I guess it's official. I have been a horse lover all my life, but I have now become a bona fide longear lover. My first reaction when I saw that pic of Hoot in harness was "now
that is one good-lookin' mule!" As to him being spoiled, well, I think mules spoil themselves, given even a ghost of a chance. Case in point:
-------------------------------------- Warning! Betsy story coming!!-----------------------------------
My little herd has undergone some changes in the last few months. In December, I bought a weanling mini filly named Blondie. That brought our number up to 3, with Betsy, my 11 y.o, 33" mini mule and Sydney, an over-sized 2-year-old mini filly. At about the same time, Syd took advantage of her now superior size to wrest the dominant position away from Betsy. I told Betsy it really didn't matter, she was first in my herd, and first in my heart.
But I could tell she wasn't real happy about it.
A month or so after this bloodless coup occurred, I had Blondie out to do some routine maintenance (brushing and feet) and a little ground work. Syd was watching us from behind the gate, and I could tell that she was seething with jealousy. She is the dominant horse, so that means she gets all the attention, right? When I went to put Blondie back, I guess Syd was going to teach that little upstart just where she stood! As we started to come through the gate, Syd pinned her ears and swung her backside towards us. She didn't let fly, but started bucking and backing, which was clearly a threat to.
!!!!!!
Now, I know that this was meant for Blondie, but I was there, too, and I know this kind of behavior can't be tolerated around people for a second. I did the first thing that came into my head. I yelled "GET OUT OF HERE, SYD!" and kicked
her in the butt! She bounced forward a couple of steps, which gave us room to get in the gate. I got Blondie in, and closed the gate. Syd was still there, and still had her backside to us, so I threw both arms up, yelled "I said, GET OUT OF HERE, SYD!" and stomped towards her. That did it! She cleared to the other side of the barn.
I took Blondie's halter off, and fed her a piece of carrot. Betsy was standing right there, so she got a carrot, too. Interestingly, she hadn't been bothered by all the yelling. I guess she knew it wasn't aimed at her! Syd came slinking around behind Betsy, head down, ears horizontal, "is this OK? Can I do this?"
I scowled at her for a moment, then took a half-step backward (yes, you can approach me.) Syd came up and got a carrot, too. Then Betsy pushed her big ol' muley head into my arms and le-eaned into me like "I love you, Mommy!" but all the time, she had one eye on Syd. I could just hear her saying "Syd got in trou-ble, Syd got in trou-ble!!" She cracked me up! I said, "Betsy, you're terrible!"
Spoiled? Ya think?
I think Hoot has a
great name!
