Problem Horses

Problem Mules actually, whom the farrier refused to trim in order to avoid getting kicked into next week.

A call came in to the horse rescue last week and was relayed to me by my wife. Oh, the synchronicity of events. I had just finished the article on gentling horses and then this call came in about these problem mules who were dangerous to handle - trimming their feet was nearly impossible. The woman described her method of training her mules to stand still - she used a longe whip to touch them on their hind feet and if they kicked at it she would yell "NO!" and smack them over the rump with the whip. Apparently, her sister had given her this useless advice. Then she proceeded to anger my wife over the phone by insisting that what she was doing would work, in spite of the fact she called the horse rescue for advice. I'll be writing an article on precisely this type of faulty "training" based on incorrect perceptions of animals in the near future. Please watch for it!