First Trailer Outing with Luke

Well, I might have to change the blog name from LBM, Little Brown Mule to Large Black Mule. I have sold Louie. Though I've given his owner a 30 day trial of which there is a few weeks left. And he is still here with me as his new owner is in the process of building a new home and barn so needed to board him here until August.

So, today was my first ride with Luke that I trailered him out. He came to me with I went out with his halter but when I went to load him into my trailer, he said no. I was a little surprised as his owner, Kyle, has a slant load step up like mine and Kyle said he loaded and trailered very well. And Kyle hauled him in the last stall as that one has a bit more room. I asked him to load a few times and Luke said no each time. I tapped him with a whip and that kept  him from backing up but did not convince him to go in the trailer. He was willing to let me lead him in but if I did, I would not be able to get back out by him as he's too big! I was meeting two friends in Durham and didn't want to be late so I did lead him in but that put Luke in the first stall. He does fit in the stall and was quiet and relaxed once in the trailer so that was fine. So, off we went.

I met Linda and Susie along the way and followed them to our parking spot. Luke was quiet in the trailer and unloaded nicely. He was interested when he saw Susie and Linda's horses tried to Susie's trailer but stood quietly to be groomed and tacked up. And was he EVER dirty! We all mounted up and headed out along a dirt road. We walked for quite a bit to warm them all up, then did some nice longish trots. Luke was perfect and did just what was asked of him. We had a truck with a rattly flat bed trailer pass us and Luke didn't pay much attention to this other then watch it go by with interest. We did pass a house with a fence along the road and a very large owl pin-wheel type of ornament on the fence and it was spinning like crazy. Luke was a little concerned about this. It didn't take much to persuade him to go by though. About 1/2 way around the loop we were planning to ride, we came out onto Rt. 202. A VERY busy road. We only have to ride about 100 feet down the road and cut through a business parking lot to connect to the trail. There was so much going on here and once again, Luke was just fine with it all. When we were cutting across the parking lot and getting ready to cross a watery ditch at the edge, two women came out of the business to see the horses and mule. They were both horse owners themselves. They let us know that the trail we were heading for was now blocked and we would not be able to get around the block. RATS!!!! One of the women took us around the building. Luke eyeballed a parked fork truck but made no fuss. We then had to cross a ditch. Luke did this in fine eventing mule trained fashion and impressed everyone with a lovely jump. The woman pointed us across a lawn and told us to go straight through and we would find a trail to get us where we wanted to go. So, we head across the lawn and it was SOFT! We were horrified that we made quite a mess where we crossed. We then were into a field and this too was soft and wet. The equines were not impressed with the wet ground but were all went through without problems. We could NOT find any trail! We ended up turning around and going back though the wet field. At one point both horses refused to keep going and brave Luke led the way. The only thing that really worried Luke was when a big gust of wind caught my rain jacket,  which was unzipped, and was blowing it all around had and it was making a loud crinkly flapping sound. But, he still didn't do much other then speed up a little. When we got back on the road, we did NOT cross the lawn again, and were passing a sign, a gust of wind made the sign rattle on it's metal attachments and both horses freaked out a bit. Luke stayed nice an calm and walked on by ignoring both the sign and the horses.

We were now running a bit short on time as Linda had to be home by 3:00 so we did quite a bit of trotting  heading back. But, neither Luke or Susie's new horse Bayzen had much conditioning so we didn't push it too hard. Luke ran out of steam on the last few hills and I didn't push him. Bayzen stumbled and took a few bad steps that worried Susie but then I saw that he had over reached and cut himself on his heel bulb. So, nothing serious. When we got back to the trailer, I offered Luke some beet pulp. He took one bite, spit it out and wouldn't touch it. Darn, why can't I ever get an equine that actually likes beet pulp! Luke still was not eager to get in my trailer and once again I had to lead him in and put him in the front stall. He was fine with that though so good enough. So, I have to stay that I had a wonderful time riding Luke. He's a wonderful trail mount with a good head on him and really seems to enjoy being on the trail.... or dirt road.