Louie and Luke Playing

Today I turned out Luke and Louie together. They have been playing over the fence the past few days and it has all been friendly so I didn't expect any trouble. And there was none. Actually, they were overall pretty quiet. But they did have a wonderful time playing with each other. It was fun watching them. I groomed them both so they would look nice in the pictures and of course they both had to go and roll and any respectable mules would do. When I was out of time and had to separate them, I went out with Luke's halter and really expected him to avoid me. But, I was pleasantly surprised when he stood quietly and just let me halter him and he willing went with me back to his own paddock. Good boy! 

Madison Riding Marie

Ok, no little brown mule involved here but he won't mind if we take up a little bit of his blog space. Here are some pictures of my granddaughter Madison riding Marie. Madison is starting to really get the hang of it now and actually has a bit of control over Marie. Or, I should say she is starting to comminucate well enough that Marie understands. And Madison's timing is getting better and she is catching Marie when she tries to be lazy. It's son neat to see Madison learning to ride on Marie as her mother learned to ride on Marie. The only problem with having Madison ride Marie is that she has to ride in an adult saddle. I put "stirrup buddies" on for her but because the seat is so big and the stirrups are hung from the saddle horse, it puts Madison in a bad position for learning to ride properly.

Louie the Escape Artist

 This morning I was relaxing in my recliner enjoying a cup of coffee when I hear a big deep belly snort......you know, the equine kind.......right outside my window.......this should not be........
I jumped up, looked out the window and sure enough there is Louie mule having a grand old time galloping all over my yard! Naughty mule. So, I get coat and shoes and head out to catch him. He galloped back into his paddock, then back out, then down onto the river side pasture and all over there while I was walking out. When I got to the pasture though, he stopped and let me catch him with no fuss. Silly boy. Smart boy, he managed to open his gate, again! Once I can put down to an accident. Twice and I have to assume he's learned how to work the latch. So, a safety chain has been added to it now. Marie was very upset that she was not in on the fun.

It was a real nice day today. Fred and I did not have to work last night so we had the day to work on the barn. Well, Fred did most of the work as usual and I took pictures. Not really, I DID do some work too. 

Finally got out for a Ride

I finally got a chance to ride Louie today. And it was a very nice ride I have to say. It is a lovely day, sunny and in the high 40's low 50's with just a light breeze. I could tell Louie was in a fairly relaxed frame of mind this morning so it was a good day for it. I have not ridden him since I've had him back home. He saw me coming with the halter and came right over and stuck his head right in. He was quiet and very good while I groomed and tacked him up. I led him on foot away from home out through the trails. He was happy and eager to go. He was a little goofy being led but not rude. No pulling at all, just gawking around. He stopped and snorted a few times at things in the woods that I could not see or hear but not nervously, more in curiosity. About 1/2 mile out from home I mounted up. He stood quietly and walked off nicely. He was not as relaxed with me riding but not real nervous either.


 Then...... it happened...... the spook. Yep. It was a legitimate one as a couple partridges flew up right in front of us. BUT........no problem. Louie did a 180 and headed in the direction of home. I just sat tight and then just picked up the right rein and did a one rein stop and he came right around very easily. So, we didn't go more than a few feet down the trail and he didn't get going any faster really the a jiggy quick walk. Strangely enough, this actually relaxed me. Not so much Louie though but for sure me as it was a relief to see how easy he was to stop and how well he listened to me. He didn't want to go by the spot where the birds flew up but it didn't take much to convince him to go. We had to go through some big puddles and water spots and once again, though he is nervous about this kind of stuff, he was extremely good about it. He never once refused to go, he just went very slow and very cautiously. A couple times when he got a bit nervous, I'd stop him. let him stand for a moment, then dismount and walk for a bit. Then mount back and ride some more. We only did about 4 miles and I walked about 1 1/2 of that but that's ok. I rode, he got out and we both got some exercise. 

He's such an honest mule. He really tries so hard to do what I want. When I'm riding him, he takes his job very seriously. Too seriously sometimes. But he really seemed to enjoy our outing today. Me getting off and walking at intervals actually made it more fun for him too because he got those spells to relax and just enjoy himself and he didn't have the be the big brave guy the while time. When I put him back into his paddock, he of course immediately rolled, them came right back to the fence to hang out with me. And he stood at the gate and watched me until I was in the house. Sweet boy.  Now, off to bed.  

Still Working on Barn

Still working on the barn. Fred cutting the rafters for the west side of the barn roof. Louie having supper. 

First rafter going up on the west side of the roof

So many rafters to go......

Two dutch doors built and hung. One more to go. (the slider on the left is coming off)

Louie is so bored. 

Louie and Zephyr