I Am A Nervous Wreck - So Talk to Me Please!

There was a long article in the New Yorker magazine a few weeks ago about the resurgance of mules now - giving a lot of their history, talk about their good attributes, comments on various difficulties, how much they need to be trained and how good they can be if trained. Some are even being used in dressage now, since some think they are smarter than horses. I can't quote the whole thing, and it is only available if you are not a subscriber by paying a fee (not sure how much, possibly something like $2.50). This might be available at your local library.
The abstract (general idea of the article) is here:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/02/15/100215fa_fact_orlean

I at least take from this that training JJ is very important, Arella Mae. If you don't get ahold of this article, you might want to look into recent books about training mules - even if you have a trainer, you might want to read up yourself.

1 Reply

@Arella Mae,

Arella Mae wrote:

I have never actually seen any of my horses rear up and kick with their front legs. JJ is a different story.
He will rear up and put his front legs on his momma but I don't think he is trying to kick her.

I would venture a guess and say if two horses were in a knock down drag out fight
they would probably use anything and everything they have to fight.

Does that HAPPEN much, that 2 horses fight, like a dog-fight ?

David

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

Thanx Osso. I marked it and I'm going to read it on my lunch tomorrow. Yeah, training is very important for horses and mules. Having an untrained and undisciplined animal of that size can be very dangerous.

JJ, I think, has the potential to be something special. I have to say he is quite a beautiful mule. His colors and markings are so pretty. I am a bit biased though! I am getting some training DVDs so I can learn how to train him but I am going to find a real mule trainer. I think that is best.

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@OmSigDAVID,

The only time I have seen horses fight on a regular basis is when a stallion is in the mix. Dave had one at his place that he was training and that thing wanted to fight all the time! Dave had to put him off by himself. He thought maybe at first he just needed to settle in.

Horses will kick things too. My friend Cindy brought her horse in to Dave so he could cure the crow hopping (bucking on the front end) and the first day Khaki was there he kicked the fire out of Dave's round pen. I do mean kicked! He dented it up pretty badly. But all in all, I think most horses are pretty decent to be around. Some are just more high strung than others. Dave has one horse, Doc, who is just massive! But Doc is the sweetest thing. I think I have a picture of him on my other computer and I'll hook it up this weekend and find a pic of Doc. When Doc runs, it's like thunder. He's an awesome animal.

I uploaded the meeting of Mac and JJ video but it was still processing as I am writing this so it might take a bit to be there. I sure wish you could put music on the videos. They just seem to lack something without it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZAB4P1WwtM

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@Arella Mae,

That 's a beautiful video; I played it several times.
I see that little JJ likes to kick back with his hind legs.

Did he ever get together with Mac?

David

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@OmSigDAVID,

JJ is a hoot! When he really starts bucking and kicking those hind legs he's ready to rock 'n' roll!!

Joy has lightened up some. This morning when they were eating Joy was standing near the old bathtub I feed them in and Mac was to the right of it about 25 feet eating hay and JJ was in the middle, standing behind Mac. Joy kept her eye on him but she did not try to stop him. JJ wants so badly to play. I think Mac and JJ will be running races in the pasture pretty soon. Joy is just being protective and I can't complain because she's being a good mom.

1 Reply

@Arella Mae,

Arella Mae wrote:

JJ is a hoot! When he really starts bucking and kicking those hind legs he's ready to rock 'n' roll!!

Joy has lightened up some. This morning when they were eating Joy was standing near the old bathtub I feed them in and Mac was to the right of it about 25 feet eating hay and JJ was in the middle, standing behind Mac. Joy kept her eye on him but she did not try to stop him. JJ wants so badly to play. I think Mac and JJ will be running races in the pasture pretty soon. Joy is just being protective and I can't complain because she's being a good mom.

I guess JJ is glad to be out of there and free,
after we were all waiting for him to come out!

David

1 Reply

@OmSigDAVID,

Isn't that the truth! That little guy amazes me. He'll be two weeks old tomorrow. He already thinks he rules the roost out there. I cannot wait to get video of him and Mac racing.

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@Arella Mae,

What a fun thread to re-read from the beginning.

Thanks for sharing this, Arella Mae.

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@Arella Mae,

Arella Mae wrote:

Isn't that the truth! That little guy amazes me. He'll be two weeks old tomorrow.
He already thinks he rules the roost out there. I cannot wait to get video of him and Mac racing.

When does a mule reach adulthood ?

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

ehBeth wrote:

What a fun thread to re-read from the beginning.

Thanks for sharing this, Arella Mae.

Yes, SO STIPULATED!!!

David

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@ehBeth,

That is kind of you to say ehBeth, but I know I drove some of you absolutely mad with my anxiety about this baby. My husband is grateful for it though. He said y'all saved him from being driven crazy!

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@OmSigDAVID,

From what little I know about horses and what I have also read you don't actually start a horse until they are at least three years old. I think they reach maturity between the ages of three and five but I am not positive. Horses can live to be in their thirties and I've even heard of a few that lived to be forty.

1 Reply

@Arella Mae,

U know, dogs can be taught a few words of English, e.g.,
sit, stay, roll over, come; can horses or mules learn any English ?

David

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@OmSigDAVID,

I honestly do not know what "experts" would say about that. But I do know that Mac knows what "go" means and he knows what "back" means. My husband knew a man who trained horses and he trained them to voice commands so I firmly believe horses can understand some words. Mac, Joy, and all the rest know their names. JJ definitely knows his name already.

Exactly how much they understand I don't know. Mac will shake his head no or shake his head yes at times. Whether he is really answering my questions? Um, I have no clue but I sure get a kick out of it. I will have to see if I can get that on video.

1 Reply

@Arella Mae,

The videos r good!

David

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@OmSigDAVID,

You can train a horse for voice commands. My Uncles father in law bred and raised tennessee walkers. He had a mare that he was training to be part of a program for handicapped children and she was voice trained. She would respond to walk, run, trot, go and stop and slow down. It was pretty impressive to watch. He would get the mare up to a full run and say 'walk' and she would slowdown and plod along at a walk immediately. I have no idea how to go about doing this other than firmly saying the command each time you break into each speed. That way the horse begins to asociate that word with each speed.

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@Aldistar,

I see; thay sound very intelligent.
Thank u, Aldistar.

David

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Aldstair, when I get Mac to run I say "go!" and when I back him up I say "back". This is all I have done so I guess that is how he learned. Never tried the go and then anything else. That must have been an awesomely trained horse! I will have to work with Mac on changing gaits by voice. He's pretty smart so maybe it'll work.

Here is a video of my babies playing some yesterday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD8lefLuCws

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@Arella Mae,

I see that hes beginning to gait like a mule. They keep their two front legs together when they run. Its a little different than a hiorses. My neighbors mules go running around their pasture which adjoins some of ours andI like to watch em on their "Days Off'

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I Am A Nervous Wreck - So Talk to Me Please!

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