Whew I lived through it!!

Well it's been a while since I've posted. Sorry it's taken me so long but now I am trying to connect with my 3 year old who just came home from the trainer. We had our IDMS State Show and Futurities last Saturday and Sunday. We got there Wednesday evening and played a little bit in the arena. Then got about six inches of rain in a short time. I hadn't had time to scrub the floors in the living quarters and boy am I glad I didn't. We are both terrrible about just running in, grabbing what we need and going - not bothering to take off our boots. Anyhow Rosie and I played in the arena off and on Thursday. There was a young man driving a beautiful paint pony pulling a two wheeled cart around. Didn't really seem to bother Rosie much as I usually "chase" that type of stuff and make her ride right up to it - but she's also 11 years old!! Sue White of Rockn S Mules of Havelock, Iowa showed up in the afternoon. She has had my 3 year old for 90 days. I helped her tack up then I ponied my colt as Sue has a 4 horse trailer and it's usually full of mules or tack or feed and stuff. Anyhow she decided to ride my 3 year old for a while after I had ponied her quite a while. Well it was sooooo awesome to see what she had done with this wonderful mule. There were several of us playing and practicing in the arena. Ann Taylor ( not the clothing person - the mule person) had set three barrels fairly close together to practice backing through them. Well along the west rail was a manure spreader and tractor, a gator or mule or whatever they call those things. Anyhow the electricity had went out all over Appanoose county so we had no lights in the arena and it was early evening and a little dusky in the arena. Well Sue was on Angel ( my 3 year old "Greystone's Crystal Angel") and had just asked for a lope at the southwest corner of the arena where the manure spreader and such was at. When she got to the end of the 4 wheeler thingey the pony was tied to the rail with the cart still hooked up and reared up just as Angel got to that spot. She shot about 6 foot sideways and Sue's first instinct (mine as well) to grab with her legs/calves and jabbed Angel with the spurs. She kinda crow hopped about two times then did the stiff legged bucking and threw Sue faced first splat to the ground just to the right and about one mule length in front of me. Yeeeee haw!!!! Anyhow sometimes you'll have a strange fluke like that but with a "teenage" animal one needs to be ready for about anything.

Anyhow this wonderful mule won the 2006 Molly Weanling Futurity out of 19 colts. She has maintained her legacy and won the 3 year old futurity which includes western pleasure, trail, and halter. She placed first in western pleasure and trail and 5th in halter as she is so gangly. SHE WON THE 3 YEAR OLD FUTURITY WITH THE TRAINING ANG GUIDANCE OF SUE WHITE. She placed 3rd in the junior mule futurity.

So as you'll find out in the future posts that I will give a lot of credit to Sue White of Rockn S Mules (apprentice to Steve Edwards of Queen Valley Mule Ranch). She is such a wonderful friend and her training abilities are AWESOME. I cried and told her and Bill I just could not make myself ride this mule. I'm gettin' to old and my body hurts even if I haven't fallen blah, blah, blah. Sue had promised to stay Sunday evening through Tuesday afternoon and teach me how it use my mule - you know where the buttons are and how she cues her. Well we got a phone call at 5:30 ish Monday morning that Tom and Tammy King Rabideau were having problems - we gave Tom (Bill's cousin) a jack colt out of or jack "Greysone's Numero Uno" or "Uno" for short last year sometime and he had pasture bred Tom's mare. Well the call was the mare was down and trying to birth a breech baby. Our colts are generally VERY long legged so this really worried me. Took off and flew over to his house. Vet was there and trying to get the breech baby - that was already dead - positioned so we could pull them. Long process and the mare was really suffering. As the vet is inside this mare up to his neck he says "uh oh". What's that mean? He says as he's trying to get a chain on the one leg WAY down inside the mare he says he can feel another muzzle. It's twins. Well to make a long story short Sue and I pulled the two dead john and molly babies out of the mare early Monday morning and the mare died just after lunch on Wednesday. But just after Sue and I pulled the john mule out - he was first - I turned and looked at her and told her I was ready to ride my 3 year old now.

So I am now riding this WONDERFUL mule who is an absolute joy to ride. If you ever want to start a young one because you are too afraid or whatever to start your own please contact this wonderful trainer. She makes them safe and fun. Ok that's all for right now - but I have some pictures coming from this years show and I will post some as time goes by but I also want to compare with some from last year so you can see how much both me and my red mule have improved and the 55 # wt. loss. Adios.