Hey everyone!
Hope you’re all enjoying summer so far. All of us here at Next Level Horsemanship have been hard at work, training and riding different types of horses. But this summer, we have a very special and interesting friend in for training: a mule. Yup, that’s right, we’re training a mule!
His name is Augustus, and he’s quite the character to say the least. Suzanne, and a few of the other interns here at NLH, already have some knowledge and experience from the last mule that came through the training program. I, however, have never worked with, or ridden a mule before, so all of this has been completely new to me, and at times, extremely frustrating. I can safely say I now understand where the term, “stubborn as a mule”, stems from. As a person who predominantly works with horses, I’ve become very accustomed to how they think, but while a mule may be half horse, they really don’t act like one… at all! Many times I’ve found myself continually asking and pleading with Augustus to reconsider his decisions when faced with obstacles. It seems easier with horses, like you can show them how to do something and help them work through it. But with a mule it can be extremely challenging to achieve the same results using the same techniques in the same way. I’ve found out that you have to modify the techniques more for mules. When we were first getting him broke to ride, he was rather keen to try and rub me off on the walls of the indoor arena. I would then apply bit and leg pressure that he would promptly refuse, and proceed to run through. While it seemed that he would never improve, miraculously, he started to understand what we were asking of him, and more importantly, started to enjoy it.
Augustus seems to enjoy trail riding the most, which really isn’t that surprising. He’s honestly one of the calmest, steadiest, and most sure- footed mounts you could ever ask for. So while it’s been a difficult, and an exhausting process at times, he’s taught me, and all of us at Next Level Horsemanship, many things not the least of which is how to develop patience, resourcefulness and to lean to think outside of the box. Because he’s different than a horse, we have to work with him differently. As trainers, we’re constantly pushing ourselves to become better, and achieve a deeper understanding of the horse ( in this case, mule) and sometimes, that’s not always easy. But thanks to Augustus, I’m starting to become more aware of different options, and more creative solutions, that I wouldn’t have necessarily been pushed to find had I been working with a horse. So for that alone, I will be eternally grateful to him.
Next up…getting ready to compete again in the NRHA affiliate show in New Jersey with my mare Starlight. Stay tuned for more details!
~Liz