Importance of Traveling with Your Equine

When you have been riding your mule at your home and you really think they are solid, think again.  There are three things in this world that will keep you humble:  toddlers, drunks, and your mule.  My mule has surprised me in good ways and bad ways while traveling with him in the past.  In order to have a solid mule, you need to travel.  In order to ride like no other, you need to ride like no other. 

For the most part, equine will get comfortable in their own surroundings.  The only thing that my mule is still deathly afraid of is the only wall we have in our arena.  During the crazy times of Covid, we were gifted three hogs and had to house them in our cattle pens on the other side of the arena wall.  My mule, JoJo, in a past life must have had a horrific experience with a hog apparently, because three years later it is like no time has passed since those hogs lived here for a total of two weeks.  Other than the wall, JoJo is pretty solid. 

We own a trail riding facility that commonly has clinicians.  He has trained with some of the best which exposed him to obstacles, dressage, mounted archery, trail, and mounted police training.  We even once had a helicopter on our property.  However, the lingering question of is he safe or is he comfortable with his environment has me traveling with him this Fall.

Traveling to different destinations is a good way to see if your mule trusts you as their leader or if they refer to their experiences and rely on their instincts.  If your mule trusts their environment and not you, then you have just been going through the motions and have stopped riding and become a passenger.  This is a dangerous place to be, especially when you are unaware. 

If your mule is the same at different locations, then their mind is with you.  Traveling helps you become a better leader by confirming to your mule that they do not have to draw upon their instinctive reactions, but they can depend upon you for guidance.  You become their rock.

The only way to know where your equine is on this ability to look to you as a leader, is to put them into unexpected and uncomfortable environments.  I’m not talking about jumping off cliffs and or into pits of snakes.  Nope.  You could just drive to your friend’s house and ride in their pasture for twenty minutes.  You could haul to a rodeo event and not compete. 

We host an event called Chix in the Sticks several times per year.  There are always so many women that have their equine or their living quarters trailer on their maiden voyage.  With a plethora of equine events going on, just choose one that is not too crazy at first and then keep raising the bar.  As your confidence grows, your relationship with your mule will blossom.  If you are scared to death of going to an event with a crowd, then book a private lesson and haul to it.  That way you will have someone there that can help you overcome any hurdles you have during this part of your mule’s journey.

I am actually a presenting clinician with JoJo, and I am still cautious when we travel.  My goal is to get my mule off of our property once a month between now and my next booked offsite demonstration where I have been booked to shoot fire from my mule.  In September I attended a ranch horsemanship clinic around two hours away; not because I wanted to learn ranch horsemanship but because I knew I would have quality help if needed and I am working through any holes my mule has with traveling to destinations.  He was leery of the dumpster, a water bottle someone had left on the ground, and cried like a baby when he was fed alone at his trailer during lunch.  We worked through each.  It is vital that you ride your mule the same as you do at your own home. 

Mules can sense when you are scared.  Act like the new environment is just the same as what you are accustomed to riding and you will be A-OK.  

Get to traveling and change from thinking your mule is solid to knowing that your mule is solid. 

By Brandy Von Holten