Something changed

 Last week my coach and friend Angie asked me to her house for lunch and some time to hang out with her kids.

She had an agenda of course and a good one at that. She knows I love equine of all kinds, and that I sometimes prefer kids over adults. Kids are kids when they are not teens. They are not complicated, they have demands but those too are not complicated.

She also figured out that as a caregiver with constant issues to deal with, I could use a distraction. 

Two things resulted from that 'lunch' date. I decided to get back to messing with my two girls who have had months off from anything except eating and pooping. I changed my evening routines. After supper I go out and 'play' with my girls. Each one gets a turn at a little halter work or a little riding.

[Hubby wants me to sit and watch the boob tube with him until bed time. I decided to change that up. I just am tired of sitting staring at a TV]

I took some shots earlier this week when I rode with my girls but since then I left the pocket camera inside and the cellphone inside. I didn't want distractions. I wanted quiet time.

Basically, it was boring. I sat in the yard where there was green grass with both of them on lead lines and let them graze. Or we rode to the ridge and watched deer in the different fields. Both girls were great. 

The gals were willing and cooperative. In truth, it was like watching paint dry. 

So what was the second thing? Well, maybe it was even more than just two things. Second thing is, I told Angie that I'd love to have her kids over to meet the mules. Of course the girls want to meet them and get on them. 

So I want to make sure that they would be on their best behavior. Both mollies have had children ride them under adult supervision. After all, they are big animals, not little ponies.

The third thing that happened was more interesting.

Since my husband fell ill, my responsibilities have changed. I made time for hikes and working out, but I sort of slowed way down on being with my riding mules. [The others are retired and are just pasture ornaments]

I found out that if I kept Sunshine and Siera up near the house, I had time to go out and do some Mind Melding with them. I could just hang out. I could ride them, play with them, tell them my secrets, my worries, and ask them for advice.

Their advice was simple. Pay attention to me and your heart and soul will relax.

And it has. This past week with daily evening doses of mule time, I come in the house with a rested mind. 

All these good things I've known forever, but I put myself last thinking that time with them was time away from hubby.

It really isn't. Most of my time with the girls are close to the house unless I am riding on the ridge. He is pleased that I am doing something with them.

Equine/Mule therapy is a very powerful and free drug.

Speaking of that...

We got an INCH of rain yesterday! Whoo Hoo! It was fantastic! 

As I was making supper I looked out the window and my very steady, reliable, quiet 25 yr old Molly Mule Sunshine was having the 'Feel Goods'.

Part of the issue is that she misses her sister who is not answering her calls? Or? Who knows?

I went out after supper and we had a talk. She wouldn't tell me what her antics were about. So I grabbed her bridle and a bucket and we rode in the yard and driveway then went to the ridge to get the mail.

When I got Siera out she told me: Sunshine was feeling good with the cool rainy weather and had done her Airs Above the Grounds in hopes that you'd leave her alone tonight. 

Siera winked at me and said: You know, I do not condone that behavior at all. I'm a much more Sophisticated Mule. 

Yep. I'm back to talking with my mules. 

Just Dance Instead

I had plans to sneak out to the Reserve and look for some birdies. Instead, let's just say things didn't work out for me to go check out the ponds.

I got pretty grumpy. And I wanted to have a temper tantrum. I really did. But it wasn't anyone's fault that things didn't work out. The day was absolutely gorgeous, so I went out to the forest garden with Charlie and did some clean up. The ground is still frozen under the leaves and sticks. 

That didn't make me Un-grumpy so I decided to try a different tactic.

I decided to take out my camera and go enjoy some sunshine. 

I took my Smart Phone and tuned it into Pandora and donned my little wireless earbuds. Pavlov Stellar's Booty Swing came on and my feet couldn't help but start to dance.

I am glad I live in a secluded area. Imagine seeing me dancing to a tune no one else could hear. My husband once told me that my dancing actually looks like I'm having the Vapors or some sort of Seizure.

I went in with my goat and we danced to tunes only I could hear. Sven was happy to have someone to play with. 

I found myself laughing at his silly reactions to my absolute horrible moves. Laughter led to smiles, smiles led to happiness and suddenly that Grumpy lady disappeared.

I left Sven's pen and went out to wander about with my camera. The sunshine felt fantastic and I decided to make the best of the afternoon anyway.

I thought I'd experiment at trying to catch a bird in flight. I'm still working on that skill, but at least I got to see Robins.

And those annoying Grackles.

My beautiful red head walked out of the woods to watch me. Perhaps Sunshine had seen my awkward dancing.

Maybe goofy dancing with a goat is a cure for stress. It sure helped me.

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 Little Red Mule

Sunshine is 22. For a mule, that is no big deal. Her mom was the first horse I ever trained. Sort of. Cheyanne was 'sort' of green broke when I got her. 

Anyway, that is long ago and another time. Sunshine is my sturdy, mindful mule. Not much bothers her. When she was young I worked hard with her. She was going to be a Grandkid mule. So I'd ride and holler and grab branches as we rode along on a trail. I'd clap my hands, cry, throw temper tantrums, and slide off without notice. I did many of the same things with her half brother, Badger. Oh...he was my heart and soul mule.

Except...dogs. Dogs who run up underneath her and growl and snap do get under her skin. 

She is like her half sister Sundance and will give chase to any unwanted creature in her pasture. 

Enough of that.

It had been a while since I went out for a ride and I really miss riding. I used to ride nearly every day when I had Badger. I have to grab time when I can. 

I settled things in the house and walked out with a halter and lead rope.

Sunshine walked up to me. After all, I hadn't made her work since July. She had just been nothing more than a pasture pet and hay burner for a long time. 

I tossed a saddle on her and we headed up the driveway towards the ridgetop and the fog.

Pardon her mane. It stands up like crazy in the winter but I don't trim it after late summer. I don't mind anyway. She is my fluffy mule. I don't show any more, I quit in 2005 due to shoulder surgeries. I don't miss it at all and am quite content to ride the neighbor's crazy woods and the ridge.

Sunshine and I do what we do best. Go on adventures.

We climbed some hills and did some trails. She walked along and concentrated on her footing while following a deer trail.

She pulled up twice, spotting deer off in the forest. We simply sat and watched. 

For me it was just enough, just perfect.

I'm pretty sure I chatted with her while we rode. Her ears flicked back to my voice and forward to what was going on around us.

What a perfect time we had.

There.

My first ride of 2021.

With the Little Red Mule.

Sundance School Day 2

I've had this mule for a while. So the purpose of taking her to the round pen first few times are to learn a bit more about her actions when separated from the rest of her pals.

I stood in the pasture with a halter and lead rope. Sundance spotted me and walked up quietly. I just scratched her ears and rubbed her neck a bit before haltering her.

I took her out the 3 line electric gate. This was something she had done a few times before but I wanted to see how she'd do with the the distractions of the other mules and of the two donkeys on each side of the lane.

She watched everything calmly and stared intently at the hot wires I'd dropped on the ground. They snapped and she respected them but didn't freak out. I held her rope and put the gates back up. She softly snorted and again watched with great interest.

Maybe she was trying to figure out how to move gates on her own?

We walked down the lane to the shed and she looked around. She'd never walked this way before so the piles of metal that my husband had stacked in the weeds were new images for her to process. She did and decided they were nothing of great concern.

I walked with her into the round pen. We did the customary warm up and a bit of lunging. I will see many trainers lunge their animals over and over and over again. A smart mule doesn't see the point in the lunging. If the mule is friendly he/she would rather just spend time close to the trainer and only move off if made to.

Sundance did a few laps and then stopped at the gate which I expected. I snapped the lunge whip and she gave me a curious glance as if to say..."So? I know you won't hurt me. I have no fear of you."

So I decided to make that an uncomfortable place to stop. I grabbed the old beat up plastic sled and tossed it in front of the gate.

SNORT! It was some sort of monster.

We worked on trust after a few minutes of lunging.

Oh that blanket! It was a killer blanket again. She scrunched up her back each time I approached her with it and trotted off.
I didn't punish her for it or make her run around the pen. I waited until she stopped and then approached again.

After 3 tries, the blanket was on and she sighed.

The point is trust. I want Sundance to trust me not to put her in danger. I want her to accept what I do with her. I want her to think about it. I could hurry her training along by saddling her and letting her buck it out and lunge the crap out of her, but that is not my way.

I tossed another old blanket into the round pen. It too was some sort of strange mule eating monster. Sundance avoided it as she walked and trotted around the round pen.
So I moved it.

Here I ask without any words, "Sundance do you trust me?"

I ask her to step forward onto the killer blanket. Note the sled behind her which is no longer a purple mule eating sled.

And...

Apparently, the blanket wouldn't kill her. I could lead her over it. Her concentration was on me and not the blanket.

I took this moment to work with her feet. She picked each foot up for me and let me pick them out.

I added my version of 'Rope Games' and Sundance seemed totally unconcerned.

One of the particular things I've noticed about her is that if Sundance has a new item introduced on her body, she plays statue until she figures things out.

Here she stands with the rope draped over and between her ears. She is thinking about it. She let me put the rope on her like a girth and just stood still with her ears flickering back and forth.

School Day 2 was over.

I left the pen and we walked out into the yard and around another lane back to her pals.

No excitement here. But it was interesting to observe her reaction to new items.