January 2023

By Meredith Hodges

Mules and donkeys are wonderful animals. They’re strong, intelligent and what a great sense of humor they have! But training a mule or donkey is different from training a horse. They are more like six-year-old children and require love, patience, understanding and a good reward system to grow into happy, independent, reliable and well-adjusted adults. Negative reinforcement should be used sparingly and only to define behavioral limits. The result is an animal that is relaxed, submissive, obedient, dependable and happy with his work.

Mule and donkey owners find it difficult to find trainers for their Longears because most trainers are unfamiliar with the psychological needs required by Longears to invoke positive responses from them. Trainers that are capable of training Longears are far and few between. It is difficult for inexperienced owners in remote areas to get their Longears trained properly. Also, Longears bond deeply to the people who train them, so it would be ideal if the owner could do the training him self. Many people attempt to train their own animals and they do manage to achieve a certain level of success despite the trials and tribulations of trial and error. However, this can be a long and frustrating road that leaves the Longears with unwanted bad habits.

We are fortunate enough to have a lot of books and videos available about managing and training Longears. However, it wasn’t that long ago that there was virtually nothing published on this subject and what was published was extremely limited and devoid of detail. Those of us who were training needed to rely on educational resources that were designed for horse training and modify those techniques to better suit our Longears. This still left a lot of room for trial and error…and a lot of frustration for both the trainer and the Longears.

Interest in Longears has grown exponentially in the past five decades. With this increased interest has come an increase in the number of Longears that need to be trained each year. The few trainers that are competent with Longears are finding it difficult to keep up.

It is advisable for the owners to be present during training sessions so the training integrity is as close to the same with the animals from trainer to owner. Owners usually need to travel long distances to visit an animal in training, limiting their own ability to learn with their Longears. This can result in problems once the animal returns home. Things will go well for a month, or two, and then the training deteriorates. The owner feels like their money has been misspent when the truth is, living creatures are not like cars that can be tuned up and stay that way only to be tuned up again.

Seminars and clinics can be helpful, but they can never replace the day to day routine helps the Longears learn to trust his owner and his situation with minimal anxiety. This limits his ability to become a safe, obedient and dependable companion. Mules and donkeys bond deeply to those who manage and train them. They develop warmth and affection for them, and a strong desire to please and serve. Without this kind of bond, mules and donkeys will often comply, but without true commitment to their work. Subsequently, when the pressure is on, their response may be to simply “quit.”

Lots of people complain about sending their equine to a trainer for two years or more, only to have the animal return and become a problem within as little as two or three months. I cannot emphasize enough how important this is! The owner MUST take an active part in the management and training of their Longears. Boarding stables are not a good option. Even if your mule or donkey is with a competent trainer, you need to plan on spending at least two days a week with him and the trainer, so your Longears can learn to trust you, too! Being present and interactive with your equine at feeding time, morning and evening, is only a beginning of  building the trust between you.

People ask me why I quit taking outside Longears in training here at the Lucky Three Ranch. In all honesty, I had developed a waiting list I could not possible fulfill in a reasonable amount of time for reasonable cost. I would really rather enjoy seeing people enjoying the experience with their animals like I enjoy it with mine. So, I decided it would be better for me to teach people how to train their own animals. Hence, I developed my logical and sequential training series, Training Mules and Donkeys so that anyone would be able to employ it with little or no prior experience at all. Most of the management and training information is offered for free on my website at www,luckythreeranch.com and on my MEREDITH HODGES Facebook page. I can coach quite promptly and effectively by email, phone calls and letters. I do not text!

Time and time again, my training series has proven that this really was a great approach. It enabled me to reach people and help them to attain new levels of communication with their equines. People who never before had the courage, nor the confidence to even try, are discovering the self satisfaction and elation that follows when you attempt to train your own Longears! Most people tell me it is the best part of their day when they can work with their equines, no matter what they are doing together. They are quite surprised to find out how easy it is to establish a routine that fits with their other weekly activities…thanks to the intelligence and forgiveness of these wonderful Longears!

I had been involved with training horses most of my natural life before I began training mules at my mother’s Windy Valley Ranch in Healdsburg, California in the early 70’s. I trained there for six years before I moved to Colorado to start my own mule farm. I knew nothing about mules when I began training at Windy Valley Ranch. I tried all kinds of suggestions from other people and by trail and error, I somehow was able to get a lot of Longears trained, but I knew there had to be a BETTER way! I have to applaud the forgiveness of these wonderful animals in the face of my own impatience and ignorance. They were the ones that let me know when my approach to training was unrealistic and punitive, and did so in an all-knowing and careful way. My lessons with them were proportionate to my mistakes, so I was lucky enough not to experience any severe head injuries, or broken bones. When these kinds of injuries occur, there is something grossly wrong between the animal and the person that has been injured. It could be a lot of reasons, but the one thing of which I can be sure is that the Longears always acted honestly and appropriately. They cannot be any other way. The problems occurred because of my own lack of communication…I wasn’t listening to what they were trying to convey to me!

When we raise our children, we should begin with nurturing, love, affection and play. The way we play outlines certain behavioral limits for our children and helps them to understand boundaries, and to develop and learn to socialize in a positive and healthy manner. As the child grows, family interaction helps him to define his place in the world. Appropriate physical activities help the child’s body to develop in a slow and healthy way. School, in its natural and logical order, helps a child to react appropriately in society and in the world. This helps to develop the self confidence on which self image and self worth is built. Physical activities increase with intensity over long period of time. And yet, we expect our Longears to be trained in a couple of years? How can we even expect them to develop in a healthy way both physically and mentally and to learn so much in so little time?

At first, you might think there isn’t enough time to spend with your Longears to accomplish all this training, But I assure you, you have more time than you think. Just be realistic with your expectations at each stage of growth and training without the pressure of being hurried. We all need to slow down, stop “and smell the roses” to enjoy the little victories along the way with our Longears. Longears can afford you some very special memories if you only let them,. Some days are for learning and others are time for just plain fun and games. One of these days, you find yourself saying, I can’t believe he turned out to be so good! I never really felt like I was training him!

To learn more about Meredith Hodges and her comprehensive all-breed equine training program, visit LuckyThreeRanch.com or call 1-800-816-7566. Check out her children’s website at JasperTheMule.com. Also, find Meredith on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, MeWe and Twitter.

Covered in TRAINING MULES & DONKEY: A LOGICAL APPROACH TO TRAINING, TRAINING WITHOUT RESISTANCE  and EQUUS REVISITED at www.luckythreeranchstore.com

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