Hauling meat on mules

[Zcarlon]

What is the best was to desensitize a mule or horse to dead game? I've heard a few conflicting stories. I shot a doe a few weeks back and my new pack mule lost his mind.

 

[blfelts]

Yes - lots of stories and conflicting opinions. So take mine as just that - another opinion.

I work on my stock most of the year. I save blood from my meat, soak it in old cotton towels or cut up game bags and tie it around the feeder so they have to smell it to get hay. I leave the old cloth or game bag up most of the year as long as it's not attracting a bunch of wasps in the summer. I have also put it in a bowl and rewarded them with treats when they opted to smell it. I also have an old tanned hide I use. When the time comes while hunting, I put the quarters in the game bags near them (down wind) while highlined. I just slowly move the quarters closer and closer until I pick them up, pet em til they calm down, bump into them lightly with the quarter over and over again until they show indications that they're ok. I also carry Vic'c vapor rub just in case... but some just take to the blood like a duck to water and some perhaps never will...??

 

[bigbaddad71]

Yes - lots of stories and conflicting opinions. So take mine as just that - another opinion.

I work on my stock most of the year. I save blood from my meat, soak it in old cotton towels or cut up game bags and tie it around the feeder so they have to smell it to get hay. I leave the old cloth or game bag up most of the year as long as it's not attracting a bunch of wasps in the summer. I have also put it in a bowl and rewarded them with treats when they opted to smell it. I also have an old tanned hide I use. When the time comes while hunting, I put the quarters in the game bags near them (down wind) while highlined. I just slowly move the quarters closer and closer until I pick them up, pet em til they calm down, bump into them lightly with the quarter over and over again until they show indications that they're ok. I also carry Vic'c vapor rub just in case... but some just take to the blood like a duck to water and some perhaps never will...??

Great ideas and advice right here.. Nothing much to add..

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

 

[Zcarlon]

Thanks for the advice! I had always heard some mules have trouble with it but I didnt expect him to blow up like he did.

 

[rayporter]

if i have a fresh hide i put it by or over the feed pan.

 

[blfelts]

I even save the blood when I thaw out a small roast and meat scraps. You can tell which is the "duck to water" who just wants treats. I've gotta keep her from sticking her nose right in the blood . Alternatively, you can see which one I need to work with more...

 

[Zcarlon]

Nice. She dont look phased at all. Hopefully I can get mine to that point before season.

 

[Brooks]

Long before we go hunting and plan on packing out with a horse or mule that has never packed a dead bloody animal we train it. This is a young colt that’s been getting used to it. Once they get the hang of it it doesn’t bother them at all.

 

[Zcarlon]

Plan on trying to take them this fall, but dont leave much time to train them on it.

 

[rayporter]

you will get out of this what you put in to it.

 

[Goose10]

Sometimes the smear some blood from the animal trick works. The theory is all they can smell is the blood so they get used to it. Takes a little extra time at the kill sight as they may get a pissy for a few minutes but eventually will calm down. Best way we have found for easy loading is to quarter and bag the animal then put in in the panniers before hanging the panniers on the mule/horse. Then don’t see any bloody carcass and as someone else said, stage the meat downwind of where you plan to load it.

 

[Randy Starks]

How old is your mule,zcarlon?tell me some about him/her,how long have you owned him? are you experienced with mules?

 

[Zcarlon]

I have 2 mules, one is 6 and one is 9. Only had them for about year. I have a little experience on horses but very little on mules.

 

[Mike 338]

A mule's mind (and body for that matter) matures much slower than a horse. When youngish, they're very insecure and IMO, don't even begin to get good till about 6 years. Like rayporter said... you get out of it what you put into it. Desensitizing mules or horses to game/blood/hide/horns doesn't start with a jar of blood or a hank of fur. You start in the round pen with something small like neckerchief tied to a whip and run it around all parts of their body till they're good with it. Then you should be able to pop it on the ground close to them and swing it around with them being stone still. That can take a long time and that's just the very beginning, so start now. One day you'll be able to drag long tarps behind them and on/over them without them flinching but you gotta be a patient trainer. Your not trying to scare them. They're already scared. Your building confidence which takes time and the time you put into it can go a long way to keeping you out of the hospital. Get/buy a comprehensive training resource and use it. Stay away from two-sentence behavior fixes. In a month you'll know more than 95% of the people giving you advice (regardless of how many years they've owned horses/mules) and you'll have better mules for it.

For what it's worth, when I field dress an animal, my clothes usually come back to camp stinking of blood and game. I'll tie a smelly shirt around my animal's neck overnight or for a good long while so it has to live with it. When we go get the critter, my mule thinks it smells like me and not a critter (maybe). Who really knows what an animal thinks? My mules feed right next to elk that come down every single night during the winter. That's not training. Training is training and you won't know your animal is good till you've done all you can to prepare it mentally. Oh, and honestly... I think I get more out of it than my mules.

 

[bigbaddad71]

I have 2 mules, one is 6 and one is 9. Only had them for about year. I have a little experience on horses but very little on mules.

Canaries are a whole other experience.. Lol

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

 

[bigbaddad71]

I have 2 mules, one is 6 and one is 9. Only had them for about year. I have a little experience on horses but very little on mules.

Canaries are a whole other experience.. Lol

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

 

[Zcarlon]

Thanks Mike for the reply! Do you have any suggestions on a comprehensive training resource?

 

[rayporter]

it is a journey ---not a destination

 

[Mike 338]

Thanks Mike for the reply! Do you have any suggestions on a comprehensive training resource?

Sure, I got some ideas but feel free to stray. There's plenty of guru's out there and most of them know their stuff. Way back when, while I was healing up from my latest horse mishap, I decided maybe being tuff and learning by trial and error wasn't panning out the way I'd hoped. I poked around and attended a John Lyons seminar locally. He was also selling Course Books/Programs so I bought one. Not cheap either but a darn site cheaper that surgery and a stay in the hospital. If I recall, it was over $400. It came with a big fat notebook and videos. It had mostly to do with Starting Colts and Basic Training. I read, watched and applied what I was being taught in the order it was meant to be applied. No big surprise... it worked mostly. I say "mostly" because animals like people are individuals but it's important to stick to the program and not leave little things out because little things become big things when there's holes in the training.

I don't want to say there's only one or two Programs/Teachers to go with but I'd personally avoid the touchy/feely types. Those types of Teachers know who their Customers are and if all you care about is kissing your horse on the nose, braiding it's mane and feeding it treats, then maybe that for you but not for me. I want an animal that respects me, that has learned "how" to learn and is reasonably calm under varying circumstances. I'm not trying to train it "fast". Mules are the wrong animal if you want a fast learner. It's not that they're dumb. They're not. Just the opposite. They're smart and think everything through. Over time, if your patient, they'll transfer that trust to you and actually try to help you. When they get it, they get it for good and a good horse/mule will plain spoil you. From the folks I talk to and videos I've seen, I like Clinton Anderson's approach. I think his approach translates well to both horses and mules. Personally I believe all horses "should" be trained the way mules "must" be trained. Horses you can get real handy quite quickly because they can be bullied into doing what you want out of nervous fear. Mules... not so much. If I did it over again, I'd acquire and apply a Clinton Anderson Basic Training sort'a Program. When it comes to horses, it's cheap money spent. The real cost is in maintaining a horse for 20+ years. You might as well have a good one.

Just an example... I had a dead raccoon I hung off the saddle horn and rode my mule around with it flopping around next to her head. She was calm and dealt with it even though she didn't like it. It all started with blow ups and running away but through patient training, she became "good" and I didn't get hurt and she didn't get hurt. I rode up to a lady who keeps her horse with us. Can't say she handled it nearly as well as the mule.

 

[rayporter]

john lyons is certainly worth listening to if he is ever near.

many put on a clinic and show you how good they are [and they are very good] but john will show you how to do it. and when done you can do it.

nearly with out fail the clinician will say if the horse dont come around you did something wrong- its always your fault he has a bad habit. Richard Shrake is the only one i ever heard say if you do this and this and such and such and that horse still wont see it your way------he needs a new zip code.