Feral mule update ;)

[kristine]

Been a while since an update, but here's what's been going on with the feral mule I got last winter.


It was tough getting him broke enough to be user-friendly (catch, lead, load, tie, be away from the other horses), but being gelded was a big help.    I've just been chipping away!  He's fairly gentle now and a functioning member of society for the most part! Mules are so much fun but not for the faint of heart.   He's got much more to learn... he will SORT OF let me trim his feet, and the bridle has to be almost taken apart to get it over those big ears.   He's also very wary of strangers... but its all part of the experience.

He is not old enough to ride (some of my countrymen would argue that) but I don't believe they can be prepared enough before hand! He's got some growing to do, but here's where he's at in university...

Haha... saddle's is a little bit... bridle is a little big... but no buck and no worry!

[portiabuzz]

Well done !!!!! Just gorgeous xx

Sent from my SM-G800F using proboards

[wills]

He is lovely. Sounds like he is coming on well.

[merryberry]

He is wonderful. Well done.

[kafee]

Hi Kristine, thanks for the update, lovely to hear how you're getting along with him. (I still find it strange that you have to geld a mule!) Those ears are just gorgeous, but I can see putting bridle on tactfully would be quite a task. How big is he now? Are you intending to keep him or sell him on once he's going well?

[kristine]

He's not very big... maybe 13.2 or 13.3 right now, but the mare was supposedly big. Have heard that mules get a big growth spurt in their 2-3 year old year, so maybe he's going to shock us all and be 15.2 by this time next year?

I'd like to keep him and use him for a saddle horse. I've been around horses so long... honestly the drama-free, low maintenance, super sound and healthy parts of the mule are pretty appealing. I have two other horses, both are very hot-bred QHs who take a lot of work and I have NO TIME. I also have a donkey but she is pretty much self-sufficient other than a hoof trim and some yearly shots.

Thanks all for the kind words!

So four horses is really too much to handle right now both time and $$ wise. I am also trying to get two dogs ready to go trial on cattle (the one might be more of a sheepdog... stay tuned), and a full time job! HOW DO PEOPLE DO IT??? Lol...

If he grows enough this year to pack my immense body in the future, I might send him to a mule trainer to start. Those are a real thing over here! There's a few VERY good ones and no shortage of terrible ones. I swore retirement from starting colts, but he might tempt me back into it, too. He's been SO much fun to work with lately. Sorry for being racist, but he's really winning me over to mules as the easier animal to train. For example, the other day I decided to try to teach him to lead by his feet. Horses in the right frame of mind pick this up fast, but the mule picked it up literally in less than 2 minutes. I was floored... and put the rope on the other front foot to see if it was a fluke. Nope. The hind feet took a little more but they came along quickly, too. Once in a while, he'll let out a big sigh and look at me like I am hard to train...