Guns, Bows, Shooting Sports, and Hunting Friends at last

[BIGNASTY]

Have finally made friends with the last two of the four that joined our crew. These two just didn't want anything to do with me or the rest of the gang. Me I could understand but the rest of the gang? For the last few days when I turn everybody out for recess they have followed me around. I give carrots and apples around everyday and these would not take them from hand. Now they do!!!!!!!!!!!!! This seems weird to some but its a major milestone for me if they or I don't trust each other I cant use them on trail. Oo.



MR JHawes the kinder more gen teal approach does work

 

[Deleted member 995608]

Yes it does.



I had some client horses that I always had a heck of a time catching. I hated the tease em' with treats trick (it does work rather well) so I tried another method that I heard of.



Animals are curious and will eventually investigate their surroundings. Even with structures, objects or other critters they're frightened of. That first encounter will be positive or negative.



If ya have some free time or just bored, go in the paddocks from time to time and just hangout. Don't show any interest in them or make movemnet towards em. Be quiet. Let them come check you out. Try this several times a day for multiple days and see if ya can get em to sorta accept you on their side of the street.



If not, apples it is!

 

[BIGNASTY]

The reason for the gifts is two fol the man that taught me allot about packing said that both apples and carrots help out their digestive and urinary tacks. And the second is that they just seem to like them like we like candy.



As far as what you said its true I would let everybody out and start to clean the barn and they would look around the corner and look like big kids until I turned around then they would hide. :-laf I read alot about the training of mules that one pic of the lady reading to the mule on the ground has a good book about their habits and ways. THEY ARE DIFFERENT THAN HORSE'S

 

[Deleted member 995608]

The reason for the gifts is two fol the man that taught me allot about packing said that both apples and carrots help out their digestive and urinary tacks. And the second is that they just seem to like them like we like candy.



As far as what you said its true I would let everybody out and start to clean the barn and they would look around the corner and look like big kids until I turned around then they would hide. :-laf I read alot about the training of mules that one pic of the lady reading to the mule on the ground has a good book about their habits and ways. THEY ARE DIFFERENT THAN HORSE'S

That's the honest truth. Take a handful of horses, hand full of humans and throw them in a round pend, . . . . the mules will still out smart the entire bunch!

 

[BIGNASTY]

Aint no I TRIED TO BY-PASS THE CUSSING FILTER there I found the key is to make them think it was their idea to do what I wanted them to do .

 

[GHarman]

Jes' dont make a habit of takin a break at the same time, every day. They will shut down, fer a grain break, every time:-laf! GregH

 

[BIGNASTY]

Thats no I TRIED TO BY-PASS THE CUSSING FILTER Greg they know where the water breaks are and then the rest breaks for me and thats no joke. They pull up to a stop in the middle of the stream and look at the horses like GET A DRINK STUPID!!!!!

 

[HHhuntitall]

Older horses are the same way, most the time. Especially ones off the bigger ranches, where they don't know who's riding them until the ropin's done before daylight. Those horses will stand off for a long time from people and other horses when I bring them in here. Sometimes for weeks. I've had many that I had to rope to catch for a long time, and then they just click for some reason and start to trust you. Their riding, habits, and manners get better instantly. The amount of wet blankets don't seem to matter to them, and they can be real broncs sometimes..... One I got several years ago just kept bucking, running around in the mornings after feedings, constantly fighting with the other horses; just being a prick. I babied him around as much as I could, easing him along, just trying to get him over it. It never worked, and finally he made me mad. I had a cow that just broke out of the herd and just had her mind made up she was leaving. I had to really ask him to get with it, as I tried to head her, and he started to buck. I got so peeved I really started raking him as he was jumping, so after a few seconds and dotted lines of blood, he decided to get with the program, which by then, we had to run like hell almost a mile to catch her. Then I roped her and made him hold her until I got tired. I tied her down, got back on him, and loped back the now 1. 5 mile to the herd. I guess it just clicked and that night, when I turned him loose, he didn't just bolt away from me. He stood there and I pet him for a min, then fed him and brushed him out while he ate. We've been good partners since. My dad bought one that was the same way. He never bucked, but was really spooky. Once he was around for a few weeks, he just started to relax, and finally just fell in line. Wet blankets did help him, quite a bit. That and just tyeing him where he has to look at what all is going on all day. What few mules I've fooled with, they seem to be very similar.



Although, and I've just got to say it, I don't think mules are that much smarter than horses... ... I've always heard that, but can't say I feel that way. My grandfather had many on his dairy, even using them to pull wagons to feed when it got so muddy in the winter. Smarter than the average horse, probably, but these ranch horses see everthing under the sun, so they're usually above average. We sell the idiots to Western Pleasure, barrel, cutting, and show riders. One of the best roping horses I've ever seen was a complete puke in the working pens, and could only run in a straight line... ... The average horse most people see are the rejects we don't want. NOT to degrade your mules any, I'm just relaying MY experiences. Most of us working guys go through dozens of horses a year, riding for different ranches across the state. I've been fortunate enough to keep a few of the best ones I've had, and have my own place so I don't have to make the day-working circuit anymore. I still keep 10-15 horses at any time, as there's my Dad, my wife, and myself who ride, and we all need 2-3 horses to rotate through, plus some extras for when one gets lamed up or sore.



It's funny, whenever I get off to pee, the horse goes, too! :-laf They know it's the only chance they'll get for awhile. And water breaks? Those are well sought after. They say you can lead a horse to water but can't make him drink? Well, they haven't been in the Texas summers riding like hell all morning!! You can't STOP them from drinking sometimes!! I used to have a gelding that would just wade off in the tank, and I'd have to pull him up to keep him from going in all the way!!! Sometimes, I'd let him!! When you're already soaked from sweat, what difference is a little water!?!?! Kinda rough on the sheepskin, though... .

 

[BIGNASTY]

I don't know HH I had a very bad experience on a horse. It cost me two surgeries on my wrist to get it to where I can almost say it's 100 percent I cant do a flat hand push up on it I have to use my knuckles. The reason the horse had to be in front ALL THE TIME. I got Daisy and have tried to make her run SHE WONT and that's find with me. She will walk at a good clip for endless hours on trail and that's what she's for. I put anyone that has medical problems on her anyone that is limited on mountain experience on her and she will take care of them. She wont do ANYTHING STUPID



The boy's Jacob/Earl have NEVER HAD ANYONE STAY ON THEM very long. They will pack they will haul game they will pull they are broke to harness BUT THEY WILL NOT LET ANYONE ON THEIR BACK. The new 4 mules are what I call swingers they will go either way saddle or pack.



As for smarts I have to disagree with ya on that one. Of the mules the boy's are the smart ones, I should say Jacob is the smart one Earl is a FENCE POST he is the strongest of the group but just ahhhhhhhhhh FENCE POST but very good natured. Jacob on the other hand is SMART show him what you want a few times and he will turn and look at ya and you can see it in his eye's GOT YA. On Elk or deer dressing I tie off to Earl and spin the Elk up hill then tie the other hind leg off to Jacob and say SLACK JACOB im sure that he doesnt know words but just like a dog if you say it the same way and they know what you want done they know. He pulls the slack out of the rope and spreads the legs Earl just stands there. Jacob puts just a little tension on the rope and leg so the wife that does most of the field dressing hits the hip socket with a cleaver it pops and Jacob stops. Im sure that you know how much they help when your trying to move a DEAD 600 TO 900 LB Elk around on the ground. Then we put the weight on the boys and off to camp they go. They do other things that shows some intelligent mostly routine things but they remember. I don't think Einstein has to worry about them figuring out some of his equations but the more time you spend with them you can tell they are at least as smart as a dog. I think the difference in the two way's yours and mine is that like most people that live and work ranches the animals are just that. With my gang I think of them more as pets very big pets that crap a tremendous amount. :-laf I spend A BUNCH OF TIME WITH THEM. And I appreciate what they do FOR ME because without them I would never be able to go where I DO. And for that I treat them better than most people treat their animals. JMO its all in how ya use them THIS IS HOW YA LET THEM GET A DRINK PARD. . DAMN HOW'D THAT SHORT EAR MULE GET IN THERE :-laf:-laf

 

[HHhuntitall]

BIG, in my country, you take water however you can find it!!! :-laf I'd give a lot to have that kind of water in my western country..... I've barely got any water in the stock ponds, let alone the creeks. The river has a small trickle, due to the lake up North. They have to let so much out to meet F&G requirements for river habitat. And talking about smarts, I think these animals that get used are smarter. They know what you want, like you said, and learn how to work with you. I wasn't saying the horses were smarter, just that they are as smart as any mule I've ever been around. I've packed my horses quite a bit over the years, and they work good for me. I guess it's like asking what's your favorite rifle.....



I do have a pic somewhere of me and an old sorrel horse I have crossing the Red River. You can see his head, my head, and my spurs where I'm kicking to swim and help push us across the river..... I'm sure ol' Cody was doing most of the work, but that's how we got there to begin with. The boys fishing on the river thought it was funny to see the cows barrel off in the river and cross. It really blew their minds when I rode up in a lope and just barrelled off in there after them. The cows were just about as shocked. They'd been getting away like that for three years I was later told. There was 35 acres across the river no one did much with that was brushy as hell, and the only way to get to it was go around 60 miles via road..... or so they thought!! I didn't know any better, so I went in after 'em. They got by me on the flats, so it was my job to get 'em. The guy I was working for paid me for an extra day, saying he'd never seen anything like that. The guys in the boat took the picture, just for their personal amusement, I guess. Seems the ol' boy that owned the place had never had any real hands working for him... . a friend, that later went to work for him full-time, and I cleared several head he didn't even have on his counts. Some had never seen a set of pens..... Can't say it was an easy job, but we had fun. When roping those mavericks by yourself, you throw your rope over their head and catch their hocks, then ride by 'em in a trot and throw 'em down..... steer trippin'!! Then I bail off and tie 'em down. That sorrel was one of the best, as I could just step off of him, duck under the rope, the steer'd go down, and I could sit on 'em to tie 'em down. He'd stop when I yelled "whoa", and then come to me two steps when I called 'im, giving me enough slack to get the rope off. I've got two that will do that now, but they're just not as good at it. Of course, I don't daywork anymore, either, so I don't do it several times a week..... Hard to make a good horse without some wet blankets.

 

[BIGNASTY]

HH you got me on that cowboy stuff I use ropes only to tie down if I was to go whiling a rope around my head I would end up like David Carradine strangling my self. I think that the animals are the smart ones and use US. MY BIL use to use horses to pack and was always stopping to re-tie. Ya kind of have to look close but the gate of the horse and Mule are different. That's the main reason I ride a saddle Mule over a horse. They ride like a Cadillac. I cant remember but one of them has an extra vertebrae and that does it is what I was told.



Sometimes that water can be a big problem. BIL has lost lots of equipment because of the crossings. And not paying attention to details when he tied down. I take a little extra time but I don't have many problems with loads shifting. And then we have the other side of the coin TO MUCH WATER. I don't like taking my gang into a big fast river crossing. BIL/FIL just dive in but their animals are just a work tools to them I feel a little different about my guys



HH this is about as COWBOY AS I GET its fun to chase them around but I have to ride a horse because Daisy wont run.

 

[HHhuntitall]

Oh, no, I can see the difference in the how they travel from 100 yards. And some horses travel different from others, too. I've got a little sorrel colt I raised that's always balanced, front to back. He's a catty little booger, gonna make a fine horse, if I can get him finished. Then I have a half brother to him that's just a plod-along clod monster. He'll never be anything astounding, but he's so gentle and strong, he'll be great for just a riding horse. That first colt, his trot is so smooth, it'll make your *** laugh!!