# Bored old mule



## SMMJessee (Nov 11, 2012)

Hello,
I have an old mule and his shoulders are quite bad ( he was roped hard off of in his younger years)

His shoulders arent "injured" there just "done" he only walks now but is still very happy.

We have been keeping him in our indoor arena for these reasons :

He doesnt need a blanket because its warm ( he doesnt like blankets because they bug his shoulders)

He cant slip ( this is the main reason because it is soooooo icey outside he could easily slip and break somthing or even slip his shoulder out of the socket)

His arthritis isnt acting up ( when horses have arthritis the colder it is the more it will act up )

It is nice and comfy ( he loves the to roll and sleep in the sand ) 

He has room to walk ( since his shoulders are worn out he likes to walk around to make them feel better so the arena is nice and big)

All of these are helping him much more then him being outside in the slippery cold 


He has hay and water and a bucket for his grain.
But he is bored  Every day or second day he gets to go out in the field with his old friend ( his old friends name is buck) 

But when hes in the arena he is bored, i was thinking that maybe putting buck in the arena would cheer hi up but buck would probley destroy the arena or work himself into a sweat and colic.....

I set up some pole bending poles and he likes to go and knock them down but he is getting kind of bored of that.

I was thinking of geting him one of those big hangin treat things but those would probley only last him a day and i dont want to make him sick...

Oh and also he isnt the jolly ball kinda guy, he likes food and breaking things and knocking things down haha 
Any help apreciated

Thanks 
Megan


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## SMMJessee (Nov 11, 2012)

any ideas please??


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## PunksTank (Jul 8, 2012)

You could practice clicker training him! There are a lot of slow, low impact tricks he can learn. Things like 'targeting' a crop, 'standing', 'smiling', 'giving hugs' - there's lots of fun stuff - google 'horse clicker training'. Mules do especially well with CT as they just love positive reinforcement!


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## Spotted (Sep 19, 2012)

you could get some toys, like a noodle or other things to pick up and throw around. A slow feeder hay net, will keep him occupied longer too.


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## SMMJessee (Nov 11, 2012)

thank you both i will buy him a noodle ( that sounds funny haha sorry couldnt resist)
and i am going to try the smiling trick because i have a clicker for my dog  

He will probley be smiling all day haha


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## PunksTank (Jul 8, 2012)

haha xD They do! I taught my pony to bring me his halter, now whenever his stall door's open (with a stall guard) he grabs his halter and throws it at me xD 
Is that your mule in your profile? he's precious ^^


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## SMMJessee (Nov 11, 2012)

PunksTank 
yup thats my old boy in the picture, he looks rough there but it was the only one small enought to fit as my avatar.. to bad you cant see his big ears :lol::lol:

I would love it if my horse brought me his halter :shock: that whould be amazing my horse just runs away haha

I was thinking of taking a mild jug and cutting some slits into it and stuffing it with oats and hay but i dont know how long it will live....

I was also thinking of putting hay in a hay net with really small mesh but im scared he will give up and starve himself

He took all the brushes out of the basket hooked to the wall and scatterd them over the arena lol that was a mess


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## Mariss (Nov 16, 2012)

I would definitely try putting his friend in the arena! Try it for an hour or two at a time on the days that your guy doesn't get to go see him.


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## SMMJessee (Nov 11, 2012)

you think so?? i was worried that he might work himself up and colic but i guess if i stay and supervise it cant get to bad.... i might try that tommorrow cuz it will be to icy for the old guys to go out so i will give it a shot 
thank you 

Megan


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## Mariss (Nov 16, 2012)

Yeah! Just keep an eye on him, if he is visibly freaking out after like half an hour just put him back at his home! He'll probably just look at you like 'Uhm, why did you bring me in here?' and then go see when your guy is doing!


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## SMMJessee (Nov 11, 2012)

okay ill give it a shot 
thank you 

more ideas would be very appreiciated thank you all


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## AngieLee (Feb 20, 2011)

i didnt read all the replys since i need to go to class (college is so inconvenient lol), But you could try lick its  a lady I know had to have her gelding on stall rest and she gave him it. it lasts longer if you put it on a flat wall AWAY from the corner so they cant lodge it against anything. if they don't have an interest at first take off the top to make it easier and then once they realize they like it, put it back on so its harder to eat. I like them because they come in a variety of cool flavors, and they take longer to eat  My horse only comes in to eat dinner, and lives outside otherwise. I bought him an Uncle Bens treat ball (the big seed balls) 2 days of being inside 20 minuits -half an hour, he was done it. Put him in a stall with a likit and it lasted almost 2 weeks with other horses sharing it aswell. More expensive but def worth it, in my opinions. Sorry if this was already suggested. Next time im online i'll read everybody else's comments, and see if i can think of anything else 

Also i apologize for spelling errors, im not the greatest speller at the best of times let alone in a rush.lol


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## SMMJessee (Nov 11, 2012)

Dont worry about the spelling mistakes mine are worse haha

Nope nobody came up with that and it is defanitly on my shopping list,
It wont be to expensive for me because my family owns a tack shop so we can get things for cheap

I think ned will like that alot!! Do they come in molasses flavor?? Thats his favoite along with apple

thanks for the awsome idea
megan


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

You'll probably hate my suggestion....Why not get him a mini donkey for company? The little donkey can then stay with him in the arena and accompany him outside when it's buddy time?


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

I keep the large bleach bottles and rinse well and dry. I then drill half inch holes around the top half, two rows with each hole about two inches apart. Clean the plastic bits out, fill part way with pellets, cap it and toss it. Not good if he's on sand as he'll ingest too much sand nibble the pellets as they fall out. I do this in winter where the snow is clean. I was surprised as to the amount of abuse the bottle took and it kept two horses entertained for about two hours.


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## AngieLee (Feb 20, 2011)

I'm not sure if they have molasses, but i know for sure that they have apple flavour

I know you said that he doesn't like Jolly Balls, so I don't think that this will work but you could give him a Parelli ball, or something around that size anyways? and as a trick you could teach him to push it back to you for treats (that's a parelli game i think.) and who knows it could get him interested in playing with it on his own 

if you can find an UNBREAKABLE, SHATTER PROOF mirror that could be fun. But unless you can find one that WILL NOT break i wouldn't do it, for obvious dangerous reasons

Depending on the size of his water bucket, you could float things in it for him to try and get out. apple pieces (not a whole apple, or you risk him choking if he swallows it whole acidently), or something flat and float able (burlap sack? do they float) and put treats on it, or any treats that float and wont get gross in water. or a rubber duck 

Take an empty jug and fill it with rocks, or other cool sounding things, and tie it to the wall so he can push it around and make sounds


Umm thats all I can think of off hand, but if anything else pops into my brain ill come back and post more. I hope one or two of these will work for you guy. he sounds lovely


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## Almond Joy (Dec 4, 2011)

Get the mini donkey! They would be so cute haha

And try hanging an apple with baling twine from the rafters, its hard for them to eat.


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## SMMJessee (Nov 11, 2012)

Chevaux i dont hate your suggestion at all but we already have 12 horses so i dont know if we would be able to do that but thanks

Saddlebag i did that with a milk jug, i will post what he does on here

I am going to put a piece of apple in his water and see if he can get it haha
and i think the ball thing is a good idea but i dont want him to lean on the ball and fall, hes a bit to ummmm rusty for that but its still a great idea
i will look into the mirror thing but i think he will scare himself haha.

Im going to do that with a carrot :lol:


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## SMMJessee (Nov 11, 2012)

He hasnt touched the milk jug yet....


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## Standardbred (Dec 21, 2011)

I would set up lots of cool 'interesting' jumps and scatter random things like tyres around for him to play with etc. 
My miniature ponies eat paddock fences unless I fill their paddock with 'toys' for them to dismantle/break/play with.


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## Catpeedontherug (Oct 23, 2012)

can he have a goat?


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## WesternRider88 (Oct 30, 2012)

You could try these:
Neigh Station - Horse.com
Jolly Sidekick - Horse.com


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## SMMJessee (Nov 11, 2012)

i am going to out up a bunch of obsticles like you said

I would love to get him a goat but i dont have the room

I have seen those products before, we sold him in our store they are amazing.
Im going to get him the big air dummy thing


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## SMMJessee (Nov 11, 2012)

im going to check out some things in the thrift store and see if i can make it into a toy


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## Bluebird (Jul 20, 2011)

Can you not get him a companion? he is probably more lonely than bored and there are so many donkeys, mini horses who need a good home.


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## MangoRoX87 (Oct 19, 2009)

I EXTREMELY highly doubt that your other mule will work himself into a colic. Very unlikely. People think that horses (and mules) will colic at just the slightest change, but really they are fairly hardy. Sure if you suddenly double the amount of feed they get, that's just asking for it. But turning them out into a different area? He'll probably bounce around and have fun then calm right down.


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## aspin231 (Mar 20, 2010)

I tend to agree with you keeping a companion in with him. Surely out of the twelve horses you have, one of them will get along with your old mule.


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## SMMJessee (Nov 11, 2012)

Well actually all the horses that we have do not like Ned ,Ned is to friendly and to sweet to fend for himself all our other horses are quite young and they want to play with him so they are rough of him.

His best friend is a 27year old named buck, they love each other sooo much.

I am not worried about Ned colicing I am worried about buck colicing. But Ned is doing INCREDIBLEY well its actually scary how much better he is, he can roll and get up great and he can walk super fast with his head high. The bets say he is no longer in pain at all. So considering he is that good he gets to go outside with buck everyday and play in a snow drift


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## SMMJessee (Nov 11, 2012)

**vets


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## SMMJessee (Nov 11, 2012)

Oh and buck is not a mule he is a horse


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

can buck be next to him ? So he has a buddy ? I have a TB mare next an appendix quarter gelding whom has cataracts. The gelding has hysterics if she is gone or if he gets to far from her. He has gotten dependent on her, like a seeing eye horse, and yes my Gelding will colic, he gets lathered, runs his pen, paces the front, wont drink. He better die before the mare ! they are both old. 27 and 31


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## SMMJessee (Nov 11, 2012)

> can buck be next to him ? So he has a buddy ? I have a TB mare next an appendix quarter gelding whom has cataracts. The gelding has hysterics if she is gone or if he gets to far from her. He has gotten dependent on her, like a seeing eye horse, and yes my Gelding will colic, he gets lathered, runs his pen, paces the front, wont drink. He better die before the mare ! they are both old. 27 and 31
> 
> Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=1840526#ixzz2HkDU70yS


Yes i tottally know what you mean by the colicing and paceing etc, thats what buck will do.

I would love ot put old buck in with ned but ned is being kept in the arena for the winter and buck doesnt like it in their  but ned gets our everday for a while, but i still dont feel its enough


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