Training

Well, here we are again… me and Roll back out of shape and trying to get going again. I think age is a factor for both of us! I had visions of him being able to do five rotations at walk each direction and ten rotations at trot in each direction, but it didn’t exactly work out quite that way.

Roll did a pretty good reverse although he had to hesitate and think about it first.

Tracking right, he engaged with a very slow walk with practically no impulsion and the trot was okay, but not energetic. The weather was cool which DID help.

In the other direction the walk became somewhat more animated and the trot was satisfactory.

However, he was only able to do five rotations at the trot in each direction before we were BOTH out of wind! He was so willing to give me what he had that I saw no reason to push it.

We will continue to build our wind, stamina and muscle going forward during the better weather ahead. Still, Roll is holding his core muscle strength in good posture and just naturally falls into the four-square position every time he stops…all on his own! He continues to be a happy and affectionate draft mule!

For the first time, Roll was ground driven straight out of the Tack Barn with no warm up.

On the way to the hayfield, we stopped to see the old broodmares and give them a treat!

Although we lacked impulsion getting there, Roll picked up the pace in the hayfield.

Roll walked immediately into a square halt, keeping his hind quarters well underneath.

Roll stayed well-connected to my hands through all moves for the very first time in four years!

Roll’s reinbacks were flawless…light on the lines and straight.

Roll now knows that the whip is a tool used for communication and not for punishment.

Roll understands that I do not want him to eat the grass until he is signaled and free to do so.

Roll receives his reward of crimped oats for paying attention and NOT eating the grass!

Roll finally received permission to eat the grass while I straighten the lines to continue forward.

Upon the command to “Walk on,” Roll promptly raises his head and acknowledges my request.

Roll and I stopped to check out the bronze statue of Lucky Three Eclipse.

We stopped to see the Mule Fountain in all of its splendor!

Then we said “Hello” to Lucky Three Mae Bea C.T.’s bronze driving statue.

Roll thought she was beautiful and did a little flirting!

Great lesson! Fun morning for both of us! Now back to the barn…the snowstorm is rolling in!

During Roll’s recent workouts, since his x-rays and last trim, he has felt very stilted and his movement was causing twisting in both hind feet. He was visibly tense through the croup and hip sections in his body. When I rode him, he had no impulsion and did not seem to be capable of initiating any impulsion. When we did the x-rays, there was a slight rotation in the left hind foot and not rotation in the right hind. We determined that the twisting in the right hind was due to undue stress on that leg from shifting the balance from the other three feet that all had slight rotations in the coffin bone. Our vet thought that it might make him more comfortable if we left more heel to flatten the rotation and get the coffin bone in the left hind more parallel to the ground. The result was both hind feet created a situation with ligaments and tendons that left Roll walking behind like he was on blocks with no suspension or impulsion to his gait and a twisting in BOTH hind feet. He was quite literally unable to walk correctly rocking heel-to-toe anymore and the right hind was sliding diagonally underneath his body when he walked.

When tracking straight forward in prior lessons, the visible wrinkles in his flanks were prominent as he stepped straight forward. After he was trimmed leaving more heel, the wrinkles were no longer present as the leg flattened them as it went diagonally forward. Impulsion was literally impossible for him and he had perpetual tenseness in the hind quarters. After his trim/shoeing today, he recovered immediately! We saw relaxation in the hind quarters as soon as both feet were trimmed and as he walked off, the twisting was almost gone and he bounced into an energetic impulsive trot for a few steps before I slowed him down! He had not done that for over a month! So, Roll is now happy again and ready for more lessons!

NOTE: Irregular hindquarter stance and tension in the croup due to elevated heels.

NOTE: No wrinkles at the flank and he is stepping diagonally underneath.

NOTE: Wrinkles at the flank and he is stepping straight forward.

To test this on yourself in your blue jeans, first stand in good posture with your feet together and pointed forward. Lift your right leg straight up and pointed forward. Note the wrinkles that appear in front of your hip joint (comparable to his flanks). See how your pants will wrinkle as you move your leg up and will straighten out only as you walk forward with a heel-to-toe motion in your feet and as your leg goes down and back. Now try moving your leg by just picking it straight up and diagonally forward (like walking on blocks which assimilates what Roll was experiencing by leaving his heels longer)…no wrinkles in the pants except for maybe a split second! Although the vet was correct is his assessment for an animal that is a pasture ornament, it was not correct for an animal that would be doing forced exercise. Sometimes there is a lot more than you think to consider when diagnosing lameness or irregular gait problems.

NOTE: After trim, less heel, more angle in the hind feet allowing a more correct stance and more relaxation throughout the hindquarters.

As I said above, Roll responded well and immediately to our correction for his problems. He is once again A VERY HAPPY camper!

After a couple of weeks working on flatwork leading training through the hourglass followed by a couple of lessons in the round pen, I decided to do some coordination work over the obstacles. In Stage One of obstacle training, the only task is to get through the obstacles, changing fear into curiosity. In Stage Two, we break things down into smaller steps and square up at every interval to facilitate good equine balance and add coordination to his movements.

With constant repetition, going through gates is a cinch for Roll.

The first stop is at the foot of the bridge…stop, square up and reward.

Next, we ask Roll to put two feet on the bridge, square up and reward…

…and then four feet on the bridge, square up and reward again.

Roll did this quite easily, but in this next position, you will notice how uncoordinated your mule really is. Most equines will either push through you and keep going forward, or if you hold them back, will fall off the side of the bridge and turn around to face you. This exercise helps them to become stronger and really learn to hold their balance for prolonged periods of time.

Once he has held this position for a couple of minutes, you can then walk off the bridge and square up one last time. As you can see, Roll is doing very well and has sustained his core muscle strength that enables him to be strong and coordinated in any position.

The tractor tire is a perquisite for lateral work. After learning the turns on the forehand and haunches, the tractor tire helps to finesse this movement.

In the beginning, a light tap with the end of the lead will cue him to move the hind quarters over, but once he know what is expected, a simple glance or hand signal will do as Roll is doing here.

A slight indication with the lead gets him to take those last two steps in the 360 degree movement. As a side note: the elbow pull has multiple uses and being a lead is one of them including the option of using it to tie them up, but there is a trick to how to tie it to the post or hitch rail.

Tires are a good exercise for proprioception or body awareness. It is not as important if they place their feet in the holes as it is that they place their feet strategically underneath their body in a balanced and organized fashion.

It is the same with the ground rails whether they are six inches in diameter or only one inch in diameter as shown. You know they are doing well when they don’t even move a one-inch PVC pipe (as they are easily kicked out of the way). Roll is VERY careful in his foot placement!

The Back-Through “L” helps them to not only pay attention to foot placement…

…but also how to bend their body through the rib cage and how to strategically move their feet while keeping their body erect and in good equine posture.

Walking forward through the Back-Through “L” is easy, but backing through can get a little tricky in the middle at the right angle so make sure there is plenty of space between the rails!.

Elevated rails make it easier for them to “feel” and execute the turn correctly…

…and back easily to the end of the final section. Roll never ceases to amaze me in his willingness to perform. This was only his second time through the obstacles!

Then just for fun, we went and watched the guys dig a hole in the driveway looking for a broken waterline! It was fun for us, but not for the guys, I’m sure!

Roll had a really good leading workout today. He did do very well negotiating the gate.

Roll stayed in sync almost without a misstep during the whole lesson!

He did bend his body nicely through the rib cage around the cones.

He did seem to have a little trouble aligning his back feet. He kept getting them a little closer to each other than he has in the past, but it will improve with practice.

When I asked for more energy, he had it! A marked improvement from the beginning of his training!

Roll is rounding across the top line and stepping well underneath with his hindquarters.

Roll gets more gorgeous every day! For a mule, his mane and tail are amazing!

Lengthening his stride is no longer an issue!

He stays in sync with every step I take.

With nice clean halts…

…and exceptionally straight rein backs…

…he’s a STAR!

So what do you do together when it’s snowing outside? Roll looked like he was wearing SNOW boots when he first came into the tack barn. So, first we had to remove all of the icicles, but I had to be very careful because they don’t exactly come off easily. Roll let me know when I tugged too hard on the shedding blade and suggested that I warm them with my hand before I pulled! Good plan!

By the time I got to the back end, they had all melted!

We then decided to mess around with halters. Roll much prefers the fit and action of his nylon halter…and, it’s comfortable to wear!

The snugger fit allows him to feel the tug on the halter almost immediately and he can then comply promptly and without fear of reprisal. His ears indicate he is concentrating on stepping back with the slightest indication.

The fit and action on a rope halter is much different and it takes Roll a minute to figure out what I am asking. Note his questioning and confused look!

The halter puts uneven pressure across Roll’s face and he doesn’t seem to be confident about what to do…” Would you like me to stretch or just take a step forward?”

Because we have worked solely in the nylon halter except for the demonstration with the rope halter, he is happy to stand quietly and wait for me…no pain, no fear!

Even when we were interrupted by a loud noise, Roll remained engaged in his stretching activity. We both just turned our heads calmly to the side to see what it was!

…and then we resumed our stretching exercise in a sea of oats!

Making our way back to the paddock, Roll happily matched me stride for stride, staying in balance with good equine posture!

Roll continues to be a happy camper and always looks forward to any time he can spend with us outside of his pen and pasture areas. It has been several months since he has been worked because we have been busy with construction all summer, however, the core muscle, good posture training that he had for the past three years has drastically changed his overall health.

Because it has been so long in between workouts, I began his workout by walking him around the round pen five rotations before asking for trot. As he walked I made note of the way he was moving through his body. He was a little weak in strength, but still maintained a good rhythm and cadence to the walk with his feet landing only slightly behind his front footsteps. This was to be expected.

When he was asked to trot, he responded promptly and energetically and showed no signs of lameness even though he is still dealing with side bones on both sides of all four feet and ring bone, top and bottom in his hooves. It’s very encouraging at the age of twenty that he is sustaining good balance throughout his body such that he is not putting undue stress on those areas.

I was particularly surprised at how good his posture and balance was after so long with no work when he came to an almost perfect halt when asked to whoa.

When asked to reverse, he executed it with the finesse he had previously learned to do by first planting the pivot foot and then making a smooth turn against the fence and crossing the front legs over correctly.

He then walked in the opposite direction with regularity of cadence and rhythm and complete willingness to perform, though I could tell he was beginning to tire in the sandy ground.

When asked to trot, he responded promptly with good energy, but had to lean on the elbow pull a bit just as a ballet dancer would need to lean on a balance bar for exercises after being away from dancing for a while.

When asked to halt, again it was smooth, balanced and nearly perfect.

Roll was so proud of himself that I thought we should stop in front of the new construction for a photo op!

Dean the Shoeing Machine came by a few days later to reset Roll’s hind shoes. The shoes help him to sustain his balance and keep from wearing his toes on the hind feet. In addition, having the shoes has really helped to steady the right hind foot that used to twist when he moved.

Roll’s stretches have greatly improved as well. Where he used to have to twist his head sideways to look at me, he can now reach and keep his head straight while bending through his neck and shoulders. This is a really tough move!

Roll’s mane continues to grow long and soft with his weekly applications of Johnson’s Baby Oil that I used to soften and train his coarse mule hair to lay over like a horse’s mane. It would otherwise just keep growing straight up and fall on both sides in a rather unruly manner. That is why so many people roach the manes on mules! Roll is a beautiful boy at twenty years old and really loves being a Lucky Three mule!

Roll has learned so much since he came to us in December of 2010 and he continues to learn more each and every day. When he first arrived, he was spooky and hid behind Rock almost all the time. Since, he has learned about how important good manners are and that he will always be treated with kindness and consideration being a part of the Lucky Three Ranch. Roll enjoys his studies of “Emily Post’s Book of Etiquette!”

	Roll is not only healthy and strong at 20 years old, but his entire attitude has changed dramatically. He is calm, quiet, accepting and very careful about being around his human friends. He has been exposed to major construction and all kinds of new and potentially scary things, but he now trusts us and we trust him. Trust takes a long time to build and should not be taken for granted. Never get on your knees like this around your equine until you are absolutely sure of their good behavior and your solid relationship with them. As I said before, this takes a long time and the correct steps to reach this kind of intimate communication with your equine, but it is well worth the time invested.
Using baby oil in Roll’s mane and tail during weekly grooming has allowed his generally coarse mule mane to soften and grow long and beautiful. Mule manes are known for being really coarse and growing straight up and falling on both sides in no particular fashion. This is why they are generally roached and cut short. The fuzzy hairs at the top of his tail are now also sleek and smooth like a horse’s tail. Roll really likes looking like Fabio!
	Roll really likes his farrier Dean Geesen. The founder, side bones and ring bone he experienced in all four feet has been under control since a year after he arrived and he continues to stay sound because of the strengthened core muscles and good posture training that he received routinely for 3 years.

Roll enjoys being a part of the Lucky Three Tours and loves to have his picture taken in the park with the statues! He makes quite an elegant statue himself and we couldn’t be more proud of him!