Training Horse Profile: Milo the Mule

Training Goals:

• General tune-up
• mounting/dismounting from offside
• ride with spurs, britchen, and rear cinch
• Improve response to bit pressure (turning, stopping, backing)

Milo

My grandfather has had various mule teams over the years, all of which were trained for driving.  Some of the teams have pulled his covered wagon during the annual wagon train, while others he put to work on the farm raking hay or other field work.  I always loved to ride along when he hitched up the team.  Milo was my first experience with a riding mule.  The main difference I found between horses and mules was that they are much stronger and pretty quick on their feet.  This guy could do a 180 turn before I could even blink.

The first day was spent doing one of my favorite exercises: round penning.  I love to start with this exercise because it forms a working relationship and begins to build trust between me and the horse.  With this exercise, I establish vocal cues, body language, and the horse starts to learn to look to me for directions.  I find that starting with round penning and other ground exercises helps the horse to respond more successfully when I move to riding.  Milo caught on to this exercise fairly quickly.

Milo with the rear cinch, breast collar, and britchen.

One of the main concerns Milo's owner had was controlling him under saddle.  On the ground he listened fairly well, but under saddle he tended to have a mind of his own.  I spent the remainder of the week working on turning.  At first, he was very resistant to any bit pressure.  If I tightened the left rein, he stuck his nose in the air and ran right, and vise versa.  I had to work on this for a few days before he really started to give to the pressure.

Next, I worked with him on trotting.  He much preferred to walk and it took a lot of energy and encouragement to keep him going.  I think I got more exercise than him!  After okaying it with the owner, I started riding him in spurs.  This helped immensely and made trotting much more enjoyable for both of us.  He struggled with turning at the trot but improved as we continued to work at it.

Milo was glad to be done for the day!

The final thing I worked on in relation to the bit was backing up.  A horse that backs well is usually quick to respond to bit pressure when asked to stop or turn.  Milo was very resistant to backing up, which was not surprising.  The longer the pressure was held, the harder he pushed against it.  To help him understand what I wanted, I switched to working on it from the ground.  Milo understood how to back up from halter pressure, so I combined the two.  While standing next to him, I asked him to back up using equal pressure on the reins.  I waited a few seconds to give him the chance to respond, and then added halter pressure.  Pressure from both the reins and the halter was released when he took a step back.  Eventually, he learned to back up from the bit pressure alone.  Interestingly, though he backed up off of bit pressure easily on the ground, he still resisted it from the saddle.  This got better with continued practice, but he tended to respond much slower under saddle than from the ground.

Now that Milo was easily controlled in a contained environment, I wanted to see how he would do outside of the round pen.  I started in the large pasture and he listened very well.  He turned, stopped, sped up and slowed down when I asked him.  I also took him out on the trails.  I was impressed that he crossed the bridge, stream, and swampy areas without hesitation.  The first time, things were going well until he decided that he was too far away from his friends (thanks to the mare for neighing loudly).  One minute we were walking calmly down the trail and the next minute I was on the ground and he was headed home without me.  I stayed very aware of his body language for the rest of our rides on the trails!  

Milo was definitely most comfortable staying where he could see the other horses.  When he could see them, he was obedient and calm.  When he could no longer see them, he became quite a handful to ride.  This is not uncommon.  Buddy sourness is one of the biggest frustrations horse owners have.  This is not surprising as horses are herd animal and would much rather stay with their friends!  Typically, buddy sour horses that are a handful on their own are perfectly happy going out on the trails in a group, and Milo likely would too.  Milo improved a lot during his 30 days, and with continued time in the saddle he will be an excellent trail mount.