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Cause they know better until they get hurt, then they are all ears.

I will say this about the buying and selling.

I have sold quite a few mules in my days.Some I bought as mature mules,most I bought as weanlings or yearlings,raised and sold them as either green broke or finished.

I never sold one that I did not think was a good fit for the prospective buyer.Some of them got a little obstinate when I would not sell them the mule they wanted, but I didn't want it on my conscience if they got in a wreck.I had a lot less mules retuned that way. I always guaranteed that if the mule didn't work out, they could bring it back in 30 days or less and get thier money back.I never had to return any money.

One guy wanted a tall mule and I could not talk him out of it.So I found him a tall thorobred mule that was as gentle as a kitten. He turned it out on 80 acres of loco weed and in 6 months he called me to tell me I sold him a killer.I went down to his place and rode the mule which was completely bonkers, and then picked some loco weed, told the guy to take it to a vet and ask him what it does to equines.He never called me back, but I heard that he bad mouthed me to anyone that would listen.

Another time,I sold a nice little palomino mule to a gal that just had to have it.The mule was really nice and trained well,never offered to do anything bad and was a good fit for a novice rider.

She asked me to come to her place and look over the fencing etc. to see if I thought it was OK.I did and told her to leave the mule at my place until she had better enclosures.She would not have any of it,took the mule home. It got out that night and got killed by a car. Such a shame as it was one of the best dispositioned mules that I had..

You just can't forsee all the problems that may come down the pike.

Discovering for yourself that you only know enough to be dangerous should be a humbling realization. Taking that humility and striving to learn more - a clinic or mentor - is a giant step upward. It usually takes a good knock to the pride(or body) to get started.

DanH, One thing I have learned that when working with mules a person had best let thier ego and pride at the gate.

What I'm getting at is the fact that in this instance the new owner was sold a horse that the seller knew was a problem horse, the seller knew the buyer had no experience at all and that selling that particular horse to that person would result in problems and probable injury.
The buyer is not holding a gun to your head forcing you to sell to them.

Personally when I have sold a horse to someone I have done everything in my power to ensure that both horse and owner are suitable, I feel I owe that to the horse as much as to the new owner.
A horse like that particular one I would probably have turned into pet food rather than sell it to someone like her.


I'm not saying the new owner held no responsibility for their stupidity in buying a horse they would be unable to handle, but I still think the seller has to take some responsibility for the situation as well.

Saddlesore I read your posts and we agree on alot.



Maarty, Here, the "save the horsey" people have taken that option away from us. I agree that theres plenty of them that belong in a can. Instead unwanted, illmannered, and the just down right dangerous horses get passed along. Hoefully they end up in some rescue promoting that crap.

Saddlesore - I have a Ruger #1 with glue holding the stock together to remind me about pride and mules. The bruises healed up nicely.

A good mule is on my want list....

Learning enough to know a good mule when I see one is hard in Ak. where they are scarce. Good ones in particular

Sounds like you have at least ONE mule on yer schitlist, too......

The fault was all mine. New mule to one of the "partners, So it had been with this particular group of horses for about 10 days. I was a beginning rider, poorly fitting snaffle bit, and swithched pack horses part way through the trip. Just to make sure to get all the mistakes over with- was following the dominant mare of the bunch that kickes. Later that season the mule did much better.....or I learned from the two trees I hit.

I saw a horse lady get picked up by the boob and tossed by a very large quarterhorse stud. We warned her not to go near the studd, and told her that a stud horse was one of the most dangerous animals on the plannet...she wanted to pet him.

Respect. It all comes down to respect. It seems every year a tourist in Yellowstone Park is hurt or killed for trying to pet a bison. Others approach bears. A few years back a farmer who knew nothing about bison took some private bison in from a guy in Utah. They escaped the first night. Three ended up on us. Eighteen months later we ended up eating two of them. The farmer -- with the help from the owner who utilized a wildlife professional, a guy who travels the globe darting wildlife -- eventually got a handful back including a bull. The farmer started feeding the bull with a bucket of grain. One morning, innocently enough, the bull put a horn clear through the guy's thigh. Studs should never be underestimated. A lady neighbor of ours once road out with her husband to look at their mare bunch. The stud charged, got the woman by the thigh and lifted her out of the saddle and tossed her like a rag doll. Only the fact that she was wearing shotgun chaps saved her from having a huge hole ripped out of her leg.

Worked buffalo enough for cutting practice to know that I do not want to try to raise the dang things.
We had a freind back home that at thirteen rode out into a pasture with a stud and mare's. The stud dragged her off her horse by the ankle, biting all the way through bone. She escaped by crawling under the fence. Her ankle had to be rebuilt using bone and cartilage from other part's of her body.

people do not understand how dangerous horses can be. i can't tell you how many times i've told someone to quit feeding one of my horses from their hand or to quit kissing the thing. next day they're doing the same thing. lucky they still have lips

Had a big palimino try to bite me in the back of my neck when I bent over to clip the breast collar to the cincha. Felt his teeth graze across my skin and ducked lower. Dropped back and kicked him in the chest as hard as I could. He never tried any antics with me after that but he did get my sister on the neck and drew blood. That horse was all business and you treated him like all business. No lovey dovey, hugs and kisses with that one. Didn't want any thing to do with it.

Pat, your palomino is a pile-o'-meano.

I have a nice two-year-old with a trainer presently and visited him this morning. This young trainer has a nice sorrel six-year-old that be bought for $800. A woman owned him, had him started, then was scared of him so she only fed him and led him until he was spoiled. He took a bite out of someone just the other day.

Horses are like handguns. You shouldn't just run out and buy one and think you are armed. Some training required.

Pat imo that was the right reaction, as long as it's immediate. everytime you're with a horse you're teaching them something, whether you mean to or not. people that feed a horse from their hand are teaching that horse they get rewarded to bite at a person's hand.

I wouldnt say he was mean, just not very personable. He was a riders horse, and a lot of horse also. When you threw a leg over him he was all about covering ground.

Had a horse kick at me or my horse in the back country of Montana last year. He missed the horse and caught my foot. Till we got to the overlook there was no sense in clubbing on him because he already forgot what he did 15 minutes ago.

In some instances the hand gun will provide the best training!

Too many nice horses nowday's to be messing with dink's or rang-a-tang's. And I have to tell ya guy's, it's not alway's the girl's that spoil their horses. Ive been around more than one pocket pony owned by a man. One such experience was out in a herd looking for a possible purchase. I was so uncomfortable with all the close scrutiny my wife and I were getting, and the owner got a little miffed when I had finally had enough and drove his horses off. Needless to say, we shopped elsewhere.