Author: LizziT

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2020-03-11

MULE CROSSING: Getting Down With Minis, Part 5

Mini Mules!!! How do I get started??? Meredith continues her series on mini mules–with information that’s as true for horses and ponies as for Meredith’s favorite longears.

Hear what Meredith Hodges has to say!

Here’s Meredith!

Lizzi Tremayne

Getting Down With Minis, Part 5

By Meredith Hodges

In Part 1 of Getting Down with Minis, you learned how to begin the relationship with your miniature equine in a positive and natural way that fosters good behavior and a solid relationship between you. You also learned the importance of getting down to your mini’s eye level so that he can make eye contact with you, which discourages striking, jumping on you and other bad behaviors that are common when working with miniature equines.

In Part 2, I discussed how important it is to successfully complete the tasks in Part 1 before moving on to Part 2 and explained why it is advisable to work minis in groups, as they perform better when they are with their friends. You also learned how to train minis to go over and around various obstacles. Remember that all of this is to be done with no expectations that may overwhelm your mini—it is better if you maintain an attitude of fun and games.

In Part 3, we got down to some serious groundwork training so your mini can be used for the purpose of driving and showing in hand. He learned to lunge and to be ground driven in the round pen and in the open arena through the hourglass pattern and if part of a team, how to do these things as a team. In Part 4, you worked on obstacle exercises on the drive lines to increase strength and coordination.

The fifth and final part of this series will illustrate how you can keep things controlled and will help you to consistently set up an environment for success. NOTE: If you are training two minis, it is really just a matter of teaching each of them the same thing, but at each stage of the ground-driving and hitched lessons, you need to teach each mini separately first and then as a team.

These exercises will require an assistant, so ask someone you trust to help you. Make sure, each step of the way, that you tell your assistant clearly and specifically exactly what you need him or her to do. To begin, take your mini back to the round pen and review your previous ground-driving lessons (“walk,” “trot,” “whoa” and “back”) with an “S” turn through the middle in order to change directions.

NOTE: Do not use the “reverse” command during these lessons. Do use the “back” command, but only to loosen the traces when detaching your mini from the tire. Attach a tire to the harness traces as a drag so your mini can get used to pulling weight behind him. To do this, first thread some baling twine through the slits at the ends of your traces to create “loops.” The slits in the traces are usually too narrow to allow a line to slide freely back and forth through them, but the baling twine will work well to accommodate this.

Next, take a piece of flat nylon stripping such as a strip of lunge line and tie it to a tire with about six to eight feet of extra line. This extra line will be threaded through the baling twine loops and then be handed back into the hands of your assistant. Now ask your assistant to walk alongside and slightly behind you, holding on to the piece of nylon stripping as you ground drive your mini. Always make sure your assistant is walking on the side away from the fence so as not to trap him or her if things go wrong.

If, for any reason, your mini bolts, tell your assistant to simply let go of the nylon stripping. Your mini will quickly be released from the tire. NOTE: If training a team, do the “drag” exercise with each single mini first before exercising them as a team. Working one mini at a time first will help to avoid any major wrecks that can cause your mini(s) any anxiety or distrust.

Spend as many tire drag lessons as it takes in the round pen to be sure your mini is driving easily and smoothly before graduating him to the open arena with the tire. Just as you did with simple ground driving, once he is ready, let your mini drag the tire while ground driving him through two rotations of the hourglass pattern, and then cross the long diagonal and do two more rotations in the opposite direction.

Make halts often so rewards can be dispensed for a job well done. Do not make any abrupt turns or try to add speed before you are completely competent with the lines and your mini is responding obediently.

Ground driving is as much for you to learn good Reinsmanship as it is for your mini to learn to drive correctly. If training more than one mini, just tie whichever mini you’re not working with at the moment off to the side and have him wait his turn before ground driving the two as a team. The frequent halts with rewards will teach him to stay clam and remain still when asked.

Before actually hitching your mini to the vehicle, be sure to check all harness straps and make sure they are correctly adjusted. While you do this, you will also be teaching your mini (or minis if a team) to stand still in the cross ties, which will make hitching much easier. Checking all harness straps can be done anywhere that your fences or hitch rails are close enough together to accommodate the cross ties and still allow enough room for a single mini (or team) and the vehicle.

During this lesson, all you need to do is put on and adjust the harness, hitch to your vehicle, have your mini (or team) stand quietly while being rewarded and then take everything back off. Before leading your mini(s) away from the vehicle, spend some time rewarding again for standing still and staying in position.

To begin the next lesson, first review the steps in the previous lesson and make sure your mini (or minis in the case of a team) is standing quietly in the crossties before harnessing to the vehicle. When ground driving a single animal, ask your assistant to stand in front and to the side of your mini with a lead rope attached to a ring on the noseband (not the bit) of your mini’s harness bridle.

When ground driving a team, you will need to use two assistants. Ask each assistant to stand on either side of the team. Once your mini is harnessed, and when you are seated in the vehicle and ready to go forward, ask your assistant to unsnap the cross ties and release your mini while your assistant stands at his head. Now ask your mini to “walk on.” Let him go just a few steps and then ask him to “Whoa.”

If your mini does not stop promptly, your assistant can help by pulling back on the lead rope with a pull/release motion while, at the same time, you pull back on the drive lines with a pull/release motion. When he does stop, have your assistant give him his oats reward. Let your mini settle before asking him to back a couple of steps and halt again. Reward him for halting and end the lesson there.

The object is to allow your mini enough time to understand what you are trying to teach him and respond accordingly so he can be rewarded without spending so much time that he gets bored and sucks you into a confrontation.

Now your mini is ready to go to the open arena to be driven for the very first time. For the sake of safety, use your assistant (or, in the case of a team, assistants) during lessons until your mini (or team) is driving easily and responding to all of your cues and verbal commands promptly and calmly. Using an assistant helps to guide your mini through his lessons when he can no longer see you out in front.

Your assistant will also help your mini to drive forward with confidence, as well as being on-hand to aid you if your mini has problems with turns and backing. Using an assistant also allows you more time to perfect your Reinsmanship and your ability to plan your movements in an organized and logical way.

When your mini is hitched to a vehicle, make a very large hourglass pattern to accommodate your vehicle. His familiarity with this pattern will help him to feel calm and gain confidence while being driven. Every time you end a lesson, keep your assistant at your mini’s head until your mini is fully unhitched from the vehicle.

NOTE: Always remove the harness bridle last. Once he is unhitched, make your mini stand where he is while you come to him, then reward him and lead him away. This is how he will learn to wait for you and will not become antsy and uncontrollable. Routinely practicing good manners, setting up an environment for success and approaching your mini with a calm and deliberate attitude will all help him to become a quiet, safe and reliable driving animal.

To learn more about Meredith Hodges and her comprehensive all-breed equine training program, visit LuckyThreeRanch.com or call 1-800-816-7566. Check out her children’s website at JasperTheMule.com. Also, find Meredith on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

You can find more about to mini longears and other things in Meredith’s books on this website under Horsey/Equestrian / Donkey Fiction and Nonfiction and Aud/CD/DVD menu tabs!

See the whole list of Meredith’s books on her Author page here!

Thank you so much, Meredith, for blogging with us today, and thanks so much to you readers for visiting! Join our HNVB Book Club and our HNVB Blog via the forms in the right sidebar to keep in touch!

Happy riding and vetting!

Lizzi Tremayne

2020-02-03

Inspirational Story of Courage: One Brave Boy and his Cat

Veterinarian and award-winning author, Andrew Peacock has a new children’s book available, One Brave Boy and his Cat. It’s an inspirational story of courage. Based on real events, the book tells of a family who refuses to tell their young son the true nature of the injuries their family pet has sustained in a car accident. Told with compassion and warmth, One Brave Boy and his Cat explores the difficult realities of pet loss and euthanasia. Artist Angie Green adds another level of meaning to the book with her bold and colourful paintings. The butterfly that shows up on every page suggests further themes of responsibility and hope in times of sorrow.

One Brave Boy and His Cat is an important source of support for all parents and kids with pets and the veterinarians who routinely deal with these difficult situations.

One Brave Boy and His Cat is available on Amazon, here or from the publisher, Flanker Books, here.

“One Brave Boy and His Cat is an important book for every child who has a pet. Andrew Peacock, Newfoundland’s favourite vet, tells the story of one brave boy coming to terms with the death of his beloved cat. With compassion and grace, Peacock shows how children can be given the responsibility of deciding when it’s time to let go.” — Charis Cotter, Award-winning author of The Ghost Road.

“It is never easy to say goodbye. One Brave Boy and His Cat gently and lovingly captures the experience of losing a beloved family cat. In addition to the difficult decision to euthanize a pet, parents are often burdened with the worry of their child’s reaction. This illustrated story shows what commonly happens with honest and empathic discussion.” — Margie Scherk, DVM, Dip ABVP, Editor, Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery.

One Brave Boy and His Cat is available on Amazon, here or from the publisher, Flanker Books, here.

2019-09-11

MULE CROSSING: Getting Down With Minis, Part 4

Mini Mules!!! How do I get started??? Meredith continues her series on mini mules–with information that’s as true for horses and ponies as for Meredith’s favorite longears.

Hear what Meredith Hodges has to say!

Here’s Meredith!

Lizzi Tremayne

In Part 1, you learned how to begin the relationship with your miniature equine in a positive and natural way that fosters good behavior and a good relationship between you. You also learned the importance of getting down to your mini’s eye level so that he can make eye contact with you, which discourages striking, jumping on you and other bad behaviors that are common when working with miniature equines.

In Part 2, I discussed how important it is to successfully complete the tasks in Part 1 before moving on to Part 2, and I explained why it is advisable to work minis in groups, as they perform better when they are with their friends. You also learned how to train minis to go over and around various obstacles.

Remember that all of this is to be done with no expectations that may overwhelm your mini—it is better if you maintain an attitude of fun and games. In Part 3, we got down to some serious groundwork training so that your mini can be used for driving and showing in hand. He learned to lunge and to be ground driven in the round pen and in the open arena through the hourglass pattern and, if part of a team, how to do these things as a pair.

In Part 4, you will learn how toteach your mini to pull correctly and in good equine posture in the hourglass pattern, but without actually pulling anything such as a tire, log or vehicle. We are only concerned with his moving forward in good equine posture while initiating thrust or “impulsion” from the hindquarters. (This training is very similar to a human learning to “lift” correctly using his legs instead of his back.).

In order to learn how to do this, your mini will need to be equipped with my self-correcting restraint for equines called the “Elbow Pull.” (How to make the “Elbow Pull” is covered in my Equus RevisitedDVD.) When he is in good equine posture, the “Elbow Pull” will remain loose, but if he tries to raise his head too far, it will restrict that movement so that he cannot hollow his neck and back and begin to build muscle in this undesirable posture. The “Elbow Pull” does not pull his head down.

Rather, it gives him something to lean against for a few strides at a time until he is able to resume good equine posture and self-carriage again. At first, when the muscles are not able to sustain good posture at all times, he will move in and out of good posture. The “Elbow Pull” supports good equine postural balance and acts much like the balance bar that is used by a ballet dancer until she or he is strong enough to hold any postural position in the middle of the room without support.

This becomes very important when your mini is in draught(pulling an obstacle or vehicle) in order to make sure he will pull correctly, and symmetrically condition his body’s muscles to avoid future injury to the internal structures within his body.

By now your mini has already learned to ground-drive the hourglass pattern and has negotiated the obstacle course on the lead line. There are still more obstacle exercises you can do to strengthen your mini and improve his strength and coordination to prepare him for driving before he is ever hitched to a cart or carriage.

Now he is ready to learn to ground-drive the obstacle course. The obstacle course exercises will increase his confidence in being in the lead and help him to go bravely ahead of you upon command.

Approach each obstacle on the drive lines and if he balks and refuses to go forward, just stop, gently lay the lines over his back and then lead him through. Then go back and try again on the drive lines. In order to alleviate any fear or confusion your mini may feel, remember to “get down” to his eye level whenever possible.

NOTE: Don’t forget to always reward him with his favorite crimped oats for compliance.

Once your mini is willing to go straight through the obstacle with a calm attitude and no balking, you can then begin to break each obstacle down into smaller, easier steps, rewarding and praising him for each success. If he is apprehensive about any obstacle, you should lead him through these smaller steps with frequent halts before attempting to ground-drive him through. He may need these detailed “explanations” before he is willing to “take the lead.”

If you are training him on the bridge obstacle, go to the landing, stop, square up, put the lines up and reward, then resume your position and drive him up onto the bridge, but with only his front feet on the bridge, and then stop again. Put up the lines, walk forward and reward.

Then drive him completely onto the bridge, stop, square up, put up the lines and reward. If he is having problems squaring up on the lines, then just square him up when you get to his head before you reward him.

The most difficult move your mini will have to do is to put two front feet on the ground while he leaves two back feet on the bridge. Just as you did on the lead line, hold steady on the drive lines and, if necessary, before you ask him to ground-drive ahead of you and hold the position, walk forward to help him to first get into and hold the position.

Be sure to give him his reward once he is in the correct stance. You want him to succeed with every effort and you should be ready and willing to help him whenever he really needs it.

You can ask him to take full responsibility for perfect balance and negotiation of the obstacle later. For now, your primary task is to help him get through the obstacles successfully and with as little help as possible. Breaking obstacles down into smaller steps will increase his balance, coordination, agility and self-confidence.

Even after he has become competent while hitched to the vehicle, you can use ground-driving obstacle exercises in the “Elbow Pull” to finesse his movements during future lessons. It will add variety to your mini’s lessons and continue to promote health, coordination and good equine posture.

You can find more about to mini longears and other things in Meredith’s books on this website under Horsey/Equestrian / Donkey Fiction and Nonfiction and Aud/CD/DVD menu tabs!

See the whole list of Meredith’s books on her Author page here!

Happy riding and vetting!

Lizzi Tremayne