CHASITY’S CHALLENGES: Grooming Routine: 4-14-20
4-14-20
Grooming is an important activity in your equine’s life and it need not be a struggle if it is done regularly. Chasity was not real sure of us, or what to expect when she first arrived, but she is gaining confidence and calmness with each grooming session that precedes her workouts. Right off, she is rewarded for going to her designated work station. This familiarity sets the stage for the tasks to come.
I begin with a wet towel to clean her eyes, then her nose and finally her ears. When cleaning the ears, I stroke upwards with the hair and try not to go against the way it grows. Most Longears enjoy having their ears rubbed anyway, but HOW you do it can make a huge difference in their willingness to comply.
Then I begin on her forehead and along her neck with a human, multi-bristled plastic hairbrush. If she had mud on her, I would have scraped that off with the shedding blade first. The human hairbrush is much more effective in getting deep into thick donkey and mule hair and will “aerate” the coat nicely where the shedding blade will only skim the top and often break the hair.
Chasity’s teats were as hard as a rock, but were draining a milky-looking substance. At first we thought she had just weaned a foal, but we found out later, that was not the case. At any rate, during grooming, I scraped the sticky drainage from her back legs. Then I discovered some crusty spots across her chest that resembled an old bot-hatching site that had not been addressed.
I used the shedding blade to scrape off the scabs and applied Neosporin to the area. Over several days now, the scabs are beginning to go away. Chasity enjoyed the scratching! They must have been itchy!
Chasity has an enlarged, crested neck and fatty deposits over her body that will need some attention. The crest has fallen over quite a bit, but I do think it is salvagable. It will just take the right kind of feed and exercise, and some time to correct.
On her withers, Chasity has some scarring where the saddles previously used on her were rubbing and turned the hair white. She is also sporting a bit of Lordosis (sway-backed) which should not be seen in an animal of her young age of 13 years. This will undoubtedly result in irregular movement when seeing how out of alignment her spine is with these issues. Equines are not designed to carry weight on top. Rather, their structure supports carrying their weight below the spine. This is why is is so important to pay attention to core exercises to strengthen the top line and abs to prepare to support the rider’s weight. Just because they are big animals doesn’t mean they can automatically carry our weight without undue stress on their bodies.
The crusty discharge on her legs is very sticky, so I sharpen my shedding blade before going after it. It is going to pull the hairs hard enough as it is. I want the shedding blade sharp so it will come off quickly and with as little pain as possible. Chasity appreciates my consideration for her!
Last, but certainly not least, I sprinkle Johnson’s Baby oil in her mane and tail. This protects the hair from drying out during inclement weather, will promote growth and keep other animals from chewing on it. Then I square Chasity up one more time in preparation for either tacking up or for leaving the work station. Although this all seems simple enough, keeping this routine weekly will keep things from getting out of hand and grooming will remain easy each time. A reward of crimped oats from the fanny pack around my waist is always in order for standing quietly in good posture!
If you have multiple animals, just take your grooming tools in a bucket and your fanny pack full of oats with you to their stalls and do them there. If they are all in one pen in a herd situation, do not wear your fanny pack until they can all be rewarded at the same time, at the end of grooming. Body clipping is not a healthy solution and should only be done when showing. During shedding season, it is impossible to get it all done at once and still keep the hair coat healthy. It is easier if you do it weekly and take off the excess hair gradually. When grooming is done regularly and goes easily, it greatly reduces anxiety and bad behaviors.
I remember back in 1982 when summer came and we had to search high and low for shows in which we could compete with our mules! As they say, “You’ve come a long way, baby!” Mule shows are now so numerous that it is becoming very difficult to decide which ones to attend. Years ago, our mules were not necessarily welcome at horse competitions, and today that has changed as well – making our decisions about where to compete is even more complicated. It is truly amazing to see the tremendous growth in popularity of the mule over the past 30 to 40 years, but then I guess it was inevitable given all their redeeming qualities! It really isn’t that unusual that people would begin to prefer mules once they received accurate and truthful information about them. Granted, you have to be smarter than the mule in order to train one, but once you train one properly, you have a wonderful companion and a top competitor in the equine world. More and more, the criticism of mules has changed to general curiosity and a willingness to learn more about these unique animals. Many people have taken a great deal of time and effort to bring these animals into the public eye. To name them all would take volumes, but their work is certainly appreciated!
As I said, there are many all-mule and donkey shows that you can attend in most states across the U.S. Most of them are held in conjunction with State Fairs. However, there are others that are promoted with horse and mule races as well. The American Donkey & Mule Society sponsors a National Mule and Donkey Show that floats from state to state. The 1992 A.D.M.S. Nationals were held in conjunction with the South Carolina State Fair. There were some truly lovely mules to see in our eastern United States.
Breed shows are another place you will see mules today. In many places, you will see mules competing in their classes sandwiched between classes for anything from Draft Horses to Arabians and Saddlebreds. Many of these breed shows not only included a mule division, but allowed mules to compete in their Open Classes as well against the various horse breeds. In 1991, our own Lucky Three Mae Bea C.T. competed in an Open English Pleasure class of primarily Saddlebreds and American Show Horses to sixth place of 20 entries. It is nice to know that the judges were taking mules seriously, as well!
The American Driving Society has been quite supportive itself! They encourage mules to participate in the many facets of driving that they offer, from pleasure, to fun events to actual marathon driving. In these shows, the mules are allowed to compete directly with the horses. Shows such as these tend to really test the knowledge and expertise of the trainer and the conditioning and response of the animals. Integrity in progressive learning is encouraged while stark competitiveness and politics take a back seat. This type of situation is much more appealing to the novice who wants to learn and improve his and his animal’s skills.
The United States Combined Training Association left it up to each region to decide whether, or not, to allow mules to compete and some areas are more tolerant than others. Dressage and Combined Training offers the ultimate in fitness and conditioning of both animal and rider. Because it requires so much physical exertion and skill, everyone is accustomed to discussion on gross errors and wrecks with little or no embarrassment. This makes for a great learning environment with a lot of positive social interaction. We have had a lot of fun for three years competing with the Mountain States Combined Training Association and the Windy Wyoming Combined Training Association. They were a great group of folks from the organizers to the competitors. When Lucky Three Mae Bea C.T. came in second in 1992 in the Open Novice Division at the Abbe Ranch Horse Trials in Larkspur in June, organizer Susan Farmer presented our ribbon and warmly said, “We’re not prejudiced here! Congratulations!” I think it is more important to these folks to see that people enjoy the sport and more over, to continue to want to participate and learn. This makes for attainable long term goals, and even more… it makes for long term friendships.
If you are not really the competitive type, but enjoy the simpler side of showing in gymkhana events and pleasure classes, there are a lot of small Open Shows that you can attend sponsored by various saddle clubs across the U.S. They will usually let the mules compete right along with the horses. Learning and having fun are again the key issues here.
