[Ag-eq] Mules

[Tracy Carcione]

Once, on vacation and taking a trail ride, I was talking to our guide, who 
was riding a mule.  He said he preferred mules.  He thought they were 
smarter than horses, and more surefooted for trail-riding in the mountains.
Tracy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <nfoster at extremezone.com>
To: "Agricultural and Equestrean Division List" <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 10:29 PM
Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] a visit with children


>
> Jewel:
>
> I've owned 3 different mules and found none of them to be nasty.  They 
> tend to
> be a bit more aloof than horses, but this isn't always true either.  One 
> of my
> mares was very friendly and loved attention from everyone.  My other mare 
> and
> Jack tend to be more one person animals.  Jack will not allow people he 
> doesn't
> know to walk up to him.  He's not nasty about it, he just moves away. 
> Once he
> knows and trusts people he's very friendly.  When I have him saddled and
> bridled he knows his job and is a professional.  He tends to like small
> children better than adults and is more forgiving with them.
>
> Mules are used to take tourest to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  The 
> canyon
> mules are well trained and well behaved.  They put up with lots of people 
> who
> know nothing about riding.
>
> Mules can be a bit more difficult to train than horses.  They are less 
> trusting
> and usually less forgiving of mistakes.  If you are patient and use 
> natural
> horsemanship training, you will have a loyal companion.  You have to earn 
> their
> trust.  I think mules have gotten a bad reputation because so many were 
> badly
> trained, which made them nasty.
>
> To me the mules make a sound between the whinny and the bray.  Every mule 
> I've
> ever heard sounded different from a donkey.  None of my mules have been 
> very
> vocal.  Most donkeys I've been around were much more noisy.
>
> Even though I love my horse Cruiser, I still admire a good mule.  Jack is 
> to
> arthritic to carry much weight, so he's retired now.  He was an excellant 
> trail
> animal for years and has earned his retirement.
>
> Nella
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Quoting Jewel <jewelblanch at kinect.co.nz>:
>
>>
>> I imagine that, somewhere in NewZealand,someone has a mule,but they are,
>> extremely thin on the
>> ground.
>> It is great that Jack is proving that mules can be really nice animals 
>> as, in
>> general, they are
>> portrayed as being nasty bad-tempered critters that would have the back 
>> out
>> of your breeches in the
>> twinkle of an eye if you were foolhardy enough to turn your back on 
>> them!Do
>> they whinny or bray, and
>> if the latter, is it ,similar to a donkey.  Going by sound alone, would 
>> you
>> be able to tell if it
>> was a mule or a donkey that spoke?
>>
>>           Jewel
>> --------------------------------------------------
>> From: <nfoster at extremezone.com>
>> Sent: Monday, May 13, 2013 5:21 AM
>> To: <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
>> Subject: [Ag-eq] a visit with children
>>
>> Yesterday one of my coworkers brought her grand children over to see the
>> animals.  They were both under 5, so had lots of energy and questions. 
>> They
>> were frightened at first, but were much more comfortable by the time they
>> left.
>>
>> They fed the goats apples and carrots, so then the goats wanted to follow
>> them
>> everywhere.  They also fed Jack and Cruiser and had pony rides on Jack. 
>> As
>> usual Jack was a perfect gentleman and walked slowly and carefully.  In 
>> the
>> beginning they were afraid of Jack, but after sitting on him they were
>> willing
>> to take a few steps and after a few steps they didn't want to stop!  Jack 
>> is
>> 30
>> and seen and done most everything, to my knowledge nothing upsets him. 
>> He
>> seemed to enjoy his little outing.  I love being able to share the 
>> animals
>> with
>> other people this way.
>>
>> Nella
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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