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.

Kids and Equine

Yesterday I did...  another 'Thing'.

I brought home 2 youngsters for a visit. Remember my visit with my coach's kids and their little pony in July?

Ponies and little girls...

Well today I got to have them for a few hours after CrossFit and Mobility Class. 

The girls are 7 and 9. They wanted to meet my mules and ride.

I will let this video speak for itself.

It is 2:39 long. The older sister has some experience and the younger sister is gaining confidence with her sisters help.

Both girls did very well!

The girls had a great time and even enjoyed visiting with Rich. Rich watched from the house and complimented them on their riding.

After a late lunch, we went for a hike in the woods to check the mule's forest fence and the girl's spent some time on my home made swing.

The youngest one fell sound asleep on our ride back to town where I returned them to their mom.

I'd forgotten how fun it is to have younguns around to 'play' with.

We'll probably arrange for another visit soon or make it a once a month thing. I could really enjoy that and these kids were polite, sweet, engaging, kind, and very well behaved. Kudos to mom!

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.

The Lost Valley

This valley has several names but the absentee owner likes to refer to it as the Lost Valley. In a way it is. The Valley is cannot be accessed by any road. The only way to get there is by foot or 4 wheeler. A snowmobile trail does run through the area above the valley. There is an old logging road that can be walked down.

In 2005 the cattle that grazed the woods and grasslands were shipped off and the land was basically abandoned to the wild. Over the years the owners have leased out to the land to a few people for hunting purposes. One year a fellow planted 1/2 million dollars worth of marijuana in different areas. Other folks decided that since no one oversaw the land, they'd make trails with their 4 wheelers.

The whole land encompasses two valleys with two streams that flow into what is locally called the Black Bottom. That flows into the Kickapoo River. In those times of flooding, the narrow valleys become rather dangerous.

All that aside, I've hiked the 600+ acres of woods since 1996. Someone once quipped that I must know every tree by now. I almost do.

I have permission from the estate to wander at will on their land. I'm afraid that I know their land more intimately than they do. But that is the wonder of it all.

To get to the Back Valley/Lost Valley/Forgotten Valley -- all names for it -- requires a 1 mile walk through some steep terrain.

Here is a shot looking back towards where I came from on the day I snowshoed this trek. Up until a few years ago, where I am standing was grassland. The estate decided to rent it out as cropland. I have yet to see a good crop come off this land so I can't see how the renter is making any money.

However, the deer love the left over corn. This spring it should be rotated to soy beans. Whoever rented it the last two years put field corn in. The land won't yield much if they farm like that.

In many places the briars, noxious weeds, and thick underbrush has taken over. By midsummer, the land is difficult to walk through. I enjoy winter and spring walks here. 

Here is a nearly 3 minute video of how the riding was in 2010. It is longish, but sort of interesting to see how calm Badger was and how he dealt with obstacles. We did ride to the Back Valley and explore this 3 mile trek that I now take often on foot. I can still ride this with Siera and Sundance, but I rarely do so any more. I stay closer to home now. 

The video is pretty crappy, but in 2010 I only had my little Pink Fugly camera and it did do video. The dog is Morris, my Jack Russel that never missed a ride. When he tired, he jumped on Badger's legs and we'd heft him to ride in the saddle with me.

The valley has changed so much now. But it is still interesting to walk through. I made the trip this weekend back to see the stream and the ice cave.

I probably won't go back until spring arrives because snowshoeing and crossing the stream is just too difficult. I did find evidence of beavers, coyotes, and a lot of deer.

Here is the 30 second video of this snowshoe hike.

That's it. Enjoy getting lost.

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?

Mules and Veggies

Eddie and Megan brought me veggies from their garden! How lucky can a mom get? I got these wild colored carrots along with Swiss Chard and garlic! Oh...YUM!

Today I blanched the carrots and froze some and put a variety of them in the little dehydrator along with another tomato and an apple. 

My thought is...I won't run the little dehydrator with just one tray of anything. I like dried apples while hiking so I chopped one up and tossed it in along with the tomato that needed to be processed. The carrots will become strange twisted colorful shapes as they dry.

I'll put some onions, carrots, tomatoes, and green beans together in a packet for dumping in a stew or soup later this fall or winter.

My morning was fun. I did the grocery thing at 7AM then chores, and this afternoon I'll be introducing my neighbor Olive to our mules. She is a master Chef and also a mom who works for MOSA with is an acronym for Midwest Organic Services Association. I think she can work from home. 

She and my ex neighbor Terri work together. 

Any...way.... 

Olive spent time cooking and doing the Master Chef thing all over Europe and I imagine .... everywhere? I don't know much as we haven't had time to talk about all of that. However, she used to be a groom and rode/exercised horses in Europe. 
I'm thinking this could be a really great friendship in the making.

She is my neighbor on the ridge. She likes foraging, hiking [night hiking or day hiking], riding, and cooking. 

Could I learn something from her? Oh yeah.

Face it. Being a Caregiver for a very difficult spouse is tough. So I'll forge friendships. Those friendships KEEP me sane.

~~~~~ 
2pm rolled around and Olive came trotting into the yard. I had gotten my two gals, Sunshine and Siera out and had saddled them. 

It is that time of the year that they somehow find burdock and manage to get it in their tails. So I was finishing that.

Olive fit in my Simco saddle just fine and we went over the 'how' to operate Siera. She's easy. She is very lazy, so a whoa works well.

I got up on my little red mule and we headed towards the hay and oat fields to ride in between the strips of corn. 

Siera did her normal thing like turning towards home when she thought Olive wasn't paying attention. I let the two of them work it out. Siera won't bolt or run off, it isn't in her nature. She'd rather stay with the other mule.

Anyway we circled the fields and then I asked if Olive would like to try some hill work. We went down into the neighbor's woods and rode down the steep trail and into a dry run. We sat on the girls and chatted down in the deep woods for a bit, then returned home.

We were so busy chatting and talking Mule/Horse Talk and getting to know each other...that I only took one photo.

I think this sums up everything.

Olive asked if we can do this every Tuesday. I'm like....um, yeah! Of course, with weather and schedules permitting.

It will be nice to exercise The Fat Bottom Girls together with another enthusiastic person.

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.

Little celebrations

The riding mower needs a new inner tube or a new tire ... well let's say filling it up every time we used it last year was a pain. 
Hubby actually got out there and took it off! Three years ago I had to have the neighbor come down and help me do it. 

I worked on the pasture weeds and since we were waiting on rain, I couldn't burn the piles of elderberry, sourdock and burdock. It seems as though it is an never ending battle and around the middle of May I generally give up and resort to just weed whipping the plants in spots. The heavier woody stuff gets the machete. However, I have made progress over the years.

My afternoon schedule was to run to a place in town where our local Dept of Health had set up a clinic for vaccinations. I'd scored an earlier vaccination by juggling different sites. My neighbor and I were signed up for the same time. We drove separately and stayed in our seats for the 15 minutes, then we were done. 

I took the flat tire to the guy we have always purchase our mowers and chainsaws from. I like shopping and supporting local people and this guy was a kid when he started out.

He'll fix the tire, get a deck belt for hubby's big ol' zero turn and I purchased an early gift for myself. A nice self propelled mower. I was tired of pushing that old crappy mower up the side hill. Happy Day for me.

I walked out into the pasture and stood. Pretty quick Sunshine walked up and I took her out and saddled her up. I told hubby that I was going to ride our land and just head on down to the creek.

What an ugly shadow of us! 

She was pretty sure that she'd rather not leave her buddies so she just stopped and waited for a bit. Every mule offers hesitation the first time in the year when they leave their pals.
Sunshine gets over it quickly. 

No photos of us following the trails we went through the woods. I was too busy watching out for branches to duck. She took a deer trail instead of the nice wide ridge trail the bulldozer had made for us.

We came up on that group of male Tom Turkeys. They came walking and strutting through the leaves sounding like a heard of elephants.
I love this mule.
She perked up, ears forward and nose flared. I could see the Tom's bright red heads as they walked through the brush. I was hoping they all didn't take off like thunder.

Sunshine took a huge sigh and then we carried on zig zagging down the steep hill. When we ended up on the ridge trail, I dismounted. Always the first time out with a crupper she gets a bit tail swishy. Just her way of saying she would like me to know that the slight tug on her tail head was a bit bothersome.

By midsummer, she ignores the crupper. I may put a britchin' on her saddle this summer to avoid tail swishing and ear twitching.

For a job well done we stopped in our creek bottom and I let her grass on some of the good stuff in the creek. She thought she was in heaven.

Then I tried something no one has tried before. I wondered if I could ride her upstream and around all those boulders and downed trees to hunt for morels later this year.

There is no easy way out of this creek unless you are willing to climb. 

Blurry shot with my pointy shooty camera.
I asked her to negotiate a deep pool of water with a boulder on one side and a tree on the other with no other way around it.

I have to hand it to her. She looked at it, sniffed it, then stepped into it and walked through it. She has all the calm of her donkey dad, Bruce. And lots of the thinking of her mom a scatterbrained arab/quarter mix. Her mom when faced with a difficult situation would stop and think in the woods.
In a field or wide open space ... she'd just go bonkers.

I like an equine who thinks. Sunshine thinks hard all of the time and misses nothing.

Below we check the forest fence above the creek. Wow, it is easier to ride her than walk it!

I counted two insulators that need replacing.

We then climbed out of the valley and headed home. That was enough of the rough stuff for the day. I told hubby that I may take nippers and the machete and clean up the trails the mules made last year in the woods.

I said I could ride much more right at home than trying to figure out if the 4 wheelers were going to be out on the neighbor's land.

Above...one of the Bell Necklaces my mules wear. It alerts slumbering wildlife to get up and move before we get there. Never have any of my mules freaked at wild life, but they do get startled when a herd of gobblers suddenly come out of nowhere and thunder overhead. Most of the time they get stiff legged and stand still.

Then they sigh and we move on.

[The strap is hanging off her side...I'd started to unsaddle her. And yes her mane is wild yet. I will roach her mane once the weather stays warm.]

Many little celebrations for my Wednesday.

Color me happy.

Life's Little Pleasures

 

There was a lot of work I could do.
But the day was going to be warm and unseasonably nice.

A distraction from the news would be a good thing. So I set up supper, made a red velvet cake [his favorite] for Rich and then walked out to the pasture with a lead rope. 
[And for anyone who knows me...I really dislike baking and this is the second cake in like forever. However, it wasn't so bad and maybe I'll make more this year?]

Sunshine walked up to me. My little red mule. I last rode her in June and July when I had a friend who was going to come over and ride with me. Then I got busy with the yard work and garden and it seemed my riding time always got put off.

Off we went. There won't be any photos of us on the trails in the woods or of us sliding down creek banks to cross the valley. Those moments demand attention to detail. And the trails are steep except for those on the ridge and the one that is mowed around the large corn field.

No, I don't trim the manes at this time of year. These guys live outside and in the woods with a few windbreaks for shelter. Rich feels if I roach the mane right now, their necks would get cold. He's the boss. Besides, it doesn't affect how they function so it doesn't matter to me.

We made the circuit to the back valley and down into that stream to watch for trout. I dismounted back there and let Sunshine eat while I just enjoyed the forest and the stream.

I'd seen two trail cams and had waved to both of them. There is a fellow that leases the land for hunting. I rarely ride or hike this part of the land when I think he will be out there. The guy is a real jerk though. 

I ran into him last year when he was putting up a stand in August. He asked what I was doing. I told him hiking.

He said, "I lease this land for hunting!"

And I replied, "What hunting season is it?"

Well it was not a hunting season, and I have permission to walk and ride all the acreage any time. I do politely avoid where this guy puts his stands. 

Anyway...

I noted where the stands were. November 21st is the opening day of gun season. I don't even wander about much on my own land. The first day sounds like a war is being conducted. 

I enjoyed my ride and when we got back home, I hand grazed Sunshine in the yard for a while.

Suddenly, the rest of the herd decided that they'd love to be caught too.

I wonder if Siera would like to go next! Another fine day is in store. I could take advantage.

For our evening entertainment, we looked outside just after we ate supper.

And yesterday morning....

once again proving that no matter what kind of camera a person has...

Hrrrmph.

And the day I had my pocket camera?

I think this is the one that comes down to graze near the outhouse in the evenings...

Have a good day. Enjoy Life's Little Pleasures.