LTR Training Tip #6: Feeding Time – Oat Mixture
Meredith gets a lot of letters and emails from people with training questions about their equines. Here, she discusses the best way to incorporate an oats mixture into your equine’s diet.
equine training
MULE CROSSING: Rewards, Treats, Coaxing and Bribing
By Meredith Hodges
It is important to know the differences among rewards, treats, coaxing and bribing in order to correctly employ the reward system of training called Behavior Modification.
Rule Number One: Treats and bribery should never be used during training. However, the appropriate dispensing of rewards and coaxing will produce the correct behaviors.
In order to reward your equine correctly for performing tasks, it is important to know the difference between a reward and a treat, and between coaxing and bribing. Let’s begin with some basic definitions of these terms:
Reward: something desirable given for a completed task
Treat: an unexpected gift given simply because it will be enjoyed
Coax: to gently persuade without dispensing the reward
Bribe: to persuade the animal by indiscriminately dispensing treats
Remember to give your equine a reward only after a specific task you’ve asked for has been performed—or even an assimilation of that task, which means the taking of baby steps toward completing the task. The reward should be given immediately upon completion of the task and then your equine should be allowed time to enjoy his reward before moving on to the next task. If your equine is given a food reward for only good behaviors, he will be more likely to continue to repeat only those behaviors for which he is rewarded and you can begin to “shape” his behavior in a positive way.
Treats, on the other hand, are a food that your equine especially likes, which are given randomly and without purpose. Giving random treats during training can result in crossed signals and confusion in your animal. Treats such as peppermints and even “horse treats” are generally an inappropriate food source for equines and when dispensed too freely, have actually been known to cause equine health problems, so forego treats of any kind during the training process.
Coaxing and bribing can seem like the same thing, but they are not. Bribery suggests the actual dispensing of a reward before the task has been completed. Bribery is the indiscriminate dispensing of treats and is not the way to clearly communicate to your equine which is truly a positive behavior and which is not. Rewards and coaxing are often confused with bribery, but rewards are dispensed for a task only when it has been completed, and coaxing using the promise of a reward can often be used to help your equine to stop balking and attempt to perform the task you have requested. Then the reward is given only when he has completed the task.
As an example of coaxing, you can extend a handful of crimped oats to lure your equine closer to an obstacle, but he should not receive the handful of oats until he completes the required task or travels enough distance toward the obstacle to deserve a reward. If your equine just won’t come all the way to an obstacle, even to get a reward, you can modify the task by asking your equine to just come closer to the obstacle and then halt (but without backing up). Then the reward can be dispensed for the partial approach and halt, because these actions still qualify as an assimilation of the bigger task that is to be completed. If he backs away at all, he should not be rewarded and you will have to go back to the beginning of the task and try again.
A kind word or a pat on the head may be enjoyable for your equine, but it doesn’t necessarily insure that the desired behavior will be repeated. However, a food reward insures that desirable behaviors will be repeated, because food is a solid, tangible reward. The food reward will back up the petting, (the petting is something that you probably do all the time anyway). When you visit your equine, you most likely pat him on the nose or head and say hello, but there are no real demands for any particular task being asked of your equine—you and your equine are simply interacting. You’re getting him used to touch, discovering how he likes to be touched and learning about his responses, which is actually part of imprinting.
The problem with carrots, apples and other foods people use for treats is that they’re not something for which the equine will continue to work and are not healthy choices for your animal in large quantities. After a limited amount of time, equines can easily become satiated on most treats. It’s like a kid with a bunch of candy bars. Once they become full they don’t want any more candy and they’ll stop working for the treat. Many foods used as treats, when given too freely, may also cause your animal to become tense or hyperactive. However, it’s been my experience that an equine will continue to work for crimped oats as long as you dole them out. Crimped oats are healthy for the body and they don’t cause an equine to become tense and difficult to handle.
When you’re using rewards, always start with lavish rewards for all new behaviors. This means that, every time you teach something new, you’re going to give lavish rewards for even the slightest assimilation toward the correct behavior. For instance, if your foal is tied to the fence and upon your approach, he quits pulling, it’s time to try to walk away from the fence with him and see if he will follow you. In this first leading lesson, you’ll untie him and ask him to take a step toward you. If he does, lavishly reward that step toward you, wait for him to finish chewing his oats and then ask him to take another step forward and toward you. If he complies and takes another step forward, lavishly reward that step too. During the first lesson, you will be rewarding every single step he takes toward you. Remember to keep the lesson short (about 15 minutes) and ask for only as many steps as he willingly gives you.
Between lessons, let your equine have a day off in order to rest. When you return for the second lesson, tie him to the fence and review with him your last lesson from the very beginning. He should remember the previous lessons and be willing to follow you right away in order to be rewarded. If he seems willing to follow your lead, untie him and ask him to take a step forward just as he did before, but this time, instead of dispensing the food reward when he takes the first step forward, simply say, “Good boy” and ask him for a second step forward before you reward him with the oats. You will now be progressing from one step forward before you reward to two steps forward before you reward.
If he won’t take the second step forward, then give the reward for the first step, wait for him to finish chewing and ask again for two steps before rewarding him again. If he complies, you can then reward him every two steps during that lesson and quit after fifteen minutes. Give him another day between lessons and then proceed in the same manner, beginning with a review of the previous lesson, then a reward for the first step, and then for every two steps. During this lesson, you can now ask for three steps, and you can continue asking for three or more steps during this lesson, provided that he takes these steps willingly and then stops obediently on his own to receive his reward. You no longer need to count the steps as long as he is offering more steps between rewards each time. If, because of his enthusiasm, he begins to charge ahead, stop him and immediately reward him for halting. This will insure that he keeps his attention on you and the task at hand. This methodical, deliberate process is setting the stage for a positive and healthy working relationship with your equine.
This is how you begin with leading training, and also how you should proceed with all the new things that you will be teaching your equine. In the beginning of leading training, he gets rewarded for even an assimilation of what you’re asking. For example, when you get to negotiating obstacles, your goal may be to cross over a bridge, but when your equine sees the bridge ahead, he may stop or start backing up. At this point, allow him to back until he stops. Go back and repeat the steps you did prior to approaching the obstacle. Then, asking for only one step at a time, proceed as you did during his flatwork leading training toward the bridge, rewarding each step he takes. Tell him verbally how brave he is and continue to reward any steps he takes toward the obstacle before proceeding forward. Remember to stop at any interval where he becomes tense, ask for one more step to be rewarded, and then allow him to settle and refocus before asking any more from him.
Once he goes to the bridge without a problem, you no longer have to reward him all the way up to the bridge. Just reward him when he actually gets to the bridge. Next, step up onto the bridge and ask him to take a step up onto the bridge with his two front feet, which is another new task. If he puts one foot on the bridge or even tries to lift up a foot and put it on the bridge, make sure you reward that behavior. Once he has a foot firmly placed on the bridge, keep tension on the lead rope and ask for his other front foot to come up onto the bridge. If he places his second foot on the bridge, you can then reward him for having both front feet on the bridge. Next, you’re going to continue forward and just walk over the bridge to the other side, pause and reward. Then quit this lesson. In his next lesson, if needed, repeat the approach the same way if he starts to balk. If not, ask him to step both front feet up onto the bridge, stop, make sure he is standing squarely, and reward that behavior.
Now you no longer need to reward for one foot on the bridge. This is called “fading or phasing out” the reward for a previous behavior (one step), while introducing the new behavior of walking to the bridge, halting and then putting two front feet up on the bridge. Wait for a moment for him to chew his reward and then ask him to continue onto the bridge, stop and square up with four feet on the bridge and reward. If he does not comply and won’t stop on the bridge, just go back to the beginning, approach the bridge as described and try again until he stops to be rewarded with all four feet placed squarely on the bridge
Then you ask him, to place his two front feet on the ground while leaving his two back feet on the bridge. Then have him stop and square up to be rewarded. This is a difficult position and if he cannot succeed by the third attempt, you may have to step in front and aid in his balance, then reward him when he settles in this position.
The last step over the bridge is to bring the hind feet off the bridge, stop and square up one more time before he gets rewarded. This does two things. It causes your equine to be attentive to the number of steps you are asking and it puts him in good posture at each stage so that his body will develop properly. In future lessons, the steps in the approach to the bridge no longer need to be rewarded and as he becomes more attentive, he will learn to stop any time you ask and wait for your cue to proceed. After several months of this meticulous attention to these detailed steps, he will not necessarily need to be rewarded with the food reward each time—a pat on the neck and kind words of support should be sufficient. Rewards can then be given for whole “blocks” of steps when he successfully completes them.
Here is a question a lot of people ask: “This is fine while my animal and I are still working from the ground, but what happens when I finally get on to ride? Do I keep rewarding every new behavior when I ride?” The answer to that question is, “No, you don’t.” If you do your ground work correctly, it will address all the things that you’ll be doing while you’re riding before you actually even get on. Your equine has been lavishly rewarded for stopping when you pull on the reins and the drive lines, and he’s been rewarded for turning and backing and everything else he needs to learn before you actually get on him, so the only thing left to get used to would be exposure to your legs on his sides. He will soon learn that your legs push him in the direction of the turn you are indicating with your reins. For this action, he does not need to be rewarded.
In the natural progression of correct training—including during mounting training—your equine should also be getting rewarded when you’re first getting him used to your being on-board. Give him the oats reward for standing still while you attempt to mount (i.e., walking toward him, holding the left rein and reaching for the saddle horn), and then when you hang from each side of his body with a foot in the stirrup (first on one side and then on the other side), and, finally, from each side of his body while you sit on his back. When you ask him to turn his head to take the oats from your hand, you can be sure his attention will be on you because this action will force him to look at you in order to receive his oats. Then reward him again for standing still as you dismount. Consequently, by the time you actually get to the point of riding in an open arena, he’s been rewarded for having you on his back and for behaving well through all the exercises demanded from him during round pen training.
You may first want to lunge your equine when you move into the open arena. Lunge him on the lunge line and reward him during that part of your arena workout. When you are ready to mount in the open arena, have a few oats in your pockets to offer him when you mount on each side the first few times. This will ensure that his attention stays focused on you. Once he is used to being ridden, you will no longer have to reward him in the middle of riding lessons. If he does not keep his attention on his work in the open arena, this signifies that not enough time has been spent on the ground work and you should back up your training regimen to the point that he is maintaining attentiveness and performing correctly, even if it means going back to the round pen or leading work. If, in the ground work stages, you give plenty of food rewards in the correct manner, by the time you groom and tack up, your equine should have been sufficiently rewarded and will not require another reward until after your workout when you return to the work station and un-tack him. This is called delayed gratification. When you un-tack him and do your last minute grooming before putting him away, again be generous with the crimped oats and praise your equine for a job well done. Rewards are dispensed very specifically and pave the road to a solid foundation of trust and friendship.
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.
© 2013, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022 Lucky Three Ranch, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
LTR Training Tip #3: Work Stations
Meredith gets a lot of letters and emails from people with training questions about their equines. Here, she discusses how to set up a work station for tack and grooming your equine.
MULE CROSSING: Benefits of Postural Core Strength Training
By Meredith Hodges
Most equines can be taught to carry a rider in a relatively short time. However, just because they are compliant doesn’t mean their body is adequately prepared for what they will be asked to do and that they are truly mentally engaged in your partnership. We can affect our equine’s manners and teach them to do certain movements and in most cases, we will get the response that we want…at least for the moment. Most of us grow up thinking that getting the animal to accept a rider is a reasonable goal and we are thrilled when they quickly comply. When I was first training equines, I even thought that to spare them the weight of the rider when they were younger and that it would be more beneficial to drive them first as this seemed less stressful for them. Of course, I was then unaware of the multitude of tiny details that were escaping my attention due to my limited education. I had a lot to learn.
Because my equines reacted so well during training, I had no reason to believe that there was anything wrong with my approach until I began showing them. I started to experience resistant behaviors in my animals that I promptly attributed to simple disobedience. I had no reason to believe that I wasn’t being kind and patient until I met my dressage instructor, Melinda Weatherford. I soon learned that complaining about Sundowner’s negative response to his dressage lessons and blaming HIM was not going to yield any shortcuts to our success. The day she showed up with a big button on her lapel that said, “No Whining” was the end of my complaining and impatience, and the beginning of my becoming truly focused on the tasks at hand. I learned that riding through (and often repeating) mistakes did not pose any real solutions to our problems. I attended numerous clinics from all sorts of notable professionals and we improved slowly, but a lot of the problems were still present. Sundowner would still bolt and run when things got a bit awkward, but he eventually stopped bolting once I changed my attitude and approach, and when he was secure in his core strength in good equine posture.
I thought about what my grandmother had told me years ago about being polite and considerate with everything I did. Good manners were everything to her and I thought I was using good manners. I soon found that good manners were not the only important element of communication. Empathy was another important consideration…to put oneself in the other “person’s” shoes, and that could be attributed to animals as well. So, I began to ask myself how it would feel to me if I was approached and treated the way I was treating my equines. My first epiphany was during grooming. It occurred to me that grooming tools, like a shedding blade, might not feel very 
good unless I was careful about the way I used it. Body clipping was much more tolerable for them if I did the hard-to-get places first and saved the general body for last. Standing for long periods of time certainly did not yield a calm, compliant attitude when the more tedious places were left until last. After standing for an hour or more, the animal got antsy when I was trying to do more detailed work around the legs, head, flanks and ears after the body; so I changed the order. Generally speaking, I slowed my pace and eliminated any abrupt movements on my part to give the equine adequate time to assess what I would do next and approached each task very CAREFULLY. The results were amazing! I could now groom, clip bridle paths and fly spray everyone with no halters, even in their turnout areas as a herd. They were all beginning to really trust me.
There was still one more thing my grandmother had said that echoed in my brain, “You are going to be a sorry old woman if you do not learn to stand up straight and move in good posture!” Good posture is not something that we are born with. It is something that must be learned and practiced repetitiously so that it becomes habitual for it to really contribute to your overall health. Good posture begins at the core, “the innermost, essential part of anything.” In a human being, it lies behind the belly button amongst the vital organs and surrounded by the skeletal frame. In a biped, upon signals from the brain, energy impulses run from the core and up from the waist, and simultaneously down through the lower body and 
legs. The core of an equine is at the center of balance in the torso. Similar to bipeds, they need the energy to run freely along the hindquarters and down through the hind legs to create a solid foundation from which to allow the energy in front to rise into suspension to get the most efficient movement. When their weight is shifted too much onto the front end, their ability to carry a rider efficiently and correctly is compromised. To achieve correct energy flow and efficient movement, the animal’s internal supportive structures need to be conditioned in a symmetrical way around the skeletal frame. People can do this by learning to walk with a book on their head and with Pilates exercises, but how can we affect this same kind of conditioning in a quadruped?
The first issue I noticed was with leading our animals. When we lead our animals with the lead rope in the right hand, we drop our shoulder and are no longer in good posture. When we walk, our hand moves ever so slightly from left to right as we walk; we inadvertently move the equine’s head back and forth. They balance with their head and neck. Thus, we are forcing them off balance with every step that we take. Since movement builds muscle, they are being asymmetrically conditioned internally and externally with every step we take together. In order to correct this, we must allow the animal to be totally in control of his own body as we walk together. We are cultivating proprioception or “body awareness.”
During the time you do the core strength leading exercises, you should NOT ride the animal as this will inhibit the success of these preliminary exercises. It will not result in the same symmetrical muscle conditioning, habitual behavior and new way of moving. For the best results, lessons need to be routine and done in good posture from the time you take your equine from the pen until the time you put him away. Hold the lead rope in your LEFT hand, keeping slack in the lead rope. 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. Carry his reward of oats in a fanny pack around your waist; he’s not likely to bolt if he knows his reward is right there in the fanny pack.
Plan to move in straight lines and do gradual turns that encourage him to stay erect and bend through his rib cage, keeping an even distribution of weight through all four feet. Square him up with equal weight over all four feet EVERY TIME you stop and reward him with oats from your fanny pack. Then wait patiently for him to finish chewing. We are building NEW habits in the equine’s 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 requires that you be in good posture as well, you will also reap the benefits from this regimen. Along with feeding correctly (explained on my website at www.luckythreeranch.com), these exercises will help equines to drop fat rolls and begin to develop the top line and abdominal strength in good posture. The spine will then be adequately supported to easily accept a rider. He will be better able to stand still as you pull on the saddle horn to mount.
When the body is in good posture, all internal organs can function properly and the skeletal frame will be supported correctly throughout his entire body. This will greatly minimize joint problems, arthritis and other anomalies that come from asymmetrical development and compromises in the body. Just as our children need routine, ongoing learning and the right kind of exercise while they are growing up, so do equines. They need boundaries for their behavior clearly outlined to minimize anxious behaviors and inappropriate behavior. The exercises that you do together need to build strength and coordination in good equine posture. The time spent together during leading training and going forward, slowly builds a good solid relationship with your equine and fosters his confidence and trust in you. He will know it is you who actually helps him to feel physically much better than he ever has.
Core muscle strength and balance must be done through correct leading exercises on flat ground. Coordination can be added to his overall carriage with the addition of negotiating obstacles on the lead rope done the same way. Once familiar with the obstacles, you will need to break them down into very small segments where the equine is asked to randomly halt squarely every couple of steps through the obstacle. You can tell when you have successfully achieved core strength in good balance, when your equine will perform accurately with the lead rope slung over his neck. He will stay at your shoulder, respond to hand signals and body language only and does what is expected perfectly. A carefully planned routine coupled with an appropriate feeding program is critical to your equine’s healthy development.
The task at the leading stage is not only to teach them to follow, but to have your equine follow with his head at your shoulder as you define straight lines and gradual arcs that will condition his body symmetrically on all sides of the skeletal frame. This planned course of action also begins to develop a secure bond between you. Mirror the steps of his front legs as you go through the all movements keeping your own body erect and in good posture. Always look in the direction of travel and ask him to square up with equal weight over all four feet every time he stops and reward him. This kind of leading training develops strength and balance in the equine body at the deepest level so strengthened muscles will hold the bones, tendons, ligaments and even cartilage in correct alignment. Equines that are not in correct equine posture will have issues involving organs, joints, hooves and soft tissue trauma. This is why it is so important to spend plenty of time perfecting your techniques every time you lead your equine.
The equine then needs to build muscle so he can sustain his balance on the circle without the rider before he will be able to balance with a rider. An equine that has not had time in the round pen to establish strength, coordination and balance on the circle, with the help of our postural restraint called the “Elbow Pull,” will have difficulty as he will be pulled off balance with even the slightest pressure. He will most likely raise his head, hollow his back and lean like a motorcycle into the turns. When first introduced to the “Elbow Pull,” his first lesson in the round pen should only be done at the walk to teach him to give to its pressure, arch his back and stretch his spine while tightening his abs. If you ask for trot and he resists against the “Elbow Pull,” just go back to the walk until he can consistently sustain this good posture while the “Elbow Pull” stays loose. He can gain speed and difficulty as his proficiency increases.
Loss of balance will cause stress, and even panic that can result in him pulling the lead rope, lunge line or reins under saddle right out of your hands and running off. This is not disobedience, just fear from a loss of balance and it should not be punished, just ignored and then calmly go back to work. The animal that has had core strength built through leading exercises, lunging on the circle and ground driving in the “Elbow Pull” before riding, will not exhibit these seemingly disobedient behaviors. Lunging will begin to develop hard muscle over the core muscles and internal supportive structures you have spent so many months strengthening during leading training exercises. It will further enhance your equine’s ability to perform and stay balanced in action, and play patterns in turnout will begin to change dramatically as this becomes his habitual way of going. Be sure to be consistent with verbal commands during all these beginning stages as they set the stage for better communication and exceptional performance later. Although you need to spend more time in his beginning training than you might want to, this will also add to your equine’s longevity and use-life by as much as 5-10 years. The equine athlete that has a foundation of core strength in good equine posture, whether used for pleasure or show, will be a much more capable and safe performer than one that has not, and he will always be grateful to YOU for his comfort.
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
© 2018, 2024 Lucky Three Ranch, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MULE CROSSING: The Hourglass Pattern & The Elbow Pull
(A SELF-CORRECTING POSTURAL AID FOR EQUINES)
Concept Developed by Richard Shrake and Specific Design by Meredith Hodges
(Trademarked & Published in TRAINING WITHOUT RESISTANCE 2003)
In my TRAINING MULES & DONKEYS DVD #2, in the TRAINING WITHOUT RESISTANCE manual (2003) and in the SPECIAL FEATURES of my EQUUS REVISITED DVD (2009), I talk about using a postural aid called the “Elbow Pull.” In the EQUUS REVISITED DVD, we teach you how to measure it for your individual equine and how to make it. If you have our video series, in DVD #2, in the TRAINING WITHOUT RESISTANCE manual (2003) and in the EQUUS REVISITED DVD (2009), we talk about using the “Elbow Pull.” We teach you how to measure it for your individual equine and how to make it. The “Elbow Pull” puts your animal into your equine’s ideal posture. He will have full range of motion in every direction when it is adjusted correctly. He will just not be able to raise his head so high that he hollows his neck and back.
He will be able to balance and adjust his body position, encourage the hind quarters to come underneath his body when he is walked, or driven forward. Allowing the equine take short steps, front and back, would let the back sag (swayback-Lordosis) and does not engage the abdominal muscles. The “Elbow Pull” encourages the equine to stretch his spine, round his back and neck upwards (not “hump” it!) and elevates the shoulders when he steps 
underneath his body. The elevation (or suspension) in the shoulders allows him to increase the “reach” in his front legs. I use the “Elbow Pull” for Leading Training, Ground Driving and when he is ready, Lunging in the Round Pen. The Leading Training on flat ground through our HOURGLASS PATTERN positively affects his overall postural balance, and Leading through Obstacles adds coordination. You know that he is ready to go on to each stage of Leading Training on flat ground (and then through obstacles) when you can throw the lead rope over his neck and do the exercises with verbal commands, hand signals and body language alone. This is building a new habitual way of traveling is all in preparation for Lunging correctly…keeping his body erect and in a symmetrical balance while he bends to the arc of the circle through his torso without leaning like a motorcycle. It will prevent muscle compromises throughout his body that could cause soreness and compromise organ function.
I continue to use the “Elbow Pull” with each new stage of training to help him maintain his good posture throughout the different tasks. It is a supportive device and when he has problems with his posture, it will become tight. He can “lean” against it for a few strides without going totally out of good posture which gives him relief from the stress of trying to hold his good posture for long periods of time, which is often difficult in the beginning.
When he is again able to hold his good posture, the aid becomes loose all over. The equine is in complete control of this postural aid. Even people have problems maintaining good posture without the occasional reminder of their own good posture until it becomes more habitual.
None of us were born in good posture. It is something that must be taught. If we are allowed to “slouch” in our posture, it WILL create soreness and physical problems over time, especially when we get much older. After Lunging in good posture for several months, the equine’s habitual way of going will be changed. He will begin to travel in good posture automatically.
Changing habits takes a long time of repetitive behavior to evolve into a new habitual way of acting. As you teach your body through these stages to stay in sync with your equine’s steps, YOUR body becomes more in tune with his way of going and prepares you to be a better rider. This is all a matter or re-programming brain-muscle impulses. The equine will be Ground Driven in the “Elbow Pull” as he adjusts to learning rein cues, and when the weight of the rider is finally added, it is advisable to ride in the “Elbow Pull” until it remains loose all the time. When it does, you can be sure he is strong in his core balance and truly ready to support the rider in any kind of athletic pursuit. The equine learns to carry the rider on top of an upward arc in their spine with the abdominal muscles engaged. This is the same as teaching people to use their whole body correctly and lift with 
their legs and not their backs. These kinds of exercises make sure that the animal travels symmetrically, allowing the joints to work as they were designed to do (according to the laws of physics) with no compromises, and promotes optimum function of their internal organs.
With an equine that is over 2 years old and that has not had the benefit of developing core strength in good posture, it is advisable to first use the “Elbow Pull” during detailed and extensive Leading Lessons, both on the flat ground and later over obstacles. An equine under two years of age will not need the “Elbow Pull” support while working on his way of going since repetitive habits have not yet been fully established.
Lunge the equine in the Round Pen for several months until the animal habitually exhibits an erect posture with equal weight over all four feet and balanced self-body carriage. When you finally begin riding, you should use the “Elbow Pull” while you are riding our Hourglass Pattern under saddle as he adjusts to the added weight and new balance. When the “Elbow Pull” is adjusted correctly and the equine is in good posture, it will not put any pressure on the animal at all. When he is out of good posture, it puts pressure on the poll, the bit rings, behind the forearms and over the back. He will go back to his good posture as soon as he is able in order to release the pressure points.
Place the “Elbow Pull” over the poll, through the snaffle bit rings, between the animal’s front legs and over the back, then snap the two ends to a surcingle D-ring or D-rings, on the saddle you are using. It should be adjusted so he can only raise his head approximately 3-4 inches above the level of the withers (just before he hollows his neck and back). The “Elbow Pull” needs to be adjusted loosely enough so that he can relieve the pressure at the poll, bit rings, elbows and back without having to drop his head below the withers.
When lunging, if the “Elbow Pull” is correctly adjusted and he still wants to carry his nose to the ground, encouraging him with the whip to speed him up a bit. This will encourage him to engage his hindquarters and raise his head into the correct position. The only way he can really go forward with his nose to the ground is if the hind quarters are not engaged. As soon as the hindquarters are engaged, he will have to raise his head to the correct position to maintain his balance. When being led in the “Elbow Pull,” lowering the head is not a problem because you will have control of the lead rope attached a ring underneath his noseband or a halter (not attached to the bit!). Doing stretching-down exercises during leading training helps to stretch the spine and alleviate any soreness that could be developing with the new postural position. Breaking old habitual muscle positions can cause soreness to begin with, but as the better posture becomes more evolved, it also becomes much more comfortable (as it does in humans). Stay away from medications as much as possible as he works his way to the new posture.
In the Round Pen, the “Elbow Pull” helps the animal learn to travel in good equine posture without the added weight of a rider first. In doing so, it increases his core strength and the ability for him to carry a more balanced posture of his own volition. The added weight of the rider under saddle will challenge the animal again to maintain this good posture. This will take further strengthening of the muscles. The “Elbow Pull” will keep the animal in the correct posture while carrying the rider, so he doesn’t ever build muscle out of balance and out of good equine posture. When you do this, you are changing old habitual movement into good equine posture and a balanced way of moving. This eventually (after two years) will become his habitual way of moving and playing, even during turnout.
Your equine should stay in the “Elbow Pull” when working for two years to make sure that the muscles are indeed conditioned around correct equine posture through correct and consistent repetition. This means that when your year of Lunging, then Ground Driving is over, and he begins to work with a rider or while being driven, you would still use the “Elbow Pull” to help him stay in good posture for another year with the added weight of the rider on his back. If driving your equine, you should also use it during the first two years in your driving arena during training to promote good equine driving posture and engagement of the hind quarters while pulling. This assures that the muscles are becoming correctly and symmetrically strong (supporting the skeleton), over a balanced and physically aligned frame.
If you are consistent during his lessons, being in good equine posture will become his normal way of going and will not disappear when you finally ride without it.
The “Elbow Pull” postural aid does not pull their head down. Rather, it gives them full range of motion (up, down, and sideways), but keeps them from raising their heads so high that they hollow their back and neck during initial training. It is a fully self-correcting restraint that gives them something to lean on when they are not yet strong enough in the core (elements that support the skeletal frame…muscles, tendons, ligaments, connective tissue and even cartilage in the joints) to maintain their ideal balance. It encourages them to step well underneath their body, round their back upward from head to tail and puts the spine in an position to allow space between the vertebrae Spinus Processes (and avoid “Kissing Spine”)
and to prevent the rider from injuring their spine (according to the laws of Physics). The “Elbow Pull” provides support much like a balance bar does for a beginning ballet dancer, and the principles of good posture are the same as with humans.
Repetition and consistency during training can change habitual bad posture to habitual good posture over a long period of time, usually about two years. Good posture and correct movement can enhance longevity by as much as 5-10 years, enable internal organs to operate efficiently and prevent calcification, arthritis and other compromises like locked stifles that can create soreness in the body.
There is a much different way to secure the “Elbow Pull on a horse. Horses have violent reactions to a hard tie, so 
you will need to cross the rope across their back, pull it taut into the correct tension and then secure the snaps, keeping plenty of slack in the rope. You want the rope semi-knot to slip if they brace against it, but you do not want loose snaps on the ends of the rope to swing free to hit the horse anywhere on his body. With horses, you would just twist the rope over the back as shown in the photo, so the snaps are a moot point until the horse learns to give to the Elbow Pull and can be hard tied.
Making the “Elbow Pull”
Although the “Elbow Pull” is a very simple and straight forward aid to help keep your equine in good posture, it is also a device that needs to be custom made to fit each individual equine. Equines that approximate the same size in the front quarters will probably be able to use the same one. First, you need to obtain a package of 3/8″ X 50′ nylon and polyester twisted rope. This is the way it is sold. Do not substitute any other kind of rope, or leather reins, etc. as this will have a different weight and slippage around the bridle and will not have the same effect.
You will also need two snaps that are narrow, yet fairly strong that can fit easily through the D-rings on your surcingle, or Western saddle. English saddle D-rings are generally too small and in this situation, we do not attach to them, but rather attach the “Elbow Pull” to itself over the top of the spine. If the rope tends to twist and the snaps slide off to the side, you can often just snap one snap to the D-ring and the other snap snapped to the first snap, or if the “Elbow Pull” is a bit shorter, you can just snap it to the small D-ring on each side. The reason for twisted rope is so you can actually go through the D-rings and snap it into the twisted rope itself for a more exact setting. You would just untwist the rope at the setting point and snap into the middle of the rope so it won’t slide.
Have the equine stand at the hitch rail with the snaffle bridle on. To get a measurement for how long a piece of rope you will need for his “Elbow Pull,” take a length of rope from the coil. Feed the end of the rope from the inside to the outside of the snaffle bit ring, drape it over the poll of your equine and feed it from the outside of the snaffle bit ring to the inside on the opposite side of your equine. Then pull enough slack to go down through the front legs, behind the forearm, up and over the back such that it hangs one foot, or more (but not less) on the other side of the spine. Then, go back to the side on which you started and do the same on that side with the remainder of the 50″ foot length of rope and cut the rope at the 1-foot mark on the other side of the spine.
Once you have the proper length of rope for your equine, you will need to unravel 3” – 4″ of one end of the rope and loop it through the ring on your first snap. Then you will braid the rope back into itself. First, pick the loose strand that is on top as you lay the rope across your hand, bend it around the end of the snap and feed it under a twist of the rope such that it creates a loop around the end of your snap and pull it snug. Then take the next loose strand (which would be the middle of the three strands) and feed it under the next twist down from the one you just did. Then do the same with the third loose strand under the third twist in the rope. Take all three strands in your hand, hold the rope so it doesn’t twist and pull all three strands snug. They should all line up.
Next, turn the rope over so you can see where the angled lines of the twisted rope begins again and feed the first strand under the first twist, the second under the second twist and the third under the third twist. Pull all three strands snug at the same time, turn the rope over, locate the first twist in the line and repeat until you have all 3” – 4″ braided into the twisted rope.
You will have some loose ends sticking out and nylon rope can slip back out of the braid, so you now need to take a lighter and burn all these ends until they are melted together into the rope, so they will not slip. Be sure that you burn them so they are smooth and without bumps, or it will be difficult to feed the ends through the D-rings. Do the same with your second snap on the other end of the rope. Now you have your own custom made “Elbow Pull!”
THE HOURGLASS PATTERN
(Core Strength Leading Training)
Tack up your animal in a surcingle (or lightweight saddle), a snaffle bridle with a drop noseband (and a ring 
underneath to attach to the lead rope) and our “Elbow Pull” self-correcting postural restraint. The bridle with the drop nose band will encourage your equine to take proper contact with the bit and not get in the habit of “waving” his tongue over the bit. Adjust it so it is taut enough to keep his head from going so high that he inverts his neck and back, and not so tight that it pulls his head too low. Stand in front of him once you have secured the “Elbow Pull” on the near side and rock his head from the poll to make sure the tension is correct.
Begin the “Hourglass Pattern” without doing circles at the cones. Lead your animal with the lead rope in your left hand from the left side with your equine’s head at your shoulder when tracking left, and lead your animal with the lead rope in your right hand with your equine’s head at your shoulder when tracking right. Point your left hand (or right hand) in the direction of travel and look where you are going. Say the animal’s name and give the command to “Walk on.” Then look down to see what leg he is leading with and match your steps with his.
When you stop, say “And…Whoa” and stop with your feet together. Square him up with both hind legs together and then put both front legs together with equal weight over all four feet and reward from a fanny pack of oats around your waist. Stand quietly until he has finished chewing, change sides (and leading position) after every halt so you are always leading from the “inside” of the arc on which you are traveling, and give the command to “Walk on.” You can add circles at the cones and ground rails once he is consistently walking at your shoulder and prompt with the commands.
You can set up your Hourglass Pattern as pictured above so you can do Leading Training, Obstacle Training, Lunging off and on the Lunge Line, Ground Driving Training and Riding Training without having to move things around. Putting ground rails between the two center cones will encourage your equine to use his hind quarters by stepping well underneath his center of gravity below his torso. This will elevate his front end and produce more action in his joints.
I work multiple animals, up to four at a time by working one in the arena (with and without the lead rope) with the others tied at the hitch rail just outside the arena by the gate. This enables me to get multiple equines done in a short amount of time and reduces the incidence of animals pacing the fence while others are being worked. Using your facility efficiently can greatly reduce time spent on training.
First he will get proficient on the lead rope in the Hourglass Pattern, and then obstacles will be added at the end of each lesson to facilitate coordination and further increase his postural core strength. During lunging training in good posture, he will be able to sustain equal weight over all four feet and won’t lean from one side to the other. His hind feet will fall into the footprints of the front feet. He will be able to stay in good balance with a consistent rhythm and cadence to all his gaits.
Remember, when engaging in the Hourglass Pattern exercises, do not DRILL. You will only need to work your equine first one direction through the pattern with the designated halts between the cones, cross the diagonal and work in the other direction. Once around the pattern each way is enough to do the job. Work your equine a minimum of once a week and a maximum of once every other day. Be sure to leave a day of rest in between for the best results. Your equine will look forward to his time with you, so make the MOST of it!!
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, Pinterest, Instagram, MeWe and Twitter.
Covered in TRAINING MULES & DONKEY: A LOGICAL APPROACH TO TRAINING, TRAINING WITHOUT RESISTANCE, EQUUS REVISITED, my TRAINING MULES & DONKEYS DVD SERIES and A GUIDE TO RAISING & SHOWING MULES at www.luckythreeranchstore.com
© 2013, 2016, 2024 Lucky Three Ranch, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MULE CROSSING: The Equine in Motion
By Meredith Hodges
I have done extensive work in training equines for many years and it seems you can never learn enough. If you learn how to ask the right questions, there is always something more to learn just around the corner. It is no secret that things can happen when you push limits and you can get what might seem to be the right results, but then you have to ask yourself…really? You may, for instance get your young Reining prospect to do a spin, but then you should ask yourself if he is executing it correctly so as not to injure the ligaments, tendons and cartilage in his body. If he is not adequately prepared for the spin with exercises that address his core muscle strength and good posture, then he is likely to do the movement incorrectly, putting his body at risk.
Horse trainers have kept us in awe of their unique and significant talents for centuries, and now that their techniques are more public, many equine professionals will pooh-pooh those who attempt a “kinder” approach to training. Scientists who study the equine in motion—its nutrition, biomechanics, care and maintenance—have their own perceptions to offer as to what we can learn about equines. Because many of these studies and tests are done in the laboratory, scientists rarely have the opportunity to follow their subjects throughout a lifetime of activity, as well as having the opportunity to experience what it really means for you as a rider, to be in balance with your equine when you work together, whether you are leading, lunging, riding or driving. If they did, their findings would probably yield quite different results. With all this progressive scientific thought, it seems to me that common sense can often get lost in the shuffle and respect for the living creature’s physical, mental and emotional needs may not be met.
It is true that bribery never really works with an equine, and many people who attempt the “kind” approach do get caught up with bribery because they are unskilled at identifying good behaviors and waiting to reward until the task is performed. However, reinforcement of positive behaviors with a food reward does work if you can figure out how to adhere to the program, and be clear and consistent in how you behave and what you expect. In order to do this, you need to really pay attention to the whole equine, have a definite exercise program that has been proven to work in developing the equine’s good posture and strength, and be willing to work on yourself as well as your equine. A good program for your equine will require that you actively participate in the exercises as well. That way, you will also benefit while you are training your equine.
People feel better when they pay attention to their diet and are aware of their posture while practicing physical activities—and, in the same respect, an equine will perform willingly and happily if he feels good. Horses have as many different postures as do people, and there are generalized postures that you can easily notice and predict in specific breeds of horses. For instance, the American Saddlebred has a higher body carriage than that of the Quarter Horse. However, each individual within any breed is not naturally born in good posture and might need some help to get in good posture in order to exercise correctly.
There are varying levels of abuse and most abuse happens out of ignorance. Many training techniques appear to get the equine to do what you want, but the question then becomes, “How is he doing this and will it result in a good strong body or is it in opposition to what would be his best posture and condition?” Any time you take the equine out of good posture to accomplish certain maneuvers, you are abusing his body, and this can result, over time, in 
degenerative breakdown. For instance, those who get in a hurry in Dressage and do not take a full year at each level in order to develop their equine’s body slowly and methodically may discover, several years later, that their animal has developed ringbone, side bones, arthritis or some other internal malady. These types of injuries and malformations are often not outwardly exhibited until it is too late to do anything about them.
In my experience with my draft mule rescues, Rock and Roll, this became blatantly apparent to me. When Rock had to be euthanized in December of 2011, a necropsy was performed after his death. When the necropsy report came back and we were able to ascertain the long-term results of his years of abuse, neglect and bad posture, we found it a wonder that he was able to get up and down at all, much less rear up and play with Roll and trot over ground rails in balance.
His acetabulum (or hip socket) had multiple fractures. The upper left photo shows Rock’s normal acetabulum and the upper right photo shows Rock’s fractured acetabulum. The photo at right shows the head of each of Rock’s femurs. Rock’s left femoral head was normal, while the right, injured femoral head was virtually detached from the hip socket and contained fluid-filled cysts. There was virtually no cartilage left on the right femoral head, nor on the right acetabulum. It was the very fact that my team and I made sure that Rock was in balance and took things slowly and in a natural sequence that he was able to accomplish what he did and gain himself an extra year of quality life.
Tragically, many equines are suffering from abuse every day, while they are trying to please their owners and do what is asked of them. Their owners and trainers take shortcuts that compromise the equine’s health. It could be that these owners and trainers are trying to make choices with limited knowledge and really don’t know whom to believe. But ignorance is not a valid defense and sadly, the animal is the one that ends up suffering.
When they don’t have enough time to ride, racing stables often use hot walkers in order to exercise their Thoroughbred horses. But when an equine is put on a hot walker, he is forced to walk in a circle with his head raised and his neck and back hollowed. Since we all build muscle while in motion, muscle is being built on the hot walker while the equine is out of good posture. Consequently, when the equine is ridden later, bad behaviors can arise simply because the animal is uncomfortable. It would be better to develop core muscle strength (the strength around the bones and vital organs) first in good posture before developing hard muscle strength over the rest of the body. Core muscle strength takes time, but once the animal begins to automatically move in good posture, it becomes his natural way of going.
The Lucky Three mules have always been worked in good posture, and spend only as much time on the hot walker as it takes for them to dry after a bath. They maintain their good posture while walking and rarely let the hot walker “pull” them into bad posture.
There has been a lot of scientific research done on equine biomechanics using treadmills, which is one of my pet peeves. It would seem to me that any data scientists have gathered is not viable for one reason. An equine on a treadmill will not move the same way as an equine that is moving over ground. Have you ever had the ground move backwards underneath you? What kind of an effect do you think this would have on your ability to walk, trot or run correctly and in good posture? The very motion of the treadmill throws the body balance forward while you try to keep your balance upright. It actually interferes with the ability to balance easily and therefore, does not build muscle symmetrically and correctly around the skeletal structure and vital organs.
Like many, I am of the belief that mechanical devices that force an equine into a rounded position do not necessarily put that equine in good posture. I would guess that many trainers think the “Elbow Pull” device that I use is guilty of developing this artificial posture. If that is their opinion, then they do not understand how it works. Rather than pulling the equine’s head down into a submissive position, when adjusted correctly, the “Elbow Pull” acts like a balance bar (like a ballet dancer would use) to help the equine to balance in good posture. It takes time to develop good posture. So, in the beginning, your equine can only sustain good posture for a certain number of measured steps, and then he must “lean” on the “Elbow Pull” in between these moments of sustaining his ideal balance on his own. The “Elbow Pull” simply prevents him from raising his head and neck so high that the neck becomes inverted and the back hollowed, but it does not actually pull his head down. The rope itself is very lightweight and puts virtually no weight on his head and neck at all. Note: Because horses react differently than mules and donkeys when hard-tied, a simple adjustment to allow the “Elbow Pull” to “slip” with a horse is necessary.
Like humans, when equines are encouraged and aided in developing good equine posture, core strength with adequate bulk muscle built over the top, they are healthier and better able to perform the tasks we ask of them. With this in mind and other good maintenance practices, you can enjoy the company of your equine companion for many years to come and most of all, he will enjoy being with you!
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, EQUUS REVISITED and A GUIDE TO RAISING & SHOWING MULES at www.luckythreeranchstore.com
© 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020, 2024 Lucky Three Ranch, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MULE CROSSING: Leverage Versus Abuse
By Meredith Hodges
“Leverage” equipment refers to any restraining device or substance that is used to get an equine’s attention and obtain compliance, but many leverage practices often have the reverse effect and have the potential to cause 
distress and pain. This includes harsh bits, chain leads, twitches, hobbles, stocks and even medications. There are times when our equines can really be a handful, so having a little leverage when needed can be a good thing. However, deciding which equipment to use and learning how to use leverage without it becoming abusive can be a bit daunting. There are so many different types of tack, equipment and restraints that it becomes difficult to determine which would be best to use on your equine to correct a particular problem, or if you really need to use anything at all. It may only be a case of needing to be clearer in your approach, in which case, leverage equipment may not be needed. It is important to make an informed decision when using any leverage equipment to be sure that what you are using is helpful and not abusive.
One very common behavioral problem that seems to identify the need for more leverage is the mule that bolts and runs when on the lead rope. This seems like an obvious disobedience to the handler, and the first thing that comes to mind is to use a lead shank with a chain to gain control of the mule. Normal use for a lead shank is during a Showmanship class at a show and it should rarely be used in training unless the equine will be shown at halter and/or showmanship. And then, training with the lead shank should be done only after the animal is following well through all required movements while in his halter and on a lead rope.
Chains are severe and when not used properly, can damage the fragile bones in the underside of the jaw, and the cartilage and bone over the nose of the equine. If the chain is pulled while simply run under the jaw and attached to the ring on the opposite side, a quick jerk can bear down hard into the delicate mandible (jawbone). If the chain is run over the nose, when abrupt pressure is applied it can injure the nasal cartilage or the incisive bones. Because they occur internally, these injuries are often imperceptible to the human eye. The only thing you might see is broken skin, scabs or bumps that arise from repeated use. When properly fitted, the chain on a lead shank goes through the ring of the halter on the left side, threads under the chin and through the ring on the right side of the noseband, and is attached at the throatlatch ring on the right side. This keeps the halter balanced and the action of the chain less severe. When using the lead shank for leverage during training, it can work on some animals but others may decide to fight which can result in injuries such as fractures, causing more severe trauma to these areas. So it is best to avoid use of the lead shank until after completing leading training with the halter and lead rope. Even then, you should learn to use the lead shank properly with the least amount of pressure possible. Avoid using halters that are made with chains. Those types of halters should only be used when showing cattle and can do serious damage to equines.
If, after you’ve employed a kind, considerate and respectful approach along with a food reward, your equine is still being uncooperative, it may be appropriate to use equipment with more leverage such as the “Quick Twist,” but not necessarily chains. Chains do need to be used in some cases, such as with work harness (and most curb bits are now fitted with chains), but when not used correctly, these chains can be abusive. The chains on the pleasure driving harness should clear the legs and heels of the driving equine, and the chin chain on a curb bit should be adjusted so that it is twisted properly and lies flat against the animal’s jaw with an allowance of two fingers between the chain and the jaw, thereby minimizing any chance of injury. If you have a generally compliant equine, it is better to use a leather chin strap on your curb bit rather than a chain.
If, after you’ve employed a kind, considerate and respectful approach along with a food reward, your equine is still being uncooperative, it may be appropriate to use equipment with more leverage such as the “Quick Twist,” but not necessarily chains. Chains do need to be used in some cases, such as with work harness (and most curb bits are now fitted with chains), but when not used correctly, these chains can be abusive. The chains on the pleasure driving harness should clear the legs and heels of the driving equine, and the chin chain on a curb bit should be adjusted so that it is twisted properly and lies flat against the animal’s jaw with an allowance of two fingers between the chain and the jaw, thereby minimizing any chance of injury. If you have a generally compliant equine, it is better to use a leather chin strap on your curb bit rather than a chain.
If you train for leading with a step-by-step program that incorporates a reward system during training, the mule is much less likely to bolt and pull the lead rope from your hands, and horses will not need any more leverage at all. This kind of training invites the equine to remain with you and he is rewarded lavishly when he does. If a horse spooks, you can usually stand still in balance, hang onto the lead rope and quickly regain his attention by staying calm and deliberate yourself.
Normally, mules learn to comply with the reward training. However, if a mule has been spooked, he may not care much about the reward in your fanny pack and you might have the need to use something with more leverage. In this case and in cases where a mule doesn’t always comply willingly, I use a new positioning of the lead rope called a “Quick Twist.”
To employ the “Quick Twist” restraint, just take your lead rope and create a loop and feed it through the noseband of your nylon halter (rope halters are too loose and do not work) from back to front and then over the mule’s nose. When you pull on the rope, it will tighten around the end of the his nose below the incisive bones and over the cartilage, making breathing just a little difficult. Don’t keep pulling—just stand quietly and hold the tension snug. Let the equine come forward to you and slacken the rope himself by coming forward and allowing a free flow of air through his nostrils. Then, if the mule does not follow, just walk a step or two, creating tension on the rope, and then stand still again. When he does come forward, stop long enough to reward him with the oats reward before you proceed forward again. Keep the lead rope short and stand still in a balanced way so he cannot get ahead of you and jerk you off your feet. If you are standing still in a balanced position, it will be difficult for him to jerk the lead rope from your hand and leave.
Old-time twitches were made with a chain that could be twisted around the upper lip and used to distract the equine from shots, tube worming and the like, but the main focal point for the equine then becomes the equipment and not the task and, in the wrong hands, this piece of equipment can do a lot of damage to the equine’s sensitive upper lip. Most often, the equine can be more easily distracted by a simple rap on his forehead using your knuckles. Using a twitch at all can become a source of confrontation for many equines. If a twitch must be used, choose a more humane one that is made from aluminum and has a smooth surface. This will clamp down tight enough to hold, but not so tightly on the upper lip that it causes pain or even injury.
Restraints should not be used as a means to control your animal except for a short period of time with the purpose of showing them a correct behavior. Restraints should be used as a support and not a controlling device. Restraints should be “phased out” as soon as possible.
I call this next restraint method the “Face Tie.” For the sake of safety, tie your mule to a good stout hitch rail. Then use our Face Tie technique (TMD DVD #2), running the lead rope around the hitch rail (or fence) and back through the noseband of the halter (nylon halters work best for this). Then come around a second time and loop it through the throatlatch part of the halter and around the hitch rail once more and tie it off. Take up the slack slowly as he gives and be ready to reward him with oats when he complies, then keep taking up the slack until his face is against the fence or hitch rail.
Do not try to bully him into it or he will just pull back. This should be done while he is standing parallel to the hitch rail so that when you pull the rope tight, it pulls his head tightly sideways to the hitch rail. This will keep him from being able to swing his rear end around to block you. Reward him with oats and let him quiet down in this restraint before approaching with your shot. If he manages to keep you off the clear side, you can always go to the other side of the hitch rail and give him the shot from that side without fear of injury. You can do this along a stout fence provided the rails are sturdy. If you do this correctly, it will simply restrain him in a safe manner and keep you out of the line of fire. Each new time that you give shots, try to do it with the rope a little looser each time to fade out the restraint. They will usually just come to expect and go for their position along the hitch rail or fence and will lean into it like they do when you first gave the shots like this. He will soon learn to quiet down immediately when his face is being tied and at best will seem to be saying, “Dang, do we have to do this again?!” But, he will learn to comply.
This is a humane restraint for mules and donkeys, but do not try this with a horse! This is a good restraint to use (and fade out) for any Longears that is difficult to worm, give shots, take blood, clip bridle paths and to use for those that are difficult to bridle. When using the Face Tie for bridling training (or clipping the bridle path), you will only need to go through the noseband and hitch rail (and not through the throatlatch unless you need to prevent them from turning into you). Just make sure when you put on the bridle that you “protect” their sensitive ears with your hands as it goes on and they will learn to trust you. Put the bridle on over the halter for the lessons until they don’t mind the bridling process.
If they lean away from you, you can just pull on the halter to bring the head back to you to finish bridling. Each time you use the “Face Tie” method,” see if you can leave it looser each time until they just stand for putting on the bridle while it is at its loosest. Then you will no longer have to use it.
Keep your lessons short, only 20-40 minutes (depending on how compliant they are) every other day and never two days in a row. They need a day off to ponder what they have learned and when they are allowed this break between lessons, they will come back the next time and do the tasks more easily. They usually leave because they perceive the lesson to be either too long or too difficult (and they would rather play!).
It is always better to not use the Scotch Hobble if you do not need to do it. If your donkey will pick up his feet for you, just give him the opportunity to “meet” your farrier by having him give him a handful of oats. Then see if he will yield his feet. If not, then you go ahead and pick up his foot with the farrier standing beside you, give him the reward for picking up his foot and then hand it off to the farrier while you back up and continue to feed him small handfuls of oats for compliance. Eventually, you should be able to step away and just have a bucket of oats in front of him to eat while the farrier is working on him (and take it away if he won’t comply). If he has a friend, it is always best to do donkeys in groups. They stay calmer that way. Try this FIRST!
Your Longears will only need the kicking training covered in DVD #2 (Simple touch training with a driving whip) if he is resistant to having his hind legs worked with and even then, you should try picking them up with the scotch hobble rigging first. If he kicks with that, just hold the rope taut until he quits. Then, hold the foot off the ground for a couple of seconds and release it where the foot will touch the ground again. He just needs to know that when you pick up the hind foot, you will return it to him if he is good. During all of this, be sure to reward when he is standing still. If he complies easily about picking up his feet easily after trying to pick them up with the rope, you may not need to use the Scotch Hobble in it’s ultimate constraining position.
To employ the Scotch Hobble in its entirety, tie a Bowline knot loosely around the neck. Depending upon the size of the animal, the rope should be 16’-22’ long. Take the excess rope down to the pastern of the hind foot, loop it around the pastern, then back up through the loop around the neck, then back round the pastern a second time. Last, loop the rope around the ropes going from the pastern to the neck to capture them and tie off with a safety knot at the neck loop.
Only tie the Scotch hobble as tightly as is needed, and it is best to leave the toe touching the floor for balance. In some cases, you may have to tie the hind legs higher to prevent kicking on the off side, but be prepared to loosen the rope when the animal stops struggling with his balance. Remember that they can tire and not be able to continue to stand for long periods of time.
When taking the first wrap on the pastern of the hind leg, take the end of the rope well behind him and encourage him to step over it, keeping yourself out of kicking range. Then bring the rope along his side to the front and slip it through the loop around his neck. If he won’t let you go through the loop around his neck, you can just hold the rope taut around his pastern without putting it through the loop first and just allow him to settle before putting it through the loop. Just be very patient. When you get to this point, many animals will begin to kick. Just stand to the side, out of biting and kicking range, and keep the rope taut. Just hang onto it with both hands and stand quietly until he stops struggling. Allow your hands to follow a pull and release with the motion of his leg. If you allow your hands to move forward and back with the pulling of the rope and keep it taut, it won’t come off the pastern. Don’t try to hold his foot stationary at this point. You can easily step out of his way from this distance and position.
When he stops struggling, keep the rope the same tautness, walk to his head and give him a reward for standing still. Pet him and then proceed to go behind him again and take the second loop. Again, stand to the side if he begins to kick and wait for him to stop, allowing your hands to move back and forth with his kicking leg, maintaining the tautness in the rope. This is a give and release action that should not make him as mad as trying to hold the rope tight. Again, when he stops struggling, he is entitled to a reward.
If you do it this way, slowly and in small steps, you will not aggravate him as much and he will be more likely to comply. If you have been patient and meticulous while doing this procedure, tying the last knot around the neck rope should not be a problem, and you will not run the risk of him escaping from it.
Use a soft cotton twisted rope of the correct length measured to your animal for ease and to avoid chafing for the best results. It need not be traumatic if you proceed this way. Use the Scotch Hobble as needed, but each time, tie it as loosely as you are able and still have him stand still. For example, if you have had to raise the toe, don’t raise the toe and let it touch the floor. Next time, have the toe touch the floor with the ropes loosely tied. Next, take only one loop around the pastern, keep the rope fairly loose and tie to the rope around the neck. Lastly, just take the rope to 
the hind foot, around the pastern and let it lay on the floor. Next time, you won’t have to use it at all. Your goal is to phase out the restraint entirely.
A lot of activity when trailer loading can cause the equine to become anxious and noncompliant and he becomes overstimulated. When having difficulty loading your equine, things will usually go better if you simply give him time to survey the situation.
Do not allow him to back away from the trailer. One step at a time while offering a food reward (and a food reward waiting inside the trailer), with frequent pauses and encouragement to move forward from behind with a tap of the whip, will usually accomplish the task without confrontation. Most equines will willingly follow you right into the trailer if prior obstacle training has been done properly and successfully. Leverage equipment such as butt ropes only refocus the equine’s attention on the equipment and will result in a confrontation.
Hobbles are another form of leverage equipment and there are many different kinds of hobbles for different purposes. The hobbles that have chains on them should be avoided, as the equine can become entangled and the chains can do damage to their legs. Thin leather hobbles or coarse rope can chafe the hair right off the skin around the pastern and can cause severe abrasions that may never heal. Thick leather hobbles are best, as they will break when under extreme stress, releasing before damage to the equine is done. If so inclined, all mules and some horses can gallop in hobbles, so hobbles really aren’t all that effective for leverage. Tying onto a hyline (a rope suspended high between two trees that acts as a hitching line for overnighting equines in the mountains) is a better choice, and if the horses are tied, then the mules should not have to be tied or hobbled because they will generally stay with the horses. Personally, I only use hobbles in a controlled situation at the work station when body clipping my equine’s legs for show.
Sedation and tranquilizers are another form of leverage that is used all too often and, in some cases, can be very dangerous. Mules and donkeys may receive the correct dose, but they can be unaffected when they get over-stimulated, excited and confrontational. They can actually “pop out” of sedation if they get excited enough to release adrenaline in their bodies. In these cases, administering another dose of drugs can easily become an overdose and could result in death. Sedating an equine that is to be trimmed or shod can be dangerous for both the farrier and the equine because the animal is not able to stabilize his balance and his reactions are, for the most part, uncontrolled. The farrier may not have time to get out of the way and the animal could stumble into trouble.
Power tools can be of help to a veterinarian or an equine dentist when doing teeth. Old-fashioned rasps are safer than power tools, but they are clearly more of an aggravation to the equine. However, if power tools are to be used at all, they must be carefully monitored. When floating teeth, the equine dentist must be skilled in the use of his grinding tool and should do only what is necessary to remove sharp points on the equine’s teeth. Power tools can be a good thing when you are dealing with an equine’s mouth and jaw, as having their mouths held open for long periods of time is very tiring for them, so speed is essential, but accuracy and skill are also essential.
I do not approve of using power tools on the equine’s hooves at all. In order for the equine’s body to be properly balanced in good posture, the hooves must first be properly balanced. Power tools cannot possibly shape the hoof with proper curvature in the sole, alignment of angles and equal balance over the hoof walls with appropriate pressure to the heels and frog.
This demands hands-on custom sculpting, as each foot on each equine will be different and all four feet need to be aligned with each individual’s legs and body in mind. The hooves are the basic foundation for the entire body, so they must be done correctly or everything else will be off. This is especially true with the tiny hooves of mini donkeys and mules. Minis can often be kept calm for trims simply by keeping things at their eye level and rewarding their good behavior with crimped oats.
There are things that may seem to allow for shortcuts through certain tasks, but when you are dealing with living creatures there really are no shortcuts. It is always better to take the necessary time to implement training techniques that allow your equine to learn and grow in a logical, step-by-step process that will not overwhelm him or bombard him with too much stimulus at any stage, so that he can become a comfortable and cooperative individual. If you use the correct methods right from the beginning, the need for excessive retraints (that can cause pain and even more resistance) will be greatly diminished and the long-term results will be undeniably better.
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, TRAINING DVD #2 andEQUUS REVISITED at www.luckythreeranchstore.com.
© 2013, 2016, 2024 Lucky Three Ranch, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MULE CROSSING: Hauling Long Distances
By Meredith Hodges
Hauling long distances needn’t be a problem with your Longears, if you use a little common sense and consideration. Their natural durability and good sense make them basically easier to haul than horses. When hauling for more than four or five hours, there are a few things to consider. Be sure to have your Health Papers and recent Coggins tests done for the trip. You will need them to cross state lines. If you need to carry firearms with you, be sure to look into the state laws for legal carrying. Make sure to have full insurance coverage on your truck and trailer and on miscellaneous items that you would be carrying like tack, equipment and camping gear. There are separate temporary policies you can get for those kinds of things. Insuring the equines themselves is often very expensive and they don’t tend to pay if something happens. Always carry a First Aid kit and tools to fix simple problems you might have with your truck and trailer, and know how to use them.
First, you should be sure that the trailer in which they are to ride affords safety and comfort and that the plates on both the truck and trailer are up-to-date. Before you leave, you should check over your trailer thoroughly. Make sure the hitch is secure and in good repair, and that there are no weakened welds anywhere. Check your trailer’s tires, bearings, axels and brakes for maximum performance, and make sure all the lights are in working order. Take the trailer mats out and check the floor boards for rot and other weaknesses, and replace all floor boards that are even questionable. It is always good practice to get all new tires for the trip and a new spare.
Using bedding such as shavings or straw in the trailer may afford a little extra comfort, and can encourage urination on the trip, but it isn’t always the best thing to do. The wind can cause the bedding to fly around inside the trailer, causing irritation to your animal’s eyes, ears and respiratory tract, particularly if you use shavings. If you wish to use bedding, straw is the better choice. In addition to the straw bedding, choose thicker trailer mats (rather than those that are thin) for your trailer. Thicker mats allow for more absorption of trailer vibration, as well as dispersing the moisture from urination. The trailer you use should give each animal ample space in which to stand. If your mules and donkeys are crowded in too tightly, they will be tense and anxious throughout the trip and will tire easily. This can result in battles between animals, increasing the potential for injury.
Research your route well ahead of time and make arrangements for overnight stops. Rural fairgrounds and camp sites work best. Avoid going into and stopping in highly populated cities. Do not rely on GPS. Have paper maps of all the states you will be passing through for reference. Having friends’ places at which to stay is always best. Contact everyone ahead of time and make plans for dates and times. Make sure you all have each others’ contact information.
Mules and donkeys, like horses, should be “dressed” for their trip. For their overall comfort during long trips, halters should be fleeced, at least over the noseband, to protect from excessive rubbing that can result from being tied. Shipping wraps for their legs are also advisable to prevent injuries from a loss of balance, misstep or kick from another animal in the trailer. Depending on the weather and the kind of trailer you have (either a stock trailer or enclosed trailer) you can use sheets or blankets to protect the rest of your animal’s body.
Donkeys tend to sit back on whatever is behind them while they ride, so they should always wear an oversized sheet or blanket that drops down behind the rump to prevent chafing. If they are not protected in this way, they can develop terrible raw spots on their tails and hindquarters. Using a tail wrap on mules and donkeys is rarely successful, as these tend to slide off (even if they are taped). If they are put on too tightly, they can cut off the circulation in the tail and cause problems.
When loading your mules and donkeys, pay special attention to each individual’s needs. Animals that lean one way or the other generally do better in a slant load trailer rather than in an in-line trailer, but if you must use an in-line trailer, make sure that the animal that leans has a solid wall or partition on the side to which he leans. You always want to put animals next to each other that get along well, so if you must load a leaner on the wrong side, be sure to put him next to an animal that is able to tolerate his leaning without retaliating if there are no partitions. If you have an open stock trailer, another alternative is to load your animals into the trailer and tie them facing backwards. Many equines actually prefer to ride facing backwards because they find it easier to balance. Note: This alternative is not advisable in a partitioned in-line or slant-load trailer.
Once on the road, try to keep your equines’ routine as close to their “at home” routine as possible. Keeping grass hay in front of them will help to alleviate some of the stress of the trip, and will encourage them to relax and accept the situation. Feeds such as grain and alfalfa hay should be avoided, since these highly mobilize the intestines and can cause contractions that can lead to colic, particularly if your animals are not drinking enough water along the way. They should at least be offered some water (whether they drink it or not) at every stop you make along the way and ideally, once every two to three hours. Note: Water that your mules and donkeys are not used to may smell or taste strange to them and can be flavored with something they like. For instance, my donkey jack, Little Jack Horner, has a preference for iced tea to flavor unappetizing water on the road. Lightly flavoring your equines’ water may encourage them to continue to eat and drink throughout the trip, and will help keep them happy and healthy. The best idea would be to bring jugs of water from home along with you if at all possible.
If your trailer is large and has good suspension, your mules and donkeys can ride for as long as twelve to fourteen hours without too much discomfort, provided that you make frequent fifteen-to-twenty-minute stops every two to three hours along the journey. This should not interrupt your travel schedule, as you will already be stopping for gas along the way. If your animals are riding in a smaller trailer with more vibration, it is advisable to stop, unload and walk your animals every four to six hours, in order to give them time to stretch, relax and rest their legs. If you have a difficult animal, loading him last is often easiest, since he won’t want to be left behind and will be more likely to follow the other animals into the trailer. This can be inconvenient if you have any animals that are difficult to load because of the extra time involved, but it is always a good opportunity to train them to get in and out of the trailer simply by repetition. By the end of a long trip, they will be loading and unloading much more easily. Just make sure that, if you have equines that are difficult to load, you have allotted yourself enough travel time to include this kind of training.
Long before you actually go anywhere, get your animals used to being handled inside the trailer. When unloading, always make them stand and wait. I usually remove my animals’ shipping wraps before I let them come out of the trailer, but if they are packed in pretty tightly, I just remove the leg wraps I can reach. The removal of leg wraps before unloading will add purpose to your Longears’ waiting time (which they quickly come to understand). Frequently offering water at stops gets your animals used to you moving about the trailer while they are loaded. Most equines realize that all of this is for their benefit and you should find them mostly cooperative and appreciative. Having water from home in plastic jugs makes this easy.
There are times when weather can change drastically and depending on what the weather and temperatures are doing, your animals may need sheets or blankets either put on or removed. When you teach your animals to stand quietly while you climb around inside the trailer ahead of time, putting on leg wraps or taking them off should help them feel more relaxed and accepting of the whole situation.
When loading or unloading your animals, you must always be very careful not to move too quickly or abruptly, which could possibly startle them and even get you trapped. But if you do have an emergency to attend to en-route, and your animals have been trained in the manner described above, you should be able to get to the animal in trouble with minimal problems. It sometimes takes a little more patience to get horses to stand quietly in the trailer. Once they realize that you are truly concerned with their best interests, mules and donkeys (intelligent creatures that they are), will usually be very cooperative and your long hauls can become relaxing and enjoyable road trips.
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 A GUIDE TO RAISING & SHOWING MULES at www.luckythreeranchstore.com.
© 2013, 2016, 2024 Lucky Three Ranch, Inc. All Rights Reserved
MULE CROSSING: Owning an Equine Is Serious Business, Part 4
By Meredith Hodges
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.
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, EQUUS REVISITED and A GUIDE TO RAISING & SHOWING MULES at www.luckythreeranchstore.com.
© 2012, 2016, 2018, 2024 Lucky Three Ranch, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MULE CROSSING: On the Trail with Mules
By Meredith Hodges
With the hectic schedule of spring and summer slowly tapering into fall, thoughts of cool, refreshing mountain streams, the sight of a massive bull elk, or the quiet majesty of the rugged mountain peaks on a relaxing trail ride, mountain hunt or pack trip begin to ease their way into our minds. What better time to share with your mule or donkey? What better place for him to show you what he was born to do? A mountain trail ride or pack trip are both perfect ways for you to get to really know your Longears and strengthen the bond between you.
Mules are remarkably strong and durable animals, making them excellent mountain partners. The cupped shape of their hooves allows them to track the rough mountain terrain with much more surefootedness than their counterpart, the horse. A mule’s superior intelligence and strong sense of survival help him to carefully negotiate the placement of his feet, insuring the safest ride possible. This is both important and comforting to know when heading for the mountains. The mule’s strength and endurance are sometimes unbelievable, but always dependable. On a hunting trip, he will take you through rough mountain terrain for days then pack out the “elk of your dreams” with the greatest of ease.
Around the campfire, he is wonderful company on those lonesome mountain nights. His blatant curiosity can make for some fun—and funny— situations, and his loving ways will win your heart. But first and foremost, he is a reliable companion when the going gets tough.
A few years ago, some close muleskinner friends of mine decided to take a hunting trip into the Rocky Mountains. Packing in, the weather was beautiful with warm temperatures, calm breezes, and not a cloud in the sky. After setting up camp and tending to their horses and mules, the hunters set off tracking elk. Hunting was good, but after a few days, the evening brought with it an unpredictable snowstorm of incredible intensity. The hunters crawled from their tents the next morning to discover their camp buried in more than four feet of snow!
With no chance of the storm lifting, the hunters packed up what they could on their horses and mules and quickly got under way. Since time was of the essence, tents and much of their gear had to be left behind. As they left the campsite, the snow deepened and the terrain underneath was steep, rocky and treacherous. They had gone only a short distance when the snow became so deep and the terrain so hazardous that the horses refused to go one step farther. Anxiety was high when the horses could not blaze a trail out. The hunters were worried they wouldn’t make it off the mountain alive.
In the face of this great danger, my friend asked his trusted mule, Goliath, to break trail for the others. With slow, careful, deliberate steps, this well-trained, loyal mule led them all down the mountain to safety. Once there, they freed their trucks and trailers, which were buried in snow, loaded them up, and made their way back to the lowlands to safety. The storms on the mountain worsened and it was spring before the hunters could return for the rest of their gear, but they were eternally grateful to Goliath the mule for leading them safely down the mountain!
There are many stories like this one, where mules and donkeys have emerged as heroes in precarious situations. However, if you prefer not to take risks like my hunter friends, there are other less daunting activities you can enjoy with your donkey or mule.
Why not take your longeared companion along to the mountains for a hike or a picnic? He would thoroughly love just being with you in those beautiful surroundings. While you walk the trails, enjoying the marvels of nature, your donkey or mule can carry the lunch essentials. While you enjoy the wildflowers or try your hand at fishing a mountain stream, you can be confident that your Longears will enjoy the peaceful solitude and be able to stay out of serious trouble at the same time.
If you question taking excursions such as these with your longears because of a lack of training, there are fellow Longears lovers who can help you. All over the United States, excellent mule trainers are available to help beginners. A Longears lover once told me that his love for burros and mules began years ago when he found Dusty, a three-month-old wild burro caught in a blizzard. He took her home and cared for her, and, a year later, he entered her in the National Western Fall Classic Donkey and Mule Show. He and Dusty were awarded the title of Reserve Champion Donkey of the Show! Ever since, he has sought to help others enjoy Longears and horses in any way he can. In addition to breaking and training wild mustangs at his Medicine Bow Stables, he has included free clinics for burro owners to teach them how to handle and care for their animals.
We are fortunate to be able to share our time with such intelligent, tough and durable equines as our beloved mules. But you should also remember to do your part in the relationship. Be patient and willing to take the time to allow your relationship to grow and for training to become solid before you indulge in the challenges that trail riding can present. Plan ahead and scout the locations where you desire to ride. With the growth of urban populations, open areas that welcomed riders in the past are not as numerous as they once were. Many areas now welcome hikers and even bicycles, but not equines. Find the designated trails and camp grounds that will accept equines when planning your treks.
Even a ride that is planned to be short can turn into challenge if the weather changes suddenly, so be sure to plan for the worst case scenario. Tack up your equine in comfortable tack and equipment that fits like a glove. I like to ride with a crupper because it will hold the saddle in the correct placement when adjusted correctly and will allow for full range of movement, particularly behind when climbing uphill. If you use a breast collar, make sure it is loosely fitted so it does not pull your saddle forward and into the shoulder blades. Be sure to pack your saddle bags with the barest necessities for any ride far from home: Compass, water, rain gear, a Swiss Army knife, buck knife, hoof pick, lighter, fence pliers, Granola Bars or Trail Mix, a sleeping bag, a warm coat, Bear Spray and a First Aid Kit (at the very least Gauze, Vet Wrap and Neosporin).
If planning an overnight trip, you will probably need a pack mule, or horse, to carry the extra food and additional necessities you will need like tents, blankets, sleeping bags, more food, extra clothes, High Lines and extra halters, and food for your equines. Lots of places will not allow your equines to graze in the parks, but some do. I do not like using picket lines where the equine is tied low with a halter, or with a rope around a foot. I do not like to use hobbles either (Mules can run off in hobbles with no trouble at all!). It is too easy for equines to get tangled up or injure themselves when they are restricted this way. They can get sprained tendons and ligaments, or severe rope burns that will leave them scarred for life. I prefer to bring their favorite horse “friend” along and tie the horse, and mules that tend to wander, to a High Line. Most of the mules can be allowed to run free and won’t leave your camp with the horse there, but do not leave halters on them. Again, they could become tangled up and injure themselves. If you have spent adequate time during training to build a solid relationship with your mules, they are much less likely to wander off and get lost. They will choose to stay near you.
If you can, choose a place where you can establish a base and park your truck and trailer. You can then tie them on a High Line during the evening and put them back into the trailer for the night. This might be better if you are an area where there are a lot of large predators. Just don’t leave the truck and trailer windows open so a predator can get in. Stock trailers are the best for this purpose since they also have more room in them and are fully enclosed. Any food that could be attractive to predators should be mounted high in a tree, at least 50-100 yards away from your camp and your equines.
Getting the proper in-depth training for your donkey, or mule, can only enhance your relationship with them and in turn, they will enrich your life. This year, why not take the time to really get to know these remarkable animals by letting them share in the fun, be it hiking, hunting, packing, or picnicking. The life you enhance may be your own!
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.
© 2013, 2016, 2024 Lucky Three Ranch, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MULE CROSSING: Keys To Successful Training, Part 1: Your Working Environment
By Meredith Hodges
The Work Station
It is important that your equine feels safe and comfortable in his surroundings. For this reason, you should use the same place each day to groom and prepare him for his lessons. In the beginning, use a small pen (approximately 400 to 500 square feet) that allows you access to your equine for imprinting, tying, leading and grooming, as described in DVDs #1 and #8 of my series, Training Mules & Donkeys (plus disc #9 when dealing with donkeys), and in Part 1 of Equus Revisited. All the while, you will also be teaching him good ground manners. Remember, routine fosters confidence and trust.
Once your equine has mastered tying and leading in the small pen, he can then move on to a designated work station where he will not only be groomed, but will also learn to accept tack in preparation for the round pen. This should be a place that has a good stout hitch rail and easy access to your tack and grooming equipment.
When working around your equine at the work station, pay special attention to his body language. If he becomes tense or skittish, acknowledge his concerns with a stroke on his neck, supportive words to him and a reward of crimped oats when he settles down. Always learn to wait for him to settle down before you proceed.
Don’t make too much out of unimportant details. For instance, if your equine is pawing the ground, don’t insist that he be still unless you need to approach him and do something specific with him. Many of your animal’s anxious behaviors get unintentionally rewarded by giving him too much attention, which can actually cause the behaviors to escalate. If you ignore pawing, cribbing, throwing of the head, pushing with the nose, stomping and other anxious behaviors, they will lessen over time, provided that you step in, ask him to stop and reward your animal, but only when he is being quiet.
Before you begin to groom your equine—whether you’re going to brush, vacuum or clip him—make sure you give him the time to figure out what you are going to do. He will exhibit his acceptance with a sigh, relaxation of his musclesor with a turn or dropping of the head. Once he has accepted the presence of the item to be used, such as a brush, vacuum or clippers, you can begin. Don’t forget to always start at the front and work your way back to the tail.
Keep an eye on the pressure you apply whenever using these various grooming tools. Different animals will have different sensitivity to these tools and will tolerate them better if they know you are not going to cause undue pressure or pain. Learn to brush the mane and tail starting at the bottom and working upward, and use a conditioner such as baby oil to keep from pulling or breaking the hair. (Baby oil will also keep other equines from chewing on the tail.) A shedding blade can be an uncomfortable grooming tool when used improperly. When using a shedding blade to remove mud around the head and ears and even on your animal’s body, be careful to minimize his discomfort by monitoring the pressure you apply to each area and working VERY slowly. When bathing him, be extra careful not to get water in his eyes or ears. These types of consideration for your equine’s comfort will help build his trust and confidence in you, and it will help make training easier and more enjoyable for both of you.
Tack and Equipment
In order to elicit the correct response from your equine, always make sure you are using the correct tack for whatever you are 
doing. If you are not sure about what tack to use when, go to the Lucky Three Ranch website for more detailed information, or ask the experts in your area. Make sure all tack and equipment fits your animal properly. If it doesn’t, it can cause adverse behaviors during training.
In the Round Pen
Once your equine is leading well in the small pen, he should be in consistently good posture with square halts, easily negotiating trail obstacles in the open and relatively relaxed while at the work station, he is ready to move to a confined area in your arena to work in the Hourglass Pattern in the “Elbow Pull” (see TRAINING/TRAINING TIPS on my website at www.luckythreeranch.com). When these exercises have been completed, he is ready to graduate to the Round Pen.
Once in the Round Pen, you will have an opportunity to assess your animal’s progress so you can begin work on balancing on the circle in good posture and conditioning the hard muscle masses in preparation for performance. The size of your Round Pen is important—45 feet in diameter is ideal. If it is any larger, as you will have difficulty reaching him with the lunging whip, which means you won’t be able to have enough control over him. If your Round Pen it is any smaller, it will interfere with your equine’s balance and ability to develop the right muscle groups. It should be made with relatively solid walls and be high enough so your animal cannot jump out. Your Round Pen can be made of a variety of different of materials, such as 2-inch by 12-inch boards and posts or stock panels. Never use electric fencing, pallets, tires or other non-solid materials. The ground surface should be a three- to four-inch–thick base of soft dirt or sand.
While working in the Round Pen, be aware of how your own body language and verbal commands elicit certain behaviors in your animal. If something isn’t working right, look to yourself and ask yourself what you might be doing to cause the adverse 
behavior you are seeing. Equines are very honest about their responses, and if they are not doing what you expect, it has to be in the way you are asking. Also, don’t hurry your equine. When asking for the walk, make sure that the walk is even in cadence, balanced and regular—not hurried. Only after your animal is correct in his execution of one gait, should you move on to the next gait. When first introduced to the Round Pen, it is not uncommon for an equine to begin work at the trot and then, as he becomes more comfortable with the new area, at the walk.
If you just let your equine go in an unrestricted frame, he can build muscle incorrectly, which will most likely cause problems later on. To be sure you are building muscle evenly throughout his body, in the correct posture and on both sides, use the “Elbow Pull” self-correcting restraint I devised, as described in DVD #2 of Training Mules & Donkeys. There is a lot of additional FREE information under TRAINING/TRAINING TIPS on my website at www.luckythreeranch.com.
As explained in DVD #1 of Training Mules & Donkeys, while you were doing passive exercises on the lead rope in the small pen, then in the Hourglass Pattern, you were also building the core muscle groups that are closest to the bone. Now that you are in the Round Pen, you will begin to build your equine’s bulk muscle in strategic areas that will strengthen him and make carrying a rider or pulling a cart a lot easier for him. It will also minimize the chance for soreness or injury, as well as resistant behaviors. Keep sessions short, 30-40 minutes, and only every other day at the most. When muscles are exercised, they need to be stressed to a point just before fatigue, and then rested afterwards for one day before repeating. This is the correct and safe way to build muscle. Any other approach will cause fatigue and actually start deteriorating muscle tissue. Remember to use relaxation techniques and warm-up and cooling down exercises with your equine before and after every workout.
In the Arena
The arena is the place to really start focusing on forward motion and lateral exercises to further strengthen your equine, and it is the place to begin fine-tuning his balance, first during leading exercises, then Ground Driving and finally while he is carrying a rider. The Hourglass Pattern in the arena is also a good place for you to fine-tune your own riding skills, so that you learn to help your equine maintain good balance and cadence, on straight lines and while bending through the corners. In order for your equine to correctly go through the corners, you will be asking him to bend the muscles through his ribcage so he can remain upright and balanced. Equines are not motorcycles and should not lean around the corners. The power should always come from the hindquarters to keep the front end light, supple and responsive to cues. If his front end is heavy and sluggish, your equine is not adequately stepping underneath with his hind legs and will thus, lose forward impulsion and power and will not properly condition his muscles.
Open Areas
Open areas are good for stretching and relaxing at all three gaits. They can be used for negotiation of obstacles and to execute large flowing patterns. You can also practice stretching exercises, as described in DVD #5 of Training Mules & Donkeys. Then proceed to working on more collection on the short sides of the arena, and go back to stretching exercises again before you quit the lesson. The open areas allow for a wide variety of training exercises by giving you the space to use numerous patterns and obstacles. Try using cones to mark your patterns—this benefits both you and your animal by helping you both stay focused. An arena without cones is like a house without furniture.
As far as the open road and in traffic, these areas are for seasoned animals only, so please do not even consider using these areas to school your equine—the results could be disastrous! With the heavy traffic these days, it is really safest to avoid heavily traveled roads entirely. For a pleasurable experience, stick to areas where you and your equine can trail ride safely and comfortablly. The important thing to remember is to follow this logical and sequential approach as far as the location and exercise sequence in your training practices to keep things easy and enjoyable for you both.
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.
© 2004, 2005, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2024 Lucky Three Ranch, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MULE CROSSING: Good Basic Training Includes Common Sense, Part 1
By Meredith Hodges
Many times I have been asked, “Is training a mule any different than training horses?”
The answer to this is “Yes.” Since a mule is half horse and half donkey, the trainer must learn to appeal to the donkey half of the mule as well as the horse half. Donkeys are very sensitive animals requiring infinite patience and understanding. They possess a natural willingness to please which is evident when their training is approached properly. When training is done incorrectly, they will exhibit resistant behaviors that include everything from standing stock still to running off. Both donkeys and mules must always be given clear verbal communication and body language so they can comprehend exactly what is being asked of them.
When training your equine for saddle or driving, you will need to spend adequate time conditioning his muscles correctly. In order for things to happen as effortlessly as possible, the equine needs strength and coordination in good posture and a clear understanding of what is expected of him. This is why it is so important to spend months instead of merely weeks on leading training. Since an equine’s bones are only cartilage and not hardened until approximately three years old, he should be at least three years of age before a rider is introduced.
Showmanship training is not just for the showmanship class at a show. Perfecting your showmanship technique every time you have your equine on a lead line will command his attention to detail, build his confidence in you and insure that he is strengthening his muscles properly throughout his body at the most basic level.
Just as a baby must first learn to crawl before he can walk, your equine first needs to learn to walk at your shoulder in nice straight lines with his balance equally distributed over all four feet, so that when you ask for a halt or a turn he is able to do it easily and without a loss of balance. Be conscious of your own body position when practicing, and when preparing to walk off, hold the lead in your left hand, face squarely forward, extend your right arm straight forward, give the command to “Walk on” and take a few steps forward, making sure that you are also walking straight forward. You will be giving your equine a lead to follow that is definite and not wobbly.
When you ask for a halt, stop with your feet balanced, your weight distributed equally over both legs and still facing forward. Give your equine a second or two to settle and then turn to face his shoulder. If his legs are already square, you can then give the crimped oats reward for stopping. If they are not square, take a moment to square up his legs and then give the reward. Praise him for standing quietly for a few seconds and allow him to settle. You can then face forward again, point in the direction of travel, give the command to “Walk on” and walk a few more steps before halting again. Add more steps each time before halting. Whenever you practice turning, always turn the equine away from you—never into you. To insure optimum balance, practice leading him through these exercises from BOTH sides.
When executing a turn to the right, assume your leading position and then point in the direction of travel, asking your equine to take one step forward with the right front foot then cross the left front foot over the right to make the turn. Your own legs should execute the turn in sync with your equine’s front legs, giving him a good example to follow. Although you will rarely have an occasion to actually lead from the right side, be sure to practice from both sides to insure symmetrical muscle development. Dispense rewards, but only after he has completed what you have requested.
Paying attention to detail will greatly improve your equine’s body conditioning, good posture and balance, as well as his attention to your requests. Equines learn EXACTLY what you teach them and will only be as meticulous as you are. To build good habits, to facilitate good equine posture and to maintain your equine’s full attention, routinely lead your animal in the manner I describe, always giving him a few seconds before each move to prepare for the next move. The result is a relaxed, compliant and confident equine.
Once he has learned to follow and to do the “moves,” you then need to help him fine-tune these moves, making them as steady, balanced and coordinated as possible. He should learn to walk, trot and back up in straight lines, to stop squarely and to execute smooth, properly arched turns. Remember that your equine will follow your lead, so always pay close attention to your good own posture and “way of going.” Equines and humans have corresponding body parts, so if you are stiff or off-balance in any part of your body, your animal will exhibit the same problem in his body.
Always look where you are going and correlate your legs with his front legs, matching his pace. Over time, he will begin to match the rhythm of his steps with yours, allowing the two of you to move together as one.
Maintain your own balance and rhythm, and ease into transitions from walk to trot and trot to walk smoothly and in rhythm and cadence—and so will your equine. Ask him to stand squarely each and every time he stops. Set up his back feet first by pushing on the lead rope with your hand directly under his chin in a diagonal motion toward the back foot that is forward. Push and release (in a diagonal motion only) the lead rope toward the forward foot as much as it takes to move it into line with the other back foot. Once the back feet are in line, set his front feet by pulling and releasing gently forward (again, in a diagonal motion only) to align the front legs.
He will soon begin to square up by himself the minute you stop and face him. Don’t forget to use your verbal commands. If the feet are out of alignment, use the command, “Foot?” and your equine will learn to move his feet into the correct position. Remember that your equine needs ample time to respond, so don’t be too abrupt. If going from walk to a trot, say “walk, walk, walk…and…tr-r-r-rot.” I find that just by putting the word “and” before the next command (and lingering on that specific word) gives the equine a signal that a change of pace or direction is coming and allows him time to easily respond. Rather than using abrupt commands and signals that can cause your equine to “bounce” into transitions (causing “kinks,” soreness, disobedience and even injury), this steady and even technique enables your equine to “slide” into transitions. This approach lessens mental and physical stress and helps muscles and tendons develop properly.
As your equine gains strength, you will notice that he now carries his body differently. He is more balanced, solid and steady, and is able to stop squarely at every “whoa,” regardless of the gait. As he frolics in the field, notice the dramatic change in his play patterns. He will be much less awkward.
When you can loop the lead rope over his neck and he follows you faithfully and in good posture through the flatwork showmanship patterns, he is ready to move on to obstacles. (Remember that conditioning muscles and tendons takes a lot of time and patience.)
You should not do the work in the round pen until he has completed his postural lead line training, both on flat patterns and then through obstacles. The simple exercises in my DVD training series, Training Mules & Donkeys, are beneficial for all types of equines and will help your animal to build muscle correctly throughout his body, so that when you do begin work in the round pen, he has enough muscle strength, balance and coordination to hold his own good posture correctly for longer periods of time. Then he is truly ready to learn to balance on a circle. Each disc in this training series is designed to take from six months to one year to complete (depending on the individual animal), so be prepared to take plenty of time at each step of the training process.
The methods used in my DVD training series are especially helpful if your equine was previously rushed through training and never experienced the benefit of being “comfortable in his own skin.” Equines are never too old to be rehabilitated using these methods. And if an equine understands that you have his best interests at heart, he will be more willing to leave other equines to spend time with you, so being herd bound ceases to be a problem. Whether you are working with a mule, a horse, a donkey or any other equine breed, developing your animal’s physical, mental and emotional needs in a simple and resistance-free sequential process of adequately rewarded tiny steps will produce a reliable, obedient, happy and healthy companion that you can enjoy for many years to come.
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, EQUUS REVISITED and A GUIDE TO RAISING & SHOWING MULES at www.luckythreeranchstore.com.
© 2015, 2016, 2020, 2024 Lucky Three Ranch, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MULE CROSSING: The Ins and Outs of Leg Supports
By Meredith Hodges
There are so many equine-related products on the market today that it is often difficult to decide which ones you really need and which ones you don’t. For instance, the subject of Splint Boots and Leg Wraps can be very confusing. How do you know when to use them? What types of Leg Wraps or Splint Boots are best? Do they really help? In what ways do they help? What kind of material should they be made from? And the list of questions goes on.
In the case of Leg Wraps, there are those that are stretchy and those that are more rigid. The stretchy wraps are called Polo Wraps (as in the Polo wraps that are used for Dressage schooling). Those that are stretchy and are commonly used over padded quilt squares are for traveling and when the equine is in the stable.
Those that are more rigid are most generally used during the training process and some are used for specific therapy. Developing postural core strength takes time and support needs should be checked often for appropriate type and tension during the variable stages of training. This occurs before the postural core strength has been symmetrically addressed during training and the body conditioning that goes with postural core strength building and balancing. Splint Boots and Leg Wraps vary as much as their uses do. The easiest and most obvious use of a Leg Wrap comes when traveling with your equine. If you are taking your animal any real distance, it is always advisable to use full-cover, padded Shipping Boots on all four legs. The Shipping Wraps help to prevent your animal from injuring himself due to his own movements, on objects inside the trailer, or injuries from other animals that are traveling with him.
If you have an animal that is fidgety and has difficulty standing still, applying leg wraps is the perfect opportunity to teach him to stand quietly while you handle his legs. You can begin training for Shipping Wraps by putting them on your equine while he is outside of the trailer at your grooming station, and then by removing them when he is inside the trailer before unloading him. Make sure he is standing quietly when you reward him with crimped oats while you introduce him to the Shipping Wrap, first to his front legs and later to his back legs. The crimped oats will keep him busy for a prolonged length of time during the introduction and later when you actually fasten the wraps to his legs. Get in the habit of always removing the Leg Wraps while he is standing still in the trailer and eating his crimped oats reward. This teaches him to wait quietly for you BEFORE he is given permission to depart the trailer. If he expects to have his Leg Wraps removed while he is still in the trailer, he is less likely to become excited or anxious, to back out too quickly and possibly bump, or step on you while waiting to exit the trailer.
The best Shipping Wraps are the ones that are full-leg (over the knees and hocks), quilted on the inside and attached with Velcro straps all the way down. Some materials such as fleece can collect bedding, or debris, and cause discomfort or pressure sores. The best Shipping Wraps are made from a quilted nylon material and most of them cover the entire leg past the knee and over the hooves. The Velcro straps should be numerous and wide so they do not lose their “sticking” ability. Always clean debris from the Velcro wraps after EVERY use!
You can also use quilted cotton pads and Polo Wraps, but their primary use is when they are stalled to prevent cuts and abrasions at shows and events. Never use Vet Wrap for anything but medical issues such as cuts, bruises, and other medical issues. As the “sticky” wrap does not hold up for very long, you can use Duct tape to secure it in place with a bit more pressure, but not enough to cut off circulation. Polo Wraps (a stretchy cotton strip around a soft pliable cotton pad with no quilted pads) 
are also used for support during training. These types of wraps are commonly used during Dressage training and typically only cover the Cannon Bones and not the fetlocks and pasterns. If you use Polo Wraps, or quilted cotton pads and wraps, learn to wrap them correctly to avoid pressure points that could cause circulation problems. Begin the wrap by placing the quilted pad or cotton pad in place around the Cannon Bone. Start the wrap at the center of the Cannon Bone, measure the tension on the wrap to make sure it does not interfere with circulation, that it is just snug and wrap down to the Fetlock joint. Then wrap upwards to just below the knee and Velcro the wrap in place. To keep the wrap from sliding down, use Duct tape just below the knee with one rotation of a tighter wrap to keep it in place. Consult with a professional to learn the proper wrapping technique. It is usually a hands-on lesson with a lot of practice! When they have lost their elasticity, it is time to throw them out.
There is a wide variety of Splint Boots available on the market and each type is designed for a particular use. When doing light work in the arena, or for Trail Riding, you might want to use a “front and back” set that are designed for minimal support, while still providing the legs with greater protection from injury. During beginning training, you might use Splint Boots only on the front legs for the initial introduction. When he has become accustomed to the Splint Boots in front, you can introduce them behind. At first, your equine will probably lift and shake his legs. This is a normal reaction and why you do first the front legs, and the back legs later. Your animal will not likely be using his hind quarters efficiently enough to begin to cause problems. However, once you have begun activities such as balanced stops and lateral work in Dressage, Jumping, Endurance or Reining, rear Splint Boots become very important.
When making a decision about which type of protection to use, it is important to first assess your equine’s development and the types of activities he will be doing. Boots that are deigned primarily for protection do not always lend much support to muscles and tendons.
They do, however, protect the equine from cuts, bumps and bruises, and are advisable for use during hard work, Gymkhana events, Trail rides in mountainous areas, and other stressful workouts. If you do use Splint Boots while Trail Riding and they get wet, do not leave them on your equine very long or they will lose their ability to be supportive, and can cause sores from rubbing. In order to prevent this from happening, the Splint Boots should be removed, cleaned and dried out immediately after use. Always use the ones that have a Velcro strip that feeds through a “metal sleeve” and then doubles back on itself for security. Just using Velcro to Velcro can come loose.
In the beginning, since the goal is to condition your animal’s muscles and tendons, “light support” Splint Boots are a good thing to have on hand. At this early stage, if a boot gives too much support, the equine’s body will not necessarily develop correctly, and the area beneath the boot (or wrap) can become weak. Muscles and tendons above and below the boot will gain too much strength and cause possible knotting of the muscles, compromising the function of the entire leg due to uneven, asymmetrical conditioning.
After his basic training, when your equine is participating in more stressful activities such as Jumping, Endurance, Reining and Racing (or in the case of an injury), it may become necessary to use a more supportive boot to lightly support already conditioned muscles and tendons. Support boots are designed to provide even support over the entire area that they cover. Be careful that they are neither too tight, nor too loose. You don’t want the boots so tight that they cut off the blood supply to the covered area, or not flexible enough to allow the joints to move freely. However, you don’t want them so loose that they ride down the legs.
Although the hooves look tough, they too can be adversely affected, particularly in Gymkhana events and jumping. This is why “Bell Boots” may be needed for hoof and coronet band protection. The coronet band is a very sensitive area and can cause severe 
lameness if damaged, even by a small, seemingly insignificant cut or bump. If a hoof is unusually dry, severe cracks can occur. It is advisable to routinely use a hoof dressing in addition to the “Bell Boots’ to prevent traumatic cracking during repeated concussion.
When trying to decide which Splint Boots, Polo Wraps or other devices to use, asses your plans for the day. Polo Wraps and Splint Boot uses can change from time to time, depending on the conditions of the day or which stage of training he is in. Most shows do not allow Splint Boots or Polo Wraps in certain classes. If the equine is in good physical condition, he should not need Splint Boots, or Polo Wraps for the short time during the performance unless it becomes extended as can be the case with Gymkhana. In this case, your equine should be conditioned well enough to forego the actual support-type Therapy Boots, and would only need protective Splint Boots. The Reining, Jumping and Endurance equine will need adequate leg coverage both for support and protection during initial training (Splint Boots front and rear, Bell Boots and even Hock Wraps on occasion). Once they are fully symmetrically conditioned in their Postural Core Strength, about two years into training, they should be able to maintain this habitual way of moving and should not need the leg supports any longer.
You might be asking yourself, “How can I tell a minimal support boot from a fully-functional medical support boot?” This can be quite confusing considering all the different kinds of leg wraps and splint boots that are out there. Some even look identical, but are not. Off-brand Splint Boots look a lot like Pro Choice Splint Boots, but they are made from inferior-quality materials that do not afford the degree of support and flexibility needed for successful therapy. Although these off-brands are designed for support and do cover the joints, they should be considered as more of a protective boot than a Therapeutic Boot. Splint Boots are strictly for the protection of the Cannon Bones because they do not cover the joints and offer very little support.
A short word about substituting boots for shoes on your equines’ hooves. I believe that using the boots for medical assistance is fine and can help healing. However, these boots never fit the hoof well enough to preserve the integrity of your equine’s good posture during riding and should not be a substitute for healthy hoof care, correct trimming, or shoeing. If you must use boots, it is best to have those Custom-fitted. Boots that do not fit the animal’s foot, the way that shoes can, will adversely affect his ability to balance his whole body causing compromises and soreness everywhere. When you have a good farrier, nail holes will not compromise the equines’ hooves and will be grown out by the time they are reshod. If there is no need for the shoes, with proper trimming, they can remain barefoot most of the time.
When researching which product will best suit your needs and the needs of your equine, check with equine professionals, check your local tack shop, or feed store, check at shows and expos, and on the internet. These places can all be valuable sources of information.
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
© 2003, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2024 Lucky Three Ranch, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MULE CROSSING: Shoulder-In and Lengthening the Trot
By Meredith Hodges
In order to perform the shoulder-in properly, it is important to understand its purpose. The shoulder-in causes the equine to engage his hindquarters so that they carry the bulk of his weight, giving him more freedom and suppleness in his shoulders and front quarters. A strong base must be established to carry this weight forward while the shoulders remain light and free to proceed forward while tracking laterally.
The shoulder-in is done on a straight line. Normally, an animal traveling in a straight line makes two tracks in the dirt behind him, because the front legs are positioned directly in front of the back legs. In the shoulder-in, the shoulders are positioned so that they cause a three-track pattern behind—the inside front foot makes one track, the outside front foot and the inside hind foot make one track, and the outside hind foot makes one track.
Begin by walking your equine around the perimeter of the arena. When you reach the corner before the long side, make a ten-meter (30-foot) circle. As you close your circle at the start of the long side of the arena, maintain the bend that you had for the circle, using steady pressure on your inside rein. At the same time, nudge your equine with alternate leg pressure in synchronization with his hind legs as they each go forward. Squeeze your outside rein at the same time that you squeeze with your outside leg, and then release the outside rein. Ride the hindquarters straight forward from your seat and legs, as you offset the shoulders with your hands. Be careful that your inside rein is not so tight that your animal bends only his neck to the inside. As you squeeze with the outside aids, feel your equine rock his balance back to the hindquarters, giving you the sensation of pedaling backward on a bicycle. Simultaneously, you should feel the front quarters begin to lighten and become supple.
Take your time and don’t try too hard. Be content at first with two or three steps of shoulder-in and then straighten him down the long side of the arena. After a few accurate steps of shoulder-in, as he straightens his body, you will feel him surge forward with more energy. Collect and slow your equine’s gait through the short side of the arena and then repeat the exercise on the next long side. As your equine begins to understand the concept of rocking his balance to the hindquarters, the surge of energy that you feel when he straightens will become more and more powerful.
Much body strength and coordination is involved in this exercise and at first, you may feel like you are all thumbs. Time, patience and practice will bring about positive results, so stay with it. Over time, do this exercise at the walk, the trot and the canter, and do it the same way in both directions in the arena. Don’t forget to praise your animal for each correct step that he gives you.
The next exercise to enhance hindquarter engagement and lengthen the stride is quite simple, yet still a little tricky because lengthening your mule’s stride means covering more distance yet maintaining the same rhythm and cadence. It does not mean speed up, although that is what most equines will try to do. Track the perimeter of the arena again. This time, collect the trot on the short sides, and then urge your equine to lengthen his trot 
down the long sides. To add variation, ask him to lengthen across the diagonals (from corner to corner) as well. Your equine’s first impulse will probably be to shift his weight to the forehand and just speed up. For this reason, do not push him too hard too soon. At first, just ask for a little more energy—be aware that your rhythm and cadence will not be lost as his stride increases. He will just be spending more time in suspension. Keep the forehand light and free while you ride the hindquarters. Let your hand open slightly with the foreleg going forward on the same side, and close as the leg comes back. This will help you to determine how far you can let that stride go before the balance begins to shift forward. It will also allow you to check the balance with your hands before it begins to shift. If he has too much difficulty, you should go back and practice lengthening over ground rails again to gain more strength and coordination.
As your equine gains strength in the hindquarters and is better able to carry your weight, his lengthened gaits will continue to improve until, perhaps a year or so later, he will be able to fully extend his stride at the walk, trot and canter. I caution you, however, that if your animal begins to rush, ask for less.
Another exercise that is helpful in lengthening the trot is to canter your equine around the arena, then cross half of your diagonal at the canter. Break to the posting trot and finish the diagonal. After the diagonal, sit the trot through the short side of the arena, pick up the canter on the long side again, and then cross the next available diagonal again and repeat the pattern. The drive that an equine gets from his hindquarters in the canter will carry through into the trot for the few strides on the diagonal and will create the true lengthening. This also holds true when teaching the lengthened walk (add trot work and back to walk) and the lengthened canter (add galloping and back to canter). This is your opportunity to tell your equine, “Yes, yes, this is what I want when I urge you on!”
Learning to ride from back to front (from the hindquarters forward) will greatly improve the harmony between you and your equine. Loss of balance seems to be the single most common cause of disobedience and problems with riding and driving animals. Carrying your weight and his in a properly balanced posture minimizes the chance for a loss of balance, and recovery from such a loss is much easier. Your equine will soon discover that your aids are indeed for his benefit as well as for your own, and he will become more accepting of them over time. As he becomes more balanced, you will find a world of different activities that you and your equine can do!
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, EQUUS REVISITED and A GUIDE TO RAISING & SHOWING MULES at www.luckythreeranchstore.com.
© 2016, 2017, 2024 Lucky Three Ranch, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This article is an excerpt from the book, Training Mules and Donkeys by Meredith Hodges, 2013
MULE CROSSING: Handling Your Mule’s Ears
By Meredith Hodges
Just how sensitive is a mule about having his ears touched? If a mule is handled often and properly, he should be no more sensitive about his ears than he is about any other part of his body. However, if he is rarely handled, mishandled or handled roughly, he can become quite sensitive about any part of his body and in particular, his ears. Bearing this in mind, take the time to desensitize your mule to touch and handling by paying attention to how he likes to be touched in any given area, and then by being polite about handling those more sensitive areas. This is an important part of any training program, both for general management and for safety purposes. This is the heart of imprinting.
The mule that has an aversion to having his ears handled poses a problem with management convenience, but more than that, he can be a safety hazard in many situations. Here are some examples of lack of desensitization causing inconvenience and possibly, a dangerous situation. Inconvenient: Your mule does not want his ears touched, so you have to disassemble his bridle each time you put it on him. Dangerous: Should you accidentally touch his ears while putting the bridle on him, he could possibly thrash his head around and knock you silly! Inconvenient: If you get into a difficult spot on a trail where you have to dismount and move quickly, you may be unable to take the reins over your mule’s head in order to safely lead him. Dangerous: While you try to get the reins over his head without touching his ears, your mule could inadvertently knock you down or lose his balance and fall down while trying to avoid you. The moral is this: If your mule is to be a completely safe riding animal, he must be appropriately desensitized all over his head and body—including his ears—and trust that you will not harm him.
Desensitization should be humane and considerate—never abusive. When we say we want to desensitize an animal, it simply means that we want him to become accustomed to touch and handling all over his body, particularly in areas such as his head, legs and rear quarters, where he is apt to be the most sensitive. An animal that has not been politely desensitized will tend to react more violently to touch. When properly teaching your mule to become desensitized, your touch should be presented in a pleasurable way, so that your mule not only learns to tolerate it, but to actually enjoy it and look forward to it. An old-time method such as “sacking out” is a somewhat crude technique that is used to desensitize an animal by tying the mule in a corner where he cannot flee, and then flinging a tarp or large canvas all over his body, including the head. Often times, it creates more problems than it can solve because it is rarely done politely. A mule that has been “sacked” about the head can actually become more sensitive because this inconsiderate approach teaches him that humans cannot be trusted. He perceives that they will fling things over his head, blinding him and causing him anxiety for no apparent reason. The mule will stand still only because he cannot move, but if he is given the opportunity to flee or fight back, he will more than likely do so. Thus, the old “obstinate mule” myths are actually most often the result of some fault of the trainer, and not the mule. Sacking out more politely will eliminate these kinds of potential bad habits.
Desensitizing a mule that is sensitive about his ears is a long-term process. First, you must maintain a firm, quiet and tolerant attitude. Nothing your mule does should make you angry enough to lose your temper or your patience. Make sure your mule is tacked with a stout, non-breakable halter and rope. While stroking his nose in a polite and soothing manner, ask your mule to come forward, one step at a time, to a stout hitch rail. If he won’t come easily, just snub your lead on the hitch rail so he cannot go backwards, and keep coaxing him forward until he comes. Take up the slack with each step and then hold until he takes another step forward toward the hitch rail. Wait as long as it takes for him to gain confidence enough to come forward. Do not get into a pulling or pushing match with him—you will only create resistance in him and perpetuate avoidance behaviors—and he will win because he is stronger and he weighs more!
When his nose is finally up to the rail, run your lead around the post and come through the noseband on his halter and around the post again. Then tie him off snugly, so that his nose is tied as closely as possible to the hitch rail, making sure there is no slack. Now begin softly stroking your mule’s nose, using gentle yet firm strokes. Next, work your way up his forehead, and finally toward his ears. NOTE: Remember to use soft, gentle yet firm strokes, going with the grain of the hair and never against it. Do not “pat” your mule—it’s too threatening.
Let the tips of your fingers find the base of your mule’s ear (away from the open side) and stroke upward, toward the tip. At this point, he will probably thrash his head back and forth to avoid your touch—just remain slow, deliberate, reassuring and gentle about your approach. When he has allowed you to stroke the ear, even if for only a couple of seconds, leave your hand resting on the ear and use your free hand to feed him an oats reward. Don’t take your hand away from the ear until he is chewing calmly and no longer worried about your hand on his ear. Do this with each ear no more than one or two times each session and then go to his shoulder and work your hand in a massaging fashion over his neck, toward his ears. While your thumb cradles an ear, let your fingers move over his poll. With your thumb, gently stroke upward on the back of his ear, while leaving the rest of your hand over his poll. If he jerks away, just keep going back to the same position of thumb cradling the ear and fingers moving over the poll.
When he will tolerate this, you can then cradle the ear in your fingers and with your thumb, begin to gently rub upward on the inside of the edge of his ear. Do not go too deep into the ear at first. After he is calm with this, you can begin rubbing downward into the ear with your fingers, while cradling the ear in your opposite hand, being very careful not to go too deep. Watch his eyes and allow him to “tell” you how deep to go. If it feels good, his eyebrows will raise and flicker. If he doesn’t like it, he will simply jerk his head away and that is your cue to lighten up. Most mules love to have the insides of their ears rubbed, so find the areas inside your mule’s ear that actually give him pleasure. Each individual mule will be different.
In the next step, you will be in the same position, but you will close your hand around your mule’s ear and hold it with just enough pressure that he cannot jerk your hand loose. Do not hold too tight, grab or pull the ear—just maintain a quiet, gentle hold on the ear and go with his movement. If he pulls away, just slightly tighten your grip on the ear until he stops pulling and then lighten your grip again. Tighten only when he pulls away, and then immediately release when he stops resisting—tighten and loosen your grip as needed, and be sure to follow his movement. He will soon learn that if he doesn’t fight it, there is no discomfort. Never tightly grip his ear and do not tighten your grip any more than you need to in order to hold onto the ear—you never want to induce pain. Once your mule is tolerant of you holding his ear in this fashion, you can introduce the clippers, should you desire, using the same guidelines of tightening gently yet firmly when he pulls and releasing when he submits. However, introduce the clippers only after he has completely accepted you holding his ears.
Introduce the bridle by holding your right hand flat on the poll between your mule’s ears, and by using your left hand to raise the crown piece over his nose and up to his forehead. Slide your right hand down his forehead a little to meet your left hand. When your hands meet, transfer the crown piece into your right hand, insert the bit with your left hand, and then raise the crown piece up to the base of his ears. Slowly transfer the crown strap back to your left hand. Gently cup the fingers of your right hand around the base of his right ear. Now bend the ear forward and under the crown piece and slide it over your hand (and the ear) into its position behind the ear. While keeping your palm firmly on your mule’s poll, slowly move to the left ear and repeat the same movements.
The bridle should now be in place and you can reward your mule. Do not put on and remove the bridle any more than once per session. Your mule needs to clearly know that this is not just some annoying past time you have discovered, but an act of necessity. He will soon learn that if he cooperates, it won’t take too long. Once the bridle is on, get right to the business at hand and forget the ears for a while.
When you return with the difficult mule, tie him as before, stand directly in front of him (with the hitch rail between you) and gently remove the bridle with both hands lifting and sliding the crown piece over both of his ears simultaneously, so there is little pressure on his ears as it slides over them. If he still holds the bit in his mouth, hesitate for a minute when the bridle is off his ears and allow HIM to drop the bit. Removing the bridle this way will help to avoid chafing the ears and will avoid the bit hitting his teeth before you remove the bridle the rest of the way. Always removing the bridle in this fashion will encourage him to drop his head and will prevent bad habits such as pulling away or flinging his head.
When your mule gets used to having his ears handled and being bridled while snubbed and haltered, you can then begin dropping the halter and loosely tying him while he is being bridled. Sometimes it takes a couple of weeks before you can drop the halter—this will vary depending on the individual mule, so just be patient. Your quiet, gentle perseverance will eventually win out and your mule’s ears will be desensitized and quite manageable. After you have mastered his outer ear and inner ear, you may find that your mule actually enjoys having his inner ear stroked or scratched, and bridling becomes easy. Integrating washing his face and cleaning his nostrils and ears during the grooming process should further help him to accept having his ears handled. Handling your mule’s ears can actually become a truly pleasurable experience for your Longears.
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, EQUUS REVISITED and A GUIDE TO RAISING & SHOWING MULES at www.luckythreeranchstore.com.
© 1992, 2003, 2012, 2016, 2024 Lucky Three Ranch, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MULE CROSSING: Achieving Balance and Harmony
By Meredith Hodges
Achieving balance and harmony with your equine requires more than just balancing and conditioning his body. As you begin finishing training on your equine, your awareness must now be shifted more toward your own body. Your equine should already be moving steadily forward in a longer frame and be basically obedient to your “aids” (your seat, legs and hands). The object in finishing training is to build the muscles in your own body so that your aids become more clearly defined and effective. This involves the shedding of old habits and the building of new ones. This takes a lot of time and should not be approached with impatience. There are no shortcuts!
In order to stabilize your hands and upper body, you need to establish a firm base in your seat and legs. Ideally, you should be able to drop an imaginary plumb line from your shoulder through your hips, through your heels and to the ground. To maintain this plumb line, you must work to make the joints and muscles in your body more supple and flexible through correct use, so that this line becomes your automatic posture.
As you ride your equine through walking exercises, try to stay soft, relaxed and following forward in your inner thighs and seat bones. Get the sensation that your legs are cut off at the knees and let your seat bones walk along with your animal—lightly, and in rhythm with him. If he slows down, just bend your knees and nudge him alternately with your legs below your knees, while keeping your seat and upper legs stable and moving forward. While your legs are still, they should rest gently on his sides in a “hug.” Do not push forward in your seat, but allow him to carry you forward. When collecting the walk on the short side, just bend both knees at the same time, nudging your equine simultaneously on both sides, while you squeeze the reins at the same time.
In order to help you stay over the middle of your animal’s back on the large circle, keep your eyes up and ahead, shift your weight slightly to the outside stirrup, and “feel the movement.” Bend your knee and set your inside leg snugly against your equine at his girth. As you do this, be sure that your outside leg (the leg on the outside of the arc) stays in close contact with his body, well behind the girth. He will begin to bend his body through contact with your legs in this position. Your inside leg (the leg on the inside of the arc) will support the bend and help to keep him upright, and the outside leg will drive him forward through the arc of the turn, or circle. On straight lines, keep your legs even, slightly behind the girth and look straight ahead. To keep his shoulders from “dropping” while executing a turn, look up and a little to the outside of the circle. This will bring your inside seat bone slightly forward and your outside seat bone slightly back, allowing your legs to easily be in the correct position for the circle. Your weight should be shifted to the outside leg. This is particularly helpful during canter transitions.
Most of us feel that we do not balance on our reins as much as we actually do. If there is any balancing on the reins at all by the rider, your equine will be unable to achieve proper hindquarter engagement and ultimate self-carriage. Here is a simple exercise you can do to help shift the weight from your hands and upper body to your seat and legs. Begin by putting your equine on the rail at an active working walk. On the long side, drop your reins on his neck and feel your lower-body connection with him as you move along. In order to maintain your shoulder-to-hip plumb line, you will find that you need to tip your pelvis forward and stretch your abdominal muscles with each step. If your lower leg remains in the correct position, this will also stretch the thigh muscles on the front of your leg from hip to knee. There is also a slight side-to-side motion as your animal moves forward that will cause your seat bones to move independently and alternately forward. There is no doubt that you can probably do this fairly easily right from the start, but to maintain this rhythm and body position without thinking about it takes time and repetition.
When you are fairly comfortable at the walk, you can add some variation at the trot. Begin with the posting trot on the rail. Always post down in your seat to meet the equine’s front leg that comes back and underneath your outside leg. Post upwards as the equine’s front leg goes forward. Once your equine’s hindquarters are adequately engaged, you will begin to feel his hind legs coming under your seat. However, when starting out, it is easier to learn to post using a visual of the front legs, and rely on the physical sensation of the hind legs coming under your seat later. When your mule is going along the rail in a fairly steady fashion, drop your reins on his neck and continue to post. As you post down the long side, remember to keep your upper body erect, your pelvis rocking forward from your seat, your knees bent such that your legs are gently hugging the barrel of your equine, and your arms raised and straight out in front of you, parallel to your shoulders.
If your animal drifts away from the rail, you will need to post with a little more weight in your outside stirrup. As you go around the corners, be sure to turn your eyes a little to the outside of the circle to help your positioning. As you approach the short side of the arena, bring your arms backwards and straight out from your shoulders in a “T” formation, while keeping your upper body erect. As you go through the corners, just rotate your arms and upper body slightly toward the outside of your circle. When you come to the next long sides, bring your arms, once again, in front and parallel to your shoulders and repeat the exercise.
Notice the different pressure on your seat bones as you change your arm position. The forward arms will somewhat lighten your seat, while your arms to the side tend to exert a little more pressure. Consequently, you can send your animal more forward by using your seat as you go down the long sides, shortening that stride with a little added pressure from the seat bones on the short sides. When you wish to halt, put your arms behind you at the small of your back to support an erect upper body, and let your weight drop down through your seat bones and legs. Also, remember to use your verbal commands often in the beginning to clarify your aids (effect of the seat, legs and hands) to your equine. If your equine doesn’t stop, just reach down and give a gentle squeeze/release on the reins until he stops, but be sure to remain relaxed and continue to drop your weight into your seat and legs. Keep your inner thighs relaxed and flexible. Do NOT squeeze! Think DOWN through your legs on both sides. Before long, he will begin to make the connection between the weight of your seat and your command to “Whoa,” and your seat will take precedence over your reins.
When you and your equine have become adept at the walk and the trot, you can add the canter. At the canter, however, keep your arms out to the side and rotate them in small circles in rhythm with the canter. Be sure to sit back and allow only your pelvis, seat and thighs to stretch forward with the canter stride. Keep your upper body erect and your lower legs stable in the gentle “hugging” position. Once your equine has learned to differentiate seat and leg aids during each gait and throughout all transitions on the large circle, you can begin to work on directional changes through cones.
As you practice these exercises, you will soon discover how even the slightest shift of balance can affect your animal’s performance. By riding without your reins and making the necessary adjustments in your body, you will begin to condition your own muscles to work in harmony with those of your equine. As your muscles get stronger and more responsive, you will cultivate more harmony and balance with your animal. As you learn to ride more “by the seat of your pants,” you will encounter less resistance in your equine, as most resistance is initiated by tension in the seat and legs and by “bad hands,” an ineffective and uncommunicative dragging on the reins. Your hands should remain quiet and supportive in contact with the bit. Keeping your legs close to the sides of your equine’s body in a sort of hug will clarify the “track” he is to follow (much in the same way a train is confined to its tracks). As you learn to vary the pressure in your seat accordingly, so will you encounter less resistance in your animal through his back, and the stability in your lower legs will give him a clearer path to follow between your aids.
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, EQUUS REVISITED and A GUIDE TO RAISING & SHOWING MULES at www.luckythreeranchstore.com.
© 1992, 2016, 2017, 2024 Lucky Three Ranch, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MULE CROSSING: LTR Training Principles and Philosophy
By Meredith Hodges
No training series would be complete without examination of the principles and philosophy behind the training techniques. The philosophy of my training techniques is based on the principle that we are not, in fact, training our equines. In fact, we are cultivating relationships with them by assigning meaning to our own body language that they can understand.
Since our own level of understanding changes and grows over time, we must assume that so does that of our animals, and we must gauge our explanations accordingly. In the beginning, the emotional needs of the young equine are quite different from that of an older animal. They need to overcome a lot of instincts that would protect them in the wild, but are inappropriate in a domestic situation. In this case, our focus must be on developing friendship and confidence in the young animal, while establishing our own dominance in a non-threatening manner.
We do this through a lot of positive reinforcement in the beginning, with gentle touch, reassuring voice, and lots of rewards for good behavior. Our expressions of disapproval are kept at a minimum. As he grows with us, the equine will realize that we do not wish to harm him, and will next develop a rather pushy attitude in an attempt to assert his own dominance – once that he is confident that his behavior is acceptable. When this occurs, we must re-evaluate our reward system and save excessive praise for the new things as he learns them and allow the learned behavior to be treated as the norm, praised more passively, yet appreciated. This is the cultivation of a delicate concept of give and take in a relationship from the emotional standpoint. As in any good relationship, we must learn to be polite, considerate and respectful of our mules, donkeys, horses, ponies and hybrids. After all, as my grandmother used to say, “You can catch more flies with sugar that you can with vinegar!”
From the physical standpoint, there are also a lot of things to consider of both mule and trainer. In the beginning, unless you are a professional trainer with years of proper schooling, you are not likely to be the most balanced and coordinated of riders, lacking absolute control over your own body language. By the same token, the untrained equine will be lacking in the muscle coordination and strength to respond correctly to your cues that guide him to perform certain movements. For these reasons, we must modify our approach to fit each new situation and modify again to perfect it, keeping in mind that our main goal is to establish a good relationship with our equine and not just to train him! It is up to the trainer to decide the cause of any resistance, and to modify techniques to temper that resistance – be it mental or physical.
For instance, we had a 3-year-old mule learning to lunge without the benefit of the round pen. The problem was that she refused to go around you more than a couple of times without running off. Assess the situation first by brainstorming all the probable reasons she might keep doing such an annoying thing. Is she frightened? Is she bored? Is she mischievous? Has she been calm and accepting of most things until now? And most important, is my own body language causing this to occur?
Animals are all quite different, as are humans, and each individual will learn in his own way, as do humans. Once in a while, you meet an animal that is not able to learn things in a conventional manner. He perceives things just differently enough to make it extremely difficult. In the case of the mule that would not lunge independently on the line, we found that she needed additional learning aids. You can either put a round pen around the animal to “force” him to comply, or you can wait until he is broke to saddle before you try to lunge him again with just the line. If you only have an arena, you can lunge the equine in the corner and the two fenced sides will help him to stay on the circle. This certainly helped her!
I have worked with many mules that wouldn’t lunge first, but would ground-drive and accept a saddle and rider with no problem. After this they seem to lunge quite easily! Learn to be fair and flexible in your approach to problems as you would for anyone you were interested in getting to know. Be firm in your own convictions, but be sensitive to things that can change and be willing to make those changes as the occasion arises!
As mental changes occur, so do physical changes. As muscles develop and coordination gets better, the animal will gain confidence. As a trainer, you will need to do less and less to cause certain movements. For example, in the case of the leg yield, you may have to turn your mule’s head a little in the opposite direction to get him to step sideways and forward. As he becomes stronger, more coordinated, and understands your request, you can then begin to straighten his body more with less effort. Granted, we have begun by doing this the wrong way, yet we have put our mule “on the road” to the right way. We have assimilated an action in response to our leg that can now be perfected over time. In essence, you have simply said, “First you learn to move away from my leg, then you can learn to do it gracefully!”
The same concept works in the case of the trainer, or rider. Sometimes you must do things that are not quite right in the beginning to get your own body to assimilate correctness. As I have said, we all perceive things a little differently and it depends on how we are introduced to something whether or not we can understand or perform it. It is nearly impossible for the inexperienced horseman to perceive and control unused seat bones as a viable means of control of the equine. In the beginning, reins and legs are much easier to use to complete such a task.
In training horses and mules, there is really little difference in one’s techniques or approach, provided we maintain patience and understanding and a good rewards system. The major difference between these two equines is their ability to tolerate negative reinforcement, or punishment. The mule, being part donkey, does not tolerate punitive action very well unless he is fully aware that the fault was his own and the punishment is fair. For instance, you ask for a canter lead and your mule keeps trotting, one good smack with the whip, or one good gig with the spurs, is negative reinforcement that will bring about the desired response, but be careful of an over-reaction from an overdone cue. More than one good smack or gig could cause either a runaway or an extremely balky animal. This kind of resistance comes from the donkey and requires a much different approach when training donkeys. The horse part of the mule allows us an easier time of overcoming this type of resistance in mules, making them different and easier to train than donkeys.
It is the innate desire of all humans to control their own lives both emotional and environmental. When we cannot, we become panicked and confused about our situation. We doubt ourselves, our abilities, and our self-worth. If we do not maintain a sense of humor about those things that we cannot control and learn to accept that which we cannot change, we are doomed to a life of depression and failure. Horses can be controlled and even some mules can be controlled for the most part, but it is my experience that donkeys are only controlled when they so desire.
Donkeys are affectionate, amicable characters, and possess such a sensitive nature that one would think punishment a real deterrent from bad behavior – but when you punish a donkey, you will be met with a tough hide and unbelievable avoidance behaviors which often cause more resistance than it’s worth! As if this isn’t enough, if you do punish your donkey for something, the next time he even comes close to the same action, he may anticipate your punishment and go straight to the avoidance behavior before he actually makes the mistake. For this reason, it is better to try to ignore the mistakes, focus on the successes and reward the equine with lots of praise. If something in your training isn’t really necessary to your final objectives and you encounter this resistance, such as I did during lunging training, then just drop it and go on to something else that they can do easily. There is plenty of time to learn it at a later date.
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.
© 1989, 2016, 2024 Lucky Three Ranch, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MULE CROSSING: Imprinting Beyond Birth
By Meredith Hodges
Imprinting is defined as “rapid learning that occurs during a brief receptive period, typically soon after birth or hatching, and establishes a long-lasting behavioral response to a person or object as attachment to a parent or offspring.” 1 When we speak of “imprinting” in the scientific sense, it is a reference to the way the brain accepts input. The brain compartmentalizes impressions and images, and the animal reacts to the stimulus that the image produces. A collection of “imprints and images” produces memories. Imprinting training with a foal of any breed will give him a jump-start on his life with human beings.
Imprinting is more than getting your foal used to people. He’s going to spend the rest of his life with human beings, so he should get used to your touch, your voice, your smell and, especially, your handling of him. Handling your foal the minute he is born is a wonderful way to bond with him, and you will learn how he likes to be touched in order to produce a positive response. This early imprinting lays a foundation of trust for the training to follow.
Although it is commonly accepted that initial imprinting on the foal’s brain occurs only during a brief receptive period when initial contact is made during the first few days of life, it does provide a foundation on which to expand exposure to a human being through your foal’s five senses of touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight that leave impressions on the equine brain and will affect the way he interacts with a handler beyond what his dam may teach him. If the initial contact with humans leaves a positive impression, a foal will be more likely to be curious about humans than afraid of them. Because of this early contact, continuing imprinting then becomes an ongoing process that builds on the initial imprinting that is introduced at birth.
A calm, well-mannered mother helps produce a well-mannered foal, so if your mare or jennet is not easy to handle, she needs imprint training before the foal is born. Mares, and particularly jennets, can become very aggressive in defense of their offspring, so it is advisable to imprint even a mature mare or jennet so she will be safe to be around when she finally foals.
When imprinting your foal, think about the kind of adult you want him to be. A foal is very similar to a human baby regarding emotional needs—both need attention, love, guidance and praise to become loving, cooperative adults. Start your relationship with a positive attitude and approach your foal with love, patience, kindness and respect. Be sure to set reasonable boundaries for his behavior through the way you touch him and speak to him, the facial expressions you use, and even how you smell when you are around him so he can learn to trust and respect you and be happy at the sight of you.
It doesn’t matter if your equine is a young foal or an older animal—he needs imprint training. It will set the stage for the way he relates to humans for the rest of his life. Imprinting stimulates all of his five senses: touch, hearing, taste, smell and sight. This leaves an indelible impression on your equine’s brain as to how you expect him to behave, which—over time and with repetition—becomes his new natural way of responding.
The most important sensation to which you can expose your equine is touch. If your touch is gentle and considerate, it will feel good to him and he will be interested in your attention. When you run your fingers over his body, being careful not to press too hard on sensitive areas, he will experience pleasure and begin to look forward to your visits. Learning how your equine likes to be touched will also help things go more smoothly when you begin grooming him and tacking him up and during his training lessons, when he must learn to take his cues from your hands, legs and other aids. Even how you mount and sit down in the saddle—for instance, how your seat is placed on his back—denotes your consideration of him through touch. The wrong kind of touch, no matter how slight, can be a trigger for adverse behaviors. However, the right kind of touch—done correctly—produces pleasure in your equine and instills a willingness to perform in a positive way each time you interact with him.
To begin imprinting training, run your hands all over your equine’s body and down his legs, and put your hands in his mouth and in his ears. His reactions will help you learn how he likes to be touched. Getting your equine used to touch in this way eventually evolves into exposing him to grooming and working with tack and equipment. You are continuing to build on the initial imprinting work, but now, when you are grooming, the grooming tools will become extensions of your hands, and when you introduce various tack and equipment like clippers, they will also become an extension of your hands. Allow your equine to use his sense of touch (usually with his nose) when introducing any new object. Work toward getting your equine’s response to your touch as highly sensitive as possible, so that he can use his own body language to communicate with you. NOTE: Many owners pat their equine on the top of the head with the flat of their hand as a sign of affection, without realizing that, as a rule, most equines don’t take kindly to people patting their foreheads or faces. A pat on the forehead works if you want to distract your equine, but save it for that purpose only. It is much better to show affection by stroking your equine (always in the direction in which his hair lies), in a soothing and reassuring manner.
The tone of your voice is another important element of imprinting. If your general tone is soothing and encouraging, he is more likely to comply. Then, when he needs to be disciplined, the change in your tone of voice will convey your disapproval before you even have to touch him to make a correction—giving him the opportunity to straighten up before you actually need to apply the physical backup of negative reinforcement. If, no matter what the situation, you always speak in low tones, he will not be able to differentiate between what’s acceptable and what is not, but if you modulate your voice to clearly express what you want to convey, your equine will be much better able to understand and react appropriately.
Equines have an excellent sense of smell—for instance, they can smell danger from miles away. They can also smell people, and they are much more likely to warm up to a person who smells “good” to them. Smelling good to an equine has nothing to do with soaps or perfumes or deodorants. Oats and hay are smells that all equines immediately recognize and love, so if you dole out oats rewards correctly and you actively participate in the feeding and care of your equine, you will mostly smell like crimped oats throughout lessons, making you VERY attractive to your equine!
The next sense to which you should appeal is your equine’s sense of taste (a no-brainer). When you dispense the oats reward for all of his new positive behaviors, he associates that wonderful taste with you and will follow you to the ends of the earth to get more oats.
When the equine’s five senses are truly pleased, the very sight of you will prompt the memories and impressions on his brain that you have instilled in him during imprinting. The impression you have left with him is positive, encouraging, kind, considerate and respectful, and his reactions to you will also be positive and willing.
As you begin your equine’s imprinting, make sure you include an equal measure of fun. As with children, if you make learning fun, it comes more easily. By encouraging your young foal or older equine’s enthusiasm for learning, you’ll cultivate and enhance your equine’s desire to please and to serve.
Imprinting training is truly an ongoing learning experience. When touching a newborn foal, keep in mind that the foal is coming out of the protected environment of the womb, where he’s had pressure from the amniotic fluid over his entire body. Suddenly, he’s born into an entirely foreign environment and, soon after, a human appears out of nowhere and begins touching him. Initially, this is like being tickled all over, so at this point, imprinting serves as a desensitization technique to human touch. Desensitization doesn’t mean you want your equine to become totally desensitized to you—just that you don’t want him to jump out of his skin every time you touch him. Always strive for a positive interaction between you and your equine.
Pay attention to the way your equine’s hair lays and stroke his coat in that direction only. There is more fatty tissue down the neck and over the back, so you can press a little harder when touching these areas. Going with the hair and using the flat of your hand, learn to gauge how much pressure you can apply to the fatty areas. Then, as you work your way down to where the fatty tissue becomes thinner, be sure to ease up on the pressure over the bony areas.
Always keep an eye on your equine and watch his face—he’ll let you know if he is experiencing pleasure or displeasure. If you observe wrinkling around his mouth, if his ears are laid back flat or if he stomps a foot, he is showing displeasure. A soft eye, a relaxed, contentedly chewing mouth and an absence of tension in his body denotes pleasure. So when you are engaged in training, pay special attention to your equine’s body language and adjust your own touch accordingly.
Work on evolving your own body language as a natural and truly wonderful way to “talk” with your equine. You can also use verbal language, but body language should be your primary form of communication.
Making use of your equine’s five senses to expand the meaning and benefit of imprinting can really work in your favor and will leave an indelible impression on your equine’s brain that will engage his attention and expedite the learning process. The result will be a deep and meaningful relationship with your equine not just now, but for the rest of his life.
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, EQUUS REVISITED and A GUIDE TO RAISING & SHOWING MULES at www.luckythreeranchstore.com.
© 2013, 2016,2024 Lucky Three Ranch, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MULE CROSSING: Turns On the Forehand and Haunches
By Meredith Hodges
Proper conditioning of the young equine through a carefully sequenced program of gymnastic exercises is essential to the proper development of his mind and body. Spending time cultivating a smooth, fluid forward motion, with regular rhythm and cadence, helps to develop his body properly and enables him to perform difficult movements easily.
Work with ground rails and cavalletti helps to build muscle, particularly in the hind quarters. This will help him to carry your weight more easily through lateral movements, stops and lengthening of the gaits. Proper preparation minimizes resistance and frustration. This will be apparent in how your animal carries his tail. Is it hanging in a relaxed fashion, or is he switching his tail periodically, or regularly? You might notice that after the initial introduction of lateral moves, your equine’s forward motion has become a little “shaky” again. It is now time to clarify the connection between forward motion and lateral motion with his increased understanding of your seat and legs (Not so much the reins as your connection to the bit needs to remain quiet!). By employing a few simple exercises, this can be a very simple process.
Ask your equine to walk a 20-meter circle (approximately 60 feet), while maintaining 
regular rhythm and cadence, proper flexion and bending through his rib cage. In rhythm, change your aids to a slight counter-bend and ask for a turn-on-the-forehand at the fence rail. Send his haunches around with pressure from your leg, well back on his barrel, until he is 180-degrees reversed. At the precise moment he is in the new position to go forward, in the opposite direction, release the pressure on your reins! Then send him forward again from your legs onto the new circle.
You will find that you must hold him back just a little with the reins during the turn to keep his weight on the hind quarters throughout the turn, but still maintain a forward motion. It is critical that the release comes at the instant he has completed the 180-dregree turn. While executing the turn-on-the-forehand, do not hold back on the reins with steady pressure. Use a squeeze-release action with your hands.
Complete the turn with a series of half-halts from your seat and a squeeze-release action with the reins. If you do this, your final release will come as a natural sequence to the turn and it will be executed in the rhythm and harmony of your equine’s movement. You can do this exercise at the walk, trot and canter, but be sure to slow down to a walk from the faster gaits in their natural sequence…canter, trot, walk and turn…trot, walk and turn. Do not be abrupt and skip the interim gaits.
Next your will begin to cultivate the turn-on-the-haunches. Your equine’s lateral work on the T-poles will have given him prior understanding of this movement. Again, walk him on a 20-meter circle. When you are ready to make the turn, stop along the fence, nudge him rhythmically and firmly with your outside leg. Hold him steady with your reins and keep your weight over his center of gravity in the middle of his barrel. Keep your inside leg passive and connected, but gently quiet.
Maintain contact with your outside rein so his head remains straight, and lead him into the new direction of the turn with a squeeze-release action on your inside rein. Back it up with a rhythmic squeeze-release action coming from your leg on the opposite side. 
Be careful not to inhibit his forward motion. It is better that he does small circles to complete the turn at first than to fall back over his haunches and pivot on one hind foot. As in the turn-on-the-forehand, nudge his barrel on the opposite side, pushing his haunches into the turn with the squeeze-release action. Longears will tend to lean into a continuous pressure from your legs! Keep practicing this exercise, maintaining his body between your aids.
When he does well at the walk, you can move on to executing the move from the trot, and later the canter. Always slow down to the walk for the turn and go through all the gaits! Even if your equine makes a mistake, remember to praise him for his efforts and just keep going forward. If you do this, you will find him to be a much more willing partner and eventually, you will succeed with your goals.
Once your equine gets his footwork figured out through these complicated movements, and has the opportunity to develop his body properly, you can begin to as for more speed and finesse on the turns, but this comes MUCH later! To attempt any more right now will most likely destroy his forward motion, cadence and rhythm. This will cause frustration and fatigue.
Working your mule along the fence line, will help him to keep his pivot foot planted throughout the turn and still stay balanced through his body. Abrupt turns cannot accomplish this with the finesse that he will need for optimum performance. This is an excellent exercise for improving the quality of the turn-on-the-haunches for Reining and cow work, but because of the sensitive nature of the animal and slow maturation, it can become too stressful and frustrating for a younger animal if attempted too early. The equine might even perform well for a couple of years after quicker training, but before long, he will sour on the movements. He will anticipate the moves in order to avoid soreness, and even begin to bolt. It’s better to take it slowly so it is easy for him. This will maintain your rapport and understanding in the relationship. Equines that are brought along slowly tend to live a lot longer and do not have serious issues with arthritis and other such problems. So, why get impatient and try to do too much too 
soon? Wouldn’t you rather have a long-lasting and pleasant relationship with a companion that is happy with his work?
Your equine does not need his crimped oats reward as often as he did in before his under-saddle training. Just be sure to be generous with your rewards BEFORE you ride and then again AFTER you ride, so he fully understands that he has done well. This will ensure that his good behaviors will be consistently repeated. When you lavishly praise your equine’s successes, stroke him gently and calmly when he makes mistakes, you will only solidify the bond between you!
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, Pinterest, Instagram, MeWe and Twitter.
Covered in TRAINING MULES & DONKEY: A LOGICAL APPROACH TO TRAINING, TRAINING WITHOUT RESISTANCE, EQUUS REVISITED and A GUIDE TO RAISING & SHOWING MULES at www.luckythreeranchstore.com
© 1989, 1992, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2024 Lucky Three Ranch, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
LTR Training Tip #49: Free Lunging in the Round Pen
Introduce your equine to lunging training with “free lunging” without tack or equipment in the round pen.