Educating Earl Part III The First Ride (Mule Training)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ก.ย. 2024
- In this video Earl gets his first and second ride. I am not a professional mule trainer, I am just a hobby mule lover. I am not looking for training advice or suggestions. I am simply sharing my story.
Music credit : Bensound
Absolutely wonderful share. Such a beautiful mule. Great training. Very big like. 👍🏼. 😊💙
Thank you, it’s nice that I’m in no hurry and I can relax and take my time with him.
@@hollijacobs7858 😊💖
Awww he loves you❤️
Yes he does!
Great first ride! And I laughed at, "Snow makes for a soft landing," because that was my exact reasoning when I put the first ride on a mustang filly when I was 14. A lifetime ago, I stepped off the school bus and into a foot of fresh snow. At that moment, I knew the opportunity for our first ride had arrived. While I didn't know much about colt starting, I knew a wreck on snow would hurt less. It was a wild ride in nothing but a halter with almost no ground work, (I didn't know better), but I got the soft landing I'd planned for. 😄 I wish I knew then what I know now, but over the next few days we actually worked it out with the very old school method of simply staying on and teaching everything from the horses back. (Not recommended!)
I’ve been riding for years, and I learn something new every day. sounds like you had quite an adventure with your mustang! that’s all that counts.
@@hollijacobs7858 Just had to visit you and Earl again. He's a good one and I enjoy watching your patient, gentle methods. I think there's a lot of advantages for the competent equine owners to train vs. the assembly line of some pro trainers. I'm not implying *all* pro trainers, but quite a few because the owner has some expectation of results within whatever period of time they've agreed to. Better to go slow and gently prep, adapting and adjusting for the equine's personality/character. I think the way you began and progressed with a yearling was perfect and Earl was lucky to find you. By contrast, I bought a well trained, finished two year old from a trainer, but she seemed more "broke" than trained. By that I mean, a horse without much personality, a robot - half dead inside who tolerated affection and interaction rather than welcoming it. A neighbor got back a filly from the same trainer saying they, "blew her mind," that she was started under saddle, but wasn't the same happy horse 😕
Despite my age, I'm preparing to restart two horses that have been off for almost a decade. They're plenty gentle in hand, easy to catch and lead okay, but apparently that's long enough to forget everything else? One of them was a lively, performance bred and started cutting horse. (Buying that kind for my girlfriend who had never been on more than lesson and mature trail horses was a big mistake!) I don't think he'd ever been outside an arena, because outside the confines of a pen and without the focus of a cow to work, his steering handle was nothing like a trail or ranch horse. Bringing him up to a lope in pasture brings on the bucking. I'm okay with him forgetting by now. The more he's forgotten, the better. Now I can teach that a light touch on the rein and/or a little inside leg is an ask for a modest adjustment in direction across pasture or trail, not a rollback at the speed of light 😆
Despite my plan to go slow with an older horse who's mellowed, I'm not betting there won't be some surprises. In anticipation of those moments, I've thought about adding bucking rolls and a night latch to my saddle, or even a new saddle; something like a firm fitting roughout barrel saddle to make me more sticky in the seat. But, on my second time through your video, your saddle caught my eye @5:06. It looks like an Aussie or outback type saddle? But that swept back version of a swell, (I have no idea what you'd call this particular design on a saddle), over a standard vertical swell and horn looks very appealing for security. Can you tell me about your saddle?
@@jimmyyounger618 My goal was to develop a life long partner. I was willing to take the time to make a partner and not to just “train” him. I feel like I’m meeting that goal. Good luck with your equines! I am riding in a Brazilian Mule saddle (JMB or JBM saddles on FB), I decided to not keep that saddle for a couple of reasons. But I am a fan of the bucking rolls, they are on my TBM mule saddle.
@@hollijacobs7858 "Life long partner." Love it! I've never sold or traded a horse. My oldest are 24 and my "youngsters" 17. Most people wouldn't blink at the thought of asking sound 17 year olds to chug up steep mountain trails for days and I agree they'd probably be fine. "Probably." But I understand how aging works against us - how easily something seemingly simple as a strain can become a chronic issue for a senior, man or horse. The kind of ridding and possibly packing we want to do seems a better match for fit mules, and I could finally move beyond my mule envy with a couple of my own. I'm taking my time and learning all I can about mules and mulemanship before jumping in. We'll likely be partners for the rest of our days as well, so I need to be appropriately selective.
Thanks for the info about the saddle. I thought I'd seen them all but that was an interesting one. I used to put a light weight cordura saddle on to start my colts, but I have a cutting saddle I think will be fine if I add bucking rolls for my project pal. The tall horn is usually sufficient, but a night latch sits at a better angle and can move with the angle of your wrist and hand. All I have to do is remember it's there! The last time I had to ride through some bucking, I never thought about anything but getting up in the stirrups and keeping both reins while pulling his head around. That bucking was quite a surprise considering how the horse was represented. With the exception of the mustang when I was a kid, nothing I've patiently prepped and partnered with ever offered to buck. With the ground work I'm beginning, I don't expect he'll buck, but he's already shown me that I shouldn't throw caution to the wind.
Thanks for sharing vids of your process and beautiful young Earl! I'm going to follow TS Mules advice and not get locked onto a specific color, but if a seal brown/black with a pretty head like Earl comes along, he'll have a head start in my consideration of him. ... TS Mules: "My favorite color is broke." 😄
@@jimmyyounger618 Ty has some great advice. I’ve done several clinics with him. My other mule is a redhead! 😆😆. My favorite color is Broke as well!