MULE CROSSING: Donkey Training, Part I0
By Meredith Hodges
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!
To learn more about Meredith Hodges and her comprehensive all-breed equine training program, visit LuckyThreeRanch.com, MEREDITH HODGES PUBLIC FIGURE Facebook page, or call 1-800-816-7566. Check out her children’s website at JasperTheMule.com. Also, find Meredith on Pinterest, Instagram, MeWe, YouTube and Twitter.
Covered in TRAINING MULES & DONKEY: A LOGICAL APPROACH TO TRAINING, TRAINING WITHOUT RESISTANCE and EQUUS REVISITED at www.luckythreeranchstore.com.
© 1999, 2016, 2024 Lucky Three Ranch, Inc. All rights reserved.
