Guess what? Ceasar can pull a wagon!! If you don't know Ceasar yet, scroll down to my first entry and you surely won't forget him! We have been driving him SUCCESSFULLY providing a POSITIVE EXPERIENCE over the course of the last 10 days!!! We are especially pleased with Ceasar's help in this matter. I attribute his entire attitude adjustment to jealousy... Jake (our 10 year old son) has been driving his donkey single and the donkey is Ceasars' best buddy. Ceasar has been watching, green with envy, for 3 weeks or so and has been quite disturbed about not being invited. Well, we hooked him up again with a 3 abreast hitch after leading him behind the wagon with his harness on and he did fabulous. He trotted off straight as an arrow and pulled like a freightrain! I'm so proud of him. Have faith, sometimes patience is the best training technique of all!
Julie!!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Discipline... what is the right thing to do?
So, discipline... what do you do to discipline? This is a HUGE question. I have been asked many times as to what is the proper time to discipline and what do you do? Well... discipline should start the moment you go out to catch your mule, donkey, or horse... So, we all know that discipline builds rapport and instills confidence in your mule's opinion of you. Now the question is, what do we do? Well, when we go out to catch a mule, the moment we approach them, we expect good manners. When we put the halter on them,we expect them to be respectful of our space, be respectful of our demands, and trust in our judgement enough to follow us out to work. We achieve this through repitition. Still, what do we do? It's a hard question to answer. Well, I'll tell you exactly what we do. First... when we put the halter on and they try to rub on us, we do not let them. We start everything with a verbal command... a growl (yes a growl, it works with dogs, cats, kids and even husbands!), then we push their head away, and then rub them on our terms. Why? Rubbing shows they love me, right? Well.... we want to show them that the choices as to when things occur are ours. This will transfer later in your training to every other thing you try to do with your mule. The point isn't to deny your mule love, it is to make them do what you want... when you want to... then rub them. Same goes with eating... when you lead them out and they want to stop and eat, it isn't "love" to let them stop and have a snack. We disrupt their plan before it is in motion. We are aware before they even drop their head and verbally warn them with a growl, then bump the leadrope in time with their footing to give them incentive not to stop or eat. (This is timing and we'll get to that another day). We want them to look to us to choose when they are allowed to do things to show them that we are in charge, thus building rapport and trust between you and your mule. Being in charge starts as soon as you lay hands on them and follows through everything you do until you turn them back into their pen.
When we have them at the hitchrail,we expect they stand perpindicular. To achieve this takes lots of time and repitition... again... what do we do? We make them stand correctly in order to make our saddling, grooming, etc. easier. When they move to look at something and get out of position, we stop everything and growl at them, then physically put them back into position. We make it no big deal, then move on with the saddling.
We discipline riding too. How do you do this? First off, we always ride with spurs. If you are not educated with spurs, then you should not use them until you have lots of practice because they can cause lots of troubles for the uneducated rider. Spurs are for both discipline and bending and flexing your mule. Ok, discipline while riding... Well, it is the exact same thing as when you are on the ground. If you are riding your mule and they start to look at something or spook at something on the left, you need to warn them to keep their attention on YOU. How? First we verbally warn them with a growl. If they don't heed our verbal warning, then we must do something to back up what we say. This is followed with snatching of their mouth to redirect their attention back to us. If that doesn't work and they are pointing with their ears and focused on something on the left, we then spur them on the OPPOSITE side as they are looking at. In this case, you would spur on the right side, right in the cinch area. You also want to join this spurring with a growl. This will let them know that you are in charge of looking out for danger. As Red would say... "you are the biggest, baddest thing in the forest and you will protect them". This entire disciplining should last about 2 seconds and should be a smooth action.
Another example would be when you mule is spooking all around, such as in a parade. I have seen people time and time again rub their mule that is spooking all over the place. Well, a rub should be a reward. Why reward your mule for bad behavior? This drives me crazy because it is unfair to send mixed messages to your mule which will lead to more problems and increase anxiety in your mule... and this is the riders fault. Instead, they should growl and show displeasure at the bad behavior. This growl should again be followed with snatching of the mouth and spurring if they don't heed our warning. If we don't show our mules/ horses/ donkeys the proper behavior, how can they ever look to us for confidence? How can you ever build a relationship without discipline, respect, or trust? This goes both ways between you and your mule.
Finally, disipline should be justified and fair. This is especially true with mules and donkeys. Remember, discipline should be used as a building block to improve a relationship. I know many of us get nervous disciplining under saddle, however, it is one of those things you must work through with your mule to achieve a trusting relationship. If you don't discipline under saddle, you don't have the right to discipline on the ground as well. It is a two fold endevour, like it or not. Therefore, when you discipline, you are doing your mule a favor which will translate into confidence in your mules opinion of your judgement... and that, my friends, is why we ride!
Discipline for Confidence and Ride like the Wind! Julie
When we have them at the hitchrail,we expect they stand perpindicular. To achieve this takes lots of time and repitition... again... what do we do? We make them stand correctly in order to make our saddling, grooming, etc. easier. When they move to look at something and get out of position, we stop everything and growl at them, then physically put them back into position. We make it no big deal, then move on with the saddling.
We discipline riding too. How do you do this? First off, we always ride with spurs. If you are not educated with spurs, then you should not use them until you have lots of practice because they can cause lots of troubles for the uneducated rider. Spurs are for both discipline and bending and flexing your mule. Ok, discipline while riding... Well, it is the exact same thing as when you are on the ground. If you are riding your mule and they start to look at something or spook at something on the left, you need to warn them to keep their attention on YOU. How? First we verbally warn them with a growl. If they don't heed our verbal warning, then we must do something to back up what we say. This is followed with snatching of their mouth to redirect their attention back to us. If that doesn't work and they are pointing with their ears and focused on something on the left, we then spur them on the OPPOSITE side as they are looking at. In this case, you would spur on the right side, right in the cinch area. You also want to join this spurring with a growl. This will let them know that you are in charge of looking out for danger. As Red would say... "you are the biggest, baddest thing in the forest and you will protect them". This entire disciplining should last about 2 seconds and should be a smooth action.
Another example would be when you mule is spooking all around, such as in a parade. I have seen people time and time again rub their mule that is spooking all over the place. Well, a rub should be a reward. Why reward your mule for bad behavior? This drives me crazy because it is unfair to send mixed messages to your mule which will lead to more problems and increase anxiety in your mule... and this is the riders fault. Instead, they should growl and show displeasure at the bad behavior. This growl should again be followed with snatching of the mouth and spurring if they don't heed our warning. If we don't show our mules/ horses/ donkeys the proper behavior, how can they ever look to us for confidence? How can you ever build a relationship without discipline, respect, or trust? This goes both ways between you and your mule.
Finally, disipline should be justified and fair. This is especially true with mules and donkeys. Remember, discipline should be used as a building block to improve a relationship. I know many of us get nervous disciplining under saddle, however, it is one of those things you must work through with your mule to achieve a trusting relationship. If you don't discipline under saddle, you don't have the right to discipline on the ground as well. It is a two fold endevour, like it or not. Therefore, when you discipline, you are doing your mule a favor which will translate into confidence in your mules opinion of your judgement... and that, my friends, is why we ride!
Discipline for Confidence and Ride like the Wind! Julie
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Discipline? Do mules hold a grudge?
Today I was talking to a friend of mine and we were discussing her donkeys. She was concerned that if she disciplines them, are they smart enough to hold a grudge? Well.... Of course I have to add my two cents as I have a lot of opinions on this matter. I feel that it is like anything else... what are your credentials? If I were to tell you that you are running your business the wrong way and proceeded to give you advice, your first questions should be "what are your credentials?" Why should you think anything I say is good advice, unless I am an expert on running businesses. Well, equines are the same way. This is even more so with mules and donkeys. When you discipline, you are essentially giving your mule advice on how to act. Discipline is absolutely necessary in training and developing a relationship with your mule. There are many forms of discipline and we can touch on that later, however, discipline is essential to creating a trusting relationship.
When you are catching your mule and you put your halter on your mule... that is when you need to expect that your mule behave properly and lead to the location of your choice. This is done through discipline and it the first step in your training day. When you lead your mule, he should follow you out. If he chooses to stop and eat, or pull away from you, you need to discipline. If he wants to eat on the way to work, it is your responsiblity to make him stop eating and continue on your way. If you allow him to stop and eat on the way to work, you are allowing the mule to be the alpha and in charge of decisions. This may not seem like a big deal, however, it is the BASIS of everything you choose to do with your mule. When you allow him to make the choices, your telling him that the advice on how to act is his choice, not yours! This responsibility on how to act is a big deal to your mule. This puts a lot of stress on your mule because he realizes he is the one who is in charge of not only when he can choose to graze, but staying safe and alive suddenly becomes his responsibility too. Remember, we need to instill confidence in our animals so that they don't spook, run off, or become herd bound. This confidence comes from our discipline in telling our mules that we are in charge... and will protect them. This needs to be consistent in building a trusting relationship. They may want to graze right then, but by stopping them and moving on, you are telling your mule that you are in charge of the choices and we are not eating right now, we are going to work. It is a very simple concept that is the primary most important factor in training and creating trust between you and your mule, donkey or horse. Give your equine good advice and back it up with everything you do with them... and they will thank you for it...
Ride like the wind, my friends!! Julie
When you are catching your mule and you put your halter on your mule... that is when you need to expect that your mule behave properly and lead to the location of your choice. This is done through discipline and it the first step in your training day. When you lead your mule, he should follow you out. If he chooses to stop and eat, or pull away from you, you need to discipline. If he wants to eat on the way to work, it is your responsiblity to make him stop eating and continue on your way. If you allow him to stop and eat on the way to work, you are allowing the mule to be the alpha and in charge of decisions. This may not seem like a big deal, however, it is the BASIS of everything you choose to do with your mule. When you allow him to make the choices, your telling him that the advice on how to act is his choice, not yours! This responsibility on how to act is a big deal to your mule. This puts a lot of stress on your mule because he realizes he is the one who is in charge of not only when he can choose to graze, but staying safe and alive suddenly becomes his responsibility too. Remember, we need to instill confidence in our animals so that they don't spook, run off, or become herd bound. This confidence comes from our discipline in telling our mules that we are in charge... and will protect them. This needs to be consistent in building a trusting relationship. They may want to graze right then, but by stopping them and moving on, you are telling your mule that you are in charge of the choices and we are not eating right now, we are going to work. It is a very simple concept that is the primary most important factor in training and creating trust between you and your mule, donkey or horse. Give your equine good advice and back it up with everything you do with them... and they will thank you for it...
Ride like the wind, my friends!! Julie
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Years... Time to get back to work!
Happy New Years! It is 2011! Well, I suppose it is time to get back to work. After our Winterhaven Event in Decemer 2010, the mules all look exhausted. Then, to boot, it rained and even snowed a little... so they are completely covered in mud as well. They look a little like the rest of us feel after such a big event. Still, we are so glad it was a safe and fun holiday for all involved... the mules included. Everyone came through with very little galling and wear and tear... Pretty good for driving 18 head of mules (let's not forget Moosegoose and Roy, the 2 special horses that get to participate) every night for 13 nights! Time to get them in pasture to relax and get back to trainig. We have Dusty, Sarah, and the big Jack... DuraMaxx to get back working bright and early Monday morning. So... Happy New Year from all of us!
Julie Wycoff
Julie Wycoff
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Winterhaven and Mules!
Winterhaven is an important event to the Tucson Food Bank, as well as the many fabulous patrons who ride with us. There is one part of this festival that does get overlooked... and that is the mules who pull the wagons. We have a herd of mules that we keep on our property to pull wagons for this event. Many of these mules would not have a life today without the opportunity to work at this event. By this we mean that a large percentage of our herd are mules that people no longer wanted. Mules that didn't have a purpose that they were good at. Mules that were not perfect and not what people want for their riding mule. These mules have come to us in many ways. Most of them are mules that their owners have found are simply are too much mule, or are too big, or too young, or too something! With us they have found a life.
We have Blanche... we refer to her as Apache. She is a beautiful 16 hand white paint mule that came to us about 8 years ago. This mule was unruly and generally unhappy. She pretty well disliked everyone and every other mule. After some time and many hours of work, we have turned her into an excellent driving animal. She pulls our 20 person Constoga wagon with Kit, her partner. With this event, Apache has a fabulous life. She lives on 340 acres throughout the year and shares it with the rest of the herd!
We also have Mulie... Mulie is a new mule to our herd. He is 16.2 hands and not the sharpest tool in the shed. This will be his 3rd year in Winterhaven and we have high hopes for him. His personality is that he isn't a mule at all, but one of us. He doesn't understand why he has to stay in his pen?!! Mulie was turned out in a 50 acre pasture with about 8 other mules... and he got lost. Mules don't get lost... he was working a little area of fence all by himself. He is adoreable. We love him.
We just want you all to know that this is a very important event not only to Tucson, but to Apache and Mulie... who without Winterhaven... may not be here today!
Julie Wycoff
We have Blanche... we refer to her as Apache. She is a beautiful 16 hand white paint mule that came to us about 8 years ago. This mule was unruly and generally unhappy. She pretty well disliked everyone and every other mule. After some time and many hours of work, we have turned her into an excellent driving animal. She pulls our 20 person Constoga wagon with Kit, her partner. With this event, Apache has a fabulous life. She lives on 340 acres throughout the year and shares it with the rest of the herd!
We also have Mulie... Mulie is a new mule to our herd. He is 16.2 hands and not the sharpest tool in the shed. This will be his 3rd year in Winterhaven and we have high hopes for him. His personality is that he isn't a mule at all, but one of us. He doesn't understand why he has to stay in his pen?!! Mulie was turned out in a 50 acre pasture with about 8 other mules... and he got lost. Mules don't get lost... he was working a little area of fence all by himself. He is adoreable. We love him.
We just want you all to know that this is a very important event not only to Tucson, but to Apache and Mulie... who without Winterhaven... may not be here today!
Julie Wycoff
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
A Beautiful Day as the Mule Trainers Wife
Today was a success! The weather was cloudy and cool. The sky was very dark all day to the West over the Rincon Mountains, in Arizona. The rain from the night before has settled the dust and it is Beautiful today... a perfect day to be training mules!
The plan today for Ceasar was to have him lead behind the wagon while under harness. When you lead a mule and have them under harness, with a bridle and bit on, you need to be sure to have them collected. So... what does that mean? Collection is the description of a mule that keeps their head in a vertical position from the ground. The purpose of this is to teach them athletecism. Everyone is always talking about collection... but why? When an equine is collected, they put their weight on the hindquarters. This will lighten up the front end of your animal, enabling them to rein lightly. Also, allowing them to be atheletic. By tying them down in collection, this teaches the mule to seek the bit, also it teaches the muscles to bend in the manner required to begin collection. Collection is not something that is learned or achieved overnight... this is a long term commitment in teaching this, but well worth it when they are under saddle. It makes reining a dream! More on that later!
Ceasar followed the wagon well. The most interesting thing was that he was at the gate to come out this morning. He was ready to do the whole thing again! That is typical of the geldings... they are so curious that they can't help but want to go again. We were very pleased by this and he was a happy guy when his drive was complete... and he wasn't the only one happy. I was happy, and relieved!
More later!
The plan today for Ceasar was to have him lead behind the wagon while under harness. When you lead a mule and have them under harness, with a bridle and bit on, you need to be sure to have them collected. So... what does that mean? Collection is the description of a mule that keeps their head in a vertical position from the ground. The purpose of this is to teach them athletecism. Everyone is always talking about collection... but why? When an equine is collected, they put their weight on the hindquarters. This will lighten up the front end of your animal, enabling them to rein lightly. Also, allowing them to be atheletic. By tying them down in collection, this teaches the mule to seek the bit, also it teaches the muscles to bend in the manner required to begin collection. Collection is not something that is learned or achieved overnight... this is a long term commitment in teaching this, but well worth it when they are under saddle. It makes reining a dream! More on that later!
Ceasar followed the wagon well. The most interesting thing was that he was at the gate to come out this morning. He was ready to do the whole thing again! That is typical of the geldings... they are so curious that they can't help but want to go again. We were very pleased by this and he was a happy guy when his drive was complete... and he wasn't the only one happy. I was happy, and relieved!
More later!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Why hire someone to teach your mules to drive?
Why hire someone to train your mules to drive? Well, let me tell you a little about driving mules for the first time based on our experience today. Today we drove a three a breast team of mules. (That means three mules hooked to the wagon). We had an experienced mule in the center, by the name of Miss Kitty. Our right mule, Mattei, has had some experience driving, but is by no means a finished driving animal. Our left mule, Ceasar, has been driven about 5 times, which were all successful by the mule driving standards of a 5th drive... (we made it home and the wagon was in one piece. Also, the mule was happy to be caught for the next drive... Yeah!!).
We hitched the three of them to the wagon. We unhooked, left the hitchrail and headed towards the wash where we drive our beginning mules (as this teaches them to pull). We immediately knew we were in for a day when Ceasar, the one on the left , decided that he would rather not turn left at all. He figured it the best idea to keep his head tucked firmly against the middle mule, Miss Kitty. Things were progressing down the wash without too much incident, and Miss Kitty did a fabulous job of keeping Ceasar off of her. We drove for about 20 minutes and Ceasar decided that he was all done driving....
We proceeded through a narrow gate. Now, to negotiate a narrow gate with three mules side by side, pulling a wagon, with the left mule pushing right.... I'm sure you can figure how that went. Well, after the wagon got hung up on the post, I had to run 1/2 mile home to get my truck, get some chains, and pull the wagon backwards and away from the post. All of this while the Mule trainer had to stay seated and hold the team. We got that drama under control and we were on our way... again....
By now, Ceasar had decided that he had had enough of this game. He began to rear up. He managed to rear up high enough to actually pull the center mule off of her feet (although she is easily 16.2 hands). Miss Kitty, our center mule, fell over. Ceasar proceeded to struggle until he managed to turn himself around and fell on top of Miss Kitty! This all took about 12 seconds to occur.
Fortunately, both The Mule Trainer and I are experienced with things like this and had them both untangled within a few minutes. The right mule was not involved in the wreck and couldn't figure out what the big drama was all about. After refitting all the harness properly, reattaching the mules to the wagon, and climbing aboard, we headed on down the road... again...
There are a few things about this day as a mule trainer, we need to consider.... First of all, after all this has occurred, it is our responsibility to give the mules a positive experience. I'm sure you all are wondering what could possibly be positive about this experience for them? After we got them all straightened up, we drove another 20 uneventful minutes. The mules relaxed, their ears were flopping, and everybody enjoyed the end of their drive. From this experience, Ceasar learned that it really doesn't matter what he tries, the end result will still be what we had planned initially for him. Miss Kitty learned that in a fix, we are trustworthy, calm, methodical, and will help her. Mattei learned that driving isn't such a big deal, even when catastrophe strikes both mules next to her.
So, in a nutshell, it was a great day training mules! Guess we will have to do it again tomorrow.... I can't wait...
We hitched the three of them to the wagon. We unhooked, left the hitchrail and headed towards the wash where we drive our beginning mules (as this teaches them to pull). We immediately knew we were in for a day when Ceasar, the one on the left , decided that he would rather not turn left at all. He figured it the best idea to keep his head tucked firmly against the middle mule, Miss Kitty. Things were progressing down the wash without too much incident, and Miss Kitty did a fabulous job of keeping Ceasar off of her. We drove for about 20 minutes and Ceasar decided that he was all done driving....
We proceeded through a narrow gate. Now, to negotiate a narrow gate with three mules side by side, pulling a wagon, with the left mule pushing right.... I'm sure you can figure how that went. Well, after the wagon got hung up on the post, I had to run 1/2 mile home to get my truck, get some chains, and pull the wagon backwards and away from the post. All of this while the Mule trainer had to stay seated and hold the team. We got that drama under control and we were on our way... again....
By now, Ceasar had decided that he had had enough of this game. He began to rear up. He managed to rear up high enough to actually pull the center mule off of her feet (although she is easily 16.2 hands). Miss Kitty, our center mule, fell over. Ceasar proceeded to struggle until he managed to turn himself around and fell on top of Miss Kitty! This all took about 12 seconds to occur.
Fortunately, both The Mule Trainer and I are experienced with things like this and had them both untangled within a few minutes. The right mule was not involved in the wreck and couldn't figure out what the big drama was all about. After refitting all the harness properly, reattaching the mules to the wagon, and climbing aboard, we headed on down the road... again...
There are a few things about this day as a mule trainer, we need to consider.... First of all, after all this has occurred, it is our responsibility to give the mules a positive experience. I'm sure you all are wondering what could possibly be positive about this experience for them? After we got them all straightened up, we drove another 20 uneventful minutes. The mules relaxed, their ears were flopping, and everybody enjoyed the end of their drive. From this experience, Ceasar learned that it really doesn't matter what he tries, the end result will still be what we had planned initially for him. Miss Kitty learned that in a fix, we are trustworthy, calm, methodical, and will help her. Mattei learned that driving isn't such a big deal, even when catastrophe strikes both mules next to her.
So, in a nutshell, it was a great day training mules! Guess we will have to do it again tomorrow.... I can't wait...
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