# Help me train a mule



## gottatrot

I think the problem is that you have a plan, and from what I hear, the mule tells you the plan. 

Sorry, can't help much. I know from my experience "training" a donkey that I will leave it to real donkey/mule people in the future. 

We trained a few mini horses to drive a cart, so just went along and did it step by step with the donkey like we had before. Except the donkey was contemptuous of pressure and was like, "Go ahead, beat me silly and I'll just stand here and die." No, we didn't hit or abuse the donkey, but that's the impression I got. We couldn't motivate him, and with pressure he'd just shut down.

We couldn't lead the donkey, we had to drive him forward. There was no reward that seemed right. If you released pressure, he'd quit for the day. If you got him going, he wouldn't stop. Instead of ground driving, I was pulled around the ring, running and skiing on my boots in the dirt. So then you think, "Good, we have forward motion so that's a start!" Think again.

There was no pressure that was light enough that he wouldn't flinch, and no pressure hard enough to make him work. He despised "practice," or "drilling." 

Eventually we desensitized him to the shafts, taught him to ground drive, and drag things behind. We got him going in the cart, but we never did get him to go out and drive around with the other horses. You couldn't just tie him to the back of a cart and go out "ponying" either. He'd just sit down. 

So, we never did learn what will motivate a donkey, and it was obvious they think differently than horses and what works on horses didn't seem to work on him. He just retired and does whatever he wants, singing songs and getting treats for being cute. It seemed like he watched the other horses getting harnessed up and going out and decided it wasn't for him.


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## Dustbunny

"So, we never did learn what will motivate a donkey, and it was obvious they think differently than horses and what works on horses didn't seem to work on him. He just retired and does whatever he wants, singing songs and getting treats for being cute. It seemed like he watched the other horses getting harnessed up and going out and decided it wasn't for him."

Smart little feller! This is why I will never have a mule. They are smarter than I am and I prefer to not appear more of a dunce than normal. Too humiliating.


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## Cherie

Well, how is your plan going? 

I have started out with many mules from all different kinds of backgrounds and I have not tried to 'make friends' with any of them. I have always just started out with getting one in a place where I could handle them and never gave them a choice. I always started from a position of being in control, a position of strength. Oddly enough, they have all ended up following me around and letting me catch them anywhere even though I never cultivated a 'friendship'. 

So, I started by putting one in a chute and putting a halter on it and tying it solidly. I never tried to hold on by hand because they are too strong and they just learn to pull away if they want to -- a very bad and very common 'mule trick'. 

I always treat one kindly but very business-like. I have never used treats, but do let one stick its head in a small bucket and let it eat a little grain when I scratched and rubbed on it.

Spoiled mules respond very well to 'restraints'. Tying solidly is the first 'restraint' I use. If one quickly lets me approach it without turning its butt and setting back on the lead repeatedly, I just spend a lot of time walking up, scratching around on it and backing away when the mule stands pretty relaxed.

If a mule kept backing away from me or kept trying to turn its butt, then I would go to 4-way hobbles and give it no choice but to stand and let me approach it over and over. This has always worked. One thing mules will not do is fight themselves. They learn to give immediately to pressure if they have no choice. They are too smart to fight a hopeless situation. If you fight them, they just 'tune you out' and feel no pain. You cannot win a fight. You have to be smarter and give them no choice. You can never be meaner or bigger.

I never saw a '_good_ smack'. I never smack a horse and I cannot remember a time that I have ever hit a mule as a punishment. I think hitting a mule is always counter-productive and usually is for a horse, also. There are just much better ways to 'speak' to a horse or mule.


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## saddlebred99

Cherie said:


> I never saw a '_good_ smack'. I never smack a horse and I cannot remember a time that I have ever hit a mule as a punishment. I think hitting a mule is always counter-productive and usually is for a horse, also. There are just much better ways to 'speak' to a horse or mule.


Hey, Cherie! Just out of curiosity, what are your alternatives to 'a good smack?" I've always found it to be very beneficial to a naughty horse. Of course, I use other methods before resulting to using my whip, but after one or two smacks, whatever they were doing (biting/nipping, pawing, etc...) ceases. 

Thanks,
saddlebred99


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## dawnandduke2002

*Donkey*

All I know is that DONKEYS don't respond well to pressure, at all. Idk if it's the same for mules


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## AnalisaParalyzer

I don't have access to a chute or hobbles, so I'm out of luck if my purposed plan doesn't work. I should be starting work with her in January after the holidays. It's undecided if her owners are going to send her to me for training, or if I'm going to be traveling to them. However, to teach her to tie, I will be using a solid tree and letting her go ahead and try to pull against that instead of me. Hopefully that will translate into being led.


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## thecolorquest

Training Mules and Donkeys, books and DVDs by Meredith Hodges, available on her website luckythreeranch dot com.


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## inspirehope

I think you have a good plan Analisa. I just think you have to remember that the phrase "stubborn as a mule" didn't come from nowhere. Things might not progress as quickly as you have planned. If that happens, be patient and keep at it. If it doesn't, so much the better!


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## Cherie

inspirehope said:


> I think you have a good plan Analisa. I just think you have to remember that the phrase "stubborn as a mule" didn't come from nowhere. Things might not progress as quickly as you have planned. If that happens, be patient and keep at it. If it doesn't, so much the better!


Do you actually train and handle mules? Most people who say 'stubborn as a mule' either do not handle or train them at all or very well or they have just encountered mules that were smarter than they were. Good 'mule people' just don't refer to them as stubborn. 

As far as not having access to hobbles:

They are cheap and everyone should be able to use and handle hobbles. A pair of front hobbles are cheap but should always be used with at least one picket hobble attached to the front hobbles by a short piece of rope. Total cost -- less than $35.00 or $40.00. 

'Restraints' work so good on mules that it is pretty hard to handle a lot of them (especially problem mules) without having some knowledge of using them.


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