As though I had Wings....

I think there are a lot of sayings about how good a horse is for you.

I think they should include mules don't you?

What can I say?

I had a friend who was going to come riding with me. I had visitors who were going to come and visit this summer and distance themselves...who wanted to come riding with me.

So far none of that has worked.

So I walked out to the pasture yesterday to see who would come to me while I was holding a halter and lead rope.

Sunshine.

She is my all around go anywhere little mule. The mule we tried so hard to sell at one time. 

The mule we nearly gave up on when she had a severe injury.

When Rich and I started riding her at parks and other places, people started to notice her. Some even offered us a small price for a small mule.

She isn't a pony, but she isn't tall either.

She is just right for me now. Easy on easy off, and a mature mindset.

Well, put all that aside.

I've been really nervous about riding solo. I was spoiled last summer with Molly coming to visit and ride at least once or twice a week.

I realize now, I'm back to just me.

I took Siera last week on some of the steep hillsides after we toured the ridge top. She did fine.

Nothing like those long ears!

I guess I am tired of waiting and I have no one but myself to blame.

I weighed the risks of riding solo in the WildWood and decided that I can safely do it with these two.

Accidents do happen, I know that.

However.

The calm I felt after riding yesterday was immeasurable.

I felt a peace so overwhelming.

I want to think again of dangerous and noble things,

I want to be light and frolicsome,

I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,

as though I had wings.

~Mary Oliver

Wonderful Saturday

The morning started like any other except that Molly had asked if I wanted to go riding.
Well, of course I did! Mornings are the best time to go for me on the weekends. In the afternoons there are guys that race around with loud 4 wheelers and I just don't think mules and loud machines would mix well.

Not a great shot, but I just took the camera and pointed behind me. Molly's mount is Mica. She used to be a roper/heeler and team penning mule but has now retired into a life of quiet trail rides. We didn't use her for about 5 years and I pulled her out of retirement and found that she was excellent for novice riders and as a rock solid dependable mule in all situations.

I rode Siera. Molly wanted to ride her. But Siera can be funny on her first trips away from home. She can be obstinate and when it comes to black sucking mud, she will sometimes prepare for a down right refusal to move through it.
Putting a newer rider in that situation is not a good idea.

And I knew my chosen route had mud sucking holes that the 4 Wheelers had created. [No photos of the mud sucking route nor the creek crossing that was similar to the swamp of Sorrows ~~ Movie reference to The Never Ending Story]

My hands were totally full of convincing Siera she would survive the black muck holes of death.
We had to cross the valley floor but the 4 Wheelers and made deep ruts in the already saturated valley. Instead of trying to cross to the other side, I walked Siera upstream on solid ground to the snow mobile crossing.
Less stress for her and probably safer too.

We finally made it to my favorite destination. The Back Valley, The Lost Valley...well, the 4 Wheelers have beat down a trail there too. However I took Siera upstream and she didn't mind at all. At one time it would have been a bit of a fight. Not any more. In fact she was being Miss Perfect by this time.

Maidenhair Fern Hill

I was pleased as this was her second ride away from home this year. Too many variables in my life had to get straightened out before I could take the time to ride again.

As we left the Back Valley we had a steep slippery trail to go up. I told Molly that these guys could do it easily, just let Mica have her head and lean forward, keep your balance, and trust her to do the proper thing. 

It was a hard incline for both mules, but once we got on the old logging trail, we let them catch their breath.

Mica is aged but in much better shape than she was in last year. Both mules are a bit soft in muscle and endurance but that is because they don't get ridden enough. I am aiming to fix that.

We eventually made it back to the first valley. The Black mud sucking valley of ruts and black water and muck. 

When I crossed the creek I offered Molly the opportunity to ride Siera. She didn't hesitate. We swapped mules and I rode Mica the rest of the way home.

Siera knew the way home up the camp road and was not going to offer up any resistance.

Molly had met Siera the first day she came to visit and fell head over heels for her. I have two other teens girls who have done the very same thing with her. Siera is that kind of mule. She loves attention. 

Molly beamed all the way home. 

I took Molly home and told her that around 3pm I'd be taking Sundance out for her next training session. We took a vote and decided to start calling her *Sunny*, Sundance and Sunshine are just too much of a mouth full.

Sunny, it is.

The funny thing is with Sunny and her sister, it that they are the two that were born on this place and raised here. Both out of my slightly nutty but fun mare Cheyanne who is no longer with us. Both mules are extreme people mules.

In one respect it almost makes it a bit harder to train Sunny. She doesn't want to trot around the round pen. She wants to hang out with the human.

Trainers like those that they can force into lunging and moving. 

Sure I can lunge her. But then I can also work with her a bit differently and use her human trust in other ways.

Put strange things on her back. Toss balls around. Ask her to follow me over killer tarps. Kick a ball.

All with a curious attitude at first then a Ho Hum attitude.

Crinkly Mule Eating Dog Food Bag. At first it was a mule eater. After a while it was a grooming tool. Legs, stomach, ears, back and then a neck decoration.

HO..Hum.

Finally. A saddle. And a jug with rocks in it to make annoying noises as she walked.

Reaction?

Look at the jug, walk, listen to the jug. 

Stop.

Look.

Ho Hum.

I let her trot the pen with the saddle to feel the back of it bouncing around. I'll use the back girth next so she can feel that. Then add a breast collar and crupper and perhaps a britchen.

I stood in the stirrups on each side and laid across her. She just sighed.

And that was the end of the session.

I was pleased. I recalled watching a video of an old mule/horse trainer who commented that in truth training the animal should be as about boring as watching paint dry. You don't want snorting bucking and challenges every step of the way. I agree, but to me it isn't boring. It is more about watching her reactions and body language to everything we are working on.

I put things away and she followed me.

...as if to ask...

What's next?

Admittedly, this was to be Rich's mule to train and I kept holding out the hope that he'd get interested in her again.

But she is doing so well.

I am simply awed by her calm attitude.

Let's hope it eventually translates to trails!

The Monsters vs. Siera

I went to get Siera and take a nice little ride before my husband and I tackled moving our bedroom from upstairs to downstairs.

Mica was near the gate and Fred was down in the apple trees. I didn't see Siera anywhere.
So I called out.
From behind some brush some long ears appeared. She seemed to tilt her head and think about it for a moment.

Next thing I knew, she was loping towards me. Odd. Siera is pretty lazy and she is gaited so she rarely lopes unless there is a reason.

She stopped at the gate and turned her head to me.

You came! You came!

I showed her the halter and the lead rope. She stood still while I put it on her.  Fred came walking up and tried to push his way in. Siera dropped her ears and bobbed her head.

Fred backed off.

Mine, mine. My person. Go away.

Silly mule. I was happy to see that she hadn't gotten full of burdocks again and in no time at all we were saddled and headed up the driveway.

Heavy shots rang out not far away from our mailbox. Siera tilted her ears towards the noise and kept walking.
I heard a combines to the west and I thought I heard them to the east too on Peterson's. 
Well, that would stink as I wanted to ride down the camp road to the creek.

I dismounted Siera in the hay field on the ridge and decided to check out her saddle cinch and think about things for a moment.

You may notice that Siera is wearing what may appear to be a 'necklace'. It serves more than one purpose. When we are riding solo, it is nice to have a little bell to keep deer from leaping out of the corn in front of us. I used to have that occur on Opal. The result was an airborn 180 degree leap. Opal, Badger, Sunshine, and Fred rarely startled but when they did it was a real quick reaction.
The bell also provides a rather pleasant noise. I used bells on my old mare Cheyanne and found that they distracted her from traffic noise when I rode her on the roadsides in Kenosha.

Siera on the other hand generally freezes when she is startled.

Siera took the opportunity of the equipment check to see if the field contained any good food. 

Yummy! Good! Let's just stay here!

I remounted and we headed up the field and out towards 'PeeWee's' ridge so I could see if they were indeed combining the cropland.

And they were. And now that we were on the driveway it seemed the combine, tractor, and a truck were headed our way. 

The shots behind us kept ringing out. I knew it bothered me more than it bothered Siera.

Monster. Monster. Monster Alert. 

I moved Siera into a field and close enough to the road to get a good look at the equipment, but not too close as to cause her to freak out. One thing she dislikes is machinery. 

Her ears perked forward and she stiffened up hard as a rock as the huge truck and hoppers came by. The jake brake rattled and rumbled. When the driver saw us in the field he eased up. 

I want to bite it. Let me bite it. 

One of Siera's reactions to scary machinery is to want to chase it. However I had her stand still. I could see that one of the combines was headed our way.

Siera stiffened again locking her hooves into the dirt below her. I don't think a logging truck could have moved her.

After all the machinery passed, we settled into a nice pace. Siera's long paso llano strides ate up the ground and we were soon on the trail into the woods.

Siera kept her ears perked for any disturbances in the woods. She did come to a halt and stared intently at the brush. A doe walked out, saw us and bounded back into the woods.

We headed down to the creek. The crossing was ruined in the last flood so Siera and I found another way around it.

Siera has moved into another phase. She trusted me enough to go through the mud sucking creek.

This creek will eat me. The mud will eat me.

"No Siera it is fine. It won't eat you. Honest. It will be fine. Trust me."

We messed around for a bit then headed back towards home.
I stopped in the combined section of the corn field. Siera found some goodies.
And it was all good.

We had a great ride. 
I let Siera go at the gate and she stood next to me.

Are you coming after the sun makes another round? Are you coming back? We can chase machinery monsters if you like.

I rubbed her ears. "Soon."

Final Exams for Siera

Well she is getting there.  An equine is always in training, but we are getting very close to Siera's final exams.

What on earth are you talking about?

I'm sure you are wondering.

What sort of testing should a mule go through?

Well, I don't do pleasure shows as Siera wouldn't work out in Western Pleasure, she gaits, instead of lopes.  She will walk a stretched walk but never a slow Western Walk.  She will trot, again ... she does what comes natural to her breeding.  Not a slow moving jog.

Nope, her finals are different.
She has really been doing excellent and so far this summer has done all but two rides solo.

Can she get over a log safely with me on her?  Can she jump it with me off from her?  Will she willingly go into creeks and brush bust, cross washed out rocky ravines, and do it all safely?
Will she freeze when turkeys fall out of their roosts in the early mornings?
Will she spot deer and stand quietly and not bolt?  
Will she figure out how to get around an obstacle without a refusal?
Will she stand quietly and wait while I take photographs?

Most importantly.

Will she be kind to Morris and make sure to stop when he asks for a lift?

Actually she does all this.

Her finals have to do with traffic.  She got a very good experience yesterday.  We saddled up for an evening ride. A neighbor was picking up hay bales with her tractor.
Siera and I followed the tractor down the road.  She gaited out fast as to keep up to the scary noisy thing.

Seems chasing a tractor is more fun than having one come at you.

I am just about ready to pronounce that Siera is a qualified trail mule for me.
I've had my doubts off and on.


But this summer she has earned her bragging rights.

Last week I had someone ask if I'd sell her.
I answered no.  They wanted me to price her.

And I asked them how on earth can you price 5 years of working with one animal?  And after all that why on earth would I want to sell her?