Florence Hurlet, Belgian mulopath under observation on the mule planet.
I found my mule on the internet, thanks to a broken arm. Impossible to say in hindsight that on that day, I would have been better off breaking an arm...
I searched for literature on the subject for a long time, but apart from Adolphe Guénon's insightful book... Nothing. Or almost nothing. I "met" on the web some owners of these prodigious creatures with (human) ears attentive to other owners and their mule adventures. Hallelujah, I was no longer alone in the world with my alien. Well, I admit, when he acts up, I am alone in the world...
Most of the time, newcomers to the matter ask the questions and answer them themselves, I let them talk. Although, I still manage to get annoyed by questions like, "Does it jump?" "Does it gallop?" or "Is it ridden like a horse?" Or worse: "Oh, a donkey!"
There are also those interested individuals who would like a user manual provided to them. Come on! I've been figuring out how mine works for 10 years, and they want it translated into pure mule language!
So, for those who still dream and watch mules from afar, here are some generalities for when you approach and capture them. (Hehe)
It's very different from a horse. Without really being so. For training, you do it like with a horse, a slightly special horse... like a hooligan. Always be polite, fair, explain well, rephrase, make sure he understands, and then stick to your positions without getting upset. It's smarter than a horse, more whimsical too, takes notes, remembers everything, knows how to read and write in bold. It learns at a super-sonic speed, once (well explained) is often enough, a few revisions, and there you have a professional in the field. What it knows how to do makes it very comfortable.
"Anything you give in to will be served and renegotiated weeks, months, or even years later, thanks to a mood swing of the beast."
Also, know that the animal, besides being a lawyer and a unionist, is also an actor in its spare time. It bluffs, simulates, and only a great shared life experience allows you to see through its game and put an end to it promptly without arousing its legendary sensitivity.
Another observed phenomenon, this time with the owner, is the colorful language acquired by getting too close to these hybrids: The legendary mule curses. These are direct consequences of their cohabitation. Jacob (my mule) suddenly takes me very seriously if I swear in dialect. From then on, a punishment or a justified curse will always be accepted.
In addition to their auditory outgrowths, excellent bio-indicators of their state of mind, the animal is equipped with another equally reliable barometer, I named it: its tail appendage. Although the annoyance is clearly understood in the sudden movements chasing unpleasant information like nasty insects, the phenomenon would deserve a more in-depth study, akin to the dance of bees. (humor)
Some big mule classics: they don't like giving their hindquarters too much, they don't like their ears touched too much, it can pull and make you ski or take you away as if you were a straw, it grumbles firmly, sulks, and quickly turns wild if you don't handle them for a few weeks... All these faults are defused with patience and appropriate exercises.
In general, they don't like care and injections, especially injections. Luckily, they heal very quickly. They learn a lot by mimicry, watching their buddies. I practiced that way for the truck and the farrier. Water (river and shower) and mud in general, they don't like too much either, it can be worked on like the rest, but it's good to know. They have a pronounced instinct for conserving and preserving their physical integrity, so any obstacle that can be bypassed will be, period. Your request for passage not being justified. Sit at the negotiation table. Reactions also depend on the mother; if she's a draft horse, the temperament will still be colder. But, in general, they go a few meters to safety, then observe. A horse is still running behind its panic while the mule has gone back to eating.
It's curious like a cat with the flexibility of a feline. Worse than a concierge, it knows everything that happens and what time you come home, it's playful, frolicsome, chases after dogs, cats, and birds passing through its meadow, it dismantles everything out of curiosity. You never get bored with a mule at home. It's a good companion, but try to stay his friend because it's also a kung-fu champion and willingly turns into a combat mule. Be patient, it needs to give itself, grant you its trust. Don't delegate delicate things that it would bear from you thanks to the trust it grants you, don't betray it by giving yourself your own injections.
Nothing stops a jenny except a bullet in the head, her luck being that we are not armed. You'll say that the portrait is acidic and that I'm not selling you all the qualities of the subject. So, we'll discuss another time its terrible gregarious instinct, its frustrated sexuality, its oral expression, and its atypical coat; otherwise, this mule notebook will close on my prose.
It's true, its countless qualities, dreams of great rides, and beautiful complicity, I leave you to discover, create, and realize them yourselves.
It's an extraordinary animal that will offer you angers as intense as your satisfactions. Prepare for a passionate relationship with an exciting animal that will regularly force you to question yourself without going through a therapist's couch and one day be able to say that you had a horse in your life and that this horse was... a mule!
Florence Hurlet.
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