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Re: Horse vs Mule
Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 1:04 pm
by UphillDoc
Well my horse buying weekend was a total flop!!! Tried 5 different gaited horses...got kicked, had a run away, a couple that would gait IF ya held their heads just right, and a spook. At $2,000 a lick I was kinda expecting a lil better horse. My Cowboy buddy says to me after the last one "ya know, it would probably be alot cheaper to just learn to ride a trot" LMFAO
The mule I was going to look at sold, but I made some more calls and have a few more lined up to have a go at. Maybe if I could just find the magical "good" mule my problems would be solved...LOL
If I have another horse buying weekend like this one, I can tell ya one of them solid, rough riding ranch horses will be lookin real shiny.
Question for anyone: Whats the oldest horse/mule you would consider buying? It will be asked to do alot of traveling and some of that in pretty steep country.
Take care.
Re: Horse vs Mule
Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 2:24 pm
by Benny G
My gelding is 14 and I figure that I should get another 6-10 years out of him. 5 years ago he went through a barbed wire fence and took out a T post with his shoulder. He was laid up for 18 months. If that doesn't get him a little prematurely, we'll see a couple more thousand miles together.
I just bought another gelding that is 6. He still has a small hump in his back from time to time, so if we both live through the next 3 or 4 years, we'll grow old together.
My mules are 10 and 4. The 10 year old is the mule that I had to get the lessons in mule behavior from. I wouldn't trade her for much of anything now. The 4 year old is in school every time I get around her. Both mules will probably outlast me. I have no doubts that the 4 year old will. I know of mules that have still been going strong at 30-35 years.
As a novice, I would suggest that no matter which you get, mule or horse, get one that's old enough not to give you any trouble. That varies with each animal individualy, but it's important for you to be the only one learning right now, not you AND your ride. For the right animal, be prepared to spend a little more money than perhaps you planned on from the start. Just like this hound thing -- if you spend the money up front, everything else for the rest of the time that you're in it, is easier.
Re: Horse vs Mule
Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 4:06 pm
by Mike Leonard
Benny,
Do mules really live that long or does it just seem that long? LOL!
I think I would like mules a little better if they looked more like this.
Re: Horse vs Mule
Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 6:53 pm
by Big Mike
For mules you want to get something at least 7-8 yrs old so they got most of the dumb stuff out of them. If you found a mule thats 15 yrs old and is everthing you want its still a good buy. You will still get another 8-10 years of good use out of them.
For a horse I wouldnt buy anything over 10 yrs old. A horse seems to loose their stupid stuff a little earlier than a mule so a good broke 4-5 year isnt too young for a novice
Of coarse all this will vary a little bit with individual personalities of each critter.
Mike that picture has got no personality this is what you need!!!
Re: Horse vs Mule
Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:46 pm
by Mike Leonard
LOL! That is some kind of personailty for sure!
Oh that photo of that old foundation bred buckskin has some character and personaility you just have to look pretty close. Close your eyes and imagine popping a foot in the Russ Yates custom oxebow grabbing the horn of that vintage Peter De Verbeck saddle and swinging up there in on that hurricane deck picking up that McCarty and spinning old Buster on his heels and long trotting out the gate into the sage and yucca. Hell about all you would be missing is old Chester or Festus riding along to keep you company. LOL!
Re: Horse vs Mule
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 2:04 am
by houndsnmules
I must be lucky I had more good mules then bad ones
Re: Horse vs Mule
Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 10:44 pm
by Brady Davis
Mr.pacojack wrote:Mules are not for everyone. Today there are alot of real good mules. Yesteryear the were alot more bad ones. They would breed the nastiest mare to the nastiest jack and they got a nasty ole mule. Thus you have alot of guys like Benny and mike that do not have a good oppinion of mules.
Today we have quality mares being bred to quality jacks and producing Very High Quality mules.
Mules can not be cowboyed like a hores, if you do this you will never will the war or it will be a very long one if you do.
Like Benny said " he was too hard headed to let it go. I was watching a horse program on RDF TV and the ol hores trainer said," Everone thinks a mule is stubborn, but I believe a mule just lets the person have enough time to figure out what he is doing wrong" And if you have dealt with a mule you will understand that.
If something is not working, you will have to take a minute and rethink how to get it done. If you go at it with this in mind, you will get along with a mule just fine.
But just like with horses , there are rank ones.
I have rode alot of gaited mules and gaited horses but they are not for the mountains, they are fine on flat land but not for steep terrian. You still have to get the animal into the gait before you can get the ride that everyone talks about and that is pretty hard to achieve going up a steep trail.
I am not one of those guys that will tell you that a horse can not follow a mule but I will tell you that you will find very few of them that will, cuz the first fence we come to I will leave you.lol
Well said Devin. I've rode good....In fact great horses all my life. Name names boys, rode some of 'em. Been on some good mules too and I gotta say, I would take a mule in the mountains over 2 or 3 of the "good uns" you can pick up for me in the QH breed....
Now, if we're roping it's a different story. Different tool for a different job
Re: Horse vs Mule
Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:48 am
by Cowboyvon
Brady Davis wrote:Mr.pacojack wrote:
I would take a mule in the mountains over 2 or 3 of the "good uns" you can pick up for me in the QH breed....
Now, if we're roping it's a different story. Different tool for a different job
There you go.. thats about it
Re: Horse vs Mule
Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 12:43 am
by hamilton10
Different tool for a different job. Well said and oh so true.
Re: Horse vs Mule
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 2:33 am
by UphillDoc
Well I found what I was looking for tonight. A beautiful, buckskin, Peruvian mare 8yo, gentle and smoooth! Been all over the Mtns, raised with kids and dogs, and has a head full of sense.
Thanks to all who gave me their input. I really appreciated it.
Take care.
Re: Horse vs Mule
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 7:31 am
by Benny G
Well Doc, Now you're going to work on my curiosity. If you're talking Peruvian Paso, I've seen those boogers operate, and I'd like to know how they keep from kicking ALL the rocks off the mountain! If there's a different Peruvian, let me just show my ignorance now, and get it out of the way.
Re: Horse vs Mule
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 11:04 am
by Mike Leonard
Peruvian Paso and the Paso Fino a bit differnt in type and build but still the same Paso gait. These horses were bred for thew mountanious regions of Peru and seem to do ok on the trail. I know Chris todd in Arizona use to have one he lion hunted on and it was a double tuff rock crunching little dude. Problem is if you are lion hunting with dogs you are going to have to slow that thing down because you just can't travel hound over rough country as fast as them gaited critters can go and still strike a lot of cold tracks. fine for getting one place to another but too fast for actual bare ground lion hunting to suit me.
Re: Horse vs Mule
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 11:42 am
by Spencer
not being a wise guy here, but dont the horses walk? Or is that too slow to cover any ground. Been riding for years, but never hunted on horseback so I am speaking from inexperience here. Hunting lions horseback with hounds has been #1 on my bucket list for quite a few years.
BTW, I think some pics are in order now that you have decided and purchased.
Re: Horse vs Mule
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 11:52 am
by Benny G
Spencer,
There are different speeds of horses walking, as well as different levels of energy that a horse wants or needs to expell. Depending on the conditions of the track, as well as the conditions of the atmosphere, sometimes you need to just take a break and let the dogs work. When you are ready to address that bucket list, come to New Mexico and I'll show you how a bunch of mutt turd machines can chase a coyote. Might even get lucky and trail a lion.
Re: Horse vs Mule
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 11:57 am
by UphillDoc
BennyG-Im talking Peruvian Paso. A bigger, stouter horse than the Paso Fino, and moves with more swing (termino) in the front than the Fino. Before riding my buddies Peruvians I wondered the same thing, and was always told the gaited horses were flatlanders. These Peruvians were bred in the mountains, and can really pick their way thru the rough stuff. They dont walk in the gait in the really rough stuff. Its when the trail is good, is where they walk away from the non gaited horses.
Mike-Yea you would have to just "dog walk" them, and the few I have been on will adjust easily when asked, but its real nice to be able to pick it up when your wanting to get somewhere. I think I would just park them and let the dogs do their thing alot, then just move on when needed if I was cold trailing. Im going to be using mine with my coyote runnin dogs in the high desert mostly, so going slow isnt whats needed most the time...
Take care.