# my beautiful boy!



## shandasue (Nov 22, 2011)

Hi. I just wanted to share a picture of my beautiful boy. 
The picture is a few months old. 
His name is chance (last 'chance' at love) there's a story behind that. 
Every one tells me mules shouldn't have long names >:\
He is ten months right now and still sucking his mom:/
I'm gonna get him off her as soon as I find someone to haul him. 
I plan to show him in a yearling halter class this fall. 
I can do just about anything with him.

He's my first long ear 
my grandpa has been trying to get me into mules for years
I figured if I was gonna have one I would raise it because I don't want the trouble of retaining one, I know how difficult they can be. 
Did the attachments work? 
The second picture is most recent. If it's not the same picture. ..







,


----------



## Mulefeather (Feb 22, 2014)

How cute! He looks like a very handsome boy. It's great you've got a mule-experienced person to help you bring him along. 

He definitely should have been off his mom by now. That's going to make the transition harder for him. He sounds like he has a really nice, willing temperament though, which always makes things a lot easier. 

You'll have to update with more pics as he grows up


----------



## princessfluffybritches (Aug 10, 2012)

Love Him! But it gives me a heavy heart thinking about Buttercup (went to a good home)


----------



## shandasue (Nov 22, 2011)

Thanks I can't wait to get started with him. 
I already take his moma out on trail rides with out him and he doesn't care. I believe he's more attached to my other mare. When I take her out he runs the fence line. She lets him play ruff with her

He's really dragging my mare down though and I want to start her on barrels but she needs to gain a hundred pounds. 

Oh and I also wanted to ask when I should stop feeding him grain. He eats with his mom now and when I take him off I was thinking i would feed him one 50lb sack of weanling food then just go to hay? 
Im sure my grandpa could answer that but I like to hear other opinions.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Mulefeather (Feb 22, 2014)

Mules shouldn't have grain at all unless they ABSOLUTELY need it. They are generally super easy keepers, and they can get a lot of health issues from eating grain. Since he is young and still growing, a low-protein, non-sweetened feed would be best, mixed with some corn/rice bran oil for fat. The majority of his diet should be forage like grass and hay, though. 

Here are some articles about feeding mules from Lucky Three Ranch, Meredith Hodges is considered an authority on mules. I'm not 100% behind all her methods, but she does make good points. 

The donkey is an animal that is designed by nature and natural selection to squeeze every drop of nutritional value out of their food, and many mules inherit that trait.


----------



## shandasue (Nov 22, 2011)

Thanks. The weanling food I have isn't sweetend but I'll have to look at the protein. Why don't they need a lot of protein?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## shandasue (Nov 22, 2011)

This is my most recent picture of him


----------



## haleigho (May 3, 2014)

Love those ears!


----------



## shandasue (Nov 22, 2011)

Oh goodness. I just read the link from mulefeather. That scares me!
I told my grandpa to just feed chance the weanling food and then
just give him hay, but he said if hes gonna be at his house hes gonna 
be fed sweet feed. theres no arguing with my grandpa. Ididnt even attempt it.
ill find some good feed for mules and just buy that so unless my grandpa
wants to buy the sweet feed himself he wont get it hopefully. 

Any suggestions on grain for mules?


----------



## shandasue (Nov 22, 2011)

Here's another cute picture of my boy


----------



## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

/dies. So. cute.


----------



## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

Long ears are adorable! We have some long-ears:










We are constantly managing their food intake so they don't explode. We got them overweight two years ago and slimming them down is a slow, steady process, involving slimming paddocks, grazing muzzles etc. Don't let your mule get fat, it takes ages to get weight off long-ears safely...


----------



## KatieQ (Apr 4, 2011)

OMG he is gorgeous! I know zip about mules/donkeys but have always been an admirer. Have fun with him (I can tell you will), and try to keep him fit and healthy, lots of experienced people here will give you advice and they all mean well so listen to them and follow up with your vet if you have doubts. He will give you years of fun and a best friend, probably if you do him right!


----------



## Nokotaheaven (Apr 11, 2012)

So cute!! :3


----------



## Kaitymay (Jun 6, 2014)

Absolutely adorable! I'm a mule lover, and your little guy is beautiful! Good luck with training him!


----------

