Another rambling mule post

Darn, I feel so tall when my shadow is like this!

Those LONG ears. Siera has super duper long ears. She is pointing out a young buck to me...

She is actually listening to me here when I tell her to 'walk on' and stop being stupid.

We walked by a trail that she knows goes towards home and thought she should turn there....

After our evening trail rides, I am ready to tackle the longer route and sent a message to my neighbor, Justin, to see if he'd like to go with.

It has been almost a year since I went on this long trail, so on Saturday afternoon, I will walk it to make sure it is passable.

Then I'll take each of the girls on a solo ride through it. They know this route too as they have done it since they were trained under saddle.

Disclaimer. I did training. They will 'neck' rein on trails as they see the path ahead of them. If they disagree with your choice of trail they will resist. 

Mules often resist because:

They sense the trail in front of them is not in their best interest.

Or it is dangerous in some way.

Or...they just don't see the point.

Following a mule's instinct is sometimes the best option. Unless they are bluffing.

Mules test your humor and your patience. If they do not feel the need to repeat a lesson over and over, they will just stand and refuse to do anything.

Last year I invited a person to ride with me and all the way along she complained that Sunshine was not what she expected. She wasn't polished like the horses all of her friends had. 

Her friends had show quarter horses, and she rode in their arenas. I imagine that compared to them, Sunshine was a bit of a brut. 

The only training I have done is giving them ground manners and riding manners. We need to get from point A to B safely and the rest is just noise. They go right and left when asked, unless they don't feel like it. They back up and step forward on verbal commands. They are polite with their ground manners and allow me to pick their feet while they are loose in the pasture. 
They come when called.

And their Whoa is impeccable.

These girls are not perfect, but they are reliable. Siera and Sunshine have taught kids to learn to ride. Fred, who died last winter at 38 yrs old also taught kids and grand kids to ride. He even took care of  adult riders who had no idea of what they were doing.

Once Fred thought you should know your stuff, he'd challenge you. The perfect pony mule!

I guess we have been so very lucky with our mules. Below is a photo from the last time hubby rode. The kids convinced him that he could just go with them once. He never rode again, but this was a memorable moment. [He could still move around outside without oxygen.]

He is on Mica, the grey mule, grandson Dennis is on Fred, Ariel is on Siera, and I am on Sunshine. This was 5 years ago this month. 

I do miss having the grands here to ride, however, I only have Siera and Sunshine as riding mules now. The grands have jobs and come to visit maybe once a year.

Pretty Birds and critters

I took the bird feeder down a while ago when the DNR in our area notified the public regarding the Avian Flu that was in our state. However, this little tub is my boot tub where I rinse the mud off from my boots before going on to the porch.

I'm kind of anal about keeping the porch clean. 

We were having our morning coffee when I spotted some color on my porch rocks and the boot tub!

I was lucky to have my camera right next to me and I had removed the screen from the window to take shots out the window this winter so I got some sort of clear shots of these guys!

They are Yellow-rumped Warblers that migrate through our area and head north. 

Chalk this up to another bird I've never seen before.

The one below should be either a Hairy or Downey Woodpecker. All the woodpeckers love this tree!

Here is Sven, the goat in the new little lot that he is supposed to work on cleaning up. He seemed more concerned about the new area and where I was going than eating.

And here is my 24 yr old red mule lazying about:  

Sunshine.
Yes she is wooly! The mules are just starting to shed.

Deer. 
This one looks pretty thin. The hot wires are on my side of the barbed wire fence that separates my pasture with the neighbor's pasture. He rarely maintains his fence so I put up a hot wire to keep my guys from going through to his side and getting caught in the barbs.

Our littlest mule used to jump the fence and browse on the neighbor's land and then jump back when he wanted to be with the rest of the herd.

At 37, he doesn't jump fences anymore. Poor old fella he is running out of teeth but no one makes dentures for aged mules. He is really starting to lose weight. His comparison to human years could make him about 105 years old. 

Well, that is the farm report.

Nothing too exciting here. Cold weather and cloudy. 

I worked on the fencing back in the woods. Clipping back multiflora rose and briars is not a job for those with faint hearts or those who don't have heavy gloves.

Once upon a time in a land ...

....not so far away...

Hubby and I used to ride nearly every week and weekend at the land formerly known as The Government Ground.

Here is hubby riding Jack on the Water Road. You won't find it any more as it hasn't been used in many years. It was a black top road that was submerged under the Million Dollar Bridge to Rockton. It was a short cut to the Cut Off trail and the Rookery.

My youngest son was just turning 16 and he rode with us quite a bit. Jer is on Fred and this was 25 years ago. Fred is still with us!

We often had lunch on Little Canada Trail just above the 'Poo. 

Shot from my mule Billy Bob. Part of the original trail that is still there if you look hard enough, but  was deemed unsafe after a bad accident along the bluffs.

Here is Rich and I taking a break after lunch. 

These shots were taken with my little green pocket camera that I always carried with me while riding. It was an easy camera to operate. Change film and shoot!

Rich at Hanson's Rock Lookout. 
1996

With Valentine's Day coming, I was looking back on ... well, you know. Sweet endearing memories and I came across these old photos.

Boring

Boring Saturday. 

The little mule in the middle is Fred. He has always been the boss mule. He rules the roost at 35 years old. Yes, that is totally old for any equine.

Fred could use dentures as his old teeth have pretty much worn out. However, after a life time of service to my hubby, attending our wedding, and teaching numerous people how to ride, we have decided that Fred has earned a retirement with grain and special feed.
He prefers the pasture and chasing girls though. 

Here Mica joins the group. She is often pushed out. I wonder if it is her color?
The reds hang together as well as the bays.

Fred had decided that he would try and convince everyone that they were in heat. Yes, mules do come in heat. He kept nuzzling all the gals until everyone decided to take a morning nap.

Fred is a gelding and has always been this way.

Lil' Richard is our small stud who had a job telling us when the mares we bred to our Jack were ready to be serviced. We'd put the little stud pony next to a mare when we expected her to be in heat and Lil' Richard would work with her until she'd stand for him. Poor little guy could never do the job, but he was accurate.

Now he is simply a mower and fertilizer. 
He and Sven keep the hillside mowed and trimmed among other places like the tractor in the weeds and other piles of 'junk'.

I took a walk in the rain yesterday just to get out of the house. Endless loops of Alias on TV was driving me nuts. Binge watching is not my idea of a day well spent.

I found more Pheasant Back fungi and made a discovery. These trees that used to produce Morels are now dead enough to produce this fungi. This tree produced 3 or 4 bags of Morels about 4 years ago. Now? Just these fungi. I noted it on other old Morel trees too. 

The Honey Suckle is blooming. Yes, it is invasive but it sure smells nice!

This was on my neighbor's land. They don't manage it, don't keep up the fences, or do anything with it. 

Higher on the ridge I found Jacob's Ladder. At the top of the ridge I found wild geraniums.

Different levels of the hillside had different temperatures and that creates mini climates.

A bee was hiding inside the blossom. I imagine it was stuck there because it was cold.

My second woods walk landed me at the far back of our acreage. I found Oyster Mushrooms...I think.

Since I don't have enough knowledge about edible fungi, I just admired them and moved on with Charlie.

We found so many trees that had antler rubs on them that I figured that Big Buck was still hanging around in the prickly ash woods. Smart Big Buck. He knows how to hide well.

I had to laugh when I saw the Spider on the Tree. I'd put that up a long time ago when decorating the Spooky part of the Woods for my neighbor's kids Treasure Hunt.

I was looking just above our creek for signs of any sort of fungi or if the light rain had brought out any interesting new plants when I spotted something pinkish under a geranium.

Showy Orchid aka Galearis spectabilis. 
Yep, I prefer the name: Showy Orchid 

I have found these once or twice before in our woods just about 20 feet above the creek. They are really hard to spot and like hiding.

If I can spot these, why can I NOT spot a morel?

Probably because it has been too cool, too dry, and just a crappy year for them.

I wandered through the Buckthorn Forest and decided I'd turn the mules out there after I roached their manes and wormed everyone. 

The grass simply looks abundant and delicious.

History of Horses and Mules

For my friends with equines. I have a fun post. Show me memories!

I'm going to give a nod to Aurora for making me think about this. 

I started out riding and falling off as pure entertainment for my mom and her family. My uncle gave us rides his old horse Babe. To get two rides done at once we'd often ride double. After this shot was taken, my sister and I got to giggling so hard, I fell off and got stepped on in the mushy mud by Babe. I'm the one with the glasses. Yes, we could ride Babe in the pen with no bridle, she was that cool of a horse.

This was to be the first of many misadventures while spending time with my cousins in the summer. My uncle trained horses and had come from one of the last Calvary units in WWII. He was quiet and never raised his voice, but we knew he meant business when he got after us kids. MMMM. Like the time he made us wash the inside of his 3 stall mini barn after we'd blown up mice with firecrackers in the feed barrels and got into a manure fight.

I often got to ride one of Lyle's clients' horses. Very often there wasn't enough saddles to go around. If 4 of us went riding. Only 2 or 3 could have adult saddles. I often got a pad to ride on or went without.

If we went in a group, I'd generally get the shit little pony we all loved and hated. His name was Thunder. If you can see in the photo, Thunder has a snaffle tied to a leather strap and I have twine strings for reins. 

My cousins and us would head out at night after our parents headed out to the bars or to dance. We'd ride the back roads and look for trouble. Yeah. We found it often. We'd even saddle up and head to the dump where we'd shoot rats. No TV? No internet? No problem!

My uncle died. Our horse summers were over. But my wish to have my own horse never ever left my mind. Eventually I was able to get a horse. My first one was Red. An ugly headed red horse that was incredible. He was calm as a cucumber and powerful. He was supposed to be a quarter horse. Next was Cheyanne. I purchased her as green broke. I was green broke too. I had no idea what I was doing and had wished that I'd spent more time watching my uncle train horses.

There was Rocky who came to our place for retirement. An elderly Saddlebred who was trained and had been shown and... had been a lesson horse until the owner no longer wanted him. Nothing fazed him ever. Except leaving the property. Nope, to get past the property line you had to hand walk him sometimes backwards and then he seemed to be okay with it. I am sure I never became the horse person to understand all of his intricate cues and level of training. 

I'll skip through the next few years. I kept Chey, sold Red to my sister, gave Rocky away... divorced...met a man who had mules...married the mule man. Ceremony on mules. 

Mule man thought Cheyanne ought to be bred to a Jack. He also thought we should buy a Jack Donkey and that I should own and train ... and show a mule from said Donkey named Bruce.

Mind you, I was still STILL no trainer. And the Huge Lanky 3 year old mule was Green Broke. Those who owned him didn't like him much and didn't think he'd amount to much.

I'm going to skip the whole training thing. Basically because I am not a trainer. The equine train me and mules have taught me to be a partner in every sense of the word.

Badger. 15 hands. Here is with me waiting while I scour the hillside looking for Morel Mushrooms. Hubby had a custom saddle built for me. 

Nice saddle. Not my favorite as it is heavy and my shoulders sucked.

Badger at WildCat with Sunshine. I'm riding in my Simco with a britchen. Yeah, I swapped English leather for the western ones. My knees like it and I can swing my feet out of the way of stumps and brush in the woods. The britchen keeps the saddle from sliding forward. Mules generally do not have much in the way of withers. Back cinch and britchen or crupper keeps the saddle secure on downhill mule slides.

After the elbow surgery, I thought I'd go this way. Why not? This saddle was easy to put on and great for ridge riding. Sucked at hills. This is Siera. Badger was ill at this time and I was working with another mule that was training me.

Opal the hateful mule. She hated people. In the last few years her life, hubby turned her over to me. A mule who could not be caught, who was ear shy from the old methods of earing down, and who DID not trust humans...became my friend.

It took months and months for this to happen. And when we bonded? It was amazing. Hubby told me I'd never catch that Bitch. Opal was purchased by hubby specifically for team penning and gymkhana. It was a real Hate relationship. But she would preform under saddle.

I scored this Stonewall saddle all beat up and not all there. I called Stonewall and had them ship me the missing pieces. I'm going to say this is my absolute favorite saddle. Super duper lightweight and easy to ride in.

Don't read the link above on Opal if you don't have tissues handy. 
She was still with me and riding at 28 yrs young. And she was a speed mule, she could turn a barrel... and when a deer spooked her by actually springing out of a cornfield and running into us...

Opal did a 180 mid air spin and land at a gallop. She was an amazing athlete. Yeah, I think I nearly wet my pants, BUT I didn't lose the berry bucket!

In this photo, she is giving me her idea of waiting while I pick black berries in the woods.

There is Mica, who I still ride once in a while. She is a non comitted mule. She won't commit to a favorite human. They are just beings to serve her. If you are in the mood to groom? She is your friend. She is mostly retired now.

Photo below is at WildCat, a picnic break on the Yellow Trail I think.

There is Fred. He is 35 years old now. 

Our littlest mule. And most loved mule. 

Fred has probably the longest list of riders on him. 

And that leaves me with the last photos. Sunshine. The daughter of my first horse. Truly a beautiful red head. A good trail mule. A nice sized mule.

I've had her now longer than I've had Badger. We are getting there. 

I mean ... we absolutely are THE best of pals.

I was there when she was born.

The Brat Pack

This is the Brat Pack. In the center is Fred. He is around 34 years old and is the only male we have left on our property. He is hanging out with 15 on his right a mare horse that was supposed to be a pony but wasn't. 

Sundance is on his left and she is the half sister to Sunshine.

Fred is retired. 15 is looking for a new home. I don't have time to train her nor the desire to.

Sundance? I've waffled on her for a long time. She has been started under saddle but I'm pretty much done with that too.

I'm investigating the possibility of having her sent out for training.

So these three are seperate from the the 'riders' right now and have the forest and the large meadow to graze and run around in.

And they do run around! That is Fred in the lead.

Sometimes I wonder why on earth I keep them and then I look at the meadow they graze and am grateful for their grazing. 

I am grateful that I can ride the other three [Fred is retired unless I need a pony to lead a kid around on...not happening now anyway...with Covid-19].

I think with the increase in infections we will not be accepting visitors to the farm even if they sleep in tents and use the outhouse.

Last weekend with visits from a few folks for the funeral and the uptick in infections has caused us to decide to keep our place off limits.

A doctor from the VA called to check on Rich yeseterday and he suggested NO one in the house period from outside.

Yesterday the Oxygen people came.