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.

As it happened....

This is my favorite view in the whole wide world.
The view between a mule's ears.

Of course this is Sunshine's ears and her mane is wild and wooly just like everyone else's on the farm this time of year. I don't roach the manes towards fall as the mules need that extra insulation on the top of their heads.
Well, at least that is what I think.

Molly texted that she was coming for a visit and bringing two friends. I was properly surprised to find that one of her friends was a guy. Nope, he wasn't a boyfriend of Molly or the other gal, but they are all pals at school.

More interesting was the fact that as we talked a bit Friday night I noticed his t-shirt and asked him if Glenbrook North Highschool was indeed the one in Northbrook. He said it was. I was stunned. And then I laughed.

"I graduated from Glenbrook North 45 years ago!" We spent a few minutes discussing a few streets and I told him what Northbrook was like when we had moved there when I was a kid.
And...we both went to the very same grade school.

I had one more intramural CrossFit 'game' 20.5 to do Saturday morning and I told the 'kids' that they could clean out burrs from the mules' tails and manes if they wanted to do some bareback riding when I got back.

All the mules had been cleaned up of burrs and brushed, well, all except Fred who was his usual anti social self.

Everyone was eager to try bareback riding. Only Will hadn't done it before. I decided to just stay in the adjoining pastures. Everyone would get some more experience on the two young mules with nice round backs...and some experience riding the bony backs of Mica and Fred.

I allowed them to switch mounts to see how different each animal was. Siera behaved as expected. After a while of riding in her pasture she decided to test her riders by putting up a little mule protest.

Mules generally don't like doing the same thing over and over so it was no surprise. Plus Siera felt she could get away with refusals.

I explained to Will and Sonya that these were not 'lesson' animals like they had at their school. These mules were more into trails and doing difficult things, not an open pasture where walking was boring to them.

Everyone enjoyed themselves and I imagine there may be some sore butts and legs this morning.

I brought out their cell phones after the ride was over so they could all get photos of themselves on mules to share.

I'd requested the phones be left in the house before riding. You should have seen their faces when I said that! Shock! [Well Molly wasn't shocked]

All in all we had a fun time and Molly's friends got introduced to mules.

Gone Riding

Just before it was time to do chores, I grabbed Lil' Richard and put him in the round pen where he proceeded to run, buck, and roll in the dry sand.

He 'self lunges' for a bit and then waits quietly for me to come in and work with him.

I let him run in the round pen, while I took Siera out and rode her for a while bareback in the meadow.  She did a great job and only gave me a bit of her 'typical' grief once.  She did a little hop with her hind end and I laughed.

Riding bareback is so much warmer than riding in a saddle when the temperatures are in the 20's.

I rode Siera to the ridge to get the mail.  Since there were no stumps around to get back on, I led her back home.

Next it was time for some work with Lil' Richard.  I went in the round pen and we worked on a 'kiss' for getting up and his whoa.  He nailed it quickly.
I made makeshift reins out of the lead rope and swung my leg over him.

He just did as before.  Stood there.  I thought about it for a moment then re-created the specific 'kiss' that had moved him before.

Suddenly we were in motion...and then he stopped.  I kissed again and we went into an extended trot which I just sat and rode out.  He was extremely smooth, incredibly smooth.
Since we were just working on the Go and Whoa, I let him pick the pace.  He did however follow my lead as I used the rope to guide him.

Win Win!

We kissed to go and Whoa to whoa.  After about 15 minutes we quit and I groomed him, then took him to his pen where dinner awaited him.

He is an incredibly smart pony/mini horse.

Of course he is mature and has age on him.  But who would have thought that you could train an animal who was somewhere between 16 and 19 yrs old?  True enough we stake him out in the summer and lead him from place to place and he stands well for the farrier.
But he never had any formal training.

Well, the saga continues.