[RC] teaching to tie via mules - Susan E. Garlinghouse, D.V.M.
>The TB was tied to one
of these special mules, and after a few days the mule would be dragging the
horse around at >will...sometimes the horse would be dragged lying flat out
on the ground. After a couple of weeks being tied to the mule, >the TB
became very docile(obviously!!). The owner of the horse was OK with this method
and took the horse back for "Tune-?up" sessions every 6 months or so.
By the way, I did not approve of this method.
FWIW, I think with any
species of young animal (including humans), there's a fine line between Enough
and Too Much. No, I would never tie a horse to a mule for weeks at a
time, nor would I allow a horse to be dragged around on the ground when it
sounds like it was exhausted and past learning anything. But, my young
Anglo was also taught some of the finer points of giving to pressure by my very
smart old pack mule Mildred---while I was present, for no more than about an
hour per session, under very controlled circumstances.
Cheyenne was two at the
time, and wore a very heavy pack halter with heavy cotton rope and a knotted
loop of inner tube tire in the middle for a bit of give. The rope was
tied off to Mildred's pack saddle, which wasn't going *anywhere*. Rope
pretty short, too short to get seriously tangled in. Mildred was about 40
years old at the time (she's now 44)(no kidding), has the density of plutonium,
never loses her temper and does/goes where she wants, at somewhere around the
speed of evolution. Cheyenne
bounced around a little, got a reproachful look from Mildred, and then came
along in the end, plus had the advantage of being with a buddy (she and Mildred
normally hung out together). She "got" the concept within ten
minutes and did just great.
No dragging, no exhaustion
on the ground, no fireworks. Granted, Cheyenne had already had plenty of prior
handling and training, and only needed to learn the difference between
leading-as-a-request versus yes-we-are-now-going-whether-you-like-it-or-not.
Mildred did a good job of teaching her without hysterics. There are times
when the best teacher for a good young horse is a good old horse…or mule.
Maybe some people would
still consider this a cruel practice, but I'd be hard pressed to see how Cheyenne was badly
treated under these circumstances. She never needed any
"tune-ups" afterwards, once she learned what I wanted in the first
place.
Mildred is also available to
teach Getting Out of Wind, Breaking Ice in Water Trough and Chase the Mountain
Lion From the Pasture seminars.<g>
