Home Forums Gear Horses and ATV's Damn mules

Yep, I was all stoved up jus' a short time ago.. totally my mistake.. hurt like hell in both pain and pride...

Everyone has a spill from time to time.Some turn out a little worse than others.

Ironbender,
"Castigated as a dumb chit" is what this forum is all about.

I always get heat for saying so because someone always has one that will sit in your lap, but horses (and mules) are dangerous animals.

Seldom find it thataway. This is one of the better forums, IMO.

Yep, the horse & mule forum stays pretty civil. Can't see why it is included in the ATV,etc group. Looking at the rest of the 24 hour campfire, it seems most unique groups have their own niche. here.

I think it comes down to the issue of substance, can we provide enough content to warrant a topic specific forum? If one were to eliminate the bashing of shared experiences I am not sure. The Campfire to me is a Forum unlike any other.

There are many topics related to keeping and using Horses and Mules that have yet to be discussed. That offers the potential if the content is supported to achieve the goal of a subject specific forum.

Dennis you have my sympathy... I am recovering from a mule learning experience also. Only it wasn't my eyes that were black..

Yes, a few who are obnoxious maroons elsewhere act a bit more like gentlemen here. I hope it stays that way.

Thank you. I do try.

For what is worth. I visit this forum often and am fascinated by the wealth of knowledge and humor and I try to learn from each visit. Please keep the posts coming, and do not let a few malcontents kill a good thing.

AMEN! I've never had much to do with mules, only horses. Even then, I'm a rank beginner compared to some folks here.

Dennis, we used to have a horse who was "introverted" for a lack of a better term. He would go off into another world, all his own, to get away from things he didn't like, such as saddling, use of a bit, etc. When things settled down and the expected bad things didn't materialize, he would come out of his "happy place" all of a sudden and freak out and go totally right brain for about five seconds, then be back to normal.

You had to remember to watch for signs of when he was "going inside", then you could either wait for the inevitable five seconds of chaos, or get his attention by doing tasks that required him to think, then he would be fine.

My wife, being the consummate horse trainer, broke him of this behavior, but it took a while.

Dennis, I'm glad you weren't seriously hurt. That could have been a really bad wreck. It sure didn't improve your looks, though.

As to "being castigated", if I screw up and open myself up for comment and/or critique, I can expect some criticism along with it. I just don't have to act like I'm in High School and get all pissy and reactive when the criticism appears.

Ed

I for one would be interested to hear more about this analysis.

Mules are honest. Learn to read their language. Anticipation is really important with long-ears. Otherwise it is easy to get behind and never catch up.

ppine, stop. There's a couple of ways to say nothing. The better, more desirable method of such being without words.

You could watch his face and eyes. The expression on his face would change and his eyes would kinda "glass over". He wouldn't blink for a bit, then blink very little. No chewing on the bit when you put it in his mouth other than to settle it in place, and he would be stiff in his movements during and after saddling, as if he had to "think" about what was being asked, not responding as if he had been trained. His head wouldn't be all the way down as when he was totally relaxed, but not up in as an alert or concerned position.

In a few minutes, when nothing bad would happen, no yanking on a bit or anything about the saddle rubbing the wrong way, or other issues, he would snap out of this almost catatonic state, back into reality. If you weren't on him, his head would jerk up as if you'd goosed him, his eyes would go wide, and his breathing got rapid, while he looked around for a Tyrannosaurus Rex that was about to eat him. If you WERE on him, his head would come up and he would bolt in any direction, trying to get away from the T. Rex that was on his back.

So, we learned to watch for the early symptoms and when we saw them, we would give him a job to do while tacking up. That made him think about his surroundings and exactly what was happening to him and he never went into his "happy place". Eventually, he stopped going there when we tacked him up and haven't seen that behavior in him at all in quite a while.

It is all really subtle, but when you get to know your horses, you can pretty well read them.

Ed

Amen to that.

Like Donnie Gay (and others) say about bull riding, it's not if, it's when and how bad.

This is very true but I will take my chances on a horse in the woods or back country over a motorcycle on the highway any day of the week. Motorist are dangerous too.

Me too, thats just forse of habit. It's really meant for those that have to feed em from their hand, kiss them, and all the silly stuff that comes along from people not knowing they're setting themselves up for a bad experience.