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 be a healthy and productive adult.
The subtleties in your attitude and approach, along with a solid knowledge base, can make all the difference in your training program. Whether your equine is a foal or an older animal that you have just obtained, whether he is trained or untrained, the process is the same and it’s never too late to get started with the right kinds of expectations in mind. You are creating a bond, developing the foundation for a healthy friendship, and setting the ground rules that will dictate the positive extent of your continuing relationship with your animal. It is important to be an active participant in your animal’s training. After all, you wouldn’t have someone else make a friend for you. You’d do it yourself—one-on-one.
Feeding – What you feed your equine and how well his health is maintained will determine how responsive he will be to training. Although some popular feeds may build body mass more rapidly and may seem to be promoting healthy physical development, these high-protein feeds can also have negative effects, especially on Longears. Often, with high-protein feeds, an equine’s physical growth is accelerated and becomes disproportionate to his normal growth on simple equine feed like oats and grass hay. His mental growth may also be adversely affected with high-protein feeds, as they can cause anxiety and limited attentiveness. If the animal is feeling anxious or inattentive, or if parts of his body become sore from unnatural growth spurts or inappropriate exercise, he may be less likely to perform in an enthusiastic and energetic way.
I have found that equines do best on a mixture of crimped oats (1-2 lbs. for the average-sized saddle equine) mixed with a vitamin concentrate such as Sho-Glo (1 oz.), and Mazola corn oil (1 oz.) for hooves and coat, and for digestive tract regularity. Draft animals would get twice as much and minis get ¼ to ½ as much. This once-a-day oats mix regimen should be fed in the evenings and supplemented with grass hay twice a day, with the amount of hay being increased or decreased to monitor desired weight gain or loss. As a reward for positive responses in training, your animal should get the additional crimped oats so he will get immediate energy when he needs it the most, during the training process. Crimped oats, unlike any other equine reward, is also something that the animal will continue to work for without tiring of it.
Apples, carrots, horse treats and the like are things on which they can get sated and are not necessarily good for your equine in excess. Some of these “treats” can even have the same effect that candy has on children. An animal may experience residual affects such as an upset digestive tract, a short attention span or even hypertension, all of which can have a negative affect on training. Feeding the same way, and at the same times each day, is not only healthy, but it fosters confidence and trust within your animal because it makes him feel good. He learns without question that he can depend on you for his welfare and that his efforts will be rewarded with his favorite reward of crimped oats.
Consideration – Being patient, kind and considerate toward your equine and spending a little more time developing a good solid foundation with him before moving on to more elaborate maneuvers will yield better results. Remember to always be aware of your equine’s physical, mental and emotional responses during training. For instance, you may think that, once your mule is moving around the round pen at all three gaits with a reverse, he is ready to begin riding, but this may not necessarily be true. Considering that it takes years to really condition muscles to their maximum strength, six to eight months of doing round pen exercises is not really that long a period of time. If you don’t spend at least six months on flatwork leading training and six months on obstacle leading lessons to promote strength and balance in good posture, you can greatly hinder your equine’s ability to perform in the round pen on the circle. In turn, spending less than six to eight months in the round pen will not produce the best results in muscle development. If you move through conditioning too fast, it will affect your animal’s mental attitude toward training and he will very likely experience soreness and emotional depression. As a result, he will most likely become resistant to training.
Pay attention to how many laps your equine does in each direction and at each gait: how many reverses to the left, and then how many to the right. Take this opportunity to assess whether he will need a few more laps on the side that is weaker. If you make these things your priority, when you finally do start riding him, his straight lines will be straighter, his turns smoother and his reverses and stops more balanced, and with minimal effort. As your equine grows stronger and more mentally and physically confident, the upper-level movements will come faster and easier than did the basic foundation training, which is why it’s so important to take your time and be patient—especially during foundation training. Another way to show consideration for your animal is to investigate valuable therapeutic tools like equine massage and chiropractics.
Structured exercises – Even if you do not plan to show your equine, he must be strong enough to be able to perform easily, even on something as seemingly simple as trail riding. Different exercises build different muscle groups, so it is important to know what exercises you should begin with and which exercises should follow. Don’t let yourself get sucked into drilling on something that just isn’t working. If you run into problems and things aren’t working out properly, just go back and try something that is similar in its demand but simpler for you and/or your equine to execute. Sometimes, it is just a manner of approaching the problem differently or leaving it to another day. Like humans, equines have their own individual ways of learning and it’s up to you to figure out what works best with your particular equine on any given day. You can find my suggested approaches to this in my DVD series, Training Mules & Donkeysand Equus Revisited. Note: Don’t forget to reward your animal for positive behavior.
Body language and verbal communication – Learn to be consistent with your verbal commands and don’t leave them out. Most equines can learn to identify words and will usually respond much more readily to verbal commands than to cues alone, so give your equine this “verbal cue” advantage.
In the beginning, keep your words simple and consistent (“walk,” “trot,” “canter,” “reverse,” “whoa”). As your equine becomes more familiar with them, you can include additional words (“move over,” “go to the rail,” “easy,” and so forth). By the time he is an adult and has gone through this kind of training, he should begin to understand almost anything you might have to say. It is much like a child who first learns his ABCs, then words, then sentences and, eventually, entire paragraphs. Pay attention to yourself as you are training. How you feel affects your animal, which will dictate how he reacts to you. For instance, if you are a little nervous about being around your equine, he will sense this and may think there is a reason for him to be nervous, too. If you are happy, relaxed and patient about doing things, you will elicit a better response from your equine. Attitude is everything, so do whatever you need to do to keep the experience interesting and enjoyable for both of you.
Benefits of group lessons – Equines can learn from each other, so it can be beneficial to work them together. When you are working with foals, it is helpful to take “Mom” along or have her tied nearby during training sessions. Green animals often do better on the trails during the first year if they are ridden along with well-trained trail animals. If you have multiple animals to keep conditioned, you can even lunge them together, provided your work in the round pen has been consistent with each of them separately from the beginning. In driving training, the “group lesson” idea of hitching young animals with the “old pros” has been a common practice for many years. Speaking of “old pros,” it is to your advantage to find a local instructor/trainer with whom you can periodically take lessons. This gives you a way to check to make sure you stay on the right track and continue to improve your own skills. Lists of trainers and instructors can be obtained from the United States Equestrian Federation and from the American Donkey & Mule Society. In Part 2 of Keys to Successful Training, I’ll go into further detail regarding ground training as well as the actual physical training areas, and many of the other important components that contribute to a successful and rewarding training program.
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 and Twitter.
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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, seats and legs to elicit the desired response from our equines.
On bitless bridles, the reins are attached substantially higher than the corners of the equine’s mouth. When you pull on the reins attached higher on the equine’s jaw than where the bit would be (as illustrated in the photo), the angle of pull is sharper and more abrupt, since the head side of the “triangle” is so much shorter than the length of the neck. It will cause the equine to try to turn his head too sharply from the poll, which can cause kinks and pain in his neck.
Now try this action on yourself. Stand in good posture and, without extending your neck, turn your head to the side. Do you feel the tension at the brainstem on the back of your neck? Now, stand in good posture, stretch your neck in an upward and forward arc and then look around the turn. Can you now feel the release from tension in the back of your neck? Your equine experiences the same feelings. The shorter angle of the side-pulls and bitless bridles will have a more abrupt pull and can cause some pain, while the longer angle coming from the snaffle bit at the corners of his mouth will allow a smoother and painless response. NOTE: Any bit can be painful to an animal when in the hands of an inexperienced rider who uses only the bit for control.
When you take the time to train yourself to ride a balanced seat effectively and get in sync with your equine, you will be a much safer and happier rider, and your “finished” equine will be one that you can always depend on. If you like the novelty of bitless and/or brideless riding, using a snaffle bit instead of a bitless bridle during training will help you to achieve strength in correct posture to enhance bitless riding and even brideless riding so that it can be done safely around the farm and in controlled situations like event demonstrations. Properly and consistently training with the goal of clear lines of communication between you and your equine will make everything you ask of him much easier for him to do, and he will become a happy, reliable and willing partner in your mutually satisfying relationship.
Only after you have adequately completed lead line flatwork and obstacle training is your equine truly ready to move on to the round pen and begin lunging and learning to balance on a circle at the more active gaits. At this stage, he should be complying willingly, walking with the lead rope slung over his neck and with his head at your shoulder. By now, his core muscles should be properly conditioned and strong enough to support his skeletal system during more active use and more complicated movements. Note: The equine that has not had this prior lead line balance and good posture training will have difficulty in the round pen because he has not learned to stay erect and bend his body through the rib cage when on arcs and circles.
Before your equine learns to balance with a rider, he must first build muscle so he can sustain his own balance on the circle before carrying a rider. This is also true if you want your animal to learn to lunge on a lunge line. An equine that has not had enough time in the round pen establishing strength, coordination and balance on the circle will have difficulty on the lunge line, because even the slightest pressure on the line will pull him off-balance. Loss of balance will cause stress and even panic in your equine, which can result in him pulling the lunge line right out of your hands and running off. This is not disobedience but rather, fear caused by a loss of balance so do not punish him for this reaction. The animal that has had strength built on the circle before lunging and riding will not exhibit these undesirable behaviors, which are often misinterpreted as disobedience.
I have found that, in most cases, the larger the animal, the more docile the personality, which seems to be a general rule of thumb. I have also learned that, if a donkey or mule has a tendency to bolt and run, it’s because they don’t necessarily agree with what you are trying to do or how you are trying to do it. Even though horses usually comply fairly easily, it is important to remember that any disobedience on the part of any equine is ALWAYS the handler’s fault. Regardless of the personality type of an equine, he will always have an honest response to any stimulus. If you ask in the right way, you will get the desired response.
When ground driving, you should not worry about the whip while in the round pen, as the walls will help guide your animal in maintaining the correct position. What you really need to do is keep even contact on both lines (reins) when going in a straight line (or, when in the round pen, on the circle). To get your equine to begin stepping laterally, slightly tighten the outside driveline while maintaining contact on the inside driveline, so that he cannot complete the turn. Stay directly behind his haunches and urge him forward. This will cause him to begin to step sideways, with his face to the wall. Take only a couple of steps this way, and then slowly straighten him out again—you can build-in more lateral steps as he begins to understand what you want. Be sure to reward him with crimped oats every time you halt.
If an animal is trained with sequential, resistance-free training techniques and is given adequate time on groundwork training (a minimum of one year on the lead line and a second year on lunging and ground driving), he will warm up to other people more easily and will be more “sensible” than those animals that are not trained this way. Each new owner should take the time to review these techniques with newly acquired equines, just to create their own personal relationship with that animal and dispel the negativity of any prior relationships the animal might have had. Spending time doing simple basic groundwork training before actually riding allows your relationship with your equine to develop in a safe and healthy way. It will teach both you (the handler) and your equine how to communicate clearly and effectively. The exercises described in this article will condition your equine’s body so he can more easily carry a rider (whether the rider is balanced or not), and help your equine to be more capable of executing whatever demands the future may hold.
The Tarp: The Tarp will dramatically affect your equine’s balance and coordination. Its uneven surface and the noise it makes when stepped on will typically put your equine off-balance and may cause him to veer from side to side as he crosses it. You can use the same “Stage One Obstacle” approach, as described in Part 2 of this article, to change his fear into curiosity. Again, as you did with the bridge, break this exercise down into small steps; stopping at the edge of the tarp, stopping with the front feet on the tarp, then all fours, then fronts off and hinds on, and then finally walking off the tarp to a complete halt and squaring up. Just learning to get through the obstacle will diminish your equine’s fear and replace it with curiosity and confidence. Then assume the showmanship position and do all obstacles again with Stage Two strength and balance, and with good posture in mind for both of you. You will know that your equine is ready to move on to the next stage of training in the round pen when you can toss the lead rope over his neck and he will negotiate all obstacles correctly, keeping his head at your shoulder and is showing no visible signs of a loss of balance, or any inability to obey your commands. He will then be placing his feet so that his balance is evenly distributed over all four feet and his foot placement is coordinated and deliberate. At this point, the obstacles in general should be an effortless task.
their confidence in the handler. When we begin leading training, the equine is introduced to all kinds of obstacles. In Stage One of obstacle training, we first approach the obstacle and encourage them to investigate, changing their fear into curiosity and instilling confidence in them and in their handler. When they are compliant, they are rewarded with crimped oats and praised for being so brave. By the time they have learned to confidently negotiate other obstacles, the trailer is no longer a threat to them. They will most often just follow you right in, knowing (since they have never been trapped into complying) that there is a crimped oats reward waiting for them. For those animals that are still hesitant about the trailer and just won’t follow, we use a second method that restricts backward movement and this is explained in detail 
Jumps: Jumps are a good exercise to do on the lead line, but you must be careful not to over-jump your animal in the beginning. Because they are large, they must have great strength in the hindquarters to boost their heavy bodies over a jump, and if they are not strong enough, they can easily pull a muscle or worse. Jumping should be done only after all other obstacles have been thoroughly mastered. In Stage One, approach the jump the same way you would any other obstacle, building confidence and trust. Then use Stage Two to finesse your equine’s movements. Mules have the ability to jump from a standstill, so you can still use the stop, square up, wait for the command to jump, jump, stop and square up again on the other side. This ability allows you to maintain control of your mule when on the ground with the lead line or in the drivelines. If you are training a horse or a donkey, use a longer lead rope, so after squaring up about four feet in front of the jump, he can get a trotting start to the jump. Whatever equine you are training, be sure to keep the jumps very low in the beginning.
The Back Through “L”: The Back Through “L” will fine-tune your equine’s response to “Whoa,” and he will learn to allow you to adjust the different quarters of his body and move each of them independently. First, walk forward through the obstacle, then stop at the end and turn around to face backward. Then, slowly and steadily, back through the entire obstacle. Once he has gotten this down fairly well, you can then go back to the beginning, and back one step (but only one!). Then proceed forward to the middle of the first straightaway, stop, back up two steps and square up. Go forward again to the angled rails where they begin the turn, halt, and then move his front feet one or two steps sideways with gentle pulls on your lead line at the halter, into the middle of the second straightaway, and halt. Then ask for one or two steps forward into the second straightaway and halt. His back feet will be cutting the corner into the 90-degree turn, so after he halts, tap him lightly on the hip with the end of your lead rope to move the hindquarters over one or two steps to straighten him into the center of the second straightaway, halt and square up again. Finish the obstacle by walking to the end of the straightaway, halt and square up again. Now do the same series of steps in reverse. This exercise teaches him to maintain his focus and balance throughout the obstacle and to learn to wait for you to move his front and rear quarters into any position required, taking only as many steps as you request. This will improve his negotiation of forward and backward movement, as well as beginning to strengthen the hard-to-condition inside forearm, gaskin and stifle muscles.
tire. After he is comfortable walking through it, break it down into smaller steps in Stage Two: stop before the tire, then one foot in the tire, then two front feet in the tire, then allow the front feet out and the back feet in and then exit.
before attempting to do the “T.” The “T” is a great way to fine-tune truly sideways lateral motion, where both front and back feet are crossing over diagonally and simultaneously in a balanced fashion, moving the equine laterally to the right and to the left as he negotiates the three different rails in the obstacle. In the same obstacle, you will be breaking the simultaneous motion into a turn on the forehand and a turn on the haunches in the middle of the obstacle, in order to make the turns into the next lateral motion down the next rail. This obstacle uses all the elements that have been taught in previous obstacles. It also lays the groundwork for perfect communication between you and your equine. In order to correctly execute this obstacle, he must pay attention to you at every step.
lead line, keep in mind that you are not only teaching your equine to negotiate an obstacle, you are also conditioning the muscles (especially the ones that are closest to the bones) while, at the same time, teaching balance, coordination and self control. In showmanship training, you focused on strength and balance on the flat ground. While working with obstacles on the lead line, you will now begin to add coordination during this second phase of obstacle training. Remember: Do not put obstacles in your equine’s stable area and/or living quarters, in an attempt to make him “live” with the obstacle. This only serves to create insensitivity and in some cases, cause greater fear. The stable area should always be your animal’s resting place, just as our bedrooms are for us—a place of rest, relaxation and privacy.
When your equine is more willing to come through the obstacle, you can regain your showmanship position, with your left hand carrying the lead line and your right arm extended in front of you, pointing toward the direction in which you will be going. When he is finally listening and will follow at your shoulder over or through the obstacle and stop or back up at any point during the negotiation of the obstacle, you can then turn your attention to whether he is actually traveling forward and backing up in a straight line, and whether or not he is stopping squarely. Do this the same way first on the lead line, then much later in the drivelines and, lastly, under saddle. How he negotiates the obstacles will have a direct bearing on how his muscles are being conditioned and how his balance and coordination are being affected so don’t be afraid to ask for more precision going forward.
Ground Rails and Cavalletti: Four ground rails and four cavalletti are good tools for straight, forward exercises that will promote stretching of the body in true and correct forward motion. These exercises will also develop rhythm, balance, cadence and suspension within the gaits, first on the lead line, and then later during ground driving and under saddle. Ground rails and cavalletti are also great for enhancing your ability to stay in stride with your animal. You should first do the exercises over the ground rails. Then, for jumping training, you can graduate to the 6″ cavalletti setting, then the 12″ cavalletti setting and, finally, the 18″ cavalletti setting. Your equine will learn to suspend and place his feet in a balanced and deliberate fashion while you learn to do the same. Getting in rhythm with your animal’s stride will improve your equine training experience and make things a lot easier and safer.
stop at the base, square up your equine and stand for a few seconds. Then ask him to put his two front feet on the bridge, square up and, again, stand for a few seconds. Next, ask him to put all four feet on the middle of the bridge, square up and stand still for a few seconds. Now ask him to take his two front feet off the bridge and leave the two back feet on it and square up again. Most equines can do the first few positions pretty easily, but when the front feet go off the bridge, the equine’s balance is often thrown forward and they find it very difficult to stop in this position. If he is able to sustain this position for several seconds before you give the command to continue forward, he has completed the bridge work.
Many times I have been asked, “Is training a mule any different than training horses?”
important to spend months instead of merely weeks on leading training. Since an equine’s bones are only cartilage and not hardened until approximately three years old, he should be at least three years of age before a rider is introduced.
When you ask for a halt, stop with your feet balanced, your weight distributed equally over both legs and still facing forward. Give your equine a second or two to settle and then turn to face his shoulder. If his legs are already square, you can then give the crimped oats reward for stopping. If they are not square, take a moment to square up his legs and then give the reward. Praise him for standing quietly for a few seconds and allow him to settle. You can then face forward again, point in the direction of travel, give the command to “Walk on” and walk a few more steps before halting again. Add more steps each time before halting. Whenever you practice turning, always turn the equine away from you—never into you. To insure optimum balance, practice leading him through these exercises from BOTH sides.
When executing a turn to the right, assume your leading position and then point in the direction of travel, asking your equine to take one step forward with the right front foot then cross the left front foot over the right to make the turn. Your own legs should execute the turn in sync with your equine’s front legs, giving him a good example to follow. Although you will rarely have an occasion to actually lead from the right side, be sure to practice from both sides to insure symmetrical muscle development. Dispense rewards, but only after he has completed what you have requested.
Once he has learned to follow and to do the “moves,” you then need to help him fine-tune these moves, making them as steady, balanced and coordinated as possible. He should learn to walk, trot and back up in straight lines, to stop squarely and to execute smooth, properly arched turns. Remember that your equine will follow your lead, so always pay close attention to your good own posture and “way of going.” Equines and humans have corresponding body parts, so if you are stiff or off-balance in any part of your body, your animal will exhibit the same problem in his body.
Maintain your own balance and rhythm, and ease into transitions from walk to trot and trot to walk smoothly and in rhythm and cadence—and so will your equine. Ask him to stand squarely each and every time he stops. Set up his back feet first by pushing on the lead rope with your hand directly under his chin in a diagonal motion toward the back foot that is forward. Push and release (in a diagonal motion only) the lead rope toward the forward foot as much as it takes to move it into line with the other back foot. Once the back feet are in line, set his front feet by pulling and releasing gently forward (again, in a diagonal motion only) to align the front legs.
As your equine gains strength, you will notice that he now carries his body differently. He is more balanced, solid and steady, and is able to stop squarely at every “whoa,” regardless of the gait. As he frolics in the field, notice the dramatic change in his play patterns. He will be much less awkward.
The same holds true with any athlete. No animal can perform at their highest level and remain healthy without building up the body correctly over a significant period of time. Forcing and moving too fast through training levels does not allow healthy athletic conditioning to take place. This conditioning art is becoming lost in the economic world of today, as equines are no longer used for necessity. They have become a hobby or a sport in more developed countries, and are an economic necessity only in Third World countries that are not equipped to provide the extensive care that a healthy equine demands.
Owners can expect to spend thousands of dollars in a year for no more than a pleasure-riding equine, and the cost increases with the status of activities. The cost of supporting an equine provides economic success to a multitude of businesses, such as feed, tack and equipment, truck and trailer sales, drug companies, motels, gas stations, county fairgrounds, breed registrars, brand inspectors, clothing stores, veterinarians, farriers, and the list goes on.
Breeding for bigger, better and faster equines has given people the false idea that these horses perform almost solely from their heredity. This has changed how they are being trained and judged. Today, many equine competitions are no longer judged by an expert who knows the definition of correct movement. We are inundated with terminology from the masters that is most often misunderstood and distorted.
People also believe that an equine is “on the bit” if he arcs the head and neck and “flexes” at the poll, when this actually means that the equine has taken contact with the bit and can feel the hands of the rider through the reins and responds lightly and obediently whether his head and neck are arched or not. “Vertical flexion” is the result of correct “collection,” where the equine is flexible from head to tail with the hindquarters properly engaged. It is not the act of bringing the equine’s chin to his chest. “Lateral flexion” is when the equine bends his body, including his rib cage, to the arc of a circle, and is not just bending his head and neck to your knee.
Only after he is able to sustain his own balance on the circle through all three gaits (walk, trot, canter)— stop, back and reverse— and has been ground driven long enough to submit to the bit through these same movements, should he be mounted and asked to carry a rider. Even lunging on a lunge line should first be taught in the round pen, so when you do take him in the open, he knows how to balance himself and can physically balance on the circle without tugging on the lunge line at all. The equine that has had the benefit of this core training will be safer on the trail and flawless at the shows. If you take the time to develop your equine properly—during all of these seemingly boring tasks—you might very well discover a healthier and happier you!
When you take the time to feed, care for and train your equine as he should be trained as an athlete, his personality will begin to emerge. You will be surprised at the relationship you will have with him and the wondrous sensations you can feel when you are in real harmony with him. You will no longer be an observer but, rather, a friend and a partner in performance and in life. You will have laid the foundation for your personality and the personality of your equine to grow in the most positive way and meld with each other. The conversations you now have with your equine become a two-way street that will continue to inspire for all time, and will produce a “high” like no other!
In Part 1 of this article, you learned how to begin your relationship with your miniature equine in a positive and natural way, and how “getting down” to their eye level so they can make eye contact with you discourages striking, jumping on you and other bad behaviors that are common when working with miniature equines. Be sure you have successfully completed the lessons in Part 1 before moving on to the lessons in Part 2 or training may not yield the desired positive results. Also, if possible, it is best to work minis in groups if they are used to being with other equines, as they perform better when they are with their “friends” and it doesn’t hurt to train their friends in the same way.
in Part 1), but this time you will be in the work station and you will have a guest…the farrier. Before the farrier attempts to pick up the first foot, ask him to sit down beside your mini in front of the shoulder on the left side and offer a handful of oats as a way of introducing himself. Next, while you sit at your mini’s head and offer the oats reward for good behavior, have the farrier begin with the near side (left) front foot and work his way around from front to back, and then from back to front on the other side (right). While the farrier is working, talk calmly and encouragingly to your mini, and as long as he is doing what is asked of him, offer rewards generously. He should yield his feet easily, but if he does not don’t offer the reward until he complies.
Don’t shove your mini when you want him to move over. Rather, give him some oats and use your index finger to tap or poke him on the side of his ribcage. If he doesn’t move over, use your whole hand to give him a slight push, always using a “push and release” movement, which is non-confrontational. You don’t want to keep steadily pushing up against him, because as soon as you give him anything to push against, he will and you could find yourself in a pushing match or, worse, a confrontation with him. As soon as he complies and moves, give him the oats reward and slide your body in next to him to help hold him in position for the farrier as he works with each foot. Don’t be afraid and always stay on the same side as the farrier. If the mini decides to make an abrupt move, he will try to slide around you because equines really don’t like stepping on, or running over, soft, squishy things like our bodies, so if your mini can get out of your way, he will. Even if he was to jump up in the air, he would more than likely jump over or around you, taking the path of least resistance. Trust your mini, stay calm and avoid becoming tense or exhibiting fear and things should go smoothly.
This approach becomes particularly important when negotiating something like a dock or a bridge where you are not only dealing with an obstacle, but an obstacle that makes you substantially taller than you already appear to your mini. This is another instance when you can “get down” on your mini’s eye level the way you did in the pen and at the work station. Remember to do things in small steps. When you walk onto the surface of the dock or bridge or any other large, flat surface, leave enough room for your mini to come up. When you get to the end of the lead rope, take up the slack and then sit down and offer the reward. Then, once your mini has negotiated the obstacle, give him the oats reward and just have another picnic. If a companion equine is accompanying you, be sure to tie the companion animal in front of the obstacle so your mini can always see him. If you tie him behind, your mini will worry and want to go back instead of forward.
When you are ready to step down off the dock or bridge, it would be unsafe to be lower than your mini, so at this point you should stand up, go to the end of the obstacle and ask him to come forward off the raised obstacle, making sure he has plenty of room to come off the obstacle without you having to move. Stand quietly and keep the lead rope taut as you verbally encourage him and invite him to come down off the bridge. As soon as he jumps down, ask for a halt and reward him for jumping down and stopping right in front of you. (He will learn to negotiate the obstacle more slowly with practice.) Once he has finished negotiating the obstacle and halted and is chewing on his reward, you can then proceed to the next obstacle. Having definite, purposeful and timely pauses will help alleviate anxiety and resistance in your mini.
longer he must go without making eye contact with you, the greater the chance of resistance, but eye contact on his level will give him confidence in your judgment and will help to facilitate a real bond between you. If negotiating an obstacle such as a tractor tire or six tires, just extend the lead rope over the tire or tires, sit on that side, keep the rope taut and proceed as you did with the bridge obstacle.
I call this technique “OATS.” (Observe, Approach, Touch and Sigh). It allows your mini time to observe each situation, then approach and touch the obstacle, finally giving a sigh as a signal that he is relaxed and not afraid. Always reward him for his efforts so he can begin to gain confidence and trust in you. By following the OATS technique you are turning your mini’s fear into curiosity, which will serve to keep him calm in future situations.
Miniature horses, donkeys and mules all have one thing in common; everyone else is taller than they are! That makes eye contact with the trainer very difficult if not impossible for them. As the saying goes, the eyes are the window to the soul so it is understandable that they would become anxious if they are unable to look into a person’s eyes to decide whether they are friend or foe. I have five miniature equines: a mini horse named Mirage, a mini mule named Franklin, a mini molly mule named Francis, and two mini donkeys named Augie and Spuds. To help them all succeed and thrive, I’ve structured my training program for them based on the same one I use for all of my other equines, with one important modification. With safety always as my first priority, I work with my minis from a lower position whenever it’s safe to do so. That way, I can make eye contact with them, and I make certain they are always lavishly rewarded with an oats reward for their compliance. The results have been amazing! I’ve received total cooperation from them almost all of the time.
None of my minis were born at my ranch, so I knew that they would each first need to explore their surroundings a little at a time, and would also need ample time to get used to my staff and me. Mirage, the miniature horse, was my first mini. It wasn’t long after I acquired him that I acquired Franklin, the mini mule, who quickly became Mirage’s buddy. Since both Mirage and Franklin had previous training and because minis seem to accept training more willingly when done with a partner, we did all of Mirage’s and Franklin’s groundwork lessons together and, true to form, they learned very quickly because they were allowed to be together.
I think it is critically important that all equines have a space they can call their own—their personal oasis of comfort and privacy—so when I got my mini donkeys, Augie and Spuds, I decided that the first thing they would learn about was their living quarters or, as I like to call it, their “bedroom.”
When your mini is comfortable with you coming into his pen and interacting with him, the next step is to ask him to go into a bigger turnout area, where you should repeat the same simple lessons. Now that your mini can be loose in a larger space, ask him to come to join you for another picnic. After a few times, bring a hairbrush with you (It’s the most efficient brush to use on donkey hair).
A halter doesn’t even come into play until after grooming in the pen is easily achieved and your mini will follow you to and from the pen without the halter. When it is time to introduce the halter, bring it with you into the pen for your picnic. Do the brushing and then show your mini the halter while you sit on the ground. When he sniffs the halter, he should be rewarded. Once he is unafraid of the halter, hold it on both sides of the noseband, feed your mini some oats, and then gently push the noseband of the halter over his nose and then take it off, rewarding him again. At this point you’ve got all kinds of oats in your lap and your mini’s got his head down, eating the oats, so when you put the noseband on again, just reach over his neck, grab the strap of his halter on the other side, bring it behind his ears and fasten it. If done correctly, this should not bother him. Then reward him with more oats, pet him as he complies and say, “Oh, how good is that?!” You can then take the halter off again and end the first lesson there.
Once your mini is used to having his halter put on, let him graze while supervised in a larger pasture area with his halter on while he drags the lead rope behind him. When you want him to walk away from you, simply stand up and let him go off on his own. After a few minutes, approach him again, grab the end of his lead rope and sit down again. You can give a little tug, say his name and ask him to “Come.” He should come easily when you gently tug on his lead rope. This action makes him look at you and think, “Oh, my human is sitting down again, so I’m going to come over and get more oats!” As he comes toward you, take up the slack on his approach. Once he comes to you easily, you can stand up and ask him to come while you’re standing up and reward him for it. And that’s how to teach a mini to follow you.
Breaking things down into little do-able steps seems like a long process in the beginning, but as your mini begins to understand the reasoning behind your approach, his reactions to tasks will become calmer, more automatic and more natural for him. When you allow your mini to learn to follow your lead without the halter in the beginning of each task, learning to follow you on the lead rope will be a lot easier for him, and when you finally move on to more specific tasks in training, he will oblige you much more willingly. In Part 2 of “Getting Down With Minis,” I will cover how to approach the tasks necessary for formal training.
Splint boots and leg wraps vary as much as their uses. The easiest and most obvious use of a leg wrap comes when traveling with your equine. If you are taking your animal any real distance, it is always advisable to use full cover, padded shipping boots on all four legs. The shipping wraps help prevent your animal from injuring himself due to his own movements, on objects inside the trailer or because of other animals that are traveling with him.
You can also use quilted cotton pads and leg wraps, but they are primarily for use while your animal is stalled, in order to prevent cuts and abrasions at shows and events. Polo wraps (a soft pliable cotton wrap with no quilted pads) are also used for support during training. These types of wraps generally cover only the cannon bones and not the fetlocks and pasterns. If you do use Polo wraps or quilted cotton pads and wraps, learn to wrap them correctly to avoid pressure points that could cause problems. Consult with a professional to learn the proper wrapping technique.
Since, in beginning training, the goal is to condition your animal’s muscles and tendons, “light support” splint boots are a good thing to have on-hand. At this early stage, if a boot gives too much support, the animal does not necessarily develop correctly and the areas under the boots can become weak. Muscles and tendons above and below the boot will gain too much strength and cause possible knotting of the muscles, compromising the function of that entire leg due to uneven conditioning.
Although the hooves look tough, they, too, can be adversely affected, particularly in gymkhana events and jumping. This is why “bell boots” may be needed for hoof and coronet band protection. The coronet is a very sensitive area and can cause severe lameness if damaged even by a small, seemingly insignificant, cut or bump. If a hoof is unusually dry, severe cracks can occur, and so it is also advisable to routinely use a hoof dressing in addition to the bell boots, in order to make sure a trauma to the hoof will not cause cracking.
