In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
Since this is a gun forum; My experience from shooting bfrom the saddle is not good. I have a lot of respect for trainers who spend a lot of time to keep horses and mules from bolting with very close gun fire. Gun fire always produced bad reactions from any stock. I learned to dismount and securely tie your mount before discharge. [:0][B)]
There are 3 kinds of people in the world. Those who can do math and those who can't. :?
quote:Originally posted by themountainman
Since this is a gun forum; My experience from shooting bfrom the saddle is not good. I have a lot of respect for trainers who spend a lot of time to keep horses and mules from bolting with very close gun fire. Gun fire always produced bad reactions from any stock. I learned to dismount and securely tie your mount before discharge. [:0][B)]
When I was a young man (yes that was awhile back[;)]) I knew of two guys who where thrown while shooting from a horse and from a mule. One died, and one rode a wheel chair for the rest of his life. I took the hint!!![;)]
We had two jennys broke to work and ride. I shot rabbits while riding both of them. Don't know that anyone ever trained them for that, but both were very good natured.
quote:Originally posted by MMOMEQ-55
Most problems with riding mules is the rider's lack of understanding of them. People call a mule stubborn when in fact that mule is smart enough not to get you or himself hurt. When the mule is tired he will atop and rest. A horse will go on till it drops. A horse will eat itself to death when a mule will stop when they are full. Let a dog try and chase a mule and that dog will end up with his head caved in. A horse will let that same dog chase it bitting at it's heels till the horse either is hurt from the dog or the horse hurts itself.
As a kid my grandfather plowed with a team of mules out of a Belgium mare. At the end of the day all you had to do was unhook the mules and they would go straight to their stalls and stand there. I would walk in and take off their harness. About as automatic as it comes. As a little kid I would ride them into the barn thinking I was actually taking them back to the barn. I later realized that they were taking themselves to the barn. Sometimes we were a mile away from the barn but those mules knew their way home.
Once upon a time I was riding a horse, a stallion, across a broomsage field. He got his front feet wound up in some wire. He went batpoop crazy and tried to kill me. Then he tried to kill himself. After I got my breath back I started trying to get the wire off his feet. He kept on trying to kill me until I got the wire off. He stayed fidgety until I got him back to the barn. When he saw the barn he broke into a run and left the skin of my back hanging on the top of the barn door.
I was on a mule that got her feet tangled in some wire and she just stopped. She stood there until I got the wire off.
The moral to this story is clean up the little coils of wire littering places you might ride.
..If we ever do get ourselves moved to the free state of Missouri, my wife wants a mule. I've told her that a 4 wheeler doesn't eat or crap if it's not being used, as opposed to an animal. I've had my fill of jittery horses in my time, so if it comes down to it, I'm not totally against the idea.
..I'm not even sure that I could step a stirrup anymore. If the mailbox is 1/4 mi. away, I'll use my truck anyway.
quote:Originally posted by JamesRK
quote:Originally posted by MMOMEQ-55
Most problems with riding mules is the rider's lack of understanding of them. People call a mule stubborn when in fact that mule is smart enough not to get you or himself hurt. When the mule is tired he will atop and rest. A horse will go on till it drops. A horse will eat itself to death when a mule will stop when they are full. Let a dog try and chase a mule and that dog will end up with his head caved in. A horse will let that same dog chase it bitting at it's heels till the horse either is hurt from the dog or the horse hurts itself.
As a kid my grandfather plowed with a team of mules out of a Belgium mare. At the end of the day all you had to do was unhook the mules and they would go straight to their stalls and stand there. I would walk in and take off their harness. About as automatic as it comes. As a little kid I would ride them into the barn thinking I was actually taking them back to the barn. I later realized that they were taking themselves to the barn. Sometimes we were a mile away from the barn but those mules knew their way home.
Once upon a time I was riding a horse, a stallion, across a broomsage field. He got his front feet wound up in some wire. He went batpoop crazy and tried to kill me. Then he tried to kill himself. After I got my breath back I started trying to get the wire off his feet. He kept on trying to kill me until I got the wire off. He stayed fidgety until I got him back to the barn. When he saw the barn he broke into a run and left the skin of my back hanging on the top of the barn door.
I was on a mule that got her feet tangled in some wire and she just stopped. She stood there until I got the wire off.
The moral to this story is clean up the little coils of wire littering places you might ride.
I agree some horses are crazy when they get tangled up in wire
I also agree that most mules won't hurt themselves like most horses will
but there are some smart horses too
my half-quarter and half-Percheron mare has some horse or mule sense about her I was riding her one day and she got her legs tangled up in some old hot wire fence and stopped and let me cut the wire with my pliers and get it off of her legs without hurting me or her and this was along the side of he highway mind you
We currently own seven, five mollys and two Johns. Four of the mollys and one john we bred for and raised. Got another due in June, coming out of double bred Hancock mare.
They will all ride daylight or dark, couple you can rope and drag with, all will pack anything you can lift to load. Elk, moose, bear, cat, whatever makes no never mind.
I been around mules all my life and they never fail at some point during the year to show me something I didn't know about them or a new way for them to learn something, good or bad....
Remember as a kid growing up in Harper WV going with my grandfather, Jeff Harper, to visit each of his seven drift coals mines down Coal River. Several of the mines had ponies to bring the coal out to the tipple, but most had mules to do the job. My grandfather told me one day as we drove home to Harper that the mules were stronger and pulled more coal than did the ponies...always made an impression on this little WV kid as the ponies were "prettier" and looked better to this guy.
Comments
Since this is a gun forum; My experience from shooting bfrom the saddle is not good. I have a lot of respect for trainers who spend a lot of time to keep horses and mules from bolting with very close gun fire. Gun fire always produced bad reactions from any stock. I learned to dismount and securely tie your mount before discharge. [:0][B)]
When I was a young man (yes that was awhile back[;)]) I knew of two guys who where thrown while shooting from a horse and from a mule. One died, and one rode a wheel chair for the rest of his life. I took the hint!!![;)]
Capt. Jack Sparrow.
Most problems with riding mules is the rider's lack of understanding of them. People call a mule stubborn when in fact that mule is smart enough not to get you or himself hurt. When the mule is tired he will atop and rest. A horse will go on till it drops. A horse will eat itself to death when a mule will stop when they are full. Let a dog try and chase a mule and that dog will end up with his head caved in. A horse will let that same dog chase it bitting at it's heels till the horse either is hurt from the dog or the horse hurts itself.
As a kid my grandfather plowed with a team of mules out of a Belgium mare. At the end of the day all you had to do was unhook the mules and they would go straight to their stalls and stand there. I would walk in and take off their harness. About as automatic as it comes. As a little kid I would ride them into the barn thinking I was actually taking them back to the barn. I later realized that they were taking themselves to the barn. Sometimes we were a mile away from the barn but those mules knew their way home.
Once upon a time I was riding a horse, a stallion, across a broomsage field. He got his front feet wound up in some wire. He went batpoop crazy and tried to kill me. Then he tried to kill himself. After I got my breath back I started trying to get the wire off his feet. He kept on trying to kill me until I got the wire off. He stayed fidgety until I got him back to the barn. When he saw the barn he broke into a run and left the skin of my back hanging on the top of the barn door.
I was on a mule that got her feet tangled in some wire and she just stopped. She stood there until I got the wire off.
The moral to this story is clean up the little coils of wire littering places you might ride.
..I'm not even sure that I could step a stirrup anymore. If the mailbox is 1/4 mi. away, I'll use my truck anyway.
quote:Originally posted by MMOMEQ-55
Most problems with riding mules is the rider's lack of understanding of them. People call a mule stubborn when in fact that mule is smart enough not to get you or himself hurt. When the mule is tired he will atop and rest. A horse will go on till it drops. A horse will eat itself to death when a mule will stop when they are full. Let a dog try and chase a mule and that dog will end up with his head caved in. A horse will let that same dog chase it bitting at it's heels till the horse either is hurt from the dog or the horse hurts itself.
As a kid my grandfather plowed with a team of mules out of a Belgium mare. At the end of the day all you had to do was unhook the mules and they would go straight to their stalls and stand there. I would walk in and take off their harness. About as automatic as it comes. As a little kid I would ride them into the barn thinking I was actually taking them back to the barn. I later realized that they were taking themselves to the barn. Sometimes we were a mile away from the barn but those mules knew their way home.
Once upon a time I was riding a horse, a stallion, across a broomsage field. He got his front feet wound up in some wire. He went batpoop crazy and tried to kill me. Then he tried to kill himself. After I got my breath back I started trying to get the wire off his feet. He kept on trying to kill me until I got the wire off. He stayed fidgety until I got him back to the barn. When he saw the barn he broke into a run and left the skin of my back hanging on the top of the barn door.
I was on a mule that got her feet tangled in some wire and she just stopped. She stood there until I got the wire off.
The moral to this story is clean up the little coils of wire littering places you might ride.
I agree some horses are crazy when they get tangled up in wire
I also agree that most mules won't hurt themselves like most horses will
but there are some smart horses too
my half-quarter and half-Percheron mare has some horse or mule sense about her I was riding her one day and she got her legs tangled up in some old hot wire fence and stopped and let me cut the wire with my pliers and get it off of her legs without hurting me or her and this was along the side of he highway mind you
They will all ride daylight or dark, couple you can rope and drag with, all will pack anything you can lift to load. Elk, moose, bear, cat, whatever makes no never mind.
I been around mules all my life and they never fail at some point during the year to show me something I didn't know about them or a new way for them to learn something, good or bad....
Guess you could say I am pretty fond of them.