first be prepared. Next, once you are both out the door, ask him to whoa and square up all four feet. Then you can lead him to the breeding area, where you can then tie him to the hitch rail a little ways away from the waiting mare. By being consistent in your manner of going from the stall to the breeding area, the jack will learn not to be pushy and aggressive toward you.
When in the breeding area, your jack must be taught patience and obedience. If the mare is left to stand just out of reach until he is ready to breed, he may consider this a tease and may become anxious and unruly. To clarify your intentions to him, you can take the cloth you used to clean the mare and place it over the hitch rail near your jack’s nose. This way, he can get a good, strong scent of the mare, which will more quickly ready him for breeding and substantially decrease his anxiety time. If he is an indifferent jack, this can actually increase his interest in the female and, in turn, shorten the actual breeding process time. The fact that you brought him the scent allows the jack to believe that it is your decision when to breed and not his and that he must remain obedient. Let him cover the mare only when he is fully ready and make him walk to her in a gentlemanly fashion. If he becomes too aggressive and starts to drag you just return him to his place on the hitch rail, hold him there for a minute, reward him when he stands still and then re-approach the mare.
Just to be on the safe side with your jack while breeding, use either a muzzle or a dropped noseband (snugly fit low on his nose)—this will prevent biting injuries to you or to the mare. When he is finished, make him stand quietly behind the mare while you rinse him off. Allow him that last sniff to the mare’s behind, and then take him back to his stall (or pen), ask him to stand still while you remove the halter and then let him go. That last sniff appears to be an assertion of his act and of his manhood. If you try to lead him away before he sniffs, he might not come with you and he might become even more aggressive toward the mare. Remember to do things with your jack in a routine way, and always with safety in mind—this will allow him to relax and use the manners he has learned. NOTE: Women who are menstruating should never handle jacks or stallions during that particular time, since the scent can trigger aggressive and dangerous behaviors in these animals.
When you are around a jack, you must always be alert and know what he is doing at all times. A jack can be the most adorable, loveable, obedient guy in the world, but you must realize that his natural instincts can arise at any time and, although he may not do it intentionally, he can severely hurt you just the same. And when observing a jack from the other side of the fence, always remember that he can come over the top of that fence, teeth bared, so don’t ever turn your back to him or become complacent around him!
Lastly, when putting on or taking off any of his headgear, watch your fingers—when a jack knows the bit is coming, he often opens his jaws to meet it (with anticipation of the bit on a bridle), and your fingers can easily get in the way. Rather than a standard lead rope, it is advisable to use a lead shank with stallions and jacks for the best control. However, I discourage running the chain of a lead shank either through the mouth or over the nose. The correct position for a lead shank is under the jaw. Run the end of the chain through the ring on the near side of the halter noseband, then under the jaw, then through the ring on the opposite side of the noseband, and then clip it to the ring at the throatlatch on the right side of his face. This gives you enough leverage to control him without the halter twisting on his face. If you have spent plenty of time and done your homework during his leading lessons, your jack will learn to be obedient on the lead shank, even during breeding.
Retired jacks still need regular attention and proper maintenance to stay healthy into their senior years. Donkeys that do not receive good core muscle maintenance throughout their lives will often begin to sag drastically in the spine as they age. Their gait then becomes stilted, because their balance and strength are severely compromised. They can no longer track properly while moving or square up correctly when at rest. This can lead to irregular calcification in the joints, depression because they don’t feel well and premature health problems. On the other hand, the jack who has had a consistent and healthy management and training routine will enjoy longevity. If you keep these basic management and safety factors in mind, you and your jack can have a long, happy and mutually rewarding relationship!
The purpose of tack and equipment has always been to give man comfort and leverage against the equine’s resistance during training, but I believe that the equine is “talking” with his resistance, and this is a cue to find another alternative to achieve harmony when something isn’t working.
Trail Riding and Jumping are two activities where it is positively essential to do core postural training with your equine to solidify his symmetrical balance when in motion, or even standing still.
The animal with deliberate foot placement and a solid balance is a much safer smoother riding animal.
There is an ongoing discussion about the use of cruppers and breeching when riding mules and donkeys, and even some horses. The purpose of both is to keep the saddle from sliding forward when the equine is in motion, whether he is tracking on flat ground or going up and down hills. Inappropriate use of both devices could give the equine problems.
Whether or not to use a crupper or breeching is not an either/or decision. My equines taught me that in order to make an educated decision about which to use, one needs to take into account the anatomy of the equine and the effect of a lot of moving parts have on his body in motion during different activities.
Good conformation is important in allowing the equine to perform to the best of his ability, but so is developing core strength elements such that the skeleton is ideally being supported symmetrically so the equine’s body can move properly and in good equine posture.
FEEDING: When developing the equine’s body, it is important to know what feeds are the healthiest for him. There are lots of different ways to feed your equines today, but I have found a regimen that works best. I did this through constant and continual research using a field study for more than 50 years with 32 equines of varying breeds, types and sizes.
Most feeds are tested in laboratories.
Dehydrated feeds take fluids from the digestive tract and can cause choking (researched with my vet). You cannot add enough water to replace the fluids that are naturally in the digestive tract.
The oats, Sho Glo, Mazola corn oil and grass hay produce ideal body shape and conditioning, even with minimal exercise.
Sho Glo gives the body the nutrients it needs for daily maintenance.
Supplements should not be fed without first getting a base line of what the animal is lacking.
Salt and other minerals should be free fed in a trace mineral salt block. White salt alone, or minerals measured and put in the feed, can often be the wrong amounts.
The equine will use the trace mineral salt block when and how often they need to. It is their “Natural instinct.”
Mazola corn oil (no other) keeps the hair coat healthy, the feet ideally lubricated and hard, and maintains the ideal conditioning of the digestive tract regularity.
We feed a Brome/Orchard Grass mix that we harvest ourselves. We feed the hay three times a day and the oats mix once a day in the evenings. Never feed broad leaf hay like Alfalfa, or Fescue Grass Hay.
Fescue Grass Hay has been proven to cause spontaneous abortions. Since it has this toxic effect, it would probably not be good for any equine, pregnant or not.
Our equines are kept in dry lots, or stalls and runs. We limit their turnout to five hours a day to prevent obesity and other problems like allergies, prolonged exposure to flies and other insects that live in the grassy pastures.
Use no types of rewards or “treats” besides crimped oats (or any other kind that is broken open). They cannot digest whole oats, and other “treats” can cause gas or other irregularities in the digestive tract that can lead to colic, twists, founder and even allergies.
Our equines are wormed with Ivermectin every other month with the cycle broken in November with Strongid. This regimen prevents the cycle of worms (No fecal tests are needed because the larvae never have a chance to mature and show up in the manure).
This regular and frequent use of Ivermectin helps to repel flies along with a weekly spray of Farnam Tri-Tech 14 (sometimes twice a week if the flies are inordinately thick). Ivermectin is a totally safe drug and their bodies do not build up a resistance to it.
Most equines on other kinds of feeding programs develop bodies with a protruding spine and a “hay belly” hanging from it. The shape is quite different from a balanced body with core strength. They have an indentation along both sides of the spine instead of having a spine that “melds” into the torso with uniform conformity. My feeding program produces an ideal body shape with ALL my equines with minimal exercise. The SHAPE of the animal’s body is important for the correct fit of the tack and equipment.
Energy and blood circulation find open tracks throughout the body and when unobstructed, will run freely from the core of the body to the extremities in a healthy equine. Core and bulk muscles that are developed symmetrically will support the skeletal frame, the cartilage and ligaments that surround the joints, and the tendons and soft tissues that tie the skeletal frame together.
All these things work together to support the proper internal organ functions. When the equine is in good posture with symmetrical core strength and balance, the vital organs are unobstructed and function as they should.
TACK & EQUIPMENT should fit you and your equine like a glove. Good postural movement coupled with close fitting and properly adjusted tack and equipment create harmonious movement with minimal resistance and chafing.
The tack and equipment we use has an effect on the equine’s movement in spite of his shape. In order to obtain freedom of movement, the elements of the equine’s anatomy must be allowed to move freely through every joint of his body.
The saddle should be placed over the center of gravity, which is in the center of the torso, equidistant from the stirrup to the front legs and from the back legs. When correctly placed, the front girth will hang four inches behind the elbow (forearm) where the body begins to swell and the skin is thicker than the sensitive skin right behind the forearm (where equines most often get chafed). Then it will definitely clear the point of the shoulder (where they also get chafed and develop white hair).
I like to use string girths in front because they will stretch slightly, allow air flow and breathe. I like leather girths for the back girth.
The front girth should be snug, but not too tight. The back girth should be snug, but not as tight as the front girth.
The back girth should be perpendicular to the ground as they were developed only to hold down the back of the saddle (invented by ropers to balance the saddle when the steer is stopped).
Using the back girth to hold the saddle back might seem like a good idea, but it puts the pressure on the fragile undercarriage rib bones that can break easily. The rib bones underneath a properly placed back girth are thicker and less likely to break with abrupt pressure.
Any strap or girth that is too tight will irritate the equine and cause bad behaviors, chafing as well as, saddle shifting. Any strap or girth that is too loose, will not do its job and will cause chafing.
Mule Bars are not necessary if you have a well-made saddle and have a professional saddle maker shave the saddle tree flat at the withers. My 1972 Circle Y Stock, Equitation and Longhorn saddles have worked on all my mules for more than fifty years with that minor adjustment.
Most saddles appear to be too high in the gullet and with insufficient body conditioning it puts pressure on both sides of the animal…localized pressure, instead of spreading the pressure points over a wider area underneath the saddle. This is particularly true with sawbuck pack saddles. That is why you see so many pack mules with white spots at the withers…unbalanced loads that will shift.
When the horn sits lower and the saddle is spread across the back, the pressure points are wider spread and more comfortable for the animal.
People talk about allowing air to keep the spine depressurized and cool underneath the saddle. They use thicker therapeutic pads, or pads that are pre-shaped, stiff and sit stiffly on the equine’s back.
I prefer to use Navajo blankets and with older animals, or animals with more withers, I will add a fleece pad underneath it. This allows for more flexibility, compression and molding of the saddle and blankets across the animal’s back…like a glove.
To allow for more airflow, you just stick your arm under the blanket and across the spine before you tighten the girth. The blankets will move upward into the gullet and provide protection of the spine from any undue pressure. The saddle is not PERCHED on top, and when you get on, you can find a place for yourself over the center of gravity.
If the animal is in good equine posture with core strength in a solid balance, the saddle and equine will move as one with minimal abrasive movement.
Beginning with the Leading Training, tacked up in an English, Eggbutt snaffle bridle (sometimes a flash nose band is needed to keep them from flipping the tongue over the bit!) and my “Elbow Pull” postural aid, you can begin to develop ideal postural movement.
The lessons only need to be about 15-20 minutes a week in my Hourglass Pattern. It is simply important HOW you execute the pattern. Details are very important to allow for self carriage in the equine.
When fed and tacked up properly, the issue of sweating, which also creates chafing, is minimized.
CRUPPERS. Many people have approached me with many questions about cruppers. How do you introduce the animal to the crupper?
It should be done in a Round Pen, properly introduced and coupled with the lunging exercise that they already know. Just allow them the time to get used to it before asking them to do any more than that…even if it takes several lessons.
Note that you will need to reposition the saddle and readjust the crupper after it stretches a bit with the warmth of the animal’s body.
Another concern is that the crupper can break the tail when under pressure. If there is enough pressure put on the crupper to break a tail, then the crupper should break first!
Cruppers should be made of soft double or triple thick English bridle leather, with the buckles up by the cantle of the saddle and not near the tail!
If an equine gets his tail stuck in buckles at the dock, it will affect his ability to stay in a balanced alignment, and if he falls he could land on the tail that is bent in an arc to one side.
Proper adjustment of your tack and equipment is KEY! Tail chafing can be prevented by using Johnson’s Baby oil in the mane and tail during weekly grooming. If anything is too loose or too tight, it will cause chafing.
Chafing occurs when the crupper is adjusted too tight or too loose.
Use a D-Ring that is SCREWED into the tree at the cantle on Western saddles and use the metal “T” with English saddles. Do not attach it to the leather on the saddle.
When the skeletal system is adequately supported with symmetrical muscle strength, especially over the top line, the animal is better equipped to use his body efficiently. With the crupper tension properly adjusted, he can tuck his tail and use his leg muscles to support his own weight while his spine remains flexed upward along the top line to support the weight of the rider.
The extremities have full range of motion so he can pick each step with confidence and no obstructions.
An animal with insufficient conditioning and balance will hollow his back and neck and try to compensate for his inefficiencies in muscle conditioning and movement.
When pressure is put on the crupper of an animal with inadequate muscling, there is weakness over the top line and tail that will not support heavy weight going downhill and could possibly do damage to the spine at the dock of the tail.
Just for the record, I have done lots of trail riding and three years of cross country jumping over all kinds of terrain (3 miles, up and down hills, over twenty jumps) and have always ridden with a crupper on all of my mules, English or Western, even with heavy riders with nary an incident.
If using a crupper, the animal has full range of motion in his body and legs with the maximum strength to back up any movement that would help to correct the rider’s position and keep him over the equine’s center of balance.
BREECHING (or BRITCHEN) originates with pack and driving animals and has a distinctive purpose to keep loads from shifting on pack animals and to provide “brakes” for those in harness.
Breeching generally has a “crupper” built in with straps on both sides to attach to the saddle and help to stabilize the load. Breeching should be adjusted snugly to do the job of keeping the saddle back, but will also shift the weight back and forth with the walking motion of the back legs and also cause chafing.
Breeching that is being used with an inanimate object will not necessarily cause as much of a problem when the animal adjusts his own body as it does with a rider on board.
An equine can adjust his load with his own body movements, but he cannot easily adjust a live load that works against his balance like an unbalanced rider would inadvertently do.
The problem with breeching on a saddle equine is in the configuration and the way it sits anatomically. When going downhill, the breeching must be snug to do its job properly and it will keep the saddle from sliding forward. However, it also compresses the biceps femoris, a large muscle in the hindquarters that functions to extend the hip and hock joints, and causes a flexion of the stifle, and a rotation of the leg inward.
When pressure is applied to this area, it restricts circulation and extension of the hind leg backwards and causes compromises in the muscles groups resulting in asymmetrical conditioning. This doesn’t pose a real pressure problem going downhill. The stifle joint is configured so it can lock when needed through a stay mechanism between the stifle and hock, but it should still have the freedom of full range of motion if it is to function properly and not get unduly locked up.
When the actions in the animal’s body remain symmetrical and orderly all of the joints, including the stifle, are able to function properly. The stifle will usually get locked up only when there are chaotic and unsupported directional actions coming through the joint.
When the equine has had the benefit of core muscle postural training, his movement will be more symmetrical, and his joints will work properly and in balance. Wear and tear is minimized.
When going uphill, however, the breeching must still be snug to do its job, but the animal is not allowed full extension of the hind legs, so more pressure is put between backward motion of the femur and the breeching.
This results in compromised circulation, restricted movement in the hind legs and an inability to control hind quarter foot placement. He is at risk of a misstep that could send him over backwards or sideways.
In a crupper, the animal going uphill has full extension in his hind quarters, an ability to maintain good posture and balance and this results in exact foot placement to maintain that balance comfortably and safely (see photo under CRUPPERS).
Even when driving, it is important that the harness is adjusted properly.
The traces need to be the correct distance from the shoulder to the single tree.
I prefer using collars because the traces are solidly attached and do not ride across the chest like a breast collar harness does and create the possibility of chafing when the equine is in motion.
I prefer leather over Bio thane and Nylon because they do not warm up with elasticity and flexibility like leather does.
The crupper assembly should be snug from the surcingle to the tail and adjusted the same way at a saddle crupper in tension and movement. The breeching needs to counter the traces and lock the equine firmly between the front and back, so when he is asked to back, he will have an immediate response. His rear will come into contact with the breeching, which will in turn, immediately begin moving the vehicle backwards. When he resumes forward movement, he will get an immediate response with the vehicle.
Loose connections create abrupt movements that can spook the animal and may even cause a wreck. A harness that is out of proper adjustment will invariably create chafing.
WEIGHT & ABILITY OF THE RIDER will determine how much pressure is put against the animal and how much resistance it will cause.
Even though mules can carry proportionately more weight than a horse of the same size, this doesn’t mean you can indiscriminately weight them down until their knees are shaking.
Be fair and responsible and do your part in the relationship. Do not expect the animal to carry an obviously overweight body that doesn’t know how to control itself! Learn to ride a balanced seat and practice the basics EVERY TIME YOU RIDE!
Participate in training activities that prepare you both, first with groundwork and later under saddle. ALWAYS FOLLOW BASIC GROUNDWORK RULES for leading, lunging and Ground Driving!
Learn to hold the lead rope in your LEFT hand, keep his head at your shoulder, match your steps with his front legs, point in the direction of travel with your right hand and look where you are going. Walk straight lines, gradual arcs and square him up with equal weight over all four feet EVERY TIME you stop.
We are building NEW habits in their way of moving and the only way that can change is through routine, consistency in the routine and correctness in the execution of the exercises. Since this also requires that you be in good posture as well, you will also reap the benefits from this regimen.
Along with feeding correctly (as described), these exercises will help equines to drop fat rolls and to begin to take on a more correct shape and become strong in good posture.
It is important to lead this way because if you’re carrying the lead rope in your hand closest to the halter, it will not promote self-body carriage. With every step you take, your hand moves (however slightly) to the right and left, and this will adversely affect his balance. Remember, that equines balance with their head and neck!
When Ground Driving, let your steps and hands follow the hind legs.
As you learn to ride correctly and in balance, you also learn how to ride supportively by balancing on your seat bones with weight from your core (behind your belly button) going down through your legs and up through your torso.
Take the stress out of going uphill and downhill by staying relaxed in the saddle, rocking your weight through your core and by keeping your body in good posture.
Do not jam your heels down. Rather, think of keeping your toes up to stay relaxed. Lean the upper body back when going down hill and forward when going up hill.
Think of the relaxed position of the Man from Snowy River, Bronc Riders and Bull Riders!
You will then find the crupper much safer and more efficient when riding in all kinds of terrain…even if you are a little heavier than you should be.
In between rides, use your Round Pen to practice your equitation skills by riding without stirrups and reins. You can do this with or without an assistant.
Balance your body over your seat bones and RELAX with your legs freely hanging down while sitting up straight to help develop a secure balanced seat.
While riding like this, you can use your arms straight out in front and parallel to the ground, behind on the cantle, arms stretched out on both sides parallel to the ground. Do all of these movements with your eyes open and then with them closed.
You will begin to FEEL the movement of your equine and get in sync with HIS motion and the motion of the tack. It will all become much more harmonious and SAFER!
You and your animal will both be conditioned properly, and he will be able to pick his way efficiently, safely and unobstructed!
Once everything is in line, the animal, the tack and you should all be in unison with no chafing.
Crupper or Breeching? The decision becomes your own, but do remember that the breeching has many more straps and much more risk of chafing than does a crupper.
We tore down the quarantine panels and made one big area for Wrangler’s and Chasity’s turnout. Today would be their first time together in an open area by themselves. Chasity spent two months in quarantine with a double fence between them, then two weeks with a single fence between them. For those two weeks, they were introduced to the round pen and lunged together with no problems. Wrangler has finally found his “LADY LOVE!” But, for the time being, Wrangler is more interested in this GREAT BIG NEW PEN! Chasity watches him with interest while he inspects every square inch of the area.
Wrangler suddenly bolts and runs with joy!!! Chasity goes to the corner and pretends she doesn’t notice his exuberance and obvious male flirtation!
Chasity then meanders over to talk with our miniature gelding horse, Mirage. Wrangler gallops over to flirt with our miniature mule, Francis, to make her jealous, but Chasity is not moved, so Wrangler goes after her to break up the tryst!
Chasity just moved down the fence line and Mirage followed her. Wrangler went after her and herded her to the other side of the pen where Chasity stopped and Wrangler patrolled the perimeter to keep her from returning to Mirage. Chasity is slightly incensed.
Wrangler made an approach and Chasity promptly chastised him and sent him to his corner. Then she trotted down to her corner and they pretended not to notice each other!
Chasity walked back up to Wrangler to try to make up and he galloped off in a huff! She then decided to play hard-to-get and returned to her corner where he promptly approached her again…this time, much more cautiously!
After they had stood still for a while, I called Chasity and Wrangler over for a reward of crimped oats. They came obediently and stood politely next to each other to receive their “goodies!” They then watched me leave with acute interest… “Well, aren’t you going to give us MORE?!!!”
In the final part of this article, the ins and outs of riding precautions and safety will be pinpointed, along with many other crucial details and tips that will help you become not only a better rider, but a better, more understanding equine owner.
As previously discussed, it is human nature to want to just get in the saddle and ride and do all of the glamorous, exciting things with a newly purchased equine that we see others do. The good riders make riding look so easy, and there’s a reason for that—they’re good equine owners. They make sure that their equine is comfortable in what he is learning, they painstakingly go through the training processes for as long as it takes, and caution, safety and courtesy are always top priorities.
Here is a checklist to go through each time BEFORE you ride:
When you mount your equine, do it in an open area away from buildings, fences and other animals.
Mount with deliberate grace and don’t just plop yourself onto his back.
After riding, take the reins over your equine’s head, always being careful to clear his ears.
Run up your stirrup irons on English saddles when you dismount.
If your equine is energetic, lunge him before riding.
Know the proper use of spurs and crops and don’t use them until you’re sure that you really need them.
Keep small animals under control around your equine.
Wear protective gear when riding and if you ride at night make sure to have the proper reflectors and keep to the walk.
Never ride off until ALL riders are mounted and, when mounted, never rush past other equines. If you need to pass, keep it to the walk.
When riding in a group in an open area, you can ride abreast, but when you are riding single file, always keep an equine’s-length between you and the animal ahead of you.
While riding, maintain a secure seat and stay in control of your equine at all times.
Don’t ride in the open until you are familiar with the equine you are riding.
If your equine becomes frightened, use your voice first to try to calm him. If necessary, dismount and politely introduce him to whatever is spooking him. When he calms down, you can remount.
When riding, always watch for small children and animals.
Hold your equine to a walk going up and down inclines, and NEVER fool around while riding.
(NOTE: I don’t recommend riding along paved roads at all these days. Although you and your equine may be in control, motorists don’t always pay attention while they are driving—which can lead to disaster.)
If you must ride along a road:
Do not ride bareback, use good judgment, ride single file and ALWAYS use a bridle.
If there are two or more riders, be sure to maintain sufficient space between equines.
Avoid heavy traffic, but if you must be in heavy traffic, dismount and lead your animal.
When riding on the shoulder of a road, remain alert for debris.
Always obey ALL traffic laws and ride with the traffic, not against it.
When trail riding, here are some important tips to remember:
If you are an unskilled equestrian, be sure you are riding an equine that is well trained.
Do not engage in practical jokes or horseplay along the trail.
Stay alert and think ahead while you ride, and avoid dangerous situations whenever possible.
Be courteous when riding on a trail. If you meet someone on a narrow incline and cannot pass safely, the one who is coming down the trail should back up the trail to a wider spot when possible.
Ride a balanced seat and don’t just let your equine wander along or graze while on the trail.
If you ride alone, tell someone where you will be and bring a cell phone in your pocket—but ALWAYS keep it turned off while riding your equine—any cell phone noise could easily frighten him, possibly causing a major disaster.
If you are going for an overnight ride, bring a halter and lead, hobbles, clean saddle blankets, horseshoe nails and matches, and make sure your equipment is all in good repair.
Don’t offer water to your equine while he is hot and sweaty. Let him cool down first and then offer a few sips of water at a time.
Always tie your equine in a safe place, using a halter and lead rope tied in a safety knot.
Be very careful with cigarettes, matches and fires.
Get to know the terrain ahead of time and bring maps with you.
Know the laws, rules and fire regulations on government trails.
Be sure your equine is in proper condition for the ride and is adequately trimmed or shod.
Use extreme caution in wet or boggy areas and always ride at the safest gait.
Avoid overhanging tree limbs and be sure to warn other riders behind you about any upcoming obstacles on the trail.
Good habits are built through repetition and reward with regard to consideration for your equine. Eventually, the good habits that are being taught will become the normal way that your animal will move and react to you and to his environment. The details outlined in this article can help contribute to the behavior shaping of your animal, which will determine, as he ages, how willing and obedient he will be in all situations.
Owning an equine is serious business! It is as serious as raising children. With the increase of the human population, there are a lot of metropolitan ideas and products being sold with incredibly creative marketing techniques, but choosing which ones are actually beneficial and not just a sales pitch can often be quite daunting and the wrong choice could get you in trouble with your equine. What kinds of feed work best? Does your equine need supplements or does he do better on a more basic nutrient approach? Has your veterinarian done a baseline test on your equine to determine what supplements are needed if any? What should you use for rewards? What training techniques work best? It is best to consult with rural equine professionals and people who have actually successfully worked with equines during their lives to help you make these determinations. Knowing the right things to do with your equine may seem confusing, but it is really only a matter of learning the “rules of the road.” You would need to do the same in order to be able to drive and properly maintain a car. Once you have learned the routine, it’s easy. Even with all the new and improved ways of doing things, one thing always rings true…KISS…keep it super simple!
It’s so important to have as much knowledge, information and trusted advice as you can get, so that you can make sound, informed choices for both you and your equine partner. Take things slowly and in small steps that you both can easily manage—then you will reach your goals because you’ve developed a firm foundation. When you do your homework up-front, there’s nothing to be afraid of and you’ll be graced with years of unconditional love and pleasure from your equine friend and companion.
There has been a lot of discussion since the early nineties around using donkeys for small livestock protection and predator control. Donkeys can certainly be a formidable opponent for cats and dogs and other smaller animals. One needs to be careful about who the donkey is pastured with since it is in their nature to pursue and sometimes kill animals that are smaller and weaker than them. This is true in all donkeys, although some individual females tend to be more maternal and are not apt to go after smaller livestock. The males will always be more aggressive than the females and do not make good guardians for smaller livestock.
The other thing to consider is whether or not they have been raised with the livestock they are expected to guard. When raised with the other livestock, they will feel more a part of that “family” and are less likely to do them harm. A donkey that is going to be expected to guard livestock, but was not raised with them, should be carefully introduced to them “over the fence” for several weeks. Then if all seems to go well, you can introduce them in the same pen and watch for any signs of aggression. If there are signs of aggression after a few weeks of being separated, then they probably will never really get along. You must remember that a donkey is NOT a predator, nor a prey animal that will necessarily get along with other livestock. Donkeys prefer to be in a herd with other donkeys. They do not like being alone either. Donkeys have a strong sense of “family” and prefer to be with their own kind. When forced to be with other species, they will blend, but grudgingly.
There are three basic sizes of donkeys: Miniatures, Standard Donkeys and Mammoths. Our American donkeys are further identified by their height when being described rather than specific breeds. This is because they are so interbred from being turned loose during the time of the Spanish explorers. There are no real purebred donkeys in America other than the descendants of the original Andalusian donkeys that were bred from George Washington’s stock at Mt. Vernon. One must go to Europe to see the original BREEDS of donkeys. American donkeys are identified as: Miniature Donkeys (36” & under), Small Standard Donkeys (36.01” to 42”), Standard Donkeys (42.01” to 48”), Large Standard Donkeys (48.01” to 56”) and Mammoth Donkeys (Males 56” & over; Females 54” & over).
Miniature donkeys are not suitable guardians for livestock at all. They are too small and can fall victim to predators themselves. They simply cannot defend themselves. Standard donkey jennets are the most sought after for predator control, however, keep in mind that they are PREY animals and can fall victim to predators that are fairly large, or predators that run in packs. Mammoth donkeys are simply too slow to react. They lack the quickness and athleticism that it takes to combat a predator. Donkeys will never be able to guard against such predators as bears and mountain lions.
Good ranch dogs that are bred for guarding sheep and other livestock are a much better choice for guardianship. They are quick, clever and always on the alert. Their barking can alert the farmer as well. They can even move the livestock to a safer location on their own and will often chase off a predator pretty easily with their confusing way of attacking.
As with all livestock, donkeys need to be provided with adequate shelter from the elements, whether heat or cold, must be provided trace mineral salt blocks and clean, fresh water. Their time on pasture will need to be monitored for optimum health which will often clash with the grazing needs of sheep, goats and other smaller livestock. Donkeys are desert animals and really easy keepers. It is not uncommon when they colic or founder on too much, or too rich, grass. They cannot be on pasture 24/7.
Donkeys will need regular trims and must therefore, be reasonably trained. They will require vaccinations twice a year and regular worming. If they are not trained to accept these things, most veterinarians and farriers will be averse to handling them until they are. It takes time and patience to gain the trust of your donkey before you can actually consider him trained.
I have found it better to be smart about livestock control and not make it so easy for the predators. As I said, guard dogs bred for herd management are a much better choice.
“Some of the most important roles of sheep and cattle herding dogs, and herding dogs in general are:
Protecting the herd from predators
Keep the animals grouped together
Help with moving the herd
Keeping the herd within a perimeter
Best sheep herding dog breeds are:
Border Collies
While they might not be the best apartment dogs, border collies are one of the best sheep herding dogs.
The border collie is a medium-sized herding dog breed originated in the Anglo-Scottish border of Northumberland, bred for herding livestock, particularly sheep.
Border collies normally reach a weigh between 30 and 55 pounds once they are fully grown. Their high energy level, along with their intellect, devotion, and loyalty to their owners, propels border collies to the top of the best herding dogs.
German Shepherds
This breed was originally produced for herding sheep, but because of their intelligence, docility, strength, and trainability, they were later introduced to many other jobs. At present, German shepherds are utilized as police dogs, in search and rescue activities, as service dogs in assisting people with disabilities, and more.Because German shepherds have been used since their origins as sheep herding dogs, we can say that they have this activity in their DNA, therefore, making them excellent for grazing sheep and cattle.
Australian Shepherds
Australian Shepherds (also known as Aussie), despite its controversial name, are a dog breed with origins in the United States and not Australia as many people believe.
The reason this dog breed originally appeared is to help farmers and ranchers herding their livestock. They did their job extremely well ever since.
Belgian Sheepdogs
Belgian sheepdog is a medium-sized herding dog with origins in Belgium. This breed is also known as Belgian shepherd or Chien de Berger Belge.
The members of this breed can be further classified into four separate varieties based on coat type and color:
Groenendael
Laekenois
Malinois
Tervuren
Like any shepherd breeds, the Belgian sheepdog was and is still used in herding sheep, cows, and other livestock. That’s because they are highly intelligent, agile, high energy level, and other qualities that a good herding dog should have.
Shetland Sheepdogs
The quality that most highlights the Shetland sheepdogs is their tremendous loyalty and a very strong bond with the family. Hence, making this breed a very good choice for an affectionate family dog.
Old English Sheepdogs
Old English sheepdog (also commonly known as shepherd’s dog or bob-tailed sheep dog) is one of England’s oldest sheep herding dogs.
They are massive, muscular dogs with a strong bone structure. Their bodies are covered by dense fur that helps them to quickly adapt to the cold mountain areas.
Welsh Sheepdogs
Welsh sheepdog is a herding dog breed from Wales, United Kingdom.
This breed can have either a short or long coat, which enables them to also withstand cold climates. Besides, they have longer and stronger legs than border collies, which enables them to easily accommodate almost any terrain.
Miniature American Shepherds
Miniature American shepherds were traditionally used for herding smaller stock such as goats and sheep, but are nowadays very popular house pets and very frequently in canine competitions of agility, intelligence, and skills.
Rough Collies
One of the most famous rough collies was Lassie, the canine character loved by everyone in the TV series with the same name.
Rough collie (also known as long-haired collie) is a medium to large size dog breed with a short or beautiful long coat, that has its origins in Scotland, United Kingdom.
Based on the coat type, there are two distinct variations of this breed:
Rough-coat collies
Smooth-coat collies
Even though today we can mostly see these pups in dog shows and canine beauty contests, rough collies were incipiently utilized for herding sheep in various regions of the UK.
Bearded Collies
Bearded collie (also known as beardie) is a breed of dogs with roots in Scotland. Because of their long, double-coated fur, people often confused them with old English sheepdogs.
They gained the nickname of “bouncing beardies” due to their unique way of facing stubborn ewes, through barking and bouncing on their forelegs.” (1)
One should NEVER use mules as a guardian as they WILL be dangerous to smaller livestock and other smaller or weaker animals, even older mules! However, I have discovered that when my mules are pastured next to the smaller animals, predators give them a wide berth and thus, skirt the pens where the smaller animals are kept.
Since miniature donkeys and mules are always at risk, I add another element of safety for them by lining their pens with metal grating over the stock panels. Then, everyone is also brought in every night and turned out for a limited amount of time during the day. This gives me the opportunity to monitor their diet, check for injuries twice a day and keep them safe overnight. All my equines are taught to come in from turnout upon request. They know there is always a crimped oats reward awaiting them.
Wooden barns and wire fences can be easily torn down by larger predators. So over the years, I slowly replaced all of my wood barns and wire fences with metal barns, steel panels and vinyl fencing with hot wires on the top. I also run hotwires on the bottom of the vinyl fencing in areas where animals are likely to come through by climbing underneath. The way my barns and pens are laid out, the mule and large donkey pens surround the miniatures’ housing accommodations. It is not uncommon to see large “cats,” bears, coyotes and other predators in the foothills of Colorado where I live. It is even getting worse as more developments are built in the mountains and drive these predators off the mountains in the wintertime.
In summary, I do not recommend using donkeys as guardian animals. We need to remember that they are PREY animals themselves and can be grossly injured in any altercations with a predator. I think there are better choices for livestock guard animals and setting up the environment in which your livestock (donkeys included) is kept. These two considerations will promote the health and welfare of your livestock, and cost you a whole lot less in the long run!
Taken from “10 Best Sheep Herding Dog Breeds” October 31, 2020 at PetBlog.org/sheep herding dogs
As discussed in Parts 1 and 2 of this article, there are many more things to think about before purchasing an equine than you could have ever imagined—from the actual purchase of the equine to the management considerations you need to be aware of on a daily basis. It is so important to always keep in mind that an equine is not an inanimate object like a car that you can tune up, drive (or, in this case, ride) at will, and then put back in the garage until the next time. In fact, the equine was not anatomically designed to be ridden at all. The idea of riding was a completely human decision.
In order to more clearly understand this concept, let’s take a closer look at the equine anatomy. The equine is designed with interlocking vertebra in the spine that have long bony “fingers” called spinus processes,which protrude in varying lengths from the interlocking vertebra. The spinus processes“fingers” support the musculature that surrounds the super spinus ligament, which runs the full length of the back. The highest point of the spinus processes is at the withers, where the spinus processes bones are at their longest. They then taper down toward the croup, becoming shorter as they line up across the back. This is a body design that was intended to carry the weight below the spine and not on top of it. Everything in the equine’s mind and body supports this position and, when we train, if we do not pay attention to re-programming the muscles, tendons and ligaments to support the additional weight above the spine in a way that is painless and clearly understood by the equine, they become uncomfortable and even sore, and bad behaviors are almost certain to arise.
If you keep the equine anatomical structure and his mental reactions to stimulus in mind, the way to build adequate musculature to carry a rider or pull a vehicle is really quite simple. Equines have a natural willingness to please and become resistant only when they are frightened, hurt or confused by the way they are being asked to do something. Training does not only take place during lessons in your arena or round pen—lessons begin the moment you are within earshot of your animal, so when you go to get your equinefrom his pen or stall, approach with the attitude that you are visiting a friend. Don’t’ just barge into his living space and try to “catch” him—rather, call out his name and say hello in a cheerful voice. Stand at the gate or door and offer a handful of oats, and when your equine comes to see you, let him know you are happy to see him too. Stroke his neck before you put the halter on your equine, and then give him his oats and let him invite you into his space. It won’t be long before he anticipates your arrival and “talks” back to your “Hello.” If you want to make a friend, you first need to be a friend!
Here are some important techniques to remember each time you approach your equine:
Be polite and considerate in your approach and your equine will be more willing to want to go with you. An equine that is “herd bound” and won’t leave his pasture buddies has simply decided that his equine counterparts are nicer to be around than the humans who “use” him, but if your animal feels good when he is with you, he won’t mind leaving his equine companions.
When you want to pet your equine, let him see that your hand is moving toward him, but keep movements low, slow and non-threatening.
Stroke his neck, going with the grain of the hair, and never against it.
Touch his head and other sensitive areas only after you have gained his confidence. Note the way he responds to your touch and alter your touch accordingly. If he flinches, you might be touching him either too lightly and tickling him or you could be touching him too strongly and it hurts. Use the flat of your hand and don’t “poke” at him.
Many people are familiar with imprinting their foals, but what they may not realize is that the purpose of imprinting is not just to get the foal used to human touch and smell. It is, in reality, the first steps in learning
about your equine’s entire body, and then adjusting the way you touch him so that you give him pleasure every time you touch him (except during brief disciplinary actions).
Most of us want to ride and do the more glamorous things that we see people do with equines right away, and we become impatient for the end result and don’t pay adequate attention to the smaller details that lead up to our fantasy. But it is imperative to always remember that equines are very much like young children and need to learn in a slow, logical and sequential way.
Ask yourself these questions:
How are you leading your animal after you catch him? Are you maintaining good posture?
How do you groom your animal, and how is the grooming received?
Are you being polite and considerate in the way you use the grooming tools?
How is the tack being put on?
Every movement sets the stage for how your equine’s body is being conditioned. So when you are leading your equine, make sure that you are holding the lead rope in your LEFT hand, are that you are moving in good posture yourself. Be sure that you are keeping your equine’s head at your shoulder, that you are pointing in the direction of travel with your right hand and that you are matching your equine’s steps while being clear in your intentions during movement transitions.
Remember: Square up your animal every time he stops to cultivate a new habit of good postural balance through repetition. Be cautious when leading your equine through narrow openings like gates and doorways. Make him allow you to pass through first every time. When you need to make a turn, always take one step forward first and then turn the animal on a gradual arc away from you—don’t make any abrupt movements.
Here are some important points to remember when learning to deal with tack and your new equine:
When approaching with tack and equipment, allow the equine to smell and inspect it before you put it on him, and then reward him for staying calm.
When putting on the bridle, be aware of how you take it over the animal’s ears so as not to hurt him.
When saddling, make sure stirrups and girths are put up and not flopping. Be polite and let the girths and stirrups down easily on each side.
Then ease the saddle onto your equine’s back, being sure not to tighten the girth all at once. Rather, come back several times and tighten just a little bit more each time until it is snug, but not tight.
When needed, cruppers are used on riding equines in order to keep the saddle in the correct position on the equine’s back. Make sure you know how to properly place the saddle over his center of gravity (so the girth lies four inches behind the forearm) and then adjust this piece of equipment.
Breeching is an assembly of straps across the rear quarters of the equine and is fine for packing and driving animals, but it can inhibit the hindquarter range of motion on a riding animal. A crupper is preferred for a riding animal to hold the saddle in place for extreme trail riding, etc.
If you have a double rigging on your Western saddle, always make sure that the front girth is done first and pulled snug—NOT tight—and that the back girth lays against the body and is just snug enough to keep the back of the saddle from flipping up, but it is not too tight.
Check your girth periodically when riding to make sure it stays snug enough so that the saddle does not roll toward you on the equine’s back when you try to mount.
Never use bridle reins or drivelines to tie your equine. When tying your equine, always use a halter and lead rope, and tie to a stout post (NOT fence rails) with a safety release knot.
Always untie your animal before removing the halter.
Coming up next, the fourth and final installment of Owning an Equine Is Serious Business features a discussion of beginning riding, with many valuable details, tips and safety rules and checklists that you can actually take with you while you are working with your new equine.
To learn more about Meredith Hodges and her comprehensive all-breed equine training program, visit LuckyThreeRanch.com or call 1-800-816-7566. Check out her children’s website at JasperTheMule.com. Also, find Meredith on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
As discussed in Part 1 of this article, there are many realistic and very important steps to choosing, housing and caring for an equine. Let’s begin at the beginning … BEFORE you make a purchase.
TIP: Before you buy your equine, take the time to educate yourself with books and DVDs. Knowledge is your most powerful tool.
Here is a checklist of things to consider BEFORE you buy:
Consult with knowledgeable professionals who can help you get started on the right foot.
Pick your equine for not only his particular athletic potential, but for his compatibility with your own personality.
Carefully choose your vet and farrier ahead of the time of your purchase.
When you are ready to buy, bring along a qualified professional to look at any animals in which you may be potentially interested.
When choosing your equine, ask the seller to demonstrate to you what the equine does, and then ask if you can ride him, doing the same moves yourself to make sure the animal will perform for more than just the seller.
Check the animal for any unsoundness and signs of tranquilizers or other drugs.
Ask the owner to load and unload the equine into and out of a trailer.
Make sure registration papers and health records are in order and up to date.
Get a pre-purchase exam from your veterinarian.
Once your animal is home, make sure that:
He has adequate shelter, good nutrition and a routine he can count on.
There is a safely fenced, two-acre area per equine for turnout, along with adequate shelter from the elements.
He is given feed that is appropriate for normal growth.
Feeding is done at the same time each day, both in the morning and in the evening—without fail.
You visit the barn twice every day in order to check your equine from head to tail, making sure that he has not injured himself and that he is not getting sick.
Become familiar with the first signs of possible illness:
Is your equine eager to see you—alert and attentive, with bright eyes and ears perked in your direction—or is he sullen and lethargic?
Does he go after his food immediately and chew with regularity?
Does he appear to have been rolling on the ground? (If so, is he still eating well?)
Is the manure a healthy color and consistency, and is there the usual amount of manure and urine? (If there is an abrupt change in amount or appearance, call your veterinarian.)
Is your equine sweating? (If he is, is it just the weather, or is it an elevation in his temperature?)
How is he moving? (Does he have regularity of gait, or is he exhibiting any lameness?)
Check the eyes, ears and nostrils for discharge or any other irritations. (If there is any discharge, is it clear and minimal, or is it thick and yellowish or bloody?)
Check the hooves for any cracks, stress rings or abnormalities in the foot. (How fast is the foot growing? Is the foot growing faster or slower than usual? Is he maintaining the proper angles in the feet? Prepare for farrier visits accordingly.)
Check the water and trace mineral salt block. (Is the water clean and free from debris? Has the salt block been used? If so, how much?)
To keep flies and other insects under control:
Feed the right kinds of healthy feed.
Keep water sources clean and fresh.
Daily—clean all stalls, pens and sheds so that they are free of manure, and add fresh bedding of straw or shavings, as needed.
Periodically—clean your barn with a disinfectant.
Keep all tack and equipment clean.
Each time you leave the tack room, spray for any residual flies, using a household spray made specifically for flying insects.
Keep manure collection piles well away from the barns and your house. (I suggest having manure hauled away weekly). Putting manure on pastures will only invite weeds to take over.
Regularly groom once a week to remove excess hair, mud, etc. This will help to eliminate places on your animal (including his legs), that may be a target for egg-laying insects.
For sores, scabs or bumps, use Neosporin. If these are severe, use Panalog—also called Animax or Dermalone—by prescription from your vet.
Do notclip the hair inside the ears.
Do notclip the hair on the legs (unless you absolutely must for showing).
Use Johnson’s baby oil on the manes and tails.This helps to keep the flies at bay and will also keep other animals from chewing on each other’s manes and tails.
Use Farnam brand Tri-Tech 14 fly spray once a week (it lasts the longest). This helps to control bugs and insects that can pester your equine, especially during warm weather. (I have found that herbal remedies do not seem to work as well.)
Use fly masks that have holes for the ears for those equines that have sensitive skin and/or are sentive around the facial area. The fly masks that have ears built in often do not comfortably fit donkeys and mules.
Farnam Super Masks will usually fit most equines.You can find them in most tack and vet stores.
NOTE: To further prevent the infestation of parasites, fields and pastures should be harrowed in the spring and the fall, and between hay cuttings.
Finding a good veterinarian and farrier is paramount to the health of your equine. You will need to find out which vaccinations are needed for your area, and schedule the spring vaccinations accordingly. If you are not a skilled, experienced equine person, it is best to have your veterinarian administer these vaccines for you, as sometimes certain animals can have adverse reactions to them. (Many inexperienced owners administer shots and other medications because they want to save money, but this can often result in adverse reactions and, consequentially, higher vet bills.)
Don’t be afraid to ask questions and encourage your veterinarian to help you to learn veterinary maintenance that you can do yourself. Most good veterinarians are happy to do this, as it frees them up to tend to the more serious cases in their practice. I would be suspicious of a vet who is reluctant to discuss the health of your equine with you.
Here’s a “health support team” checklist:
Is the vet you are using allowing you to ask questions about your equine?
Is he or she asking you questions about your equine, as well?
Is there open communication between you and all the members of your equine’s support team?
Do the vet, farrier, equine chiropractor, massage therapist and any other professionals involved in the welfare of your equine communicate well with each other?
NOTE: The overall focus should always be the health of the equine patient, including a cooperative effort from his health support team.
Now that you have a good idea of what it takes, on a daily basis, to properly manage your equine and his environment, you’re well on your way to reaching your goal of being a knowledgable, responsible equine owner. In Part 3 of this article, we will cover the responsibilities associated with your equine in preparation for future athletic activities.
To learn more about Meredith Hodges and her comprehensive all-breed equine training program, visit LuckyThreeRanch.com or call 1-800-816-7566. Check out her children’s website at JasperTheMule.com. Also, find Meredith on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
While many of us were growing up, we were barraged with a deluge of ideas and attitudes about equines that were conveyed to us via multiple forms of media and educational sources. The role models of yesteryear were movies like, My Friend Flicka, books like The Black Stallion or Black Beauty, and TV shows like The Lone Ranger and Hopalong Cassidy. The most commonly known mules were “Francis,” who appeared in the Francis the Talking Mule series, and another mule known as “Ruth,” who appeared in the TV show, Gunsmoke. Those of us who tried to apply the management and training practices portrayed in the movies and books discovered that the things we saw on television and read in books covered only a fraction of what was really necessary, and the things that were shown and written about didn’t always work the same way in reality as they did in fiction.
Like many equine lovers, I was convinced that, when I got older, I would be able to have as many horses of my own as I wanted. I thought I would build a one hundred-stall barn and rescue all the abused horses in the country that I could. Surely, one hundred stalls could house almost all of them! Even into my early twenties, I believed this could happen. I honestly thought that all I needed was a patch of fenced grass and a shed out of the weather, and this simple solution would sufficiently provide for an equine. I was soon to discover the responsibility of health and finance that would burst my fantasy bubble and force me to deal with the hard realities of a life with equines. Once you confront these realities, you begin to really understand what is meant by “horse poor!” But more importantly, you discover how many important responsibilities there are when you own an equine.
Horses, mules and donkeys are living creatures with complex bodies that require not only proper nutrition and training but adequate space and the right kinds of fencing and housing. The standard rule of thumb is that you need two acres of land per equine, just for grazing. And, since equines cannot graze indefinitely without putting their bodies at risk for colic and founder, they also need space away from the lush green grass in the pastures. In addition, they cannot graze on just any kind of pasture. There are some grasses and plants that are toxic to equines and ingesting any of these potential hazards can result in sickness, paralysis or even death. It is important to familiarize yourself with the indigenous plants in your particular area that could be a potential hazard to your equine’s health and make sure they are removed from your property or, at the least, removed from the areas where your equine could gain access.
There is no substitute for proper management. Ideally, all equines should be kept overnight and fed in a dry paddock or stall where their feed can be monitored. They should be gradually exposed to pasture in the springtime. Begin by turning them out for only an hour per day to start, and then work into more time, adding one hour to turnout time per week until their bodies are accustommed to the pasture intake. They can remain on pasture during the day as their weight will tolerate, but I have found that a maximum of five hours of pasture time per day is ideal. Anything over five hours tends to start adding unhealthy weight. This routine is easy to do if they are kept up overnight and fed morning and evening in either a separate area that is nothing but dirt, or in a stall and run. Multiple animals can be kept together overnight in a dry lot, provided that they are compatible by size, gender and type, and there is enough space to put out buckets for their crimped oats mix and grass hay—the buckets should be spaced at least 16 feet apart. Contrary to popular belief, alfalfa and other hot feeds are not really good for equines.
Before the industrial age and the onset of urban sprawl, equines were more independent, and many roamed free on the open range. Horses were kept in bands, or remudas, and rounded up when it was necessary to use them for ranch work and herding cattle. Most often, the abuse of horses in literature was portrayed, as in Black Beauty, on the busy streets of the cities, where they were overloaded or overworked in harness. Abusive training practices that were done in the more rural areas were deemed necessary and normal for the breaking of horses and mules. These equines were considered “wild” and hard to tame. Few people ever thought that perhaps the resistance they encountered from the equine was due to the approach and handling by the trainer. Because the donkey is a more placid animal, he was deemed stubborn and, thus, more harmless than his equine counterparts, so he subsequently became the mount of choice for ladies and young beginning riders. The harsh breaking of horses and mules was accepted in this country as a necessary evil when in reality, it was really only a contest of strength among men, and a peculiarity of the New World. The art of Classical Horsemanship and a more humane method of training equines had been present in Europe for nearly a hundred years prior to the time of the American cowboys.
Throughout history, classically trained horsemen and women were aware of the value in the careful upbringing of the horse (or mule) as a useful and economically valuable animal that was beneficial to their civilization (particularly in the art of warfare). Horses were brought up in as close to the conditions of the wild as possible, but, with the encroachment of urbanization, the space to run free became less and less available. Classical Horsemanship is still practiced today and allows young horses to grow slowly, while formal training is kept to a healthy minimum. Young equines are ridden only after they have done plenty of body building groundwork and have reached the age of four. Today, equines must live in a completely different environment than they once knew, so we all need to understand that what we read about in books and see in movies and on television is no more than entertainment, and not an accurate portrayal of the reality of owning an equine.
Equines have unjustly become a commodity of our capitalistic system—they are treated more like a product to be bought and sold and less like the living and breathing creatures that they are. People buy and sell equines like cars, expecting them to be “tuned up” and stay that way for unskilled owners. Unsuspecting owners are often sold a “bill of goods” by practiced salespeople—animals and the responsibilities associated with them can easily be misrepresented to an unskilled buyer and, quite often, equines do not meet the unrealistic expectations of an inexperienced equine lover. Unless a buyer has family or a friend in the horse business, there is no reason they should know all the responsibilities that come with being an equine owner. But even if you do not have equine experience, if you plan to own an equine, you still have a responsibility to educate yourself as thoroughly as possible, so that you can give your equine partner the best care possible.
Remember: Be prepared to develop a lifestyle with your new equine that includes reliable routine, regular visits from your selected equine professionals and positive interaction with your equine on a daily basis.
The responsibility of maintaining an equine may seem overwhelming at first, when all you wanted to do was get a horse, pony, mule or donkey to ride or drive. But if you are a willing student and consistent in your own behavior, it soon becomes a pleasure to care for such a deserving partner in life. In Part 2 of this article, you will get a comprehensive list of best practices for the care and management of your new equine.
To learn more about Meredith Hodges and her comprehensive all-breed equine training program, visit LuckyThreeRanch.com or call 1-800-816-7566. Check out her children’s website at JasperTheMule.com. Also, find Meredith on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
It is important that your donkey be in the best posture he can be in while he is performing at this stage of training. The way that he is moving with his body is the way his muscles and tendons will be strengthened and toned, and the way his bones will become permanently aligned. It is difficult for a rider to maintain this impeccable balance through every step and every stride. For this reason, you will use your “elbow pull” training aid to encourage your donkey’s good posture throughout training, once he has learned the right moves. Adjust your “elbow pull” so that, when tight, his poll can be raised about six inches above his withers. The “elbow pull” will help to maintain his proper frame and good balance without you having to fuss with anything. The “elbow pull” is most helpful during lateral movements, but it also helps him to maintain his balance through transitions and changes of direction. Get in the habit of using it all the time during intermediate training. When he is going well, staying in proper frame, light on the bit and responsive to your cues, and when the “elbow pull” is loose throughout all of his workouts—only then should you remove it. (Use of the “elbow pull” and instructions on how to make it are covered in my Equus Revisited DVD.)
Now you need to teach your donkey to lengthen his trot. The elbow pull should have helped you to get a true trot out of your donkey. He will not be able to lengthen from a single-foot trot. Do not begin lengthening until the true trot is well established. When you wish to start schooling the lengthening, begin by asking him to lengthen on the long diagonal and corner-to-corner in your arena. Ask him to cover more ground going toward the center and as he approaches the corner, ask him to shorten his stride and collect the trot before the corner. Do not just ask for more speed. A lengthening is a more ground-covering walk, trot or canter, but maintains the same rhythm and cadence. In the beginning it will seem like there is very little difference between the working and lengthened gaits, but as he gets stronger and more agile, the difference will become more apparent.
You can use ground poles to help lengthen the trot. Begin with four ground poles spaced about two and a half to three and a half feet apart, depending on the size of your donkey. He should trot easily through, with one foot landing between each two poles. This is also essential for preliminary jumping to help his stride become cadenced and regular. Trot your donkey around the arena and come up over the poles. If he is too sluggish, you might have to encourage him with the crop. If he is too enthusiastic and wants to run through the poles, tripping and jumping all the way, just stop him before the poles and back him. Do this a couple of times, and then come back and allow him to go over the poles. This does a couple of things. First, he will expect to stop, so he will stay slow and listen to your aids. Second, by the time he does realize that you are going over the poles, it is too late for him to bolt and run and he will negotiate the poles correctly. When he is trotting over the poles calmly and correctly, you can begin to school the lengthening over them by spacing them farther apart at each session. Don’t add more than an inch at each session. If you do, he will not do it correctly.
Next you will begin to regulate the canter. Place a pole perpendicular to the long side of your arena. Canter around the perimeter of the arena, coming down the long side and over the pole. Each time you approach the pole, about three strides out, start counting to your donkey, “One, two, three, pole.” This will accomplish several things. First, you will learn to gauge your distances and measure your donkey’s strides. Second, your donkey will learn to adjust his strides and they will become more balanced, rhythmic and cadenced. Next, he will become more obedient to your aids. Don’t forget to count out loud to your donkey every time you do this exercise. Remember, donkeys respond best to verbal commands. Do the canter pole several times in each direction, during each session that you work in the arena to help improve his canter.
Whether you plan to jump or not, the next exercise is beneficial to your donkey’s body conditioning. It will help him to become agile and strong and he will be able to carry your weight a lot more efficiently. First set four cavalletti in your arena and have your donkey trot through them during several lessons. Then, set a cavalletti or cross rail jump in your arena with a ground rail one stride before and after. Begin each session with review and warm up with stretching—turns on the forehand and haunches on the lead; feeding treats from his back, bending his head to your knee on both sides; walking and trotting through the hour-glass pattern on the long rein; walking, trotting and cantering the perimeter of the arena on the long rein. Then you should do a collecting exercise. Ask him to collect on the short sides, and lengthen on the long sides at the walk and then do this at the trot. After the warm-up, stop and rest for three minutes. After the collection exercise, stop and rest for three minutes. He will be working in approximately 15-minute intervals with three-minute breaks in between. This is standard for mules, donkeys and horses.
For the final segment of his workout, take him along the rail at the trot and come up over the cavalletti or cross rail jump. Two strides out from the ground rail (three strides from the cavalletti), start counting out loud, “One, two, three, JUMP!” Allow your donkey to trot after the cavalletti the first two times through, and the third time over ask him to canter away to the rail and down the long side of the arena. Then stop and reward him for his effort. Give him a brief rest and then repeat the exercise the same way three times with a brief rest after each canter pass. When he has done this pattern three times going in one direction, do the same thing three times going the other direction. If he is lazy, he may need encouragement from the crop, or you may need to wear BLUNT spurs. If he wants to run at the cavalletti, you will need to school him a little differently. You will need to walk to the ground rail, stop and back. Then turn away from the cavalletti, do a circle and approach again at the walk, stop and back. Circle again—at the trot this time—stop, back. Do this twice. The third time, let him trot and jump the cavalletti. After he jumps the cavalletti, a few strides out, ask him to stop and back. This is to help him to let YOU maintain control. It will also help him to maintain his balance and jump correctly, thus avoiding a mishap or fall.
When he has done three sets over the cavalletti in one direction (two trot approaches and one canter), you should change directions and repeat the exercise. When he does this obediently, you may canter him to the cavalletti and away three times in each direction, but during each session, preface the canter with the trot work. If you were to go on to other kinds of jumps, you would approach them the same way. Your donkey needs to be strong to jump and should be schooled so he can jump from the trot or canter equally well. If he is built up slowly and becomes strong in a healthy way, there is no reason he shouldn’t be able to do this. Do not just trot around and jump or canter around and jump. This accomplishes nothing but risk to you and your donkey—it is both unsafe and unhealthy. End each workout by allowing your donkey to trot then walk on the long rein around the perimeter of the arena in both directions. If you school him properly, you and your donkey will have many enjoyable years together!
When working with the Longears, we do not set up the filming to get the perfect shots. We actually do everything at the time the equines are learning so people will know what to expect. This kind of training takes time and precision in communication with the animals to produce the results one would need for getting them to do anything and everything perfectly. And, it is a never-ending process! All the filming and documentation we do is to undeniably validate the integrity and quality of our management and training program. With this kind of foundation, the Longears training is impeccable and they are ready, willing and able for photos and filming.
Learn more about the mule being exceptional and his diversity on Mule Talk podcast.
You have introduced your donkey to some lateral techniques both in the arena and over obstacles, and you are perhaps discovering that he is a lot better at some things than he is at others. You might find that he quits trying and goes through the bridle, going straight instead of laterally. You must understand that lateral work is very taxing for your donkey’s muscles and will tire him quickly. When he gets tired, he will “run through the bridle” and refuse to move laterally. This will usually happen at the trot, but rarely at the walk. If you find your donkey behaving in this manner, it is best to go to walk and perform only one correct lateral move, then end the lesson there and resume it on another day when he is rested. Lateral work should really be done only once or twice a week at most. There should be at least three days between lateral sessions.
This lesson will teach you some lateral exercises under saddle that will help your donkey be more responsive laterally. Up to this point, we have been schooling what is called leg yields, or lateral moves, on an angled track. We have begun movements to introduce the side-pass, which is a lateral move, only straight sideways. This is even more difficult for your donkey than the leg yields, since it requires a higher degree of crossing over from his legs. You may have found difficulty in negotiating the side-pass obstacles previously mentioned. First, check to make sure that the placement of your side-pass rail near the fence is correct. It should be about three quarters of your donkey’s length from the fence and lay parallel to the fence so that when he stands with his nose six inches from the fence, the ground rail lies directly under the middle of his barrel, equal distance from the front and rear legs. When you lay out the “T” poles, there must be room for him to swing his shoulders or haunches around to the next pole without touching them. If these steps are done correctly, it should minimize any problems. While ground-driving your donkey, your assistant can help steady him from the front. After some repetition, he should begin to comply easily.
In the beginning, when riding your donkey over these obstacles, your assistant can help to “show” your donkey what is expected, but then you are on your own. Using the next four exercises will help to clarify lateral moves to your donkey and make them easier for him to negotiate.
Begin on the rail and spiral down to a smaller circle in three revolutions. Then leg-yield back to the larger circle. The first you will do is the spiral, as described before, with just a few modifications. Begin at the trot on a large circle and spiral down gradually to a smaller circle. When your donkey is losing momentum, slow to the walk and spiral down to the smallest circle he is able to do. Keep him walking and begin to spiral back out, using your reins and legs to move him more sideways back onto the larger circle. Use your crop at his shoulder and hip to encourage him to move more sideways at the walk. Do it this way a few times. Once he understands what is expected, you can pick up the trot as the circle becomes larger and yield at the trot to the largest circle. Each time he finishes the cycle, remember to reward him for his efforts. When he is performing well at the walk and trot, we can vary this pattern just a little more. Ask him to canter the larger circle while you begin to spiral down. At about the halfway point, ask him to slow to trot and finish the spiral as small as he can manage at the trot; then start spiraling back out to the larger circle. At the halfway point, pick up the canter and finish onto the largest circle. You can ask him to move laterally at the canter by cueing him as he is in suspension. In others words, when his front legs are out in front, he is on the ground and you would give the release on your reins and legs; when his front legs come back toward you, he is in suspension and you would pull back on the reins and squeeze with your legs. To get the sideways movement, you would pull back ever so slightly harder on the rein in the direction of travel, while maintaining the bend with a steady inside rein. This movement requires timing and coordination and will take a lot of practice, so don’t get discouraged. Just keep trying and you will soon get the right results.
The next exercise is to side-pass the donkey along the fence line. This is just like the ground pole by the fence, only without the pole. Walk along the rail and, as you come out of the corner on the short side, put your donkey at a 45-degree angle to the rail with a partial turn on the forehand. Then ask him to maintain the angle all the way down the long side of the arena. Bend him away from the direction of travel. Keep the inside rein slightly shorter and steady, while giving tugs and releases on the outside rein and kicking him behind the girth on the inside. If he moves his shoulders and not his haunches, hold the front steady, move your leg way back on the inside and kick again, asking him to move his haunches over. Then he will probably move his haunches and not his shoulders, at which point you can keep the haunches steady by locking them between your two legs, well back behind the girth. Then you can move his front quarters sideways by holding the inside rein steady and shorter, pulling and releasing the outside rein in the direction of travel, while tapping him on the inside shoulder with the crop to encourage the movement. In the beginning, you may find yourself going down the rail first haunches, then shoulders, then haunches and so on, but if your persist, he will eventually get it. You need to be alert to when he does respond correctly and lighten your cues so he knows he is performing correctly. And of course, reward him often to let him know that he has done it correctly. Nothing works better than positive reinforcement!
The next exercise is to leg-yield your donkey from the corner of the arena to the center of the hourglass pattern. Do it just as you practiced it before—make a circle at the second cone and stop him, move his hindquarters parallel to the rail, then ask him to move sideways and forward to the center gate cones. When you arrive at the cone gate, straighten him, walk forward a couple of steps, then finish that side of the hourglass in a straight walk, then trot as he becomes more proficient. When you have completed half of the hourglass, you can go on to the next second cone on the short side of the arena and repeat the exercise. Just remember to stop and reward him for each half of the hourglass. As he learns, you can go longer between rewards. In the next exercise, you will go through the hourglass as usual, but when you reach the cone gates, you will circle around towards the rail, stop at the cone gates, move his hindquarters over and yield from center to corner. When he reaches the corner the first few times, stop and reward him then continue around to the center from the other side and repeat. As before, reward him for each completed move in the beginning. As he gets better, you can start rewarding him less often after completed successions. Always begin by walking until there are absolutely no problems, then he is ready for these exercises at the trot. Any time the trot goes awry, go back and school at the walk again. If he gets too strong with you, you may have to ask him to back a few steps before proceeding. Just make sure that if you ask him to back, you do it slowly, kindly and meticulously.
These exercises should help to improve your donkey’s negotiation of all kinds of different lateral movements and will greatly improve his side-passing ability. But remember, always take things slowly and build one thing upon another. Don’t do anything any faster than you can do it right. You are not only negotiating movements and obstacles; you are also conditioning your donkey’s muscles and tendons to perform properly and strengthening them while in motion. So you’d better do it correctly, or you could cause extreme soreness, crookedness and other side effects that will inhibit his performance and affect his overall health. Be kind to your donkey and he will reciprocate!
Does the Lucky Three Ranch participate in filming? Since my parents gave me a Brownie camera when I was five years old, I have been fascinated with taking pictures. They also gave me a diary after I learned to write. When I got older and began my interaction and training with mules in 1973, I always documented those interactions with my mules and donkeys in pursuit of learning the best way to manage and train them. I wanted to give them the best opportunity to exceed people’s expectations of them and dispel the old rumors. I kept diaries, wrote articles for international equestrian magazines from 1982 to present day, took photographs and video of every lesson, clinic and show to document their progress. I consolidated a group of articles in 1993 and published my first hardbound book, TRAINING MULES AND DONKEYS: A LOGICAL APPROACH TO LONGEARS.
I worked with three different production companies from 1997-2017 producing my 10-tape video series (first in VHS and later upgraded to DVDs). By 2009, I had published two more hardbound books, A GUIDE TO RAISING & SHOWING MULES and DONKEY TRAINING, and another manual, EQUUS REVISITED with a matching DVD.
From 2005-2007, I published five hardbound children’s books for a series for kids followed with corresponding DVDs and a coloring book. At the same time we did a lot of video short pieces such as TEACH YOUR MULES AMAZING THINGS and began the TRAINING TIPS series (67 TIPS).
By 2017, I decided that the production companies were not doing justice to my brand considering their exorbitant costs. So, Lucky Three Productions, L.L.C. was born when my crew decided that we could probably do everything they were doing and could probably do it better…and we DID! We do EVERYTHING with two guys and three girls at the ranch working remotely with our graphics artist, two videographers, our JASPER Mascot & Social Media/Website person. Since then, we have flourished and produced eight documentaries, a total of 126 TRAINING TIPS, 31 LONGEARS MUSIC videos, 195 MULE CROSSINGarticles and 4 LONGEARS DIARY series that are all posted under TRAINING on my website at luckythreeranch.com . There is much more educational and fun LONGEARS things and biographical information to peruse.
Instead of making every new project a singular production, and shooting for that only, we shoot photos and video of everything we do every day, keep diaries, log everything and then use the materials for multiple projects going forward, shortens the time need to do the various projects because there is very little shooting pieces that we need and significantly lowers the cost of production. This expands the use of everything we do from articles, to training tips, to advertising, to social media to new video projects and anything else we might dream up. If you can dream it, you can do it! You just need to learn how to be super-organized and efficient about the way that you work…and still continue the training with the equines as needed to add to our intellectual property library. As we all age and the ranch work changes, there are always new things to shoot and film.
How do you select the animal(s) for the scenes? By temperament and disposition. All my equines are able to do whatever I ask for the filming that we do and for the people that will ride them. Ours is a complete training and exercise program that builds up their core balance and strength at the skeletal level for ultimate performance, and instills confidence & ability.
When working with the Longears, we do not set up the filming to get the perfect shots. We actually do everything at the time the equines are learning so people will know what to expect. This kind of training takes time and precision in communication with the animals to produce the results one would need for getting them to do anything and everything perfectly. And, it is a never-ending process! All the filming and documentation we do is to undeniably validate the integrity and quality of our management and training program. With this kind of foundation, the Longears training is impeccable and they are ready, willing and able for photos and filming.
Training Mules & Donkeys is our brand and we now have our own production company, Lucky Three Productions, L.L.C., and self-published…
31 – Meredith Hodges Training Mules and Donkeys TV Shows – on RFD TV for 11 years
3 – Hardbound Training Books:
1)Training Mules & Donkeys: A Logical Approach to Training
2) A Guide to Raising & Showing Mules
3) Donkey Trainin
3 – Softbound Training Manuals (Produced in English, French, German & Spanish
1) Training Without Resistance (Corresponds with Videos #1 through #7)
2) Equine Management & Donkey Training (Corresponds with Videos #8 – #10)
3) Equus Revisited (Critique of Natural Horsemanship Principles)
– The Equine’s Skeletal Structure – Developing Your Hands
– The Equine’s Skull – Choosing the Right Bit
– How to Make the Elbow Pull – The Elbow Pull for Good Posture
– Multiple Uses of the Elbow Pull – Building Coordination through Obstacles
– Obstacles under Saddle
11 – Training Videos that correspond with the manuals listed above
Foal Training – Preparing for Performance: Driving
Preparing for Performance: Groundwork
– Basic Foundation for Saddle – Intermediate Saddle Training
Advanced Saddle Training – Jumping
– Management, Fitting and Grooming – Donkey Training: Introduction and Basic Training
– Donkey Training: Saddle Training and Jumping
– Equus Revisited
Give Your Equine the Athletic Edge (VOD)
Teach Your Mules Amazing Things (Video Shorts)
Housekeeping
Chess Game– Classroom
Magic Show – Paratroopers
Trampoline
Documentaries:
1) Lucky Three Ranch & the Road to Bishop 6) Making of the Jasper Carousel
2) The Bishop All-Stars 7) Lucky Three Hay Production
3) The Bishop Experience
4) Walk On: Exploring Therapeutic Riding
5) Rock and Roll: Diary of a Rescue
Jasper the Mule Children’s Series
1) Jasper: The Story of a Mule (Book, Video & VOD)
2) Jasper: A Christmas Caper (Book, Video & VOD)
3) Jasper: A Precious Valentine (Book, Video & VOD)
4) Jasper: A Fabulous Fourth (Book, Video & VOD)
5) Jasper: A Turkey Tale (Book, Video & VOD)
6) Jasper: An April Mule’s Day (Book)
7) Jasper Goes to Bishop (Coloring Book, Video & VOD)
My lifetime mission has always been to prove that mules could do everything that horses could do in all kinds of recreational equestrian disciplines to further their use in modern America. As I learned more about Longears’ personalities and abilities, I began to develop my own unique training program, utilizing my observations and my background in Behavior Modification. Over the next ten years, guided by the resistance-free training techniques of Richard Shrake and merging the knowledge of many other trainers from multiple equestrian disciplines (such as Major Anders Lindgren of the Swedish Olympic Team in Dressage, Rick Noffsinger in Driving, Bruce Davidson, Denny Emerson and Jim Graham of the US Olympic Team in Combined Training, Steve Schwartzenberger and Al Dunning in Reining and some of the very best Western trainers like Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt, Buck Branaman, John Lyons, Pat Parelli and Clinton Anderson) I used only the very best theories and techniques they had to offer. I combined them into a comprehensive management and training program that I called Training Mules and Donkeys.
My evolving techniques proved successful in showing my animals in both Horse and Mule Shows. In 1984 Lucky Three Sundowner became the World Champion Bridle Reined Mule at Bishop Mule Days in Bishop, California. He then became the World Champion 3rd level Dressage Mule in 1992, and again in 1993, while working at home at 4th Level Dressage.
During the 1970s and early 1980s, most competitive equestrian events were closed to mules and donkeys. In 1986 I lobbied the United States Dressage Federation (U.S.D.F.) Convention, wrote campaign letters, and held forums and discussions with various breed organizations in an effort to change the U.S.D.F. rules to include mules and donkeys in competition. Mules were eventually limited to schooling shows only, and not allowed at the upper levels in the U.S.D.F. shows that were governed by the A.H.S.A. I diligently worked with other mule enthusiasts to get mules accepted by the A.H.S.A. On January 18, 2004, mules were finally accepted by the A.H.S.A., now called the United States Equestrian Federation (U.S.E.F.). The rule was approved with consideration. Mules were now accepted in the Dressage Division of the U.S.E.F.
In 1990 my Sire-Supreme jack donkey, Little Jack Horner, jumped four feet in exhibition at Bishop Mule Days, winning a Special Award and making him the only formal jumping donkey in the world.
HOLLYWOOD MULES & THEIR TRAINERS
The film titled Hollywood Horses focuses on the great Silver Screen Movie Horses from the old Hollywood movies, westerns, frontier epics, and the Trainers Cowboys, Wranglers and rental stables.
Information on Hollywood’s movie stable owner Fat Jones, and others including Glen Randall, Corky Randall, Tom Sweet, Ralph McCutcheon, Jack Lindell, Les Hilton, Kenny Lee, Denny Allen, Dave Richardson, and two women who ran a business together, Stevie Myers and Joan Edwards. Many have since passed away – and in several instances, their children, are running the remaining stables. Fat was in business until his death in 1963. Then it was sold to Dyke Johnson whom is NOT related to actor Ben Johnson. Ben also started out as a wrangler and was Fat’s son-in-law.
This is a tribute to the old horses and the popularity they enjoyed from the 1930’s to the 1960’s. The Californian local history of the San Fernando Valley where the rental stables were located and many films were shot. In the early days, before large trailers were used to haul the horses to their location, wranglers and cowboys would round them up herding them to the movie sets. The old western cattle driving technique met the modern world of motion picture making.
What attributes are desired in film animals? They must be manageable, but they will also need to have attributes that are complementary to their roles in the script.
How are the animals paid and who receives the payment? The animals are leased from various stables with their trainers that are in the business of making them available to Hollywood Producers. The stable receives payment for the loan of the animals.
Are there rules regarding how often the animal(s) get a break and for how long? The animals would be governed by each State’s animal advocacy groups like PETA, ASPCA, Humane Society, etc.
MULE AND DONKEY TRAINING FOR FILM
Donkeys and horses are frequently used over mules in films because they are easier to train for specific roles.
Mules are often found in the background of numerous films
Mules have specific likes and dislikes when it comes to people so actors with an “attitude” could have problems with them.
Horses frequently have more “starring” roles in films.
Rumors about Longears supersede the reality of their true character and skill.
Training horses for movie roles is a fascinating process that combines equine expertise, patience, and creativity, but much of the training used is “Old School.”
Here are some key steps involved that are used primarily with horses. They don’t always work well with mules the way they execute the training. You MUST train mules the way that horses SHOULD be trained. That is probably why the mules don’t seem to have very many leading roles.
Desensitization:
Horses need to become comfortable with unusual sights, sounds, and props they’ll encounter on set. Trainers gradually introduce them to things like cameras, lights, costumes, and loud noises.
Basic Obedience: Horses must respond to cues reliably. They learn commands like “walk,” “trot,” “canter,” and “stop.” Rein pressure, leg cues, and voice commands play a crucial role.
Stunt Training: For action scenes, horses learn to perform specific movements, such as rearing, bucking, or falling. Stunt doubles may handle these challenging sequences.
Trick Training: Horses can learn tricks like bowing, nodding, or lying down. These add flair to character interactions.
Mounted Actors: Horses must adapt to different actors’ riding styles. They practice working with specific performers to build trust and coordination.
Trail Exposure:
Movie sets often involve outdoor locations. Horses train on trails, bridges, and uneven terrain.
Crowd Scenes: Horses learn to remain calm amidst crowds, crew, and other animals.
Transportation Training: Loading onto trailers or standing still during transport scenes is essential.
Emotional Scenes: Horses can convey emotions. Trainers work on expressions like fear, curiosity, or relaxation.
Safety Measures: Trainers prioritize safety, using protective gear and ensuring horses are comfortable.
Remember, each horse has its own individual personality and learning pace. Patience, positive reinforcement, and understanding contribute to successful equine performances on the big screen!
People might be surprised at the number of films where you can find mules and donkeys. Mostly, they were used as “stand-ins,” but as time passed and the old rumors became diluted, they claimed their place in the film industry. Here are some of the more popular movies that were produced with Longears starring roles, but there are even more where they are shown in a positive light.
Any unusual moments on film that you would like to share?
When we were filming and doing the narration for Jasper: The Story of a Mule with Animator, Bill Melendez, our narrator, Lee Horsley and I went for a ride on my mules. He had a scar on his face, so I asked him about it. During a shoot, he was thrown to the ground when his horse tripped and fell. He was rushed to the hospital, treated for a broken nose and jaw, and then had to return to the set to finish his shoot right afterward. That was when I discovered how merciless Hollywood could be…it’s all about the money! I think Lee decided that day that he’d rather ride a mule!
LONGEARS MOVIES. Mules may not have played a lot of starring roles, but they have always been “Stand-ins” in the background of historic movies and hold a very special place in people’s hearts that know them. Rumors have it that mules and donkeys are stubborn and not a pleasant animal to ride. Their history actually proves otherwsie. They have an incredible sense of self-preservation and will not be forced to put themselves at risk. When treated with a polite attitude and the right approach, there is no better equine as a companion…they wil keep you SAFE if you are willing to listen to them!
OBJECTIVE BURMA! (Errol Flynn – Merrill’s Marauders – Parachute Mules into Burma 1945) Objective Burma is a gripping war drama film that was released in the year 1945. The movie stars the legendary actor Errol Flynn in the lead role, along with James Brown and William Prince. The film is directed by Raoul Walsh and is considered to be one of the best war movies of all time. The movie takes place during World War II in the year 1942. A group of American soldiers, led by Captain Nelson (Errol Flynn) are sent on a mission to destroy a Japanese radar station in Burma. The mission is considered to be one of the most dangerous military operations of the time and the soldiers have to face numerous obstacles along the way.
The film begins with the soldiers being dropped off by the Allied Forces near the Burmese border. They trek through the dense jungle, where they have to fight off various enemies and dangerous animals. Finally, they reach the location of the radar station and successfully destroy it.
However, things take a turn for the worse when a group of Japanese soldiers spot the Americans and decide to retaliate. In the ensuing battle, many of the American soldiers are killed or captured by the enemy forces. Captain Nelson, along with a handful of soldiers, manages to flee and seek refuge in the jungle.
The remaining soldiers are faced with the daunting task of trying to make their way back to their base, which is located hundreds of miles away. They have to navigate through the treacherous jungle, evade the enemy forces that are pursuing them, and survive without proper food and water.
As they journey deeper into the jungle, the soldiers come across a tribe of friendly Burmese people who agree to help them on their journey. Together, they face numerous challenges and obstacles, including hostile Japanese troops, natural disasters, and unpredictable terrain.
Throughout the movie, the soldiers are confronted with the brutal reality of war and are forced to rely on their training and instinct to survive. The performances of the lead actors, especially Errol Flynn, are remarkable and bring a sense of authenticity and credibility to the film.
In conclusion, Objective Burma is a timeless classic that captures the true essence of war. It showcases the bravery and courage of the soldiers who fought for their country, as well as the hardships and struggles they had to endure. The movie is a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made by those who fought in World War II, and it remains a must-watch for anyone interested in war movies.
MULE TRAIN (Gene Autry 1950) The film was released on February 22, 1950, by Columbia Pictures. Prospectors have discovered a natural cement mine that yields material of astonishing durability. But greedy contractor Sam Brady enjoys a monopoly on the transportation of crushed rock, which is being used to build a local dam. U.S. Marshal Gene Autry, however, discovers that Brady has used this method before, and his dams always burst shortly after construction, flooding entire towns. Despite Brady’s power, Autry campaigns to have the new dam made of cement.
FRANCIS THE TALKING MULE (Donald O’Connor 1950-56)
The book and film series focused on the exploits of Francis, an experienced Army mule, and Peter Stirling (played by Donald O’Connor), the young soldier whom he befriends. Francis then stays with Peter through civilian life and back in the military. In the original 1950 film, the mule identifies himself to the commanding general as “Francis…123rd Mule Detachment…[serial number] M52519.” With a plot device like the later series Mister Ed, Francis would usually talk only to Peter, thus causing problems for his nominal “master.”
As the titles indicated, each film had a different setting or gimmick, exposing the world-wise mule and the naive GI to race track excitement, the world of journalism, and many branches of the military, from West Point to the WACs to the Navy. The basic plots were fairly similar, however. Stirling, with the sage but sardonic advice of Francis (gleaned from overhearing generals plan strategy or from discussions with other equines), would triumph over his own incompetence. However, inevitably he would be forced to reveal that his adviser was a mule, and be subject to mental analysis (sometimes more than once per film) until the grand reveal, when Francis displayed his talent (usually either to individuals, or to a large group). Some of the Francis films had animated trailers.
Francis (1950) a.k.a. Francis the Talking Mule
Francis Goes to the Races (1951)
Francis Goes to West Point (1952)
Francis Covers the Big Town (1953)
Francis Joins the WACS (1954)
Francis in the Navy (1955)
Francis in the Haunted House (1956)
The mule who appeared on-screen was a female named Molly, selected because she was easy to handle. She was purchased from Ed Frazier in Drexel, Missouri. According to author Pauline Bartel, Universal Studio paid $350 for the animal but made millions from the film series. Mollywas trained by Les Hilton, an apprentice of Will Rogers; Hilton went on to train Bamboo Harvester, the horse that played Mister Ed. To create the impression that the mule was actually talking, Hilton used a thread fed into the animal’s mouth which would cause Molly to try to remove it by moving her lips, the same technique used for Mister Ed.
DEATH VALLEY DAYS (Stanley Andrews as “The Old Ranger”, first host of Death Valley Days 1952-1970) Death Valley Days is one of the first anthology series to appear on television, featuring different characters and stories each episode.[5] The stories were based in fact, all within the legends and lore of California’s Death Valley. Style varied by episode, with some being drama and others comedy. Most were human-interest stories of miners and homesteaders in Death Valley, where borax was mined.As the series continued on the air, episodes began to focus on nearly any portion of the American West, not just the Death Valley country. Most episodes portrayed events in the late 19th century, the heyday of the “Old West”. Some, however, were set in much earlier times, especially the Spanish colonial era, and a few recounted stories from the early 20th century. Each of the 452 television episodes was introduced by a host. The longest running was “The Old Ranger,” a character played by veteran actor Stanley Andrews from 1952 to 1964. While the series followed the anthology format, with all new stories and characters in each episode, the series utilized many character actors over its 18-year run.
GUNSMOKE (James Arness & Ken Curtis & Mule Ruth 1955-1975) Curtis remains best known for his role as Festus Haggen, the scruffy, cantankerous, and illiterate deputy in Gunsmoke. He joined the regular Gunsmoke cast in 1964, superseding the previous deputy, Chester Goode, played by Dennis Weaver. While Marshal Matt Dillon had a total of five deputies over two decades, Festus held the role the longest (11 years), in 304 episodes. Festus was patterned after “Cedar Jack” (Frederick Munden), a man from Curtis’ Las Animas childhood. Cedar Jack, who lived 15 miles south of town, made a living cutting cedar fence posts. Curtis observed many times that Jack came to Las Animas, where he would often end up drunk and in Curtis’ father’s jail. Festus’ character was known, in part, for the nasally, twangy, rural accent which Curtis developed for the role, but which did not reflect Curtis’ actual voice.
LEGEND OF THE LOST (John Wayne 1957) Legend of the Lost is a 1957 Italian-American adventure film produced and directed by Henry Hathaway, shot in Technirama and Technicolor by Jack Cardiff, and starring John Wayne, Sophia Loren, and Rossano Brazzi. The location shooting for the film took place near Tripoli, Libya.In Timbuktu, experienced guide Joe January (John Wayne) reluctantly joins a Saharan treasure hunting expedition led by Paul Bonnard (Rossano Brazzi), a man obsessed with confirming his dead father’s claim to have found a lost city. Dita (Sophia Loren), a woman of dubious reputation, becomes infatuated with Paul and his willingness to overlook her past. She invites herself along, despite Joe’s protests. During the tough, dry ordeal, Joe and Dita become attracted to each other, raising tensions.Just as they run out of water, they stumble upon the ancient city and a well. There, they find three human skeletons, a woman and two men. It becomes evident that Paul’s father had found his woman in the arms of his guide, killed them and then himself. There is also no obvious treasure to be found. Paul’s faith in his father is shattered and he becomes drunk.
However; they find the treasure after Joe deciphers the clues left by Paul’s father in his bible. They load it and prepare to leave in the morning. Paul makes an attempt to seduce Dita; she rejects him and he gets into a fight with Joe, who protects her. Joe and Dita wake up to find that Paul had sneaked away during the night, taking all the animals, supplies and treasure with him and leaving his companions to die.
Joe and Dita pursue him on foot and eventually catch up. Paul is unconscious from dehydration. While Joe and Dita dig for desperately needed water, Paul regains consciousness. He buries the treasure and attacks Joe from behind with a knife. Dita shoots and kills Paul. When they spot a caravan approaching in the distance, Joe and Dita are saved.
MR ED (1961-1966 The horse Bamboo Harvester portrayed Ed throughout the run. Ed’s stable mate, a quarter horse named Pumpkin, also served as Bamboo Harvester’s stunt double for the show. Pumpkin later appeared again in the television series Green Acres.Bamboo Harvester’s trainer was Les Hilton. To create the impression that Ed was having a conversation, Hilton initially used a thread technique he had employed for Lubin’s earlier Mule films; in time, though, this became unnecessary. As actor Alan Young recounted: “It was initially done by putting a piece of nylon thread in his mouth. But Ed actually learned to move his lips on cue when the trainer touched his hoof. In fact, he soon learned to do it when I stopped talking during a scene! Ed was very smart.”
BRIGHTY OF THE GRAND CANYON (Joseph Cotten – January 1966) Based on the novel Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry (New York, 1953).
DINGUS MCGEE (Frank Sinatra, George Kennedy – Mules Pulling Stagecoach 1970) Hoke Birdsill rides into Yerkey’s Hole demanding the law take action because Dingus Magee has robbed him. Since no law exists, the mayor, Belle, who also runs the town’s bordello, sees to it that Hoke himself becomes the new sheriff. Dingus keeps getting away with his crimes, helped by Anna Hot Water, his young Indian companion, but when he tries to steal from Belle, he finds Hoke has beaten him to it. Hoke and his mule enjoy being on the other side of the law, so Dingus turns the tables, becoming sheriff to go after him. After being rivals for so long, Dingus and Hoke eventually team up, burning Belle’s brothel to the ground.
TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA (Clint Eastwood & Shirley Maclaine 1970) Just after the American Civil War, a former soldier named Hogan rides up on a naked woman about to be raped by bandits. He kills the bandits and discovers the woman is a nun, Sister Sara, who is raising money to assist Mexican revolutionaries fighting French occupying forces. When Sara requests that Hogan take her to the Mexican camp, he agrees, as he had previously arranged to help the revolutionaries attack the French garrison in exchange for half the garrison’s treasury.As the duo heads towards the camp, evading French troops all the while, Hogan is surprised that the nun swears and drinks whiskey. While on their way to destroy a French ammunition train, Hogan is shot at by Yaquis and seriously wounded with an arrow. Sara is able to tend to his wounds, and she is able to set the charges that Hogan detonates to destroy the train. Eventually the two reach Juarista commander Col. Beltran’s camp. Sara begs the local villagers for money needed to purchase dynamite for the assault on the garrison. In the lead-up to the attack, Sara reveals to Hogan that she is not a nun, but a prostitute posing as a nun because she is wanted by the French for her support of the revolutionaries. Although Hogan is shocked, the two team up to infiltrate the fort and let a squad of revolutionaries in through a trapdoor, while two other squads attack the gates and a fourth act as sharpshooters.
Expecting the French army to be drunk for Bastille Day, they instead find that the train’s destruction has put the garrison on high alert. Hogan and Sara infiltrate the fortress by Hogan posing as a bounty hunter who has captured Sara and is turning her in for the reward. The ruse works, and Hogan and Sara engage the French commanding officers while the garrison’s gates are breached for the Mexican revolutionaries to swarm through. A battle ensues; the French are defeated, and the Mexicans capture the fort. As promised, Hogan receives half the riches. Now wealthy and with his job completed, Hogan sets off with Sara, with whom he has fallen in love, to open a gambling house in San Francisco.
GUS (Don Knotts & Tim Conway 1976) Low-ranking football team The California Atoms are at a constant loss until they recruit a new player – a mule named Gus. It turns out that Gus is an amazing placekicker with a 100-yard field goal ability! Just as the Atoms begin to leave their losing streak in the dust, crooks attempt to kidnap their new star. Whether it’s a surefooted race to the goal posts or a riotous chase down the supermarket aisles, the action in this Disney favorite is sure to make your family cheer!
MULE FEATHERS (Rory Calhoun & Don Knotts 1978) A preacher travels with a telepathic mule In this Western comedy, a sagebrush flim-flam man makes a career out of swindling naive settlers and pulling off the occasional train robbery.
THE APPLE DUMPLING GANG (& RIDES AGAIN– Don Knotts, Tim Conway & a mule named Clarise1975) Set in the Wild West in the year 1879, a slick gambler named Russell Donovan (Bill Bixby) comes to the town of Quake City en-route to open a casino in New Orleans. In Quake City, Donovan meets his old associate, John Wintle. Wintle is leaving for San Francisco that night and asks Donovan to sign for valuables coming in on tomorrow’s stagecoach. Donovan accepts a down payment and promises to pick up the valuables. The next day, Donovan realizes he has been duped into taking care of three little orphans, Bobby, Clovis, and Celia Bradley. The stagecoach driver Magnolia “Dusty” Clydesdale (Susan Clark) explains that Wintle is in fact the children’s relative and their legal guardian. With him gone and Donovan promising to care for the “valuables”, they are now wards of Donovan. The town’s sheriff, barber, Justice of the Peace, and judge Homer McCoy (Harry Morgan) tells Donovan that he is legally obligated unless he can have someone else take custody of the children.
THE POSTMAN (Kevin Costner 1997) In a post-apocalyptic world in 2013, an unnamed nomad wanders the scattered communities of the Utah flatlands, trading performances of long-forgotten Shakespearean plays for food and water. At one town, the nomad is forced at gunpoint into the ranks of the Holnists that killed his mule. This neo-feudalist militia, brand him on his shoulder with their symbol, a figure 8. The Holnists, under their leader, General Bethlehem, are the de facto authority in the area, collecting tribute and recruits from local towns. When the nomad escapes, he takes refuge in a long-deceased postman’s mail vehicle.With the postman’s uniform and mail bag, he arrives in the settlement of Pineview claiming to be from the newly-restored U.S. government. He convinces Pineview’s leader, Sheriff Briscoe, to let him in by showing a letter addressed to elderly villager Irene March. The postman inspires a teenager named Ford Lincoln Mercury, who asks to be sworn in as a member of the postal service and even helps him to reactivate the long abandoned post office in the town. When the postman leaves for the town of Benning, he carries a pile of mail left at the post office door by the townspeople.
In a recitation of King Henry V’s speech prior to the siege of Harfleur, the postman rallies himself and his followers to war. The mounted carriers and Holnists meet across a field. Not wanting any more carnage, the postman instead challenges Bethlehem to a personal hand-to-hand duel, with their troops as witnesses, which is his privilege due to once having been a member of Bethlehem’s troops. The postman wins the fight but spares Bethlehem’s life to maintain morale.
Thirty years later, the postman’s grown daughter Hope, accompanied by other public figures and servicemen (including postal workers), speaks at a ceremony unveiling a bronze statue by territorial waters in St. Rose, Oregon, in tribute to her father, who has recently died (1973–2043).
MULE PEOPLE (Ted Faye – Gold Creek Productions 1997) People who appreciate mules are a unique breed of folks. In this video you’ll get to know some of them at Bishop Mule Days in Bishop, California. You’ll meet eleven-year-old Cameron Brooks along with trainers Cindy Powell and Jerry Villines whose mules, they all claim, can do anything a horse can do…only better. Hang onto your hats for a wild ride with Ron “Tash” Hudson. Then share in the poignant climatic moments as Mr. Jensen has to sell his pride and joy. His 20 well-trained mules, and all of his wagons. If you didn’t know any before, after watching this video, you’ll be glad you met these…Mule People.
MULE FOR SALE (Ted Faye – Gold Creek Productions 2003) Join the fun and excitement of the world’s largest mule auction. Filmmaker Ted Faye takes you on a journey to Dickon, Tennessee where Dickie and Rufus Reese carry on a family tradition: The Reese Brothers Mule Auction. Find out why people buy mules, what they are used for and where the mules end up. We follow a mule from the time it is brought to the auction to the time it is sold. Discover the story of the mule and meet the people who buy and sell them. An intriguing look at the event that few have experienced first-hand.
LONGEARS EVERYWHERE (Video Mike Kerson 2004) Bishop Mule Days with Jerry Tindell & Video Mike: Twitchell, Von (Actor), Shields, Bonnie (Actor), Kerson, Mike (Director) Format: DVD
HOOVES AND ROSES (Video Mike Kerson 2006) Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade
LOVE THOSE LONGEARS (Video Mike Kerson 2006) Video Mike is passionate about equines – and all his love and respect for both the critters and their people shines through in this video. Every year Video Mike produces an action-packed Bishop Mule Days Highlights video, and each year he chooses some aspect of the week-long event for a more in-depth look.
MULES ON SNOWSHOES (Video Mike Kerson 2006 ) Bill Balfrey’s family came to the remote Northern California town of Etna by covered wagon in the 1850’s. As Bill was growing up, he made friends with the Smith brothers, Bill and Ralph, who, in the early 1900’s, delivered the mail by mule train from Etna to Sawyers Bar and points down river. Come along with the two Bills, Ralph and others as they take us back to a time when tunnels had to be hand-dug through the 10-foot snowdrifts, the mules wore snowshoes, and the mail was delivered!
CHASING THE RAINBOW: ADVENTURES OF THE DESERT PROSPECTORS (Ted Faye – Gold Creek Productions 2007) The last great Gold Rush in America played out in the deserts of Nevada and California. It began with those who roamed the barren hills seeking their fortune. Most traveled with their tools, some food, a blanket and a jackass. They were called single-blanket-jackass-prospectors. Most never made the fortune they sought, but many discovered something else: freedom and a kind of peace in the wilderness and every now and then, some wild times in the local towns. This the story o those who spent their lives “Chasing the Rainbow.”
TOMMY AND THE COOL MULE (Grant Barker & Ice T 2009) Tommy Braxton’s father goes to war and never returns, forcing Tommy to become the man of the house and help support his mom and sister. Tommy makes a friend and finds a way to save his family’s farm when he meets Jackie-A – a talking mule. Against all odds, Tommy and Jackie-A triumph in a race over the other bullies and their horses in the country stock show, in a spectacular display of resolve and determination that caps off a winning family adventure!
SEASONS: A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A PACK STATION (Video Mike Kerson 2010) Follow the Virginia Lakes Pack Outfit through springtime preparations, competing at Bishop Mule Days, and on to the summer pack season. You’ll ride with guests, scientists, and government work parties into the spectacular Eastern Sierra Wilderness, and experience back country life at its finest. You’ll meet the people who work at the pack station, as well as the guests. Take a look behind the scenes as problems are solved, crises are met, and the crew lives the disappearing life of the back country. With the coming of autumn, the pack station gets ready for winter, and the cycle begins again.
HITCH UP YOUR MULE & THE HIDDEN TRAIL (Ted Faye – Gold Creek Productions 2010) Hitch up your mules, mule-skinner Bobby Tanner of Bishop, California shows how to hitch up a 20-Mule Team. Bobby has revived the art of driving a long line of animals with a single rope called a jerk line, which is tied to a lead mule. The Hidden Trail is an expedition to the China Lakes Naval Air Weapons Station in the Mojave Desert to retrace the historic route of the Twenty Mule Team from Death Valley. Ruts from the original Twenty Mule Team can still be seen.
BISHOP MULE DAYS (Video Mike Kerson 2011-2019) At 4000’ elevation, Bishop is nestled between two beautiful mountain ranges midway between Los Angeles, California and Reno, Nevada on U.S. Highway 395. Bishop is the center for recreational activity in the Eastern Sierra. In addition to the packing activities specific to the region, there are activities such as fishing, hiking, hunting, and fantastic sight-seeing of fall colors, mountains, creeks, and high desert. World class skiing is also available on nearby Mammoth Mountain in Mammoth Lakes, California.Mule Days is a six-day event that takes place each year Tuesday to Sunday the week before Memorial Day. Mule Days is held on the Tri-County Fairgrounds in Bishop, California. Our 14-show event begins with preliminaries on Tuesday through Thursday and features event finals, comic events and packing events Friday through Sunday. Video Mike Kerson has been filing this from 2011-2019.
At 4000’ elevation, Bishop is nestled between two beautiful mountain ranges midway between Los Angeles, California and Reno, Nevada on U.S. Highway 395. Bishop is the center for recreational activity in the Eastern Sierra. In addition to the packing activities specific to the region, there are activities such as fishing, hiking, hunting, and fantastic sight-seeing of fall colors, mountains, creeks, and high desert. World class skiing is also available on nearby Mammoth Mountain in Mammoth Lakes, California.
Mule Days is a six-day event that takes place each year Tuesday to Sunday the week before Memorial Day. Mule Days is held on the Tri-County Fairgrounds in Bishop, California. Our 14-show event begins with preliminaries on Tuesday through Thursday and features event finals, comic events and packing events Friday through Sunday.
PALOUSE THRESHING BEE (Video Mike Kerson 2012) The Palouse Empire Threshing Association holds an old-fashioned wheat threshing bee in Colfax, Washington – the heart of the Palouse. Using only authentic, original equipment and raft animals, the public is treated to a day of living history, featuring the majesty of draft horses and mules.
THE TWENTY MULE TEAM OF DEATH VALLEY (Ted Faye – Gold Creek Productions 2012) This program will show you how the Twenty Mule Team rose from a mundane means of transportation to become a national icon. Using spectacular, original color film, archival footage, photographs and reenactments, this documentary brings to life the Twenty Mule Team of Death Valley.
HISTORY OF THE ARMY MULES (2013) Just outside of Fort Brag on a ranch in Lumber Bridge North Carolina there are two brothers mules unaware of how their lives are about to change forever. These animals the embodiment of strength hardiness and perseverance are about to embark on a journey that will lead them through the gates of the world’s Premier leader development institution. They are about to take their place in history as the new generation of mascots for the corps of cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point. The tradition of mules as mascots for the Army dates back to 1899. Mules were an obvious choice. The mule reflects the long-standing usefulness of the animal in the United States Army, enabling soldiers to perform military operations, transporting guns, supplies and ammunition. Strong, hardy and durable, the mule is the perfect symbol for the corps of cadets. Not much was known about the official mules until 1936 when Mr. Jackson, named for Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson, arrived from Fort Royal, Virginia. Starting with him there have been 15 official mules: Poncho, Hannibal 1, K.C. MO, Trotter, Hannibal 2, Buckshot, Spartacus, Ranger I, Blackjack, Traveler and Trooper. At time this video was made, the members of the current and now retiring mule Corps are Raider, Ranger I and General Scott.We bid farewell and honor them for their service and now, as the Legacy continues, the two new mascots embark on their Journey several hundred miles north to West Point’s hallowed grounds just outside the greatest city in the world. They will be entering into a story of tradition where their presence represents inspiration, strength and steadfast perseverance They will help to reinforce the motto of duty, honor and country that continues to sustain the corps of cadets and the long gray line. Currently, those who have been added are: Ranger II, Stryker, Raider, Ranger III and Paladin.
STORM RIDER is a 2013 American drama film written and directed by Craig Clyde and starring Kevin Sorbo, Kristy Swanson and C. Thomas Howell. It was filmed in Wallsburg, Utah.Cast:
Kevin Sorbo as Sam Fielding
Kristy Swanson as Jody Peterson
Danielle Chuchran as Dani Fielding
Jacob Buster as Jordan Fielding
Darien Willardson as Kevin Winslow
Sam Sorbo as Vanessa Fielding
Terence Goodman as Cameron Winslow
C. Thomas Howell as Mitch
Sarah Bernstein as Brooke
Jacque Grey as Marie Houghton
Amanda Swanson as Addy Jane
Joey Miyashima as Sheriff Kikuchi
Edwin L. Carpenter of The Dove Foundation gave it a positive review, writing that it “is well worth your time.” Tracy Moore of Common Sense Media gave the film two stars out of five.
THE MULE (Clint Eastwood 2018) The Mule is a 2018 American crime drama film starring and directed by Clint Eastwood, who also produced with Dan Friedkin, Jessica Meier, Tim Moore, Kristina Rivera, and Bradley Thomas. The screenplay, written by Nick Schenk, is based on the 2014 The New York Times article “The Sinaloa Cartel’s 90-Year-Old Drug Mule” by Sam Dolnick, which recounts the story of Leo Sharp, a World War II veteran in his 80s who became a drug courier for the Sinaloa Cartel. Toby Keith contributed the theme song “Don’t Let the Old Man In”, which reached number 41 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart and became Keith’s highest-charting single since “Drunk Americans” reached number 27 in early 2015.
LOST SEA EXPEDITION (Bernie Harberts 2019) The true story of a lone 14-month wagon voyage across America. Filmed by Bernie Harberts, it is a tale of water and desert, loneliness and companionship. Lakota, Christian and secular beliefs about the origin of a land. Harberts, his mule and his lens capture the essence of the American West. The Lost Sea Expedition is the story of a solo mule wagon voyage across America. Because mule Polly and I (Bernie Harberts) traveled alone, without a film crew or chase vehicle, It took a lot of people and communities to turn the experience in to a series for Public Television. This is where we thank them. The credit list is ongoing. If you were part of the Lost Sea Expedition series and didn’t find yourself on the list (hey, some days I forgot to hook Polly’s traces chains too…) then drop us a line.
TWO SINNERS AND A MULE (Cam Gigandet 2023) Two ladies of pleasure were kicked out of town and run across a Bounty Hunter shot to hell. After nursed back to health, the ladies decide he needs their help to track down, Gila Grimes, a ruthless, murdering bandit, for half of the bounty.
Mules and donkeys are working their way into the hearts of many people in this new Industrial Age. Horses have been used for so many films for decades, but the unique character of mules and donkeys are drawing attention from everyone…everywhere!
Now it is time for your donkey to learn to move laterally. Lateral movements are essential to the overall balance and posture of your donkey. It will improve muscle strength throughout his body and will reduce the risk of injury or soreness while he is being ridden or driven.
You can begin his lateral work on the drivelines in the large arena. Begin by driving your donkey through the hourglass pattern (after review). As he approaches the first corner cone, ask him to circle it and then turn down the centerline instead of moving down the short side to the next cone. Let him move straight for a few steps, and then, with your assistant at his head, ask him to move forward and sideways away from your circle. The centrifugal force from the circle should send him onto the diagonal with little resistance and your assistant will be in front to keep him from just running forward. If he is to move laterally to the right, you should make a small circle to the left and drift out and onto the right diagonal. If he is to move laterally to the left, you should circle to the right and allow him to drift out and onto the left diagonal. As your donkey is on the circle, maintain the bend with a shortened inside rein. As he comes up the centerline, maintain the bend as he moves forward on the straight line, then begin to give distinct pulls and releases on the outside rein to encourage him to follow it, and back this up with a light tap of the whip on his opposite hip if he does not begin to move diagonally. As he begins to walk diagonally, so should you—step for step. Pull the outside rein in unison with his front legs, pulling back when the outside leg comes back, allowing freedom for the front leg that is to cross over. It takes a little coordination, so don’t be discouraged if things aren’t working well the first few times. Just keep practicing and you will eventually get it, and so will your donkey!
As he gets better at the lateral walk this way, you can add various patterns, which will increase his lateral response. And above all, do not forget those verbal commands: “Haw-over” for left and “Gee-over” for right. You have made it easy for him by asking him to perform the lateral response out of the circle. Another circular lateral response is the spiral. Have him walk in a large circle and spiral down to a very small circle. Then ask him to gradually work back onto the larger circle again by spiraling out in a yielding fashion. Watch his legs to make sure he is crossing over properly.
Now it is time for him to listen even more carefully to your rein and whip cues. You will begin to ask him to change his bend for you before he moves laterally. Walk the perimeter of the arena and this time, you will circle on the second corner. When he has completed the circle and his nose comes to the diagonal track, ask him to halt and move his hindquarters over until he is parallel to the long-side rail. Then give the proper cues for the direction in which you wish to travel, as designated earlier. This exercise helps promote good listening skills on the part of your donkey and more increased coordination for yourself. There are several different variations on this theme. The first time you will want to cross the long diagonal (see diagram), allowing your donkey all the time he will need to complete the lateral exercise with the least amount of angle.
As he becomes more adept, you can teach your donkey to cross the short diagonal from the corner to the middle of the long side of your arena. Then proceed straight through the next corner to the second cone and repeat (see diagram).Always be sure to stop, correct the bend, and then proceed—one step at a time if necessary. He can learn to cross two short diagonals by circling at the middle of the rail on the long side after the first short diagonal, then proceeding laterally to the corner. Two short diagonals would create a change of lateral direction, so be sure to execute your cues very concisely with pauses between your transitions. Circle, halt, move hindquarters, move laterally, halt at the center of the long side, change to the bend of the new circle, complete circle, halt, move hindquarters, move laterally. Take it one segment at a time, one step at a time.
Next you will ask him to move laterally through the hourglass pattern, with a change of direction in the center of the arena. Move into the short side of the arena, pass the first cone and go on to the second corner. Circle at the second cone and halt, move his hindquarters over until he is parallel to the long side then proceed laterally to the center cone gate. At the gate, circle around the cone nearest the rail from which you began, halt, move his hindquarters and continue laterally to the next corner, which should be on the same long side on which you started (see diagram). Continue around the cone, across the short side to the next cone, and repeat as before to complete the hourglass. Use an assistant to help direct your donkey in the beginning and fade out the assistant as your donkey understands and complies with your wishes. Do all of these exercises at the walk until he is impeccable. Then you can drive him through them at the trot with slows and halts in appropriate places.
If your donkey is large enough and seems to react better when you are in the saddle, you can begin these exercises mounted and teach him the ground-driving afterwards. Donkeys are very different in the way they each learn. The other consideration is your own skills. Handling drivelines is sometimes really tricky and you may be better with reins, legs and a crop than you are with drivelines and a whip. The important thing is that you give your donkey a clear message as to what is expected, so he can learn easily and without resistance. Just remember that, when you are riding, your cues need to be just as clear as they are when you drive him. You need to tell him verbally what is expected at each segment of the exercise and make clear pauses through transitions. Use your assistant whenever necessary to minimize resistance at any particular stage and reward your donkey lavishly for his honest attempts.
Once he has learned to drive and ride laterally in the arena, you can take your donkey to the obstacle course to put these movements to work. Begin with your assistant aiding you first in side-passing a log placed near the fence (to discourage your donkey from going forward), then a log in the open and side-passing a “T.” Try backing through two barrels in a figure-eight pattern using turns on the forehand and haunches to negotiate the pattern. Finally, teach him to move appropriately while you are opening and closing a gate, both on the drivelines and under saddle. Once he gets the idea on each obstacle, you can eliminate the assistant and ask him to take more responsibility for himself. He should be able to do everything he learns both under saddle and on the drivelines. There is no rule as to which he needs to learn first, but he should learn both under saddle and on the drivelines to be as responsive as he can possibly be, either in harness or under saddle.