10/20/2024
I picked out all 4 hooves!!! While this may seem like a minor achievement to most, I'd like to note that this feat has taken me 3 months to accomplish.
July of this year I decided to take on another mule. This one however has a traumatic past. Mules are often very misunderstood and to often people get them thinking they're just like horses. Let me be very clear on this though, mules ARE NOT like horses. They're stubborn, insanely smart, stubborn, opinionated, selective on who their people are, stubborn, loyal to their human, loath to forgive mistreatment and one of the sweetest animals going if you treat them appropriately.
Three months in, and she'll stand in cross ties; let me brush her all over (except her belly); has mostly stopped ripping her tail out; and allows others to halter her. Yet while I can pick her feet out, forget trimming them. Her front feet are in horrific shape but gaining her trust and teaching her that humans are okay are far more important to me than just drugging her and man handling her into allowing a farrier underneath her. Not only that but I value my farrier and man can this mule kick. Her back foot can come forward toward your head faster than you can blink.
Slowly but surely she's learning to trust. Slowly but surely she's releasing her trauma. Slowly but surely she's letting us see that there's a sweet molly mule in there.
Three months in and I can pick out all four hooves and that for me is enough. ❤️
