Mule ban

[hairycob]

Article on the H&H website about a venue banning a mule from a TREC training session. What is it with people who don't see that it's an opportunity to de-sensitise the horses on their yard. Sarah is always really helpful if people's horses do react - I'm the lady mentioned who took my horse to see Honey.

 

[Snowfilly]

Crazy! There was a piece a few years back about a show banning a donkey from an under 8s gymkhana and clear round jumping morning... Yet a lot of the big shows round here have donkey classes and the driving society seems to welcome the as I've often seen donkeys on their pleasure drives as well as in the ring with the horses, so it's not expected to be a problem at that level.

And trec at that! You know, the discipline which is all about passing strange things and coping with unusual obstacles. I'd have thought the sight of all their equipment being carried in could be as 'upsetting' as a mule calling.

I hope no-one at this yard ever takes their horses to country shows with cattle and sheep calling all the time. Or that none of them buy a cart and the rest have to deal with the sight of a horse in harness. Or indeed that none of them hack out anywhere where donkeys might live.

Yard owner is a joke and I feel for the lady.

 

[ester]

It's daft. I think the organisers should have probably looked for another venue. I can well imagine the venue/livery yard owner got his ear chewed off by his liveries last time so the easiest thing for him to do is just say no.

 

[hairycob]

If anybody has a right to object it would be me. I hurt my knee when HP took exception to seeing Honey at a competition. That's why I arranged to take him to see her who knows were and when I might meet another mule.

 

[Piglet]

Excuse me for being thick here but apart from the noise (maybe) what is the difference (for a horse) between a mule and a horse with long/big ears? ����

 

[hairycob]

I don't know about the noise because I've never heard Honey make one. She must smell different as HP was reluctant to go near Sarah at first when we visited.

 

[rabatsa]

It is nearly always in the mind of the owners that difficulties occur. The livery yard should look upon this as an ideal oportunity to introduce a long eared equine to their horse in familiar and safe surroundings. Trec itself is an all inclusive discipline. I hope that the Trec organisers boycott using this venue again.

 

[ester]

That is what I don't understand, as it sounds like she is a fairly regular competitor why haven't the organisers boycotted the venue at this point?

 

[Bertolie]

The yard I am on hold affiliated and unaffiliated dressage shows most weekends. We had a mule enter the last show and never had a problem with any of the other competitors or liveries horses. If my horse had reacted I would look at it being a problem with my horse!

 

[Sussexbythesea]

I know a lot of horses have a nervous breakdown when they meet Donkeys for the first time, not sure about mules, they must smell different or something. We have field of them plus a hinny near where we hack and there have been a few mishaps with horse riders because of them. Some people can’t ride there because their horse have a fit.

Mine now loves the donkeys once he was properly introduced. It could cause a few issues though at a show but as trec is about dealing with all sorts of challenges in different situations in this case it seems unfair.

 

[ester]

Frank would have a meltdown if it brayed, yes he does have a problem , he can just about contain himself with donks, till they bray. We have one locally and as she only has sheep friends she gets quite excited when she sees us, the affection is not returned! He struggled a bit at one particular new forest pub even though his mates thought them great.

I think the thing is that it isn't the trec competitors saying their horses shouldn't have to deal with it, it is the on site livery horses that were scared last time and presumably whose owners don't ever want to take them anywhere with mules so don't want to use it as a training opportunity.

 

[ester]

quiet donkeys

post donkey braying.. you can see how much he has been fidgeting!

 

[Chinchilla]

quiet donkeys

post donkey braying.. you can see how much he has been fidgeting!

Very handsome...!
Obviously just terrified too, poor abused beasts :lol:

What next, will horse owners be getting sheep and cattle banned from the countryside on the grounds it spooks them?

 

[ester]

lambs, we don't likes lambs, they travel in gangs like hoodies!

It was funny we had to swap them over so that pippy pony (rara's) could act as wingman. Pip was having a full on nose chat and Frank was like pip what the F are you doing mate!?! they are going to eat you! He should have been tired we'd just done about 9 miles and come up a very long steep hill to get to the pub, and I certainly wanted to have some lunch rather than deal with a silly dancing pony. I think at this point the donkey foal was playing... that wasnt allowed either!

He had had to spend the week living with Emu's too... I don't think it was his idea of a holiday!

 

[TheMule]

The horses don't bat an eyelid at my little mule baby. I will always phone and check with organisers before entering anything in the future, though it'd be a shame to think some might say no

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

All our livery horses soon get used to our donkey inc its braying, they might have a melt down at first but that is soon over.



I think the best way to get horses used to a donkey or a mule is to get them desensitised to them. We offered to hold a class here to get local horses used to the pony cart but no one volunteered, they just looked down their noses at us, so we can only shrug our shoulders when we meet horses out on the roads and they bolt off down the road.

 

[Frances144]

I am very disappointed the livery yard owner has made this decision. Rather than address the problem, banning is plain wrong.

I would love to meet a mule. I've always had a secret penchant for one.

 

[hairycob]

I think the ban was very late in the day and came as a surprise as Sarah and Honey are regulars. I've seen a post by one of the committee saying they will check with venues before booking in future. Ironically the training session had to be cancelled due to the weather.

 

[Frances144]

Karma!

 

[SEL]

I've just read the H&H article. I'm not sure what I'd think if my mare got knocked up by a cheeky donkey stallion (although mule would be spotted which is pretty cool), so respect for getting out there and competing!

 

[Chinchilla]

I've just read the H&H article. I'm not sure what I'd think if my mare got knocked up by a cheeky donkey stallion (although mule would be spotted which is pretty cool), so respect for getting out there and competing!

You should breed a spotty mule lol!

 

[stencilface]

They don't smell different. Horses sense the superior intelligence and are afraid, very afraid

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

If most horses think donkeys and muses are weird wait til they meet a Shetland with a rider on 😂😂😂

 

[fburton]

I wondered about the smell. Donkeys definitely smell very different from horses - sort of "dusty"? And zebras smell like donkeys too - at least the one that I got close enough to smell did. I don't know about mules though.

I had a 'bad' experience with a donkey jack upsetting a showjumper (both horse and rider) when he started braying at the ringside. This was at one of the Glasgow Vet School Rodeos in the 1980s, when the annual event still had a significant horse show element. My attempts to stifle the braying with a hand over his mouth were completely ineffectual. The horse refused a fence, but was allowed to take it again without penalty. Why was I there with a donkey? Well, it was his field after all...

 

[ester]

They don't smell different. Horses sense the superior intelligence and are afraid, very afraid

makes sense to me!

 

[Snowfilly]

makes sense to me!

We had a donkey jenny for years - she was my brother's childhood ride, brought when he was a toddler - and she was joined at the hip to my Shetland mare. They were far too intelligent for their own good and understood the value of team work - the donkey was once caught trying to undo the top bolt on the feed room while the Shetland was knelt down opening the bottom one!

I've always figured a Shetland mule would take over the world.

 

[Fiona]

I read this article earlier and thought 'How ridiculous ' .... I've had two ponies who were scared of donkeys, and would value the chance to meet one under controlled circumstances so I could try to desensitize ....

Fiona

 

[Gloi]

If it's a TREC training session the mule could have been one of the obstacles
Every year some travellers camp near us on the way back from Appleby and they have a jack donkey. Fortunately mine doesn't bother but some horses are scared of him. As you ride towards him you can see him breathe in ready and then he starts with an incredibly loud bray.

 

[Cortez]

My cob had a meltdown when he saw some miniature horses at a show. Soon got over it (there was a bit of a boot up the arse involved, from me). I have a mule; all my horses are in love with him and have been from first sight. Very silly reaction from the venue IMO.

 

[buddylove]

Just can't get over the idea of a Shetland Mule!! Evil genius!!