Re: endurance mules

[rides2far@juno.com (Angela C. McGhee)]

>
>does anybody have experience with endurance mules? How do they compare 

I did one 25 miler on a mule.  Katy had been bottle raised and had always
been stabled with Appaloosas.  They told me to just find a spotted rump
to follow and settle in for the ride.  They were right.  I hooked up with
a nice fellow and I could have been a packsaddle for all it mattered. 
She pretty much ignored everything I did from then on.

Her trot was VERY smooth, she was surefooted, and was a great ride until
you had it in your head to do something different than what she wanted to
do.

When we got to the vet check, I think her pulse was about 48 on
arrival...unfortunately, it took 6 minutes for her buddy to come down. 
When our out time came leaving was out of the question.  We had to wait. 
This was a very tough ride and several people went over the limit.  Would
you believe our ride time was 6:06 and we missed completion by that 6
minutes?

Another thing.  We had to go down switchbacks on the way down the
mountain.  The horse she was following trotted downhill much faster than
Katy.  Once it got one switchback ahead, she just turned left and we went
STRAIGHT down to meet her buddy.  No amount of rein pulling would have
tipped her nose towards the trail.  We did that 3 times.  O.K. I admit
it.  I cut trail.  But I didn't get my completion so who cares.  :-)

During the weeks before the ride when I tried to train her, I would try
to take her from the field to the barn to saddle up.  It was about 40
yards and sometimes the walk took 20 minutes.  It just wasn't what she
had in mind.  When we took her buddy out of the field without her, she
just jumped a 4'6" fence from a standstill.  By the way, she was around
15.2 and 16 hands.  It was according to how long she'd had her shoes on. 
She never needed reset, she just eventually got too tall.

Oh yes, and when she itched...she rolled.  Period.

I am very tempted to try and tell Danny Herlong's mule story, which could
put Jerry Clower to shame, but you just can't get his accent in type.  I
will put in one of his footnotes.  After he disposed of his endurance
mule, he was doing the Tevis and came up on a German lady who had leased
that famous mule who had won the Haggin cup or something wonderful.  It
seems that they had changed the trail that year and the famous mule
refused to take one step in the new direction.  Nothing they could do
would change his mind (even though Danny enthusiastically joined into the
encouraging).  She finally had to pull.

I'll take an Arab.

Angie and Cotton Katy

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