Just Ride ~~ A long look back...a repost

Shhhh. What can you hear? The creak of leather, the soft footfalls of a mule in the forest. The panting of a Jack Russell and the soft swoosh of a tail flicking.

There really isn't any conversation going on. I ride along quietly listening, and watching. When a small disturbance off the trail to our left makes Badger go rigid.
I feel him stiffen and look to where his ears are pointing...and we wait.

A hen turkey sprints out of the tall grass with three of her semi grown chicks...they begin to flap their wings and fly low over the Queen Anne's Lace.
I look down and Morris is trying to stand on his hind legs to see what the 'fuss' is about. I smile and pat Badger on the neck and murmur:

*Good boy.*
With a small squeeze of my leg we set off again across the ridgetop following an ATV trail, so Morris won't have to struggle to get through the tall grasses.

We eventually get off the ridge and drop into the woods which are dark even on bright days. We make our way down an old logging trail to the back valley [also called the Lost Valley by the owners]. I get Badger to do some tricky maneuvers... and we finally stop for a rest next to the creek.

The first thing Morris does is get in the water to cool off. Badger drops his head to eat. Poor starving mule...you'd think he's never seen a lick of hay nor ever had a bite of grass.

We cool our heels by the creek listening to the water tumble over the rocks and the cicadas singing overhead.
The deerflies start to annoy us all spoiling the moment of 'togetherness'...okay, I know wierd, but the dog, the mule, and I...we are a special trio.

We head back out to the sunny ridgetop to check out the apple trees. These are wild apple trees not an apple orchard that is tended to.

We spot the trees with their branches literally drooping like weeping willow trees because they are so full of apples.
I sit on Badger and pick one ... they are small, but very tasty. I grin and start to pick apples ... how many will fit in my cargo pants pockets I wonder?

Mr. Mule decides he should just go ahead and help himself.

I drop an apple core to Morris.

We are all munching on apples in the late afternoon sun.

We head home, Morris panting, my pockets full of tasty little apples, my mule drooling applesauce...

When I get home my hubby says...
*So how was your ride?*

I answer, *Oh fine, it was just a ride.*

Tonight my dog is sound asleep at my feet. Mr. Mule is munching on his hay bale, and I am thinking of what kind of container I can take back with the mule to gather enough apples for apple jelly.

Life...
Just Ride

Just thought this would be fun to look back on. This was an original post in August of 2008 when Badger, Morris, and I still rode nearly every single day together. We were an awesome Trio.

I love my mules!

I haven't had the mules out for a ride since October when I took my neighbor along for a ride down to the creek on my other neighbor's land.

With everything I have going on, I really haven't been able to do a lot with them other than brushing, cleaning their feet, and doing the chores.

I've got some great friends at our CrossFit gym. Last year two of her little girls came out to ride. Admittedly, I was a bit nervous because I didn't know how they'd act around the mules and how much riding knowledge they had.

They were actually pretty good and followed directions well. Gracie and Tory rode in September last year. 

Kids and Equine

I had such a great time with them ... and well, they've been asking about it again. You know girls and equine. There is something that just makes them 'horse' crazy.

Well, today I brought them home with me after our work out. Their littlest sister came along. They are 10, 8 and 6. I figured it would be a handful and maybe even a bit of crazy. But it wasn't. The girls were careful and got to work on cleaning up Sunshine and Siera.

Please excuse the yard, I haven't mowed this section again this week. [Mr. Pony will deal with trimming it first.]

Aside from trimming hooves, this is the first time since last year they were pulled out of the pasture.

[I go out to them to curry and clean their hooves]

The rest of the Motley Crew watched.

The girls wanted to ride bareback because after all they had learned to ride on their old pony that way. 

So we compromised and put a saddle on Siera and kept Sunshine bareback.

Gracie decided she could get on by herself.
And ...
she did.
I was pretty proud of Siera for 
not walking off.

[Yeah, I haven't given them spring haircuts either. But these young ladies did not mind one bit.]

The kids struggled a bit with figuring out how to operate turning, and the mules gals really wanted to be with their pasture mates. Neither mule put up a fuss.

With some encouragement and a little bit of work, Tory and Gracie got with the program. They still gave the mules a bit of mixed signals, but for what it is worth, the mules didn't really care.

Leesie on her first time on Siera....

There is a trick to this. My mules will follow me where ever I walk. So I walked ahead of Leesie and asked her to make Siera follow me. The confidence boost was amazing. She had no fear because in her head she was doing it just like her big sisters.

Eventually I had her walk about on her own. 

And then we switched things up.

We went to the bigger pasture. Big sister helped her little sister.

And they kept switching things up and taking turns until....the girls asked if they could ride double on Siera.

And Siera never batted an eye about it.

One sister slid off, the one behind got in the saddle and then I helped the other sister back on so she too could take a turn in behind.

And so it went.

In the long run, everyone got along fine. My mule girls figured out what their riders wanted even if it was communicated a bit differently than they are used to.

13 seconds:

I used to think, that allowing this to happen would totally ruin an animal. And I suppose it could. But the girls are open to learning how to be softer with their hands. After all, they learned on a hard mouthed and hard headed pony with no real guidance.

The sorrel mule is 26 and was trained by us to deal with the shenanigans of children. While riding and training her we'd grab branches and yell, squirm in the saddle, and do all the things kids will do. She is a solid equine. Will she ever show? No, but she'll do what is asked.

I got Siera when she was 3 and she'd been handled but not ridden. We spent a long time working together. She is great on the trail.  Unless of course a bicycle showed up in the woods or...even worse yet, a baby stroller. [She knows they eat mules]

Tory asked Sunshine to trot and when she started to jog, Tory got scared and slid off Sunshine by hanging onto her neck until her feet hit the ground.

Sunshine stopped and stood stock still next to Tory who tearfully told me she had gotten scared and slid off. 

I told her it was okay and that she did the finest emergency dismount I'd ever seen. She was more afraid that Sunshine would trot away and leave her. 

I kneeled next to her.

"Has Sunshine moved since you came off?"
"Um. No."
 

I reached out and put my hand on Sunshine. "She knows it is her job to take care of you and stay by you."
Tory tearfully nodded.
"Did you know that Sunshine loves you?"

Tory's eyes widened, "She does?"
"She does."

Sunshine took that very moment to nuzzle Tory softly.
Tory wiped her eyes and then asked, "Can I get back on her?"

"Absolutely."

The mules finally got tired of riding in circles and I called an end to the riding.

The girls brushed their mounts and cleaned them all up. 

It was time to put them away.

Tory's reaction?

A picture is worth a thousand words.

I do know my mules since I raised them and trained them. They are solid equine. They don't get fussy and they absolutely adore attention and young folk. They don't mind mistakes and they almost never get stupid.

They have worked all of their lives to be just like this. Good quiet, and patient. I attribute that to their donkey side.

The girls and the mules filled my heart up today.

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.

Evening Rides with Sunshine

Sunshine, after we came out of the woods. Riding the woods is so much nicer than riding the fields and back roads. 

No traffic. No surprise coyotes running in front of you. No gaggles of turkeys or deer leaping out of fields of corn.

It seems these girls are happier in rough terrain with deep woods surrounding them. Of course, the footing can be difficult, there are logs, rocks, and dry washes to navigate so it requires most of their brain cells.

Yes, she wears a trammel. I could probably get by with a snaffle these days however this is what she has worn since her first run-away with me 21 years ago.

She wore a snaffle at 4 yrs old. Did you know that because a mule has a wide set of eyes, that you can pull their head to your knee and they can still canter in a line of their choosing? 

The second time I tried a 'one rein stop', her head was pulled to my knee and she galloped through trees and jumped a creek. I survived the run off by steering her with all my strength into a brier patch. We got scratched up but survived.

We put this bit on her and it can be very gentle with gentle hands. I set her up for another run away. We rode up the gravel road and when one of the neighbor's came by with her tractor, Sunshine tensed and then bolted. I let her bolt 3 steps and then lifted the reins so the bar would touch her nose.

She screeched to a stop. Mules love their noses and don't like pressure on that spot.

In the following 21 years of riding, she has never offered to bolt. She will spin at crazy spooky Zombie Deer that spring out of the corn field, or aggressive dogs. But she no longer takes me on a wild and crazy ride.

With that said, our wood rides are so relaxing. We drop down steep hills and negotiate old trails and deer trails. She knows the way since she helps me maintain the trail. Here is a choppy, crappy video of our last ride. I'm not good at holding a cell phone to try and capture video. Usually I don't even try.

I have a pocket camera which I normally take.

This is our last deep ravine to cross to go back home. I make a huge circle [about a mile loop] through the neighbor's woods. 

The mules wear breast collars and either cruppers or britchens which keep the saddles from sliding around in this steep stuff.

There is a 3 mile loop, but I haven't done it lately because I don't like going that far off by myself. I will see if my neighbor would like to do it with me one of these days if he has the time. [He was raised on a Quarter horse farm]

Sorry for all the creaking and whatnot. But I like that noise! She also wears a bell if you can hear it.

The first part is a long descent on a very steep hillside, so she tippy toes down the trail. Again, forgive my crappy video, but there it is.

1:34 seconds....

 

Pausing on a rainy sleety day

First off, I am totally excited that my Granddaughter Ariel will be coming to spend next Friday with us. She'll stay over night.

She turns 19 next Friday. Where on earth did all those years go???

Here are some photos from years past. 

Ariel brought so much into our lives over the years. Her folks used to come often to visit and would drop her off at our house while they stayed the weekend at my Mother in Law's large house.

Ariel wanted to be like Grandma Val with a 
backpack and camera...

Dancing with Grandpa Rich in the yard.

Helping Great Grandma Lenise

Helping Grandpa with chores

Riding Badger

Ariel let me know last month that she was planning on driving up her new to her car that she bought on her own to visit us. She'd been wanting to do a solo trip on her own for a while.

She is no longer a child but a grown up. She is working on getting her own apartment and place to live which is not easy right now. 

Secretly, I'd love it if she moved near us and worked at one of the nicest places around "Go Macro".  I doubt that will happen but I could wish it.

I'm not her 'blood' grandma, but I sure do love her.

I always have enjoyed our time spent together. She is a quiet person with a great imagination and is very intense in her sense of responsibilities.

I am looking forward to her visit as is Grandpa.

Fred

Our visit with Kat and Colin was amazing and fun. Kat was fascinated by our mules and I decided to take her riding. She has previous riding experience while Colin really doesn't. He rode our Billy Bob mule when he was 12 around our yard.

Rich suggested I pull Fred out of retirement and saddle him up with my lightweight saddle and take them on a short ride.

Fred was ridden for the last time in 2016 by kids in the pasture. The past winter seemed hard on him and he'd lost condition and weight. All this summer I've been soaking alfalfa pellets and Senior Feed for him twice a day.
His coat is back to glistening and he has gained conditioning. He even gets bossy with the other girls out in the pasture and lopes up to the gate when he sees me coming at any time of day.

His teeth are probably just about worn out, but his attitude is the same little determined pony mule he has always been.

We know he cannot live forever soooooo....I commissioned Kat to do a portrait of Fred for Rich. Here is one she did of our Sundance mule as a gift.

Here are some shots the 'kids' took with their cell phones of our nice little ride.

That's me on Fred. Bad me. I totally forgot to put on my helmet when I was helping my guest riders get ready. 
Oh well.

Kat and her hubby on Sunshine and Siera:

Then Colin took a short video while riding. 

I'm so tickled that Fred seemed so eager to be on the trail and lead the pack as he as always done. He never even broke a sweat while the two Fat Bottom Girls did. 

Here is Fred in the pasture. He is 13 hands and 37 years old. 

One of the reasons this little mule is so special is because he is the reason I met my hubby.

He was riding Fred when he admired my horse. I recalled his mule's name but not his. The little mule impressed me so much 28 years ago, that I had to find out more about him.

And so it goes...

I love my Red Headed Mule

I didn't really think about it much, but Sunshine and I have had a pretty long history  together. She was born in my lap literally and I have posted about this before.

I was disappointed that she was never going to be more than 14 hands or that she was just red. After she was weaned we put her up for sale. There were never any takers for this smart not quite 14 hand mule. I started her under saddle when she was two and then let her be a mule for 2 years before we really started any work.

I did the ground work and the round pen work, hubby did the in saddle work. Together we worked with her trying to make her into a Grand Kid Mule. She was too quick however for a novice rider and so we scrapped that idea. We decided to keep her and then the offers rolled in from places we used to ride her.

Like Badger, she ended up showing us an unusually smart mind. She learned to give to the snaffle we started her in. 

Ever heard of a one rein stop? It is supposed to work.

Not with this gal. I did a couple of wild rides when she was young when something odd happened and she took off in a beeline. Did you know a mule can canter with her nose at your knee?

I swapped over to a Mule Trammel bit and set her up for a run off. She bolted 3 steps and I lifted the reins for the trammel to bump her nose. I've stuck with that set up from then on. We've never ever had another run away.

Surprisingly. This mule had NEVER bucked me off. My soul mate mule, Badger, had bucked me off several times. 

So that bit of info registered this week as Sunshine and I were getting ready to head out to do an old gnarly trail in the woods.

At first there was some Spa Work. [Now you know why I am anxious to have the pasture clipped! Burdock!]

Then I put on her saddle which was a handmade saddle for mules. The seat is contoured for my butt!
[Pardon the dirty trailer, I had hired Molly to wash it for me. Yeah. That didn't happen, but I DO need to get around to washing the lichen and moldy stuff off the shaded side.]

The Bell around her neck keeps us from walking up on any bedded deer in the forest.

The shot below was taken when I got off to check her cinch before heading down a tippy toe hill. Steep is an understatement. She never bats an eye at this but just takes her time and deals with it.

We live in a land of dry runs and ravines. The photo below is from about 10 years ago, just before we crossed this dry run. I generally let her pick her own way as she is so calm and calculating about things like this.

Annnny wayyy....

This mule recalled the old cattle trails we used to ride. When I couldn't find the trail that Charlie and I hike the day before, she just helped me out. I knew if I let her have her 'head', she would locate the way we should go.

I've ridden this mule in this forest for 20 years [well, not much in the last year or so because of one thing or another...and because I'd been diagnosed with severe osteoporosis, I figured I'd have to quit riding. -> Nah..., I love it too much and I have two excellent mounts]

I picked this section of the forest because the undergrowth is a bit less than the other areas that are covered in multiflora rose and other nasties.

Sunshine took some time looking around and we watched a buck in velvet bounce away. 

Don't mind her messy mane. I may clip it again or not, I don't like the mane to be too short when cold weather comes our way.

I was surprised by a Gaggle or Herd of Turkeys that ran through the trees beyond this photo. She sighed as if to let me know...

SHE knew they were already there. DUH.

So, I didn't take a lot of photos while we were riding because I was concentrating on just enjoying the moments with my little red head that no one wanted until we kept her.

She is in her 24th year with me. When I did the mental math, I realized that she has been with me longer than her half brother Badger. And that she is one of the main reasons I feel comfortable riding again.

When we got back out to the ridge road, I dismounted and walked with her back home. I didn't want our time to end.

In fact, I sat in the yard later with her and had a long conversation with her.

She may be a bit small in stature, but she is huge in personality and temperament. She is without a doubt, smarter than I am in so many ways. She has a great homing beacon built in. 

She knows how to keep calm and navigate difficult terrain without any missteps. 

And?

We adore each other.

She has never been to a show, but she has done KVR, Prairie du Chein, Duck Egg, and Wildcat Mountain trails. However since hubby doesn't drive anymore and the truck is dead. We enjoy what we can in the neighbor's wild woods and hay fields.

I rarely have any folks to ride with. But she and Siera seem to be good at taking care of me.

And we seem connected in some way. 

Sunshine takes care of me. 

And how could you not love that?

End of the day

I told Siera to 'stay' and she did. Obviously she is getting plenty to eat out in the forest pasture. She didn't go for any yard grass.

I had to walk over and grab her bridle and a bucket. Yes, a bucket. When I ride bareback I use a bucket to get on my steeds. 

I thought a ride up and out on the ridge would be nice to see the evening light on the croplands. Hmmm, I was disappointed that the guys that are doing another farmer's fields did not rotate to soybeans. I saw field corn coming up. 

The ride was so pleasant. I stopped and talked to the neighbor kids who were on their swingset. They waved and I continued. Instead of going by the 'new' neighbor who lets his dog run loose I decided to ride up the dead end road and just soak in some quiet ride time. 

Siera was super cooperative, she didn't hesitate and refuse to leave home, it used to be a real issue when she was younger. Perhaps she is confident that I am not going to get her lost?

I knew that Rich was waiting for me to return so he could sit and watch more TV until his bed time. 

I'd worked in the pasture with the small scythe from early morning until noon. The we mowed. Rich with the rider and I used the self propelled mower. Uffdah! Rich ran over a tarp. I heard the snap and the mower quit. He waved me off and finished up which I thought was not a smart thing to do. 
Cleaning the rider is on Sunday's schedule. 

After the mowing was done, I worked on the shade garden pulling Bedstraw aka Sticky Weed and several other names. It is an icky plant. So that project started another project of cleaning up that much neglected little garden.

I used Sven to glean up weeds and he ate the tops of from several iris plants while doing his work. The iris plants will come back and he did a pretty good job on that sticky weed.

So for the end of the day, I relaxed as we walked down the road, clippity clop, and out to the far end of the ridge. 

I didn't take pictures. I was just enjoying the moments with Siera and her nice warm body under my legs.

Once home, I gave her some grain and led her back out to her mates.

Happy content mule. Happy content rider. 

We watched some obscure program and hit the sack. I was exhausted. My summer mornings start at 5 or sooner, as soon as the birds start to chirp.

Enjoy your Sunday, whatever you are doing. I hope to get in another evening ride on one of my girls.

The good ol' days

Sunday night I spent time reading some other blogs of folks who own horses. I found their blogs from reading someone I follow. So I went back in time to when I rode nearly every single day and did some reminiscing. I found a photo that reminded me of the best relationship I ever had with an equine.

There is Badger the mule and Morris the JRT. Rich bought Morris for me at the last attempt I made to show Badger at a Show. 

I recall 'getting the gate' and walking out disappointed. A man walked up to me and asked me if I was okay. Yeah, I am. Then the man asked me if I'd rather trade halters with any of the other mules in the arena...for a moment I was confused.

Then I said, "Oh hell no. this mule is my soulmate." 

He nodded and then said, "So you have the best mule for you."

I quit showing, more because Rich had issues with traveling and face it, Badger would rather wander the woods with me than go in an arena. This mule got to be so bonded with me that he absolutely knew where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do. 

Once while riding on a road, a two men stopped to talk with me. One fella was aggressive and came right up to touch me. Badger pinned his ears and bared his teeth.

So nearly every day, I would ride out on Badger and do something, carrying my small pocket camera and we always had Morris along. 

I lost Badger in 2012. And for a long time I found it hard to ever give that sort of heart or trust to another animal.

So.

Done with the backwards. On to the forwards.

Sunshine is Badger's half sister out of our Jack and my mare. She is proving to be much like Badger in temperament. I don't ride as often now especially since the 4 wheelers like to invade the woods next door. But I still yearn to be in the saddle.

Sunshine was our first foal we raised. The rest were sold of course and did well with their lives. No one wanted this little red mule.

Funny.

Sunshine and Badger were the first two mules I trained. Or should I say ... they trained me?

I hope to get out a lot this spring and do some exploring during the times that the 4 wheelers are NOT around. They show up on the weekends and almost never before noon. 

Well, there it is. Reminiscing about the good ol' days.

I miss you Badger!

PS~ Please do not think I am not all for showing an equine! My experience with Badger showed me that to be a singular unit we had to appreciate each other's faults and strengths. 

Our curiosity was in the forest and not in the arena. Our trust was in each other. I've got that with Sunshine and Siera so I consider myself luckier than most equine owners.