# New Long Ear in the Family!



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

cute! she looks very horsey, like qh.


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## TessaMay (Jul 26, 2013)

Yes, she actually has some wither and not the table-straight back you sometimes see. I was thinking maybe QH or paint, due to her spotted legs or she could have a pinto donkey for a father. I'm hoping I can trace her brand and learn a little more about her, but we'll see.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

she is really cute ! very horse looking even in her head ! Interesting brand.


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## Mulefeather (Feb 22, 2014)

She's got a very cute face, and love the spots on the fetlocks! Once she fattens up and gets some conditioning, she will likely look like a totally different animal. You'll have to update more as you get to know her and as her training progresses.


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## TessaMay (Jul 26, 2013)

I definitely will keep an update. I'm excited to see what she's like and ends up knowing/not knowing and I can't wait to see what she looks like when she sheds out in the summer. 

Mostly I want work to get over with and tomorrow to come so we can go get her... I'm not good at waiting patiently for these things :lol:


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## TessaMay (Jul 26, 2013)

Well, yesterday was a day of problems, but in the end we got her home. 

We rented a trailer, brought it home Friday night to make sure we could set off super early in the morning. It's a 3 hour drive each way and the lot owner only allows pickups from 9-11am. We planned to get there right about 9am so that if we had any issues, we'd have a buffer. About an hour into our drive, 2/3 of the way up the first pass my truck started giving us trouble. The power started cutting out on us, making us pull off the road. We tried giving it a little break and going on, it would run fine for 10 minutes or so then do it again. It has done this before, but rarely and we've never been able to diagnose the cause. This time it finally through a code, so we will be able to get it fixed at least. We ended up exiting the freeway and parking at the top of the pass. At that point we knew there was no way we were going to make it 6 hours of hauling. 

My dad jumped into his truck and drove to us so we could move the trailer to his truck and go on. By the time he got to us we had just barely enough time to get there before 11am. We get the trailer all hooked up and the trailer jack won't raise again. After multiple attempts we call the trailer company and they send someone out to fix it, but this will of course make us too late to be able to get to the lot in time. 

My boyfriend called the lot owner and after a rant about how he has to deal with people wanting him to make exceptions all the time, he finally agrees to lock her up in a separate pen with a combo lock so that we can get her without him being there. Man, what a stressful morning. But knowing we could get her any time helped cut my stress in a huge way. 

After a 2 hour wait for the rental company to come replace the jack (which took all of 10 minutes) we finally got on the road with my dad's truck. When we got to the lot I was expecting her to be hard to load on top of everything else, it would have been fitting with the day. But she loaded right in and we had a thoroughly uneventful - if long - trip back. 

She is now all settled into her temporary home and seems calm and happy. Last night she didn't want to go in her shelter, since she can't see out of it much, but when we went to see her today her food had won her over and she seems comfortable. 

I like what I've seen of her temperament so far, she seems interested in her surroundings but pretty calm and cool headed. Let us touch and brush her all over. She is bad about picking up her feet, but we'll work on that. 

She is also in a bit rougher condition than when the pictures were taken, though they are probably only a week old. She could use a 100lbs or so and has quite a few areas on her neck that are rubbed raw. Some are from twine she had tied tightly around her upper neck with a number attached, but there is a big spot that seems older, since it's no longer raw and hair is starting to grow back, right under her mane. 

Here's a picture: 








It's probably about 6 inches long and I can't figure out how she'd rub all the hair off without rubbing her mane off too. Very strange. 

Her feet are also in need of care - as you might expect. They are long and very run forward. Her fronts are in the worst shape, one is actually taller than the other, making her walk a bit off at times. Her pasterns are pretty crooked, but I think it is more the terrible feet causing it than an actual bone deformity. We will see what my vet and trimmer think. I'm hoping corrective trimming will take care of most of the crookedness. 

Here are some pictures of her from today. She was very wet and muddy when we showed up, so cleaning her up was not a very successful venture. But we worked with her on lifting her feet and put some wound spray on the places where she is still raw from the twine.


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## Mulefeather (Feb 22, 2014)

Wow, what a nightmare! Glad you were able to get her and get home. She looks like a sweet thing, and typical of the mules I've seen when moved to a different place. I'd expect her personality to start really blooming once she's had some feeding and she feels more confident. It will be interesting to see who the "real" girl is under all the mud, both metaphorical and literal.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

did you get her in Ellensburg?


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## TessaMay (Jul 26, 2013)

We got her in Sunnyside, so even further. 

I am definitely looking forward to getting to know her better and seeing what her personality is like. Right now she doesn't know us from Adam and when we show up just gives us a look that seems to say, "Oh, you again. Weird."


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## Mulefeather (Feb 22, 2014)

Is she your first mule?


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## TessaMay (Jul 26, 2013)

She is the first I've owned, but not the first I've ridden/worked with. My neighbors growing up bred and showed mules and QH's. I got to ride and work with their animals. Without that experience I probably wouldn't have even thought of a mule. I think a mule will be a better fit for my boyfriend than a horse in the long run, just based on personality - Not that they aren't all different just like horses are, so it is an individual thing just like any animal. 

Oh, we decided to name her Bailey!


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## Mulefeather (Feb 22, 2014)

That’s a cute name for a mule, and suits her! And I agree with you about mules and men – there’s something about long-ears that men connect with. Maybe because they’re a little more “rugged” looking than horses, or have associations with people who are tough and no-nonsense? Who knows. My ex-husband never came to the stable with me until I got Buddy, and I was actually able to get him to come out and groom/handle him which shocked the crap out of me at the time.


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## wbwks (Apr 5, 2014)

The mare she is out of was a tobiano paint- unfortunately this is about all the paint color that a mule will get from a paint mare. The overo pattern doesn't pass to a mule colt at all. 

She is very pretty! I am taking two appaloosa mares to be bred next month.


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## speedy da fish (May 7, 2009)

Lovely girl! She has a very pony-like body and I love her leg markings


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## TessaMay (Jul 26, 2013)

speedy da fish said:


> Lovely girl! She has a very pony-like body and I love her leg markings


She looks quite small in pictures, but tapes between 15-15.1hh and wears a large horse sized halter. Going off of pictures I was doubtful she was actually 15hh and was expecting her to turn out more like 14hh. 

The vet is coming out this Sunday to give her a check up, do teeth if needed, fecal, shots etc.. I'm looking forward to getting her opinion on the Bailey's feet/pasterns particularly. 

My trimmer wanted to let her settle in for a couple weeks before working on them, which is good in some ways since she needs to work on picking up her feet. She stands there nicely once you have one in your hand, but initially getting them up is difficult. I am wondering if it is partially due to her being uncomfortable putting extra weight on one front because of the messed up feet. She is a bit better with lifting her backs than fronts.


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## MaximasMommy (Sep 21, 2013)

Aww it sounds like she was really ready to get out of that place


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## emcdevitt (Aug 25, 2014)

She is beautiful, and makes me want to have a mule, too! Those darn cute ears!


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## TessaMay (Jul 26, 2013)

A little update on Bailey! 

She had a vet appointment yesterday evening and was a pretty well behaved girl, particularly since it was dinner time and she wasn't getting any. A little impatient pawing, but would stop each time when I put a hand on her chest. She's improving with picking up her feet and was great with shots/needles. My vet is having us treat her for lice. She didn't see any, but thought with her itching that it was a high likelihood anyway. 

We pulled blood and took a fecal sample, so we'll know soon what parasites she might have and if anything concerning comes back from the blood work. She flexed normally, but has some puffiness in her hinds and is fairly lame on the fronts. We think it's likely due to the state of her hooves, so we'll reevaluate after a couple corrective trims. We'll also start her on a joint supplement. 

Her teeth had large hooks and lots of sharp points. The vet took off all the sharp points and corrected her teeth as much as she could, but she'll need to be floated a second time in 6 months or so to really have them correct. She was pretty freaked out by the experience and needed a second dose of sedation before we could really get going. My vet always starts with the lightest dose she thinks necessary and ups it as needed. I wouldn't be surprised by her reactions if this was her first time being floated, but she was a pretty good girl anyway. 

As you can see, she was pretty nervous. This was when we paused at the beginning to give her a second shot of tranquilizer. 










Also, my vet thinks her teeth look more like 15 than 11, but of course aging by teeth isn't the most accurate thing in the world. We'll just say she's somewhere between 11-15. 

And we got to hear her bray for the first time last night. She has a very deep, nickery voice :lol:


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## Mulefeather (Feb 22, 2014)

She really has the "OMG WTF ARE YOU DOING" look on her face in that pic! But glad she was such a good girl, and I'm sure she'll feel a lot better now that she can eat without pain.

Don't worry too much about the age by her teeth, she could easily have 15 years of riding life in her if she's otherwise sound and taken care of. My mule came to me with some cracks in his feet and he would pull away from having the hinds lifted because then it put pressure on his fronts. Once he got trimmed properly he was an angel.


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## TessaMay (Jul 26, 2013)

Yes, we don't really care about her age. We just would have been shocked if she turned out to be in her 20's or something :lol:

I think part of her not wanting to lift her feet is just that, being uncomfortable adding extra weight to one foot when they are at weird angles from growing funny. I'm pretty confident she will pick up her feet and move way better once she gets a few corrective trims in.


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## TessaMay (Jul 26, 2013)

So I think we may have a gaited mule... I noted her super fast walk the day we brought her home - I have to stretch myself to keep up - but didn't think too much of it. Yesterday we took her out for a walk on the trails around the barn and I noticed she seems to move her feet on the same side together as she walks - again, super fast. 

When she's done with quarantine and we can get here moving out somewhere with good, flat footing, I will study her movements closer and take a video.


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## wbwks (Apr 5, 2014)

Lucky, Lucky, Lucky!!! I have two app mares on Regumate so they will cycle together for breeding to a gaited jack. Wouldn't I be so lucky to get color AND gait? Who knows, one of the mares is a snowcap so homozygous for color, so perhaps a possibility. The other is a buckskin leopard hoping for some sort of color, gait would be a slam dunk.


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## blueriver (Oct 10, 2009)

Good job with Bailey!!! My uncle had a mule live to 38 !!! May or may not be gaited. Grandpa always said "A mule can walk a hole in the ground!!"

When we go riding most horses can not keep up!!


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## TessaMay (Jul 26, 2013)

Brief update on Miss Bailey Bray. We had her feet done on Saturday and she behaved very well. My trimmer does most of the donkeys and mules in the area since she is very good with them. She commented multiple times on how impressed she was with Bailey, since most kill pen mules she works with ended up there because they have become super pushy and bad with people - having learned how to out-smart and out-muscle humans. 

Bailey has a little bit of pushiness and needs some work on stopping when you ask and standing, but nothing that won't be easily taught. We guess that she was either dumped because of her owner running into hard times or because of her crooked pastern not holding up to the work they wanted. If the second one is the case, then shame on them. It wouldn't have been difficult to find a light work home for a nice mule like her. But, our gain either way I guess. 

My trimmer thinks she will be able to get 3 out of her 4 hooves to where they should be in 2 trims, but it will take 3-4 trims to correct the hoof on the crooked pastern side. Not that she's shooting for a perfectly straight hoof on that foot, but she will do what she can to make Bailey the most comfortable. Her hooves were all quite long, she took around an inch off of each toe and that was conservative since she didn't want to take too much off and make her sore. 

Here's a before picture (not a very good one) of her front hooves to give you an idea of the crookedness. Obviously since the trim (I don't have any post trim pictures) it looks less extreme, so we'll see what it looks like as my trimmer corrects the hoof as much as possible. The bone is actually crooked, so it will never be 100% straight, but we're hoping to get her sound enough for light trail riding/hiking. 









She has stopped scratching her hair off since her first lice dusting and her hairless patches are beginning to grow back. She does have a lot of dry skin though - any ideas of ways to help with this? My mare often gets dry skin in the spring too - well, so do I, really  

Well, here's a picture of her in all her dusty glory. She had been curried but not soft brushed yet and could really use a bath. You can brush her for an hour and still find dust.


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## Mulefeather (Feb 22, 2014)

So glad she's working out so well! For dry skin you might also consider putting some corn/rice oil or cocosoya in her feed. Just keep brushing her too, it'll stimulate her coat to release oils.


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## TessaMay (Jul 26, 2013)

Bailey is now officially out of quarantine and moved in with my mare today. Man is it rocking my mare's world! 

Tess is a 17hh draft cross who is a bully. She believes she's the queen of the universe and has never met a horse who will stand up to her. When Bailey didn't respond to her the way a horse would she was baffled. When Tess made a face and tried to run bailey off, Bailey just calmly turned her butt - no threat kick, no running away, just a clear, "keep going and I'll have to kick you." Tess chose a corner of the pasture and just stared at bailey, fascinated, for at least an hour. 

I think a mule is just what she needed :lol: 

Bailey seems to really like her new home and was a super good girl during the moving process. She's so wonderfully level headed about everything. Horses are drama queens compared to mules I think.


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## lostastirrup (Jan 6, 2015)

> no threat kick, no running away, just a clear, "keep going and I'll have to kick you."


When I was younger (like four) a mule pulled one of these on my brother. and he wasn't wise like your mare and ended up getting kicked. 

Shes a very beautiful mule by the way.


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## Mulefeather (Feb 22, 2014)

LOL. That's a very "mule" thing to do in my mind. No drama, no big show, just "Keep on doing what you're doing, you'll see what happens."


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## TessaMay (Jul 26, 2013)

My mare is so upset! Too many changes all at once (moved back to her old pasture and shelter and put hot tape up because she has been breaking fences) and mostly she is not happy about Bailey. She has zero idea how to handle a mule and her lack of fear or reaction to Tessa's antics. I got her over (I think) her other problems yesterday, but she won't go closer than 10 feet or so from Bailey. 

I have no fear she'll get over it and they will probably make great pasture mates after that, so I'm amused more than anything. Poor bully mare doesn't know what to do when she can't bully :lol:


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## TessaMay (Jul 26, 2013)

Also, just have to say, Bailey is an AWESOME girl. She is so darn smart and steady! The only time I've seen her act nervous and a little panicky is in small enclosed spaces where she can't see the outside world. I'm sure she has just never been kept in your typical closed in stall and we don't plan to ever stall her, so it's not a major deal. We will work on it though. 

This weekend she showed us that she it completely fine with being hosed. She will even stick her fact in the stream. She was perfectly calm straight off the trailer, just wanted to look around at all the horses who were tearing around with excitement. Had a quad start up and drive off right next to her (about 10 minutes after we arrived in her new home) and didn't even blink. She will stand lose in the pasture to be brushed and picks up all four feet nicely. My partner is currently working on leading without a halter or rope with her. 

On Sunday we took her for a nice hike on the trails nearby and she was a gem. She loves getting out and exploring, with or without company. 

She exceeds my highest expectations and I have zero clue how she was ever dumped at an auction/feed lot.


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