# Ad in local paper seems wrong to me.



## Chaos Ranch (Apr 27, 2009)

Granted I know absolutely nothing about miniature donkeys and mules, when I read this ad in today's paper, it just doesn't seem right. I know horses, and there's no way I'd ever ask a 9 month old to pull a cart, or do much of anything other than haltering, trailering, bathing, trimming, you know, things like that.

Are mules trained this early to pull carts ? Do you break them to harness without actually having to hook them up to carts? It just seems a little, um.... mean to ask such a thing of a baby. Am I wrong ?

Here's the text of the ad, phone number not included.

MINIATURE MULE, 9 mon. old,

female, broke to drive in harness, $200.


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## MeadowRidge Farm (Apr 27, 2009)

OH!



















Your right..its cruel. Could this have been a typo error?? At 9 months old the baby is still growing and maturing, so much harm could be done to the growing baby!I dont even START mine before they are 2 to 3 yrs old...and that is just START...like ground work. Mules do train easy, but NEVER would anyone I know have one trained at 9 months old to drive!









Yes, you do train a horse or donkey to accept the harness, and do ground driving with them, before you ever try to hitch the cart....but definitely not at 9 months old!


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## Bunnylady (Apr 27, 2009)

There is a family in SC that specializes in driving animals, mostly mules. I have visited their website several times. They had a series of pictures of the son ground driving a young mule, starting when the mule was obviously just a few months old. While they did hitch this not-so-little guy for the first time at what was probably less than a year old, he wasn't alone, the big guy next to him has been used to teach a lot of youngsters and looked capable of pulling the whole load himself. I figure they know their animals better than I, and I don't know anywhere near enough on the subject to offer criticism, but I can't believe they would describe that baby as "broke to drive." If this mini is indeed only 9 months old, IMO she hasn't been on this planet long enough to have had enough training to be considered truly "broke."


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## Chaos Ranch (Apr 27, 2009)

I just got off the phone with a woman I've known for many years. She's a bit of a fabricator, but she just tried to talk me into a yearling quarter horse that just turned a year old and her selling point was "We've already been saddling her up and riding her around in the round pen and she's doing really good, we haven't put a bit in her mouth yet, but she's riding real smooth".



Uh... no thanks. I have enough horses.

I am all for working with a horse when they are young... but again, that includes standing tied, trailering, bathing, trimming, leading, de-sensatizing (sp?) things like that. No way would I put any kind of weight on the back of a baby like that. I just feel so bad knowing that sort of thing goes on.


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## Krazee bout Kasspur (Apr 27, 2009)

Could it be meant to be read as trained for GROUND driving at 9 months????? I've seen ads reading trained to drive at 19 months old, but never bothered to go and check it out. Perhaps some are started early and catch on really quickly...IDK.

I wonder how one could respond to that ad without a phone #????


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## Chaos Ranch (Apr 27, 2009)

Krazee bout Kasspur said:


> Could it be meant to be read as trained for GROUND driving at 9 months????? I've seen ads reading trained to drive at 19 months old, but never bothered to go and check it out. Perhaps some are started early and catch on really quickly...IDK.
> I wonder how one could respond to that ad without a phone #????


Oh no, the phone number was on the ad, I just omitted it in my post. The ad is still in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette online.

Last week there was an ad in there that made me giggle. They were trying to sell two of something or another, and it said, $100. each or both for $250.


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## MeadowRidge Farm (Apr 27, 2009)

I have had quit a few of my foals, learn to "pretty much" ground drive, (if that is what you want to call it.



)when they were learning to lead. of course, there was no bit ..it was more of a fun training session, along with a learning process. They sure caught on quick! In winter I can work the foals in my barn aisle, its about 14'wide x 92 ' long, so it does come in handy. When I would get to the end of the aisle and turn them...all l had to do is stand a little bit behind them, and let the lead rope go behind them.(like I actually would have long lines on them) they learned really fast.. to move out forward, to turn, stop and back, all being worked with just a long lead line and at times I would put 2 leads on them almost like reins..... I had some that were just a few months old, that could do this, those folas were all so easy to work with and drove so good by the time they were 3 yrs old. But I sure would NEVER consider selling a 9 month old as broke to drive! My gosh....mine dont even see a bit in there mouth until they are almost 2 1/2 yrs old, and I never hitch one until they turn 3. The youngest I have ever broke a horse to drive was a mare who just turned 2, but she was also a very well built foundation quarter horse that I had in for training, not a little mini.


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