Another nice ride

Look at Siera! What a typical mule face!

Basically she is giving me the stink eye for tossing the pad on her. Siera is my younger molly mule that I ride.

She came to our place when she was 3 years old. My hubby purchased her against my wishes. We did not need another animal! Of course, her mother was Peruvian Paso and she was gaited. Hubby saw $$$ signs in a trained and gaited mule.

 The folks who sold her to us kept her full sister who was taller and more elegant. Only to sell her a couple of years later because she was in their terms, Ill Tempered, and Difficult. They had sent her to a trainer in Iowa to be 'broken' and trained. 

I have found Siera to be rather sweet and calm. Sure she lets you know when she is a bit tentative about something that is being asked of her. And she will refuse to step into a tiny puddle. She can be a bit bull headed too.

However. She is a mule.

She was probably the easiest one I ever put a saddle on. Just two or three round pen sessions and I was riding her when she was 4. Obstacles like puddles are nothing to me. However, to her they were life threatening.

We worked in hand and under saddle together. She is one of those animals that works best when she thinks it IS her idea and not yours to cross that ditch or to walk through a puddle.

On a flat open trail she boogies in such a smooth gait. When she startles, she becomes a statue. When she figures it out, she sighs and proceeds.  

We moved over to the Hickory tree because it seems some wasps have taken up residence in the back of the trailer.

She is wearing my favorite saddle. I swapped out the western stirrups for English ones when I was doing Endurance with Badger. The ease of changing the length made this a perfect saddle for all the grand kids to use. 

Plus, the saddle is much lighter.

We headed out to ride the same trail as I took Sunshine on. It winds through the woods partly on the old 4 wheelers trail and drops into a valley before climbing again and then follows deer trails and old cattle trails just below the ridge.

Those Ears!

There are 3 dry runs or ditches to cross to circle back towards home. I planned it that way so Siera would think it would be a good idea to cross them.  When she was first ridden in these woods long ago, she absolutely refused to cross these ditches. She planted her feet if you tried to lead her across, or backed up under saddle. 

I don't think she had the confidence at that time to know she was capable.

I spent a lot of time with her and lesser 'ditches'. Eventually, I think she gained confidence in herself. Now? 

She just looks things over and then decides that heading towards home through the obstacles is a good thing. 

She got sweaty ears from worrying about being away from the others.

Our ride was quiet. I made her stand and look around several times. She wants to rush through things when she is by herself. When she is with another equine, she is very chilled.

We found no monsters and no logs or ditches that were scary. We found a lot of little stick tights though.

And ... it is always nice to take the very long way around to go get the mail on the ridge.

Oh. Remember how I said my hubby purchased her against my wishes? After I got her going under saddle I decided she wasn't leaving. I plunked down her purchase price in front of him one morning and said, "SHE is mine."

Her sister? Those folks contacted me after seeing pictures of Siera working with my grand kids. They offered to by her because they wanted a good mule. They went on about how awful her sister became.

And I often wonder if it was the way the mule was handled. When Siera balked at things I never punished or even cursed. I just figured she needed help in figuring out what I was asking of her.

I've done that with all the mules I've handled in the past. 

The trainer they sent the sister too? He was known for being rough and heavy handed to get results. Some mules could handle that I guess. Others? I think it ruined them.

I am not a trainer. Nope, not at all. I just learned through trail and error. I simply ended up often with animals that needed work and since I like to trail ride, I worked with them. 

I'd like to think that I created a bond with those few that have been special in my lifetime.

We had a great little ride and a nice chat in the yard before she went back with the others.

Siera ~ Naughty

Siera is doing well her hoof/frog issues seem to be clearing up.
I should have been exercising her more, but with mud or ice being the normal all around us, I haven't been able to.

However, I was able to get her out and ride her for a bit this past week.

She decided that she wanted to protest every step of the way and be back with her friends in her paddock. 
This is pretty much Siera's normal spring behavior.  She needs to be weaned from her friends/buddies each spring and learn that yes, she can walk away from them under saddle or on lead.

But sometimes she just needs to stand and think about it.

She is actually getting better at this and realizes that when she is going to toss her head and act like love sick animal, that she will get a time out at the 'naughty' tree.

I let her stand there for about 45 minutes while I did some yard work.  She pawed a few times and tossed her head only once or twice.
Then she settled down and stood quietly.

I loved her up and we took a short ride to the ridge.  The woods were too slippery and muddy or we would have gone on a nice narrow trail.

When Siera has too much open space and nice even ground, her mind wanders and she thinks more about misbehaving than worrying about her next step over a log or climbing through a ditch.

We worked a cornfield for a while until she realized that I was not going to just turn her in the direction of home.
We did a lot of circles and many 'stand stills'.

When she finally took a deep sigh and moved on with forward ears, I knew that we'd gotten through the first stage of separation.

Since she hasn't had to work most of the winter, I rode her out 1/2 mile and back to get the mail.

It is funny that different animals have different attitudes about leaving the farm.  Siera puts up a fuss and eventually quits when she is asked to work a difficult trail.

Lil' Richard was more than happy to leave the farm. 
Badger never minded.  
Fred brays and vocally carries on for about 1/4 mile, and then steps right out.  
Opal used to turn her head towards the farm and walk with one ear turned to home.  When we got past that magical mark in the trail, she'd stop and she'd be all attention to detail.
Sunshine will turn her head and may even bray once, but then she marches on.  She waits until you aren't paying attention and then will try to turn back home.


I would like to see Siera get over her separation issues, but I also realize that she may never be that kind of mule and I will have to deal with it each spring.
That is okay, she is a fun ride. 
Siera's best feature is that she doesn't spook.  

She is one of those equine that will lock up and stand still as a statue until she figures out the situation.  

I'll put up with her idiosyncrasies if she'll put up with mine.

Wash Day for Siera

Okay this sounds boring. Today was Siera's first ears to hooves bath and scrubbing.  I even de-tangled the her tail.

She was a bit cautious of the hose spraying at her...at first but then stood like a rock [as long as I kept it at a reasonable pressure].  I was able to drop her rope and scrub her up with *Super Poo* Shampoo.  Yeah, it really is named that.

I've yet to have a mule that I could put in the middle of the yard and drop the rope and do what I did today without them moving around or walking away to graze or...simply running off.  Siera stood like a rock and tilted her head to watch me.

The rinse and drip dry went well too. I brushed her and de-tangled her tail~ well not all of it.  I didn't want the first wash job to be extremely boring for her.  

I decided to take a break and  sat on the picnic table. Siera was on a long lead rope, she decided to 'air' dry by watching my face.  

Interesting. 

I've never had a mule do that before.  She seemed very content just to hang out together.  She didn't walk away or go look through the burnt grass for goodies.  She just stood by me as if to say.

Look at me.  I'm your best friend in the whole wide world.  How can I get you to realize that?

When I returned her to the meadow, she did it again.  Stared at me.  She did not crowd me like most mules, but she stood close enough to be polite and close enough to be there.

I am starting a new and Epic Adventure with this mule.

My best Friend Has Big Ears.