MULE TALK! PODCAST: Selecting a Trainer
Selecting a Trainer –
- Where do you begin to look for a qualified trainer for your mule?
- Learn the smart way to interview a candidate to be your trainer.
- Viewing the training facility and having a conversation with the trainer.
- Take the time to read the contract and ask for clarification where needed.
- If you are unsure about the trainer, ask for references.
- After hiring a trainer, it is critical that you continually visit with your mule so he doesn’t feel as though he were stranded.
- Stay involved in the training process and work with your trainer.
- This and more on Mule Talk!
Mule Talk is an Every Cowgirl’s Dream production – www.EveryCowgirlsDream.Com
Learn more on Mule Talk podcast.
So that prompted me to get really meticulous about what I did. That’s why I launched into what I did establishing the Loveland Longears Museum and Sculpture Park at Lucky Three Ranch as a 501 (c) 3. We had to develop a “mission statement” to make it legitimate. We did that to teach people, at risk-kids and younger children about the care, maintenance, handling and training of equines in general and not just mules…but, with the primary focus on mules. The focus being like that would ensure that my animals would be part of the 501 3 (c) 3 and would be guaranteed a place in the whole foundation. They would be taken care of!
I hear from people every day that tell me they can’t find good grass hay for their animals. Mules and donkeys, being desert animals have to have a very specific diet or they can easily become obese and then you have all sorts of problems and vert bills up the ying-yang, if they don’t just die. It is really easy to mess up that program. The people that have been with me have been here for more than 20 years. We all operate as a team and not by how many hours are put in. Rather, each day is gauged by the tasks needed to be performed and we do not call it a day until the list is completed each day. We all pitch in to help each other when one person has more to do than the others. Each person has their own specific job description, but we all pitch in together when it is time to do the hay during the hay season.
The two of us girls welcome the opportunity to get out of the office during hay season. The weather is always lovely and working together is a lot of just plain fun. Doing house and office work can get rather tedious when it is so repetitive each day throughout the year. We try to keep up morale by changing up the schedule every so often. There are a lot of things to do like answering the phone, answering peoples’ questions, taking orders, booking tours, distributing orders, keeping the book-keeping straight each day, making Social Media posts regularly, checking the websites connections, both the LTR website and the Jasper website, keeping up the inventory cards in the warehouse and updating all the records for the attorneys and accountants. We also celebrate birthdays 
with our fellow workers, including our remote graphics artist, videographers and with our JASPER MASCOT, Social Media and behind the scenes website help. It is important to keep a happy and enthusiastic crew!
One cannot make any assumptions about what should happen upon your death after you are gone. If you don’t do the things as meticulously as I have done, anything can happen and your animals will suffer. It is better to have it all clearly laid out and in such a way that your designated recipients will be fully aware of what they are signing up for. You will need a clearly stated document about the way YOU care for your equine, so the recipient will know exactly what to do with your animal when they inherit it (How to feed (hay and oats mixes, worming, minerals, exercise, maintenance in a dry lot with limited turnout, social time, training expectations, etc.). This is critical for health of your mules and donkeys. Otherwise, you animals may not be cared for as you desire. Your assets will be at the mercy of other people’s opinions and desires. People can be very selfish in this way. People often believe that you can just turnout in a pasture and that is good enough…NOT! Mules and donkeys are very susceptible to obesity that will usually follow with founder and other things like ringbone and side bones. Poor management is generally due to owner laziness and misinformation that is freely passed around. Beware of advertising and markets techniques. They are not necessarily based in the overall welfare for your equine. Beware of dehydrated cubes and pellets, different oils, minerals, amounts and types of grains, treats, etc. I did my “field” research with 32 equines over a period of 40 years.
After grooming the left side, move to the right side. Brush the head with a Dandy brush and use a multi-bristled human hairbrush on the mane and tail. By adding a little Johnson’s Baby oil to the mane and tail during grooming, you can train a mane to fall to one side and keep other equines from chewing on manes and tails. Finish with a soft body brush. Finally, use the grooming cloth to wipe around the ears, face, eyes, nose, lips, sheath (if it’s a male) and the dock of the tail.
You can spritz a little water and hair spray to make the hair easier to handle. The quickest way to secure the braids is by using tiny rubber bands. It’s also very easy to do and it’s great for one-day shows or quick changes between classes.
In the past, when equines ran free, they were unencumbered by human interaction and could build and condition their muscles naturally. Today, with increased population but reduced open lands, their activity is often restricted. It then becomes our responsibility to not only train them, but to prepare them physically to perform and keep them happy in their environment. This responsibility becomes even more important when we ask them to exert more energy than normal, in activities like long trail rides, endurance events, showing and equine-related work. Proper preparation for this modern-day lifestyle will help to minimize your equine’s stress, both physically and mentally.
Understanding the prey-predator responses can help to guide us in the training of our equines, but because of the change in the environment, it shouldn’t completely define our training methods. The prey animal that is uncomfortable with making direct eye contact with the human “predator,” for instance, is virtually trapped in a confined environment in which he has no control and can therefore become anxious and difficult to handle. We are taught not to make eye contact with him until he is willing to face us. We are taught to “chase” him in a round pen until he does.
instance, the equine that is “trapped” on a lunge line and asked to reverse toward the handler will inadvertently be improperly set up to take the new trotting diagonal, or the new lead at canter, from a position that actually “tangles” his hind legs and causes him to fumble into the new diagonal or lead. This mistake can become painful and even detrimental to the stifles as he jumps out of the entanglement and can cause resistant behaviors which are often punished on top of the physical pain he is already experiencing.
his body symmetrically in good equine posture. Once he has established good equine posture and balance over a long period of time doing appropriate exercises, he will then be better able to efficiently reverse towards you on the lunge line by changing direction from a position of balance rather than an awkward imbalance.
Be a true leader and learn to set boundaries for your equine with appropriate corrections for bad behaviors (which can be found on our website and in our products). Make these corrections quickly and then immediately return to a clear definition of what you expect and make sure that it is easily doable for your equine at each step. Every animal on the planet will correct another’s misbehaving with a very clear and undeniable gesture that will stop the abuser promptly in their tracks. Take note. This is not abusive, but rather a very clear communication of what’s right and what’s clearly wrong. In fact, in the case of the mule attacking the puma that has circulated the internet for the past few years, it was clearly a case of the mule engaging in the hunt with his human “friend.” So, who is really prey and who is predator in this particular scenario? Sometimes we just need to change our perception or understanding of things and deny all-encompassing generalizations and stereotypes.
being. In the practice of true Behavior Modification, all five senses should be employed: sight, hearing (voice), smell, touch and taste. These are all innate ways to communicate effectively. Any distractions should be eliminated when communicating with your equine—put away the electronic devices, clickers and loud whips, and avoid abrupt noises.
In Part 1 of this article, you learned how to begin your relationship with your miniature equine in a positive and natural way, and how “getting down” to their eye level so they can make eye contact with you discourages striking, jumping on you and other bad behaviors that are common when working with miniature equines. Be sure you have successfully completed the lessons in Part 1 before moving on to the lessons in Part 2 or training may not yield the desired positive results. Also, if possible, it is best to work minis in groups if they are used to being with other equines, as they perform better when they are with their “friends” and it doesn’t hurt to train their friends in the same way.
in Part 1), but this time you will be in the work station and you will have a guest…the farrier. Before the farrier attempts to pick up the first foot, ask him to sit down beside your mini in front of the shoulder on the left side and offer a handful of oats as a way of introducing himself. Next, while you sit at your mini’s head and offer the oats reward for good behavior, have the farrier begin with the near side (left) front foot and work his way around from front to back, and then from back to front on the other side (right). While the farrier is working, talk calmly and encouragingly to your mini, and as long as he is doing what is asked of him, offer rewards generously. He should yield his feet easily, but if he does not don’t offer the reward until he complies.
Don’t shove your mini when you want him to move over. Rather, give him some oats and use your index finger to tap or poke him on the side of his ribcage. If he doesn’t move over, use your whole hand to give him a slight push, always using a “push and release” movement, which is non-confrontational. You don’t want to keep steadily pushing up against him, because as soon as you give him anything to push against, he will and you could find yourself in a pushing match or, worse, a confrontation with him. As soon as he complies and moves, give him the oats reward and slide your body in next to him to help hold him in position for the farrier as he works with each foot. Don’t be afraid and always stay on the same side as the farrier. If the mini decides to make an abrupt move, he will try to slide around you because equines really don’t like stepping on, or running over, soft, squishy things like our bodies, so if your mini can get out of your way, he will. Even if he was to jump up in the air, he would more than likely jump over or around you, taking the path of least resistance. Trust your mini, stay calm and avoid becoming tense or exhibiting fear and things should go smoothly.
This approach becomes particularly important when negotiating something like a dock or a bridge where you are not only dealing with an obstacle, but an obstacle that makes you substantially taller than you already appear to your mini. This is another instance when you can “get down” on your mini’s eye level the way you did in the pen and at the work station. Remember to do things in small steps. When you walk onto the surface of the dock or bridge or any other large, flat surface, leave enough room for your mini to come up. When you get to the end of the lead rope, take up the slack and then sit down and offer the reward. Then, once your mini has negotiated the obstacle, give him the oats reward and just have another picnic. If a companion equine is accompanying you, be sure to tie the companion animal in front of the obstacle so your mini can always see him. If you tie him behind, your mini will worry and want to go back instead of forward.
When you are ready to step down off the dock or bridge, it would be unsafe to be lower than your mini, so at this point you should stand up, go to the end of the obstacle and ask him to come forward off the raised obstacle, making sure he has plenty of room to come off the obstacle without you having to move. Stand quietly and keep the lead rope taut as you verbally encourage him and invite him to come down off the bridge. As soon as he jumps down, ask for a halt and reward him for jumping down and stopping right in front of you. (He will learn to negotiate the obstacle more slowly with practice.) Once he has finished negotiating the obstacle and halted and is chewing on his reward, you can then proceed to the next obstacle. Having definite, purposeful and timely pauses will help alleviate anxiety and resistance in your mini.
longer he must go without making eye contact with you, the greater the chance of resistance, but eye contact on his level will give him confidence in your judgment and will help to facilitate a real bond between you. If negotiating an obstacle such as a tractor tire or six tires, just extend the lead rope over the tire or tires, sit on that side, keep the rope taut and proceed as you did with the bridge obstacle.
I call this technique “OATS.” (Observe, Approach, Touch and Sigh). It allows your mini time to observe each situation, then approach and touch the obstacle, finally giving a sigh as a signal that he is relaxed and not afraid. Always reward him for his efforts so he can begin to gain confidence and trust in you. By following the OATS technique you are turning your mini’s fear into curiosity, which will serve to keep him calm in future situations.
Mules played an important role in our country during the Reconstruction Period: they patiently worked the fields, packed necessary artillery for the army, and served as a durable riding and driving animal in the westward movement. With the coming of the industrial age, their uses were minimized and they were faced with the possibility of extinction in the march of progress. Today, through the persistent determination of mule enthusiasts, mules are once again emerging as a conceivable asset to our economy and a unique form of athletic achievement and entertainment.
They will generally follow you around until you leave the field, begging for attention or simply observing you closely from a safe distance. Mules have a genuine desire to make friends with those other than their own species. Also, they are a very sensitive animal and can read your intentions through the tone of your voice and your body language.
Still, the most important thing to remember is to praise the mule with caressing and scratching when he does what you desire and back it up with the food reward. Mules love this kind of attention and will do their best to get it. If they are rewarded immediately when they are behaving as desired, the desired behavior will eventually become the norm. If bad behavior is ignored or gently reprimanded, it will fade to a minimum. The result is a pleasant, affectionate, and dependable animal.
