“The passion that Meredith Hodges feels for the equines that she has fought for all her adult life is still as fresh, inspiring and infectious as it was when she first discovered the world of horses, donkeys and mules. She has never wavered in her devotion to them and in her mission to carve a lasting and honored place for them in our world. They are lucky to have her as their champion, but Meredith actually sees it a bit differently. She feels honored and privileged to be a part of their world.”
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Ground Breaking - Raising the Barn
Hearts and Horses broke ground on a new arena where they will continue to change lives through therapeutic riding. The new arena will be called Lucky Hearts, as much of the funding for the arena was given by Lucky Three Ranch.
Hearts & Horses Virtual Tour
Haven’t made it out to the Hearts & Horses ranch yet? Here’s your chance, thanks to our brand new virtual tour! Discover all of the state-of-the-art facilities designed to heal minds, bodies, and spirits at our 23-acre ranch in Loveland, Colorado.
Latest Podcast
MULE TALK! PODCAST: Rock and Roll: Diary of a Rescue: Part 2
Rock and Roll: Diary of a Rescue: Part 2 –
- Hear the amazing story of Rock and Roll – the rescued draft mule team, the discovery of their injuries, and the dedicated team of professionals working hard to give longevity to their lives. There were comebacks and setbacks; this incredible story will touch your heart and soul.
- This episode explains in detail about Roll since the passing of his half-brother, Rock. They spent many years together hitched and pulling a wagon.
Learn more on Mule Talk podcast.
All Posts
MULE CROSSING: Correct Saddle Placement & Related Issues
By Meredith Hodges My equines taught me that in order to make an educated decision about which tack and equipment to use, one needs to take into account the anatomy of the equine and the effect it will have on his body movement during different activities. Good conformation is important in allowing the equine to perform to the best of his ability, but so is developing core strength elements (muscles, ligaments, tendons, soft tissue and cartilage) such that the skeleton is ideally symmetrically supported. The equine’s body can then move ...
MULE CROSSING: Winter Fun with Your Equine
By Meredith Hodges After Spring, Summer and Fall come and go, the cold days of Winter can easily become an excuse to slow down and do less, but Winter can be just as fun and full of activities with your equine as any other season. Along with the basics—food, water and shelter—your equine needs activities to keep him fit and happy. Like any of us, he doesn’t want to be active only part of the year and then left alone during the Winter months, bored and lonely (not to mention ...
MULE CROSSING: Fitting Tack Equipment
By Meredith Hodges Whether riding or driving, the comfort and fit of your tack and equipment is an important consideration if you wish to get the best performance from your equine. Any piece of equipment that does not correctly fit your equine can cause less than optimum performance. Consider, for instance, the bridle, which is such an important communication device. Do not select a harsh bit for control. Control comes from logical and sequential practices during training and not from force. The bit should be comfortable and be fitted correctly ...
MULE CROSSING: The Round Pen
By Meredith Hodges The Round Pen originated as a useful training aid for Western trainers who were trying to “break” the wild mustangs that were brought in off the range.
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- There has been spirited debate between English and Western trainers as to the real value of the Round Pen as a training aid, since it can produce undue stress on the fragile joints of the equine-in-training.
- Do not BEGIN training your equine in the Round Pen, because an unbalanced and inexperienced equine in uncontrolled flight, in ...
MULE CROSSING: Making History with Mules, Part 3
By Meredith Hodges There was a time before the industrial age when one-third of all fifteen million mules on earth were being utilized by the United States. Mules worked in the fields, carried our packs, pulled heavy barges on the canals, plodded through darkness in the mines, guided supply wagons and streetcars about the cities, carried tourists to exotic places like the Grand Canyon and transported army supplies and light artillery for the government. And to help with all the back-breaking labor he faced, man’s invention of the hybrid mule ...
MULE CROSSING: Making History with Mules, Part 2
By Meredith Hodges As we track mules through history, we find there is a reoccurring theme that paints the mule as both a companion and adversary of man. Those of a certain temperament seem to be able to befriend the mule and those who would be combative suffer at his mercy. Man would rather blame stubbornness on the mule than to claim this stubbornness as his own. Clearly, there is no doubt that the mule is and always has been a hard-working and valuable beast of burden throughout history. His ...
MULE CROSSING: Making History with Mules Part 1
By Meredith Hodges Many people ask me when the first mules appeared on this earth. Historically, mules have their roots in the Bible. Contrary to the popular belief that mules are so lowly and stubborn that they would have to be the mount of serfs, they were—in the beginning—the mount of kings! “So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down and caused Solomon to ride upon king David’s mule, and brought him to Gihon.” (I Kings ...
Equines of a Certain Age
Lucky Three Ranch knows a thing or two about elderly equines—miniature mule Lucky Three Franklin just celebrated his 40th birthday on April 1, and we've been happy to celebrate many of our other equines through their 20s and 30s. That's why we're very happy to acknowledge Tootsie, a resident of the wonderful Donkey Sanctuary in Ireland, who is an incredible 54 years old—making him one of the oldest mules ever. The Donkey Sanctuary rescued Tootsie in 1992, and he is part of their "Super Grannies" group of equines that are all over 30 years ...
MULE CROSSING: Longears Loving Impact
By Meredith Hodges “Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just and having salvation; lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” - Zechariah 9:9 These words have been an inspiration to all who have heard them since the time they were written—to those of us who love Longears, the words carry the message of a lifetime and the secrets of a dream. Not only did the Lord Jesus ride into Jerusalem on the back of an ass, but ...
MULE CROSSING: Living with Longears
By Meredith Hodges In the beginning, my home, Lucky Three Ranch was a 10-acre sheep ranch with a small house and hay barn, an old Quonset hut, a feed barn, four three-sided sheds, and a perimeter fence made from sheep fencing with barbed wire on top. It was crossed-fenced around the sheds with some heavily chewed board fences and anything else the previous owner thought could be used for fencing. I’d already had experience with horses, but it wasn’t until my first mule, Lucky Three Sundowner and my first donkey jack, ...
MULE CROSSING: Hoof Differences in Horses, Donkeys and Mules
By Meredith Hodges The old saying, “No foot, no mule” is literally true, as it is in any nomadic animal. If the hooves are not trimmed and balanced properly, it will offset the balance of the equine’s entire body and can compromise longevity in the animal because his entire internal structure will be compromised. Most equines will need to be trimmed or shod every 6-8 weeks whether horse, mule or donkey. Horse’s hooves in general are proportionately larger, rounder and more angled than that of the donkey or mule. The ...
MULE CROSSING: Keys To Successful Training, Part 1: Attitude and Approach
By Meredith Hodges Establishing a bond - Are you having problems getting the same response from your equine that trainers do? This two-part article is designed to help you learn to successfully train your own equine. Training isn’t just a way to teach your equine to do certain “movements,” but a way for you to help him to grow physically and mentally healthy, and to enable him to learn to cope with the demands that will be put on him during his lifetime—much like raising a child to grow up to ...
MULE CROSSING: A Bit About Communication with Your Equine
By Meredith Hodges Over the past few decades, through trial and error, we equine owners and trainers have discovered that, when communicating with our equines, harsh bits are not really necessary. Rather, it is safer and more beneficial to use milder tack and equipment, to concentrate on learning correct body language and to give clear cues with our hands, seat and legs to elicit the desired response from our equines. Nowadays, at the beginning of training, more and more riders are learning to ride “by the seat of their pants;” ...
MULE TALK! PODCAST: Good Basic Training Includes Common Sense
Good Basic Training - with Common Sense
- Improve your communication by learning and speaking the equine's language.
- Learn what type of touch and caress feels good to him.
- Develop better and kinder training techniques to enable your mule to perform better.
- Using kinder training techniques along with showing leadership to your mule will re-enforce the bond between you.
- Make your verbal communication and body language clear to your mule and donkey.
- Excessive and forceful training techniques used on the mule and donkey, simply don't work. This creates trust issues ...
MULE CROSSING: Equine Behavior: Look Who’s Talking! Part 1
By Meredith Hodges What kind of equine handler are you? When interacting with your Longears or any equine, are you an observer or a participant? Are you fully aware of the reasons for your equine’s behaviors? Behavior in general is most often motivated by a stimulus that elicits a response, yet the early years of physiological development are most dependent on heredity. Heredity includes not only physical characteristics, but mental, emotional and instinctual behaviors as well. We are taught that if an equine’s knees are beginning to fuse, he is ...
Breeding
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Donkey Training
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Farewells
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General Interest
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Hearts & Horses
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Historical
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Interviews
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Jasper
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Longears People News
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Longears Videos
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Lucky Three Ranch
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Military Mules
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Mule Talk! Podcasts
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Pack Burro Racing
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Showing
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Statues & Exhibits
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Training
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Training Tips
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