Creating Trust and Respect is Easy as 1-2-3

By:  Brandy Von Holten

Have you ever had someone demand something when you would have gladly done it if they would have asked nicely?  Have you ever had a boss that was too bossy?  Think about how much more could get done if every request was asked, then told, and then demanded.  This is the basis of earning the trust of people and of your mule.  Of course there is way more to this than asking, telling, and demanding a cue.  You must always ask first, and you must always follow through with your demand.  If you are wondering what in the world I am talking about, then read along with me and learn how creating trust and respect can be as easy as 1-2-3.

All training begins on the ground.  I ask that my mule back up, demonstrate all gaits from the ground, and yield the hind quarters.  Let’s start with sending them around.  With my lead rope in my left hand, I will raise my left hand, point, and look at my pointing hand.  This is me “asking” my mule to read my body language, which I consider a level 1. If the mule does not depart, I will then cluck or kiss once.  It is imperative that you only make the noise for a short amount of time, because if you turn into a kissing machine or clucking machine, you are begging.  The verbal cue is a level 2.  If your mule has still not budged, it is time for level 3, which is the demand.  I will actually make contact on the hind quarters with the extra rope in my right hand.  It is crucial that you do not threaten the rope but go ahead and fulfill the demand.  When I explain this concept to my students, I discuss children that know that there is a consequence and children that know that there is not any follow through.  I would disengage the hindquarters and begin again.  The most important part of this training exercise is that I must always present the level 1.  No matter how many times you are forced to go to a level 3, you must always start with a level 1.  Here’s why.

Your mule is trying to learn how to communicate with you.  If you are predictable, and always do a level 1, level 2, and then a level 3, then your mule will understand to start seeking to complete the task at a lower level.  Eventually you will be able to get your mule to a level 1 in all commands from the ground and saddle.  Your mule will respect you because you fulfill the level 3, but can trust that you will use the lowest level if they comply.

In the saddle, the exact same philosophy can be used.  If you wanted to turn your mule to the left, you would first look to the left.  Looking without the use of your hands or legs is a level 1.  A level 2 would be to squeeze with your right leg.  Level 3 is to lift with your left rein.  So many people completely leave out level 1 and level 2 when turning and immediately go to using their reins.  From the mule’s stand point, you are a jerk.  He/she had absolutely no idea that you wanted to turn and you went straight to the piece of metal in their mouth that works by pressure on the tongue, the corners of the mouth, the bars of the jaw, and possibly the poll and roof of the mouth.  If you consistently turn by looking and then leg pressure, followed by the use of your reins, this allows your mule the ability to learn over time that he/she can trust that you will do the levels in order.

Every maneuver I ask my mule to do has a level 1, a level 2, and a level 3.  If you are predictable, your mule will learn to comply with the least amount of pressure.  They figure out that that they can rely/trust in your mulemanship.  If you always give your mule two options before reaching a level 3, they will respect you and because you always give them cues before you use your level 3.  Trust and respect are as easy as 1-2-3, but now forcing yourself is the real problem.  I have found that I have to implement change, one maneuver at a time and make a mental effort to always try to remember to use the different levels.  Not only do we need help with our mules, but our mules need help with their riders.

How to Despook Your Mule

By Brandy Von Holten

First, if you are having trouble with your mule, do not be afraid to seek help from a trainer or clinician.  Do not feel like a lesser rider by wearing a helmet, and ride with others until you have overcome any issues.  Your safety always needs to be a priority!

In my world, I must have equine that are desensitized and able to handle some crazy situations.  Our mule and horses and used for lessons, daycare visits, nursing home visits, guided rides, and competitions.  With us hosting all sorts of clinicians and with me having a Masters in Teaching, I have been able to categorize every form of training used to despook/desensitize all sorts of personalities of mules and horses.  As an overarching theme, all equine learn from the release of pressure.  To put what I have learned to the test I competed with 3 different horses and a mule this year.  I ended up with a 12 year old horse winning the Reserve National Champion in Lead Line, a very spooky mare ranked 3^rd in Missouri in the Open Division who also won the 2016 Reserve National Champion in the Green Horse Division, a small filly qualifying in Green Horse, Open, and the Futurity Division, and a mule winning a rodeo queen title, a Reserve Champion at the Festival for the Horse which was a Western Dressage competition, and qualify for nationals in the Green Horse and Open Division.  I am not saying this will always work, but I am saying that it is working for me with very different equine.

Blocking

If you ask your mule to go over something or through something such as a ditch and they move their hindquarters to the left, you use your left heel to push them back over.  Blocking reminds me of the game of pinball.  If they skirt right, you apply pressure to the right.

Resting Point

I use “resting point” when all else fails, because once you start this battle, you have to stick with it until the task is finished.  Your mule is not on your time schedule.  It could take 10 minutes, or it could take 45 minutes.  In “resting point” when you have a refusal, it is time to get those legs moving and then offer the task you asked for to be the only place they get to rest and catch their breath.  If you offer it to them and they refuse again, then it is back to work.  I am never mean, just factual.

Backing

If you are past the point of being able to use blocking because they over shot the task, make them back up until they are able to correctly to do what was ask.  If your mule starts backing up on their own when they are scared, then you cannot use backing as your correction.  It is a fine line that you will have to decide what works for your mule.  Out of my four equine that we use on the ranch, I can use backing for three on the four equine.

 

Circle 75

This was a new technique I picked up from Amish trainer, Sam Shetler.  This is highly affective with spooky mules and horses.  Have you ever had a ride do a 90 or 180 with you on them because they spooked.  Typically, our first instinct is to pull the animal back towards the thing that spooked them.  Wrong.  Think about this; they were scared and now they have pressure applied to that side of their mouth.  You just justified their fear.  Instead, you should have that mule spin on their haunches with pressure for 75% of a circle in the direction they spooked.  You want to make their decision a BAD decision.  Once you come around, 25% of the circle has no pressure, which is in the direction of the initially scary object.  If they spook again, around you go again.  It does not take long for them to start seeking the release of pressure towards the object that once scared them.

Treat Training

I am aware that I will probably get some humbles from the crowd from saying treat training.  However, last time I checked killer whales are doing performances with swimmers, dogs are doing some amazing agility maneuvers, and children have been taught how to use the potty for years with treat training.  Here’s an animal that spends over half the day eating, and you don’t think they would be motivated by a treat?  I do not use treat training with every animal, just the ones that are highly reactive, and I only use it after other tries have failed.  Typically, it is a sound spook or cumbersome items such as a raincoat, umbrella, or a massive stuffed animal.  I present the object and when they stop reacting I give them a treat.  There is a major right way and a major wrong way to treat train.

Each equine is a different combination.  My primary lesson horse just needs blocking, the highly reactive mare needs circle 75 and treat training, the small filly needs backing, and the mule needs backing, circle 75, and resting point.  Happy safe trails!

A Twist on Versatility

By:  Brandy Von Holten

Meet JoJo!   He’s a Missouri Fox Trotter mule that forgot to be gaited.  JoJo belongs to myself, Brandy Von Holten.  My husband and I own a trail riding facility 14 miles SE of Sedalia, MO.  JoJo is currently our only mule but he will not be our last.  I am the new Chair for the Versatility Trail Program with NASMA and I wanted to introduce myself and my mule.

I purchased JoJo as a 7 year old mule from the Urton family.  Their son had joined the military and JoJo wasn’t being ridden so they decided to sell him.  I bought him sight unseen from a facebook post in March 2016.  The learning began the second day of owning him when I ask my husband to get on bareback which did not end well.  I quickly wondered if I had gotten myself into something I could not handle.  I was officially scared to death.  Our rides for the next few months consisted of helmets, smaller areas, and someone nearby.  In July of 2016, I was asked to judge the Benton County Rodeo Queen competition.  It was there that I realized that their queen competition did not have standard rodeo queen restrictions and that someone of my age could enter.  It was at this event that I set a goal of being the 2017 Benton County Rodeo Queen.   A mule had never been entered by any of the past participants in the history of the rodeo, so I already knew who I was going to use, JoJo.  This is how our journey together began.

In order to be prepared for a rodeo environment and to bring JoJo’s training from an occasional trail ride to a finished competition mule included obstacle training, dressage, a drill team, and sorting.  Obstacles were my first aspect to address.  He just needed some “life” introduced to him.  To my surprise, he was a natural when it came to not being scared of manmade obstacles.  But then sometimes, something odd would get his attention and he would not be able to do as I ask.  For example, at our very first obstacle competition he was not able to complete three obstacles because he was so worried about a baby blanket in the bleachers that a guest had forgotten.  By the end of the 2017 obstacle season, we qualified for nationals in three divisions:  Green Horse 1, Green Horse 2, and Open.  He even placed in the top five at his first Extreme Cowboy competition.  With our success with obstacles, I felt confident in his ability to handle a parade.   I pushed my luck and even carried the American flag.  Now that I had him introduced to odd things in his environment, I still needed to increase our mulemanship.  I turned to western dressage.  We entered into the 2017 Festival for the Horse, and won the Reserve Champion in the Open Division.  This was a dream come true, but was only made possible from the weekly practices of the Country Tough Drill Team.  The drill team has given me the opportunity to form friendships while advancing my riding skills.  Talk about team work!  Some of the horses did not know what to think about JoJo at first, but now they do not get upset when he is chewing on their saddle pads, standing way too close, or demanding love from every person there.  Our final component to ready ourselves for the rodeo queen competition was to introduce cattle.  He was a little squirrely at first but then quickly got the hang of sorting.  By the time the 2017 Benton County Rodeo Queen competition rolled around, I was so pleased with the journey we had taken that it was just icing on the cake when we actually WON!

JoJo now has a coloring sheet designed after him for people to pick up in the office and is the character in my second children’s book coming out in 2018!  I hope to do a good job for the VTP program and help people from all over see the versatility of a mule.

Put the judge back on the pedestal

By Brandy Von Holten

My husband and I own and operate Von Holten Ranch, a trail riding facility in Mora, MO.  We have  hosted over 70 events this year.  When people view our life looking from the outside in, they think this is a cake walk and think there is not any stress related to owning a trail riding facility.  In all actuality, there is a massive amount of stress!  With us choosing to put our last name as the name of our business, we try to go above and beyond in every aspect of the events we put on at the ranch.  From ribbons, to t-shirts, to leather products, to fliers, to judges; you name it and we have put hours into our selection.  This brings me to a topic I feel very passionately about; putting the judge back on the pedestal.  Here are a few key points to ponder.

Respect the judge.

For some organizations, judges must take rigorous test or go through certification processes.  Some judges have extensive equine knowledge that you may not be aware of currently.  You should address them with ma’am or sir, shake their hand, and thank them for judging.  A judge has agreed to put themselves in a position to be analyzed and scrutinized, when they had to make a decision in a split second.  In today’s world of technology, you are able to go back and pick apart your competition and review everything with a fine toothed comb.  A judge is not given that opportunity.

Accept your placement in subjective competition.

Nobody wants to hear that they lost, but ultimately there is only one first place.  Talking negatively about your placement is not going to change it.  Sometimes you just need to grin and bear it.  Sometimes you need to step back and take what they say to heart and try to grow.  This is extremely true when dealing with young competitors.  Try not to let them hear you complain about the judging.  Set a good example.

Judges are human.

Even with all the experience in the world and certifications, mistakes are going to happen.  This is not the time to glorify yourself for finding the mistake, it is time to handle it and move on.  You should address this in a humble manner and not over verbalize the mistake.  I can tell you that the judge will be completely upset if they made a mistake.

 Ask how you can improve.

Once you have asked a judge how to improve, you should listen.  Do not use this as a time to debate their decision.  Remember, each judge has a different set of experiences which will result in them having different opinions.  You may disagree with what the judge tells you, but remember it is only one perspective.

Dress the part.

In subjective competition, you should always dress the part.  Think about it this way; a judge has given up time from their family, received training, put themselves on the line by judging, and then you show up in a t shirt.  By dressing the part, your outward appearance matches the hours of training you have put in.  It says, “I’m here to compete and best showcase myself.”  You don’t have to have expensive clothing, but your clothes need to be ironed, cleaned, and tucked in.  Plus, this will make you feel better and in turn help you compete better.  Dress for success!

True purpose of competition.

The true purpose of competition is to satisfy ourselves during our quest for self-improvement.  A competition is just meant to help us gage our growth.  A one day single competition does not define who you are or the quality of your equine.  It is literally just a snap shot.  Maybe we need to reassess how much emphasis we put on competitions, ribbons, and buckles.

Competitors think success will bring them happiness, but that is completely out of order.  Happiness will bring you success.  Focus on the positive aspects of competition and success will find you.  It is not the winning of titles that we are working on, it is the relationship we form with our equine that is the greatest reward.  A judge is needed to award you that first place ranking you are trying to achieve in the future, but between now and that moment; you must put the judge back on the pedestal.  If you spend too much time fighting against them, are you really going to value their opinion when they say you are number one?

Successfully Dealing with Imperfections

By Brandy Von Holten

As a host, you are not going to be perfect.  As soon as you can come to terms with this inevitable truth, you will regain hours of sleep and find a peace of mind that is priceless.  Follow me through a journey of a few of my face first fumbles I have encountered as a host.

#1  Materials did not arrive.

I have had buckles not arrive on time.  There is a 4-8 week delay in the time you order buckles and their arrival time.  Go ahead and take a picture with the buckle winner.  If you have any other buckles sitting around, have them hold that buckle and do a picture that is not a close up.  Or, take a photo of them on their equine.  You still need to market your event and celebrate the champions.  When the buckles do arrive, congratulate the champions again with a picture of their buckle.  If you have not ordered the buckles yet, have their name placed on the buckle.

#2  You enforced the rules incorrectly.

You have just got to keep going forward and not make the same mistakes in the future.  This is why work experience is priceless.  You cannot teach experience.  Always stand behind your judges and show grace.  You know that they do not want to make mistakes and are doing the very best they can on that particular day.  Mistakes happen.

#3  Event is going at a snail’s pace

Take charge!  If people are not where they need to be, go get them.  If the event is running slow because of you, step back assess the situation and make changes.  Sometimes this can be done immediately and sometimes you will just need to make changes for the next event.  I used to have competitors fill out entries forms with their address and contact information.  I now realize that once I have that information I need nothing more than their name and what division they are competing in.

#4 Everything is going wrong

Stop the event and have a meeting with everyone.  They will appreciate the honesty and will help you get everything moving again.  When you are going through a bad event, so are the competitors.  Get a clean slate and then to moving!  Putting on events is a lot harder than one might think; it is ok to regroup.

Before you host an event you just need to take a deep breath and come to terms with the fact that you are not perfect and neither are any of the competitors.  Just keep going.  Do not lose sight of the happiness you had when you booked the event.  The first event is always the hardest, and they do get easier.