Owners say animals’ surefootedness makes them excellent candidates for trail riding, packing, and working with cattle
If you are experienced with horses and have more than enough patience, you might be ready to own a mule.
These horse/donkey hybrids are tough, intuitive, and loyal members of the equine family.
Laureen Kress, and husband, Joe, who live on an acreage near Waldeck, Sask., are mule enthusiasts and have been so for almost seven years.
Born near Bracken, Sask., Laureen has always been a horse lover like her father, Melvin Bakken. She grew up with horses and competed as a barrel racer for more than 40 years. Then one day, she decided she “didn’t want to go fast anymore, sensed life was passing me by.” After that, she decided she better get a mule. It was their “kind eyes” that convinced her mules would be her new passion.
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Thus began the road to finding and owning a mule that she would devote her time to. Laureen’s search led her to Sheridan, Wyoming, where she bought Roxy, a grey mare, standing 15.2 hands high.
When Laureen and Joe left Sheridan, with Roxy in tow, the temperature was 18 C.
They travelled north to Swift Current, Sask., and stopped to wait out a blizzard. They left the next day in similar conditions.
The overnight was enough to convince Laureen she had made the right decision in buying a mule. Not stubborn or skittish, Roxy was easily led over steep snowbanks down to a watering hole. Loading or unloading from the trailer was accomplished with ease. It was as if Roxy had ridden in the trailer all her life. She immediately trusted Laureen and Joe and they trusted her in return.
It wasn’t long before Joe acquired two mules, Annie and Jax. The couple and their mule trio then lived near Hanley, Sask., but for the past four years, have made their home near Waldeck.
The mules seem to be at home wherever they are, as long as Laureen and Joe are there to socialize with them.
Mules like to work and work hard. But they are also creatures of habit. If you try to make them work when it is feeding time, they sense a change in routine. Handlers need to know they cannot overpower their mule. Otherwise, they may start to ignore their humans.
Mules are intuitive and care about the safety of themselves and their handlers. Their surefootedness makes them excellent candidates for trail riding, packing, and working with cattle. Laureen and Roxy have competed in equine events such as barrel racing, pole bending, and cowboy dressage. Joe and his mule, Jax, have helped neighbours move cattle in the fall, or heeled cattle in the spring during branding.
Annie, the oldest mule, is living out her days at the acreage near Waldeck.
If you can keep your mule interested and challenged, he or she will likely respond well to your training. Known for their sense of loyalty, they will soon become your lifelong friends.
