United States Equestrian Federation

May 17 2024

MULE CROSSING: Assets of the Mule in Equestrian Sport 2010

Kyle Davidson Mule Crossing American Horse Show Association, Equestrian Sport 2010, Meredith Hodges, Mule Crossing, United States Dressage Federation, United States Equestrian Federation, United States Eventing Association 0

The following is a list of points that I used in my pursuit for “Mule” acceptance into the national equestrian organizations such as the American Horse Show Association, The United States Dressage Federation, the United States Eventing Association and ultimately the United States Equestrian Federation (A.H.S.A. replacement).

The mission of the U.S.E.A. as in Article 2 of the constitution in “Vision” and “Mission” vows to promote the pursuit of excellence in equestrian sport from grass roots to the Olympics. I am a life member.
The mule is half horse and therefore his rider is an equestrian.
Because of his “peculiar” disposition, he demands the respect and cooperation from his handler that is also in pursuit of excellence. He is not likely to put up with a disrespectful rider and therefore demands excellence.
Dressage has 100’s of years of successful training and is taken well by mules because of its positive attention to all aspects of the equine’s well being and development. It makes sense to the mule that is an animal that is sensitive with a strong sense of self preservation. It is the right way to develop an athlete. When conditioning for other types of equine sport, Dressage is still the base from which one should work. Any other way would be considered a short cut and could result in a shortened life span, injury or death!
I began lessons with Melinda Weatherford in Colorado in Dressage with my mules and began to see phenomenal results.
Once we had achieved some level of competence (Training Level), I was able to ride with some of the best riders and most influential people in the equestrian world:
Major Anders Lindgren helped my now 4^th level mule, Lucky Three Sundowner begin true forward motion in his lateral exercises.
Denny Emerson, Jim Graham and Bruce Davidson helped refine our techniques for the 3-day horse trials.
In 1986, we approached the U.S.D.F. and were accepted in non-AHSA sanctioned shows.
We continued to improve and score high in Dressage tests to 3^rd Level and were schooling at 4^thLevel, at which time we approached our own World competition at Bishop Mule Days and in 1992, Dressage classes were included in our world show. There is continued interest and growth in these classes.
It was because of the help of individuals like Major Anders Lindgren, Denny Emerson, Jim Graham, Bruce Davidson and others like them who have helped us achieve levels of Horsemanship never before achieved by anyone with mules and we have subsequently inspired those who follow to pursue these venues of Horsemanship.
Those that helped have truly done what your constitution (U.S.E.A.) implies and now there are more than 6 million mules in United States. Many of their owners are in pursuit of these same levels of Horsemanship. I was fortunate that those in my area were more than happy to open their shows to my mules and me. There are other areas that haven’t been as cooperative.
The struggles that have arisen from this issue are largely coming from those who are yet naïve on the finer points of Horsemanship. Those who don’t want to compete with mules because they scare the horses, simply have not the trust from their animals to learn to investigate first. This is not anything that cannot be improved by improving their own skills in dealing with their horses.
Mule people’s naivety shows when they approach this issue with the idea that a mule is better than a horse. Dressage teaches you to learn to do your best with your animal and the ones you should be competing against is simply yourself! When your scores improve, you are doing well. When you have a low score on any given day, you learn one day does not a whole life make and we hope for a better score next time. Everyone can’t always have good days.
The equine industry only represents about 1% of the population. We should not be arguing amongst ourselves. Rather, we should try to recruit more interest in our industry for the success of the industry itself. Mules can bring in more numbers of participants in these kinds of activities.
Mules can actually promote more interest from the public because they are not expected to be there. Thus, they can help to sell more tickets top events.
Some of our future Olympic riders could be mule riders with exceptional ability. The mules would insist on the best from their riders to get to this level much beyond what a horse demands from his rider.
There is increased interest in 4-H club children who wish to use mules as their projects. They add humor to the equation and make them more fun to be around in a lot of instances thus promoting staying power. Children are less likely to lose interest like they often do with horses. People are drawn to the unusual.
We have been working on this quest since 1986, 17 years! If this were not something that people believe to be an important issue, it would not have been pursued so adamantly for so long!
This is not a case of mules vs. horses. It is a case of giving riders the best possible education in the pursuit of their dreams…no matter what type of equine they decide to ride. The U.S.A.E. should not think that this will naturally follow with a pursuit for donkeys, zebras, etc. As an educated trainer, I know that these animals are not structurally nor mentally fit for participation in dressage at these levels. Why? Because they are not half-horse!

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

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

May 12 2024

MULE CROSSING: A.H.S.A. Objects to Mules

Kyle Davidson Mule Crossing AHSA, American Donkey & Mule Registry, Meredith Hodges, United States Dressage Federation, United States Equestrian Federation 0

By Meredith Hodges

In November of 1986, mules were accepted by the United States Dressage Federation in their schooling shows. This opened many new doors for mules in this country, but the doors to real national participation and recognition remained closed when the American Horse Show Association pronounced that they would not accept mules competing against horses in A.H.S.A.-approved competitions. At first, this seemed to be a direct insult to mules, but in April of 1988, the A.H.S.A. (currently the United States Equestrian Federation) clarified its position by inviting the American Donkey & Mule Society (our Longears international organization) to join the A.H.S.A. as a division. This meant that although mules would still not be allowed to compete against horses, they would be given an opportunity for recognition of their accomplishments within their own species. It isn’t really all that important for mules to defeat horses in equine sports. Rather, it seems more important to me for mules to have the chance to test their best athletes against each other, thus raising the standard of excellence for the entire breed. Competitions against horses can still take place, but they would take place in a show designed for such a competition, such as the “Battle of the Breeds.” By doing things in this manner, we reward the efforts of all. Equestrians avoid bad feelings among equestrians, and maintain the integrity of the equine industry as a whole.

In order to remain an integral part of the A.H.S.A, once we were accepted, we are expected to meet certain criteria. First, our breed organization must have been incorporated in the United States a minimum of five years. Since the American Donkey & Mule Society was founded in 1967, we had already met these criteria.

Second, at least 500 animals must have been registered with the breed registry during the two years immediately preceding an application for recognition. The American Donkey & Mule Registry has been continually increasing over the years as people realize the value in registering their animals. The registry gives us the opportunity to identify our own animals, to keep records on stock for the purpose of a traceable ancestry and to monitor the accomplishments of our athletic champions. Obviously, registering animals improves the chances to help you monitor the health and well being of your animal. A traceable ancestry gives us the opportunity to explore and examine the strengths and weaknesses of our breeding programs and other related research. Monitoring the successful accomplishments of our champions allows us to set new goals and new challenges for our Longears and keeps them in a favorable light in the public eye. These things are all-important to the stability and growth of our industry. With a well-organized registry drive, we could, no doubt, meet this second criterion with no problem.

The third criterion was, perhaps, the one that is gave us the biggest problem: “Competitions restricted to a breed or discipline must have been held in at least 20 events during the year immediately preceding an application for recognition either at A.H.S.A.-approved events or at events approved by the breed or discipline.” This alone, is not a problem, since we definitely hold at least 20 events a year that could stand the scrutiny of A.H.S.A. approval. To remain in the A.H.S.A. we must follow up by having “a minimum of 25% of the competitions restricted to a breed or discipline held at A.H.S.A. events annually.” We needed people and clubs to take responsibility for seeing that these competitions continue to survive and thrive in the corning years.

At that time, there were a lot of new folks coming into the Longears industry. Our industry was growing, without a doubt, but like the horse industry, our solid base was comprised primarily of folks whose main interest lay in the casual, recreational use of Longears rather than in showing and breeding. Still, one cannot exist without the other. The successful showing and breeding of quality stock insures the recreational user that he will be receiving better quality animals at a fair price for his own use. So you see, each integral part of the entire industry is somewhat dependent upon the support, recognition, and understanding of the other parts to solidify the success of the whole. There is a lot of anxiety about fees in competitions making the show scene somewhat expensive, but not as much as you would imagine. The A.H.S.A. must have these fees to fund their efforts and when you perceive the results of the numerous things that they do for the industry, you can see that these fees are really quite minimal. Besides, all of our shows did not need to be A.H.S.A approved, just a percentage!

Fourth, and no problem to deal with, the A.H.S.A. required that we submit a complete outline of conformation standards for the breed and rules for competitions for breeds and disciplines. We have qualified judges and well-informed equestrians within our industry that could easily help to compile this information and prepare it for submission. Most of the rules and regulations could be borrowed from the already existing A.H.S.A. Rulebook, so, “why re-invent the wheel!?!”

In order to remain in the A.H.S.A., there are only 2 more requirements:

1) “National and/or regional Championships for a breed or discipline must be A.H.S.A.-approved, and…

2) “Any division recognized after December 1, 1984, that does not meet the aforementioned criteria in any given year will be warned and if it fails to comply, the following year it will be dropped from the rulebook.”

So, you can see that this A.H.S.A affiliation does not have to be a complicated threat and it could definitely increase the integrity of our entire Longears industry. There were many folks across the country that were only waiting for the signal to go ahead and begin work on this project in their own areas. They didn’t necessarily need help with the actual work, but they did need the support of Longears lovers in their respective areas. After speaking with folks all over the United States for the two years, it was clear to me that joining an institution such as the A.H.S.A. could be quite frightening and intimidating to the common man.

However, it isn’t any more so than any other “new” experience. There are many benefits to be gained by joining, and the most important of all was the overall unification of the entire Equine Industry including all breeds and disciplines. Our world is composed of billions of people with many diversified interests. To see that each different interest has the best chance for growth and development, all of those with that particular interest should ban together in support for its very survival. Dissention and arguments within an industry are counter-productive. Those who wanted to see mules and donkeys accepted by the A.H.S.A. as a division were encouraged to write me letters, cards and even call me at the Lucky Three Ranch to let me know their feelings. We wanted to begin the organization for this action. I felt that if I did not receive any responses to this request, I could only assume that our industry was too young and immature for such an action at this time, and the action to join the A.H.S.A. would again be postponed. I pleaded people to PLEASE, for the sake of our growth, consider the options carefully before rejecting this proposal. It could have meant the success or failure of our entire Longears industry!

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

Mules-Accepted-by-U.S.E.F.-in-Dressage_5

March 19 2023

MULE CROSSING: Mules Accepted by U.S.E.F. in Dressage!

Kyle Davidson LTR Blog, LTR Blog - Historical, Mule Crossing American Donkey & Mule Society, American Horse Show Association, American Mule Association, Bishop Mule Days, Carole Sweet, dressage, Leah Patton, lucky three ranch, Meredith Hodges, Mule Crossing, U.S.E.F., United States Dressage Federation, United States Equestrian Federation 2

By Meredith Hodges

It’s 2004 and “You’ve come a long way, Baby!” The movement to have mules accepted by major equine organizations began with the United States Dressage Federation in 1986, 17 years ago! There was still the hurdle of being accepted by the most prestigious equine organization in the country at the time, the American Horse Show Association that sanctioned all upper level shows and competitions. Since then, the mules’ participation in significant horse events was a long, uphill climb and membership in the A.H.S.A. was only a dream. Even though they were accepted at the schooling level back then, there were still many areas that were unwilling to comply with the United States Dressage Federation’s acceptance at this level and mules continued to be discriminated against in many shows and competitions.

However, our undaunted mule riders persisted in their quest for perfection and showed the mule as a competent Dressage and Combined Training candidate. Bishop Mule Days rewarded their efforts and added Dressage classes at Bishop for these dedicated people and their mules. As more riders began using Dressage as a basis for training, and A.H.S.A. judges were being used for the classes at Bishop, even more professional equestrians began to see the competence of our beloved mules and our riders’ dedication to excellence.

The same kinds of things were happening in the disciplines of Competitive Trail Riding, Endurance, and Driving. The first discipline of the United States Equestrian Federation (formerly the American Horse Show Association) to accept mules was in Endurance Riding, and was then followed by their acceptance in Driving through the valiant efforts of Dave Ketscher and his mules, Mariah Carey and Jeremiah.

Dressage rider, Carole Sweet, began her quest for acceptance in the U.S.E.F. Dressage Division several years ago and has single-handedly become the proponent of a major rule change in the Dressage Division of the U.S.E.F. This was no easy task as it was critical to take this through proper channels just for consideration! The culmination of all her hard work and persistence was rewarded in December of 2003, when she was notified that the mule issue would be on the agenda for a final decision during the U.S.E.F. convention to be held in January of 2004.

It was at this time that Carole Sweet requested the assistance and support of anyone who could help at this convention. Linda Pitman from the American Mule Association, Leah Patton, administrator/editor of the American Donkey & Mule Society, and I (Meredith Hodges), longtime longears promoter, judge and animal inspector for the A.D.M.S., descended on the convention, attended appropriate meetings, and lobbied every chance we had in between meetings to make sure that the people involved were informed of the mules’ valuable assets to their organization. It was an exhausting three days, but on January 18, 2004, at the General Board Meeting, the rule was approved with consideration. In the U.S.E.F. Rulebook, it now reads:

GR125 Horse.

1. The term “horse” as used in these rules denotes either a horse or a pony. 2. In all levels of all Federation recognized Driving and Endurance Competitions and in the

Case of any other federation Rule as it relates to the Driving or Endurance disciplines as The context permits it, the term “horse” shall also include a mule. See DC111.4, EN104.2.1 a. Mules are also eligible to compete in dressage classes with the exception of (1) USET Championships, USET qualifying and selection trails, and observation classes. (2) any other classes designated as qualifying or selection classes for international or international high performance competition, and (3) championships where such participation is prohibited in the championship selection procedures. See DR119.1 BOD 1/18/04. Effective 4/1/04

There were concerns from the Safety Committee, but they approved with the stipulation that they would be keeping an eye on the competitions to make sure that the mules would not pose serious safety concerns.

“The ‘Vision’ of the United States Equestrian Federation is to provide leadership for equestrian sport in the United States of America, promoting the pursuit of excellence from the grass roots to the Olympic Games, based on a foundation of fair, safe competition and the welfare of it’s horses, and embracing the vision to be the best national equestrian federation in the world.” In keeping with their vision, they have seen the mules as a valuable asset to the Federation and it is both a privilege and an honor to become part of this prestigious organization.

As viable members of this organization, it is now our responsibility to go forward and participate in these events in a considerate and productive manner. Any problems that arise at competitions should be dealt with fairly and through the proper channels. Understand that we will be dealing with people at all levels of Horsemanship, with varying levels of comprehension and ability. The principles of good sportsmanship are paramount as we set the example to beginners and the young riders of the future. No unsportsmanlike conduct will be tolerated and could result in the revocation of this privilege.

More and more mules are getting into dressage after Carol Sweet’s, Leah Patton’s and my work over eighteen years of petitioning for the acceptance of mules into the United States Equestrian Federation! Shown here are Meredith Hodges and Lucky Three Sundowner, Meredith and Lucky Three Mae Bea C.T., Laura Hermanson and Heart B Dyna, Audrey Goldsmith and Heart B Porter Creek, Sammi Majors and Buckeye and Vicky Busch and Slate. I am so happy to see so many young riders taking advantage poof all our hard work and they are doing so well! We hope even more dressage riders will take advantage of this wonderful opportunity with their mules!

So, fellow “Mule Enthusiasts,” go forward and bask in the sunshine of opportunity that has been so graciously given to us all! Take the opportunities provided to improve your skills and marvel at your own progress! Take advantage of the new comrades you will meet along the way that share your interests, so we can all take our equines into the future with pride and dignity together!

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