Mary-Jo left me her Easyboot gloves to try on Buckshot. Much to my delight, they were a perfect fit for his front feet. I decided to take Luke and Shots with me to work on Thursday morning so we could ride after work. I haltered both boys and led them out together. That was ok though I had to keep getting Shots attention as he's keep trying to walk off to do his own thing or check out stuff. He needed some reminders to mind his manners. And for the first time, he decided he would not load into my trailer. Again, his refusal was mild and it didn't take long to convince him to load. Luke was looking at him like he thought he was a dork. At Upper Pond, we put both boys in the jumping pasture as there is grass in there for them to munch. I haven't had the boys together yet but it was a non issue and all was quiet until the horses in the next pasture started running around. That set off Luke and Shots and they ran and bucked like idiots. I figured with our luck, Shots would lame himself up before we got the chance to ride. But, he was ok.
After work, we saddled up and put the boots on him. Brooke was wounded in the process of booting him when she bent a fingernail back. And then she bled all over my mule!!! Anyway, I was even happier when I found that my Old Mac boots fit Shots hind feet. So, I was able to boot him all the way around. Meagan went riding with us on her lovely mare Scarlett. Shots did great with the boots on. He adapted to them right away and after a few tentative steps expecting his feet to hurt on the rocks, he realized they didn't and he put on a big fast walk and headed right down the trail as happy as can be. What a difference the boots made for him. We only rode for about 1/2 hour to 45 min and kept it to a walk as we didn't want to flare up the ringbone. But, Shots did great. And when we came by the pond the 2nd time, I told Brooke and Meagan I wanted to walk them into the pond and I'd lead in with Luke. HA! Shots saw the water and forged right ahead of me and went straight in with no hesitation. And if Brooke had not stopped him, they would have gone swimming. It was the funniest thing. Shots was a very good boy the whole ride. He didn't spook at anything. He was alert, spotted an ATV but was not bothered. Mary-Jo's dog Maggie had followed us out and Shots didn't like her behind him and gave her a few warning shots. But, he was not spooked by her at all, just didn't want her behind him. He did walk faster going towards the barn but he listened to Brooke and never broke from a walk. We were both very pleased with how he behaved and how well he did with the boots on! Now, we'll just continue riding him more adding more time and working in a little trotting and see what he's capable of doing and what we need to do to manage the ringbone.
He loaded good onto the trailer to go home but when I got home, he blew out of the trailer, not fast, just didn't wait for me and I could not stop him. So, I loaded him right back up and asked him to stand for a minute. He did load right back up and stood perfect. Bad boy....good boy........He is quickly learning what I expect of him and he has the training to know what he should do. Ah, there is just something about this mule that is impossible not to like. My head is still telling me to find another home for him just as quickly as I can but my heart wants to hold onto him and see what I can do with him.
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