UNDERSTANDING EQUINE BEHAVIOR
Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Williams
Lesson Nine
Welfare and Ethics
and
Donkey and Mule Behavior
Lesson
9 covers Welfare and Ethics. While this
topic isn’t a limited to behavior issues, I feel it is important and often gets
overlooked in Equine Science education.
It is also an area I’ve dedicated several years to studying and
improving, and I think having a good grasp of equine welfare and the ethics of
the horse industry will make you a better horseman or horsewoman.
This
lesson also covers donkey and mule behavior.
Too many horsemen treat donkeys and mules as long-eared horses, but they
have their own unique characteristics.
If you understand donkey and mule behavior, you’ll have a much easier
time interacting with these interesting equines.
Previous Lesson Summary
Before
we jump into lesson nine, we need to review lesson eight. I always include a previous lesson summary,
because I want to make sure your previous lessons stick with you. It is also a nice way to point out what I
think the most important points are from the previous lessons.
In
lesson eight, we discussed Behavior Problems and Their Causes and
Treatments. In this section of the
lesson, I listed real world situations and explained what was going on and how
I would deal with it. The take home
message from this section was that before you deal with a behavior problem, you
need to figure out exactly what’s going on.
Too many horsemen and horsewomen try to correct the problem without
treating the root of the problem – and that just leads to frustration for the
horse and the handler/trainer/owner. So
when you are dealing with a behavior problem, take a step back and look at
what’s going on: is the horse reacting
to the absence or presence of other horses?
Is the horse scared? Is he in
pain? Once you identify what’s going on,
you can create a plan to correct the behavior.
There are rarely quick fixes, though, and you’ll need to invest some
time to fix most behavior issues.
Some
of the most common causes for behavior problems listed in lesson eight:
·
Issues with
other horses: the horse may be
herd-bound and unable to cope when away from his friends or the horse may be
intimidated by the presence of more dominant horses and acting out.
·
Pain: horses who are in pain from poorly fitting
tack, physical ailments, lamenesses, or injuries
often act out in order to avoid work.
·
Stress: isolation, fear, pain, and overwork can all
cause horses stress.
We also discussed horse and human interactions in
lesson eight. Humans and horses have a
history that spans several thousand years.
It appears that horses were first seen as a source of food for early
humans: they were hunted and slaughtered
for the meat they could provide. Then
sometime around 3,500 BC, many archaeologists believe that horses were first
domesticated. Early in the domestication
process, horses were probably kept for food and possibly for companionship, but
eventually humans realized that if they could stay on the back of a moving
horse, they gained advantages over other humans. They were able to travel faster and further
and transport cargo. Horses’ strength,
agility, and speed also gave early equestrians an advantage over their
non-mounted enemies in times of skirmishes or wars. Eventually equestrians realized they could
also fashion harnesses and put the horse’s strength to use to haul loads. This enabled people to move families, goods,
and supplies further with less effort.
It is hard to imagine how different the expansion
and development of humans may have been without the horse, and it is wonderful
to the see the relationship between horses and humans continue to develop. Today horses serve as friends and companions,
sports partners, recreational partners, healers, and therapists. We continue to study horses so we can improve
how we interact with and train them.
Welfare and Ethics
Whether you’ll be working in the horse industry as
a professional or participating as an owner, understanding equine welfare and
ethics is important to your success with horses.
Equine welfare is concerned with the
care and health of horses and other equines.
Horses are considered to have good welfare if they’re healthy,
comfortable, well nourished, able to express normal behavior, and free from
pain and fear. The American Veterinary
Medication Association (AVMA) offers the following principles for evaluating
animal welfare:
1)
The
responsible use of animals for human purposes (for horses this includes
companionship, work, recreation, education, exhibition, therapy, and, in some
cultures, food).
2)
Decisions
regarding animal care, use, and welfare should be made by balancing scientific
knowledge and professional judgment.
3)
Animals
must be provided proper food, water, handling, and health care. They must also be given an environment that’s
appropriate to their needs (both biological needs and psychological/behavioral
needs).
For horses, this means
they should be kept in stalls big enough for them to stand up, lie down, turn
around, and move. It also means they
should have access to exercise and should have other horses for companionship. These are minimum requirements.
4)
Fear, pain,
stress, and suffering must be minimized.
For horses, this means housing them and training
them in a way that minimizes fear and stress.
For slaughter bound horses, it means humane transport and handling
throughout the process to reduce fear, pain, and stress.
5)
How animals
are housed, cared for, and managed should be constantly evaluated and updated.
6)
Management
of animal populations should be humane, socially responsible, and
scientifically based.
For horses, this means examining how feral horse
herds are housed, managed, and adopted out.
7)
Animal
should be treated with respect and dignity throughout their lives. When euthanasia is necessary, it should be
humane.
8)
Veterinarians
should strive to improve animal and welfare through research, education, and advocacy.
Although some of the AVMA’s guidelines for animal
welfare may not be applicable to every horse owner or trainer, they give a good
basic list of things to consider when housing and handling horses. You may not need to worry about managing
feral horse populations, but you may interact with those who do and should
understand the basic requirements for their job. And while you are probably not a veterinarian
who needs to worry about improving animal welfare through research, education,
and advocacy, it is good idea to find out what your veterinarian is doing to
help meet that goal.
The Five
Freedoms of Animal Welfare is another good guideline to evaluate animal
welfare. This list was developed in the
United Kingdom by the Report of the Technical Committee to Enquire into the
Welfare of Animals kept under Intensive Livestock Husbandry Systems. These Freedoms were developed for use by
those who house and handle for a variety of livestock and take into account
that many livestock animals are not housed in natural environments. The Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare say that
animals should have freedom from:
1)
Hunger and
thirst: This is accomplished by making
sure horses have access to water and sufficient food (grass, hay, and grain as
needed) to maintain a healthy body condition
2)
Discomfort: This is accomplished by providing a safe
environment. This includes making sure
horses have shelter from the elements, that they have a
clean pasture with appropriate fencing, and that shelters and stalls are
well-maintained, safe, and clean.
3)
Pain,
injury, disease: This is accomplished by
providing preventative care in the form of vaccines and dental care and by
working with your veterinarian to identify and treat health and lameness
issues.
4)
Express
normal behavior: This is accomplished by
making sure the horse has enough space to move around and companionship from
other equines.
5)
Fear and
distress: This is accomplished with
proper training and handling. This means
frequently reevaluating your training methods and striving to become the best
horseman you can be. It also means
considering the horse’s needs and behavior when developing his training
program. This will help insure that your
training methods are humane.
If you evaluate your own housing, feeding,
management, veterinary care, and training protocols with consideration for both
the AVMA’s list of guidelines and the Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare, you will
develop a program that puts the needs of the animals in your care first.
In addition to those guidelines, countries, states,
and cities have laws that spell out exactly what is required of animal owners
or caretakers in regards to animal welfare.
If you violate these laws, the authorities may remove your horses, and
you may face citations, fines, or even jail times. Before you move further into your horse
career, it is important to read and understand the animal, livestock, and horse
neglect laws and the requirements for your area.
In the United States, welfare laws are often
handled at the state level, but there are exceptions:
·
Horse
Protection Act (HPA): This is a federal
law that prohibits the practice of soring.
“Soring” is used with some Tennessee Walking Horses, American
Saddlebreds, and other high-stepping, gaited horse breeds. Caustic substances are applied to the horse’s
pasterns and then chains are placed around the horse’s pasterns. The caustic substance causes a burn which is
further aggravated by the chain hitting the burned area. The theory is that this causes horses to pick
their feet up higher to achieve some of the extreme show-ring gaits. Occasionally, nails, tacks, pieces of glass,
or other sharp objects are placed between the sole of the horse’s foot and the
pads underneath his shoes to achieve the same result.
The
USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) works with horse show officials
and the horse industry to identify trainers and owners who participate in soring. This is
often done by conducting inspections of the horses’ legs, especially at larger
shows. Owners may be arrested, fined,
and/or prosecuted for violations of the HPA.
·
Slaughter
Horse Transport Program (SHTP): These
regulations govern handling and care of horses who are
being transported to slaughter, and they’re overseen by the USDA. The regulations say that shippers of
slaughter bound horses must:
o
Separate
stallions and aggressive horses from other horses.
o
Provide
adequate food, water, and rest six hours before loading the horses.
o
Unload the
horses after 24 hours without food or water (and then provide food or water).
o
Have a
shipper certificate.
o
Provide
enough floor space for each horse.
o
No longer
use double-decker or two-tier trailers.
o
Not
transport horses that cannot bear weight on all four legs, are unable to walk, are blind in both eyes, under the age of six months, or
pregnant and likely to foal during the trip.
Violations of the SHTP
may be arrested, fined, and prosecuted.
Each
state has its own definition of animal neglect or abuse and information on how
violators of the animal neglect laws are handled. If you would like to learn about your own
state’s animal neglect laws, you can visit the ASPCA at http://www.aspca.org/fight-cruelty/advocacy-center/state-animal-cruelty-laws. If you
keep horses within city limits, you should also check with the city’s animal
control department to see if they require additional laws or regulations.
When
discussing equine welfare, we also need to discuss the difference between
animal rights and animal welfare. Many
people lump animal rights and animal welfare together but this does a disservice
to those who support animal welfare as the term “animal rights” has become a
dirty phrase to many due to the publicity stunts and outrageous actions of
several animal rights organizations.
Because of this, it is important to understand that animal rights and
animal welfare are two very different movements with very different goals.
The
animal rights movement believes that
animals have the same rights as human beings. The movement does not
tolerate research involving animals, product testing on animals, or the use of
animals in any way (including to provide food,
clothing, entertainment, relaxation or fun).
Before you jump on board with this idea, look around your house and take
note of all the things that directly use animal products. This includes leather tack and boots, wool
saddle blankets and clothing, meat, eggs, and dairy products. It also includes any medications you take or
medical procedures you’ve undergone: they
were all developed through animal research and testing. The safety of many everyday products such as
makeup, cleaners, personal grooming products,
materials used in building your home, car, and appliances was established using
animal testing. Furthermore, the animal
rights movement does not believe in using horses for riding or driving for
competition, work, or pleasure/fun.
The animal welfare movement believes that
humans can use animals but that we have the responsibility to treat all animals
humanly. This movement recognizes that animals may be used for
entertainment (riding, circuses, other performances),
food, research, etc, but the movement states that we have a responsibility to
provide humane care and to provide for the animals' basic needs (food, water,
movement, and social interaction).
The
animal welfare movement has fought for better lab animal treatment, better food
animal treatment, and better care and treatment of performance animals.
The animal welfare movement understands that humans use animals but that the
use in and of itself isn't the problem. Poor care and treatment of
animals is the problem, so those who believe in animal welfare work to insure
that all animals are cared for.
Those
in the animal rights movement would rather see species die out than be
subjugated by humans. They would rather there be no more cattle than to
have one more human eat another hamburger or steak. They would rather see an end to all horses
than to see horses ridden.
Those
in the animal rights movement often believe that they can and should use any
measure necessary to achieve their goals. This has led to a subset of the
animal rights movement called animal rights terrorism. They believe
violence against humans is perfectly acceptable if it leads to their goal: no
more animal subjugation. They do not have a problem with breaking into
laboratories to free caged animals, they do not have a problem with threatening
researchers who use animals in their programs, and they protest and try to shut
down circuses, dog shows, horse shows, and similar venues.
Many
people believe they're animal rights activists when in fact they really support
animal welfare. The animal rights movement consistently muddies the
waters so that they get donations from people who own, use, benefit from and
love animals and want to see them treated fairly. Those donors often
don't understand that their donations go to fund campaigns that are intended to
eliminate all use and interactions with animals.
Ethics are the moral principles that
govern a person or group’s behavior. Ethical practices are important in the horse
industry, but they seem to be challenged frequently. You don’t have to be in the horse industry
long to hear tales of unethical practices:
boarding barns who don’t properly feed the horses in their care, trainers
who use abusive, cruel practices, and veterinarians who commonly misdiagnose
horses or administer banned medications.
Some of these allegations are unfounded:
they’re made by disgruntled employees or clients, but unfortunately
there are many true tales.
As an equine professional, you are an ambassador or
spokesperson for the horse industry.
When novice horse people first experience ethical horse professionals,
it starts them off on a good foot in the horse world and they’re likely to
stick around. But when they come in
contact with an unethical equine professional, it taints their experience with
horses. More often than not, these
novices decide the horse industry isn’t for them and we all lose a potential
client and a supporter of our passion.
Most
breed associations, competitive organizations, and horse clubs have their own
code of ethics. It is important to
familiarize yourself with the code of ethics for the organizations you belong
to and to implement those practices in your business.
There
are several things you can do to make yourself a better, more ethical horse
professional:
1)
Surround
yourself with ethical professionals.
Work with equine veterinarians and farriers who have good reputations in
the horse industry.
2)
Continue
your equine education. You’ll never know
everything you could know about horses.
Attend clinics, take classes, and read magazine articles and books that
can further your equine education.
3)
Avoid
becoming part of the gossip mill. The
horse industry is full of gossip. Don’t
participate by passing on information you cannot verify about other
professionals or clients. If you have a
bad experience, report it to the appropriate authorities (your state’s
veterinary medical board, animal control, the appropriate horse
registry/club/association). If someone
asks you about another equine professional or potential client, stick to the
facts. If you’ve had a bad experience
with someone, you can tell others you would prefer not to talk about the
person.
4)
Project a
professional appearance and attitude.
You are not only a spokesperson for the horse industry, but you are also
a role model to young horse enthusiasts.
Act professionally whether at another facility or at your own
property.
5)
Support the
horse industry and give back. Get
involved in the local youth groups (4-H, FFA, your breed association’s youth
group) and help teach future generations of horsemen and horsewomen. Or volunteer to help a rescue or therapy
program.
6)
Keep your
word and do what you say you are going to do.
Not following through with promises or guarantees creates bad
experiences for those who hire you. If
something changes and you are unable to fulfill an obligation, talk to your
client and try to find a solution that makes them happy. This may mean refunding part of their money,
keeping the horse longer, or helping them find another professional.
7)
Be up front
with your clients about your expectations, responsibilities, and
limitations. This is where good, clear
contracts come in. Your contracts for
service (whether it is boarding, training, breeding, etc) should clearly state
what you expect from your client and what you will provide. It should also clearly outline your fee
structure. Not everyone will read a
contract, though, so make sure you also verbally go over your expectations for
your client, your responsibilities to him or her, any limitations in your
services, and your fee structure.
Donkey and Mule Behavior
Although horses may be your passion and your focus
as an equine professional or enthusiast, you may come into contact with either
a donkey or mule in your lifetime. Many
horse people think of donkeys and mules as long-eared horses or stubborn little
horses, but that’s simply not true.
Donkeys and mules share similarities with horses, but they’re their own
species with different needs, behaviors, and motivations. You’ll enjoy donkeys and mules if you stop
thinking of them as horses and appreciate them for the unique creatures they
are.
To
start off with, the proper terms for donkeys and mules are:
·
Jack: unneutered, male donkey
·
Gelding,
gelded jack, or gelded donkey: neutered,
male donkey
·
Jennet, jennie, jenny:
female donkey
·
Mule: the offspring of a jack bred to a mare
·
Hinny: the offspring of a stallion bred to a jennet
(less common than mules)
·
John: male mule
·
Molly: female mule
Donkeys reach sexual maturity on average at about
two years of age, although jacks can reach sexual maturity as young as eight
months of age. Many will not breed until
they’re two to three years old, but there are always exceptions and it is wise
to treat even young donkeys as sexually mature animals.
Mules,
on the other hand, are normally sterile although there have been a few
exceptions. This doesn’t mean they can’t
or won’t breed, however, it just means those couplings very rarely produce
offspring. John mules still produce
testosterone, and they can be very aggressive, so gelding them is the best
option to making mule-keeping safe and easy.
Now
that we’ve laid out a few of the terms, we’ll first focus on donkeys. Researchers believe that modern donkeys are
descended from African Wild Asses. They
were likely first domesticated about 6,000 BC in Egypt for reasons similar to
horse domestication (meat, milk, companionship, and later riding and driving).
The
African Wild Asses lived in harsh climates:
they had little water, little food, and extreme temperatures. Because of this, modern donkeys tend to be
sturdier than horses in many ways. They
do well in higher temperatures than horses do, and they need less water and
food. Many donkeys rarely, if ever, need
concentrated foods (grain, pellets, etc.) and instead do well on pasture grass
supplemented with hay.
Today,
there are many varied donkey breeds around the world. They’re often classified by size:
Miniature
donkeys: They stand 36 inches or less at
the withers.
Standard
donkeys: The range from 36.1-48 inches
at the withers.
Large
standard donkeys: They range from
48.1-54” at the withers.
Mammoth
donkeys: They stand 54.1 inches or
taller at the withers.
Donkeys
come in a variety of colors: dun-grey
(the most common) with or without a cross, dorsal stripe, and shoulder stripes,
brown, black, red (similar to sorrel/chestnut), red roan (rare), or blue
roan. Donkeys also come in patterns that
somewhat resemble Paint or pinto patterns in horses, but these donkeys are
called spotted (not paint!) donkeys.
When
you glance at a donkey, you may think they don’t look much different than
horses, aside from those long ears. But
they have several confirmation differences:
·
Their
shoulders are more upright – this makes their stride look choppier than a
horse’s.
·
Their withers
are not as pronounced as a horse’s withers.
This can make tack fitting a bit of a challenge.
·
They have a
sharper, steeper croup and narrower rump than a horse has.
·
Their
hooves are narrower and more upright than horse hooves. They also don’t tend to break off as easily
as a horse’s hooves so they may grow very long (and make the donkey look like
he’s standing on stilts) or curl up.
·
Their
foreheads are broader. This means a
regular horse-size bridle may not fit them.
·
Their eye
orbits are bony. This makes it look
almost like they have ridges around their eyes when compared to a horse’s eyes
and face.
Donkey social structure is different than that of
horses, and that helps
explain some of their behavioral differences. Their social structure is less organized and
can take two different forms in the wild.
In one type of donkey herd, a jack establishes a herd of jennets and
offspring. Unlike a stallion, however,
the jack is very territorial and defends his territory as well as his jennies against other jacks.
These herds are not as stable as horse harems: jennies often leave
the group and new jennies come in.
In
locations where food is sparser, donkeys tend to spread out more and don’t tend
to form herds. A few jennies
may hang out together for safety, but they frequently change companions. Jacks may live alone, and jennies
and jacks only come together during the breeding season.
Because
jacks are more territorial than stallions, they tend to be more aggressive and
fight more often. Fighting may start
with a lot of loud braying. The jacks
then clamp their teeth into the other jack’s crest or bite at the other jack’s
legs. In the wild, many jacks have impressive scars
from former fights.
In
domestic situations, this territoriality leads to many jacks and gelded jacks
being very protective of their pastures.
This means they may chase or attack any intruder: strange equines, dogs and coyotes, bobcats,
or other animals that come into their pasture.
This makes them great livestock protectors, although some jacks don’t
tolerate strange livestock either. It
also means, though, that jacks should be left ungelded unless they’ll be used
for breeding and kept by an experienced donkey handler and trainer. Frustration at being denied the chance to
follow his instincts can make a jack even more aggressive, and occasionally
those jacks attack humans. If you have
donkeys who get into a fight, don’t get between
them. You could get bit, kicked, or
otherwise hurt by the jacks as they attempt to hurt each other.
Like
horses, donkeys have a flight or fight response. But while a horse is more likely to flee than
fight, unless he’s prevented from getting away, donkeys tend to have a higher
fight drive. That’s likely related to
their social structure: since donkey
herds in the wild are unstable, donkeys often spend some time on their own and
can’t rely on a herd for protection. When they’re scared and unwilling to
fight, they often freeze instead of spooking and running away like a horse
might. Some horse people see this
willingness to fight to protect themselves as a sign of a donkey’s
inferiority. It isn’t, though, it is
genetically wired into him.
Donkeys
are often less overtly expressive than horses, and this gives those used to
caring for horses two problems. First,
since donkeys are stoic, they don’t tend to show signs of illness or injury as
readily as horses. That doesn’t mean
they don’t feel the pain, but they just don’t show it as easily as a
horse. The second problem for horse
owners who now handle donkeys is that they’re not as expressive with their
behavior most of the time. While a horse
may roll his eye and tremble when he’s nervous, a donkey may only tense the
skin around his eye or stare off into the distance. Because donkeys aren’t as expressive, their
owners and handlers need to watch them carefully and learn their subtle cues
that indicate illness, pain, fear, stress, or anger. Once you learn to read the donkeys in your
care, you should be able to pick up on those very slight cues so you can
address their problems.
Donkeys
can be a challenge to house. Unless you
have a mammoth donkey, they’re normally smaller than horses. That means they may be able to fit underneath
fences or through openings that a horse cannot go through. They also tend to really like grooming
themselves by rubbing up against trees or other solid objects like fence posts,
stall walls, etc. They also love to dust
bath and will create their own sand pits to dust bath in by pawing up grass
(which can be hard on your pasture).
Although
wild donkeys often form less stable herds than horses, domestic donkeys often
form very strong bonds to other donkeys. They
also do best when pastured/kept with other donkeys for company. And if you’ll be using your donkeys for
showing, riding, packing, or driving, you’ll probably want to have more than
two: that way you won’t leave one alone
when you take one donkey out for training/showing/riding time. When no other
donkeys are around, they may form a bond to other livestock animals in their
pasture (horses, goats, sheep, etc.), poultry they live with, or even a dog or
cat. Donkeys can also form strong bonds
to their human handlers/trainers, especially when they spend a lot of time
together. When donkeys are separated
from long-time herd-mates, they may become depressed (they may be lethargic,
stop eating, have low energy, experience stress, etc.).
Like
horses, donkeys also engaged in play behavior, but the behaviors they express
while playing are different than those expressed by horses. When playing, donkeys may:
·
Explore and
manipulate objects by using their mouths but not their teeth
·
Explore and
mouth objects with their teeth
·
Pick up,
shake, and toss objects
·
Paw objects
or move them with their feet
·
Gallop back
and forth: this is especially common for
donkey foals who may run from their dam to an object like a tree and back to
their dam over and over again
·
Circle
objects at different gaits
·
Rear
·
Mount other
donkeys (jacks, gelded jacks, and jennies will all do this)
·
Leap into
the air
·
Run, buck,
kick, and jump
·
Males may
stage mock fights
Training donkeys is similar to training horses, but
there are some important differences.
Because donkeys have a strong sense of self-preservation, they can be
hard to force into doing things that they don’t want to. They might fight you when you try to force
them into performing, or they may shut down and refuse to move. That gives
people the impression that donkeys are stupid or stubborn: they aren’t.
They simplify think and react different than horses.
Positive reinforcement (operant conditioning) is
necessary when training donkeys. Food is
a great motivator and reinforcer: you can use a small
amount of oats or small pieces of treats.
Clicker training and shaping are both very useful when training
donkeys: your secondary reinforcer is a click or a whistle (you can use a
commercial clicker or make a clicking sound with your tongue) and your primary reinforcer is a bit of food.
Fortunately donkeys are very smart and most of them
are very people-oriented. They like to please the people they know and trust,
and praise and attention can be a good reinforcer as
well. When horses don’t understand
something or are started, they’re more likely to be reactive. Donkeys may still startle or spook, but
they’re more likely to study situations, think, and try to solve problems.
They’re also more likely to confront challenges than to back down.
These characteristics of donkeys mean that donkeys
don’t respond to pressure like a horse.
You can make a horse move around a round pen while waving your hands,
cracking a whip, or making noise. All of that basically forces or causes the
horse to move because you are putting pressure on him and he’s moving away from
it. You can also cause a horse to move parts of his body fairly easily by
putting pressure on them: you can place your hand on the horse’s side, push,
and he will normally move away from you.
Donkeys don’t respond the same way in these situations. In a round pen,
a donkey may move away from your waving arms for a few seconds. But then he will normally stop and watch and
study you. When you push against his
side to get him to move, he’ll lean into you and may step closer to you rather
than stepping away.
These characteristics can make donkeys difficult
for horse trainers to train, but once you adjust to their way of thinking and
behaving, donkey training can be fun and interesting. I know a couple of donkey people who have
taught donkeys to ride, drive, and cross obstacles in a donkey agility course
all through the use of clicker training without the use of any punishment. When
the donkey misbehaves or doesn’t perform, he isn’t rewarded but the trainer asks
him to start the task again.
A
few other notes on donkeys before we move onto mules:
·
They tend
to be stronger than horses. So a donkey
can haul or carry more weight than a similarly sized horse.
·
They live
longer than horses: they often live into
their 40s and some live into their 50s.
Bringing a donkey home is a long-term commitment!
·
They need
routine veterinary care like a horse: coggins tests, de-worming, vaccinations, and dental work.
·
They need
their hooves trimmed regularly.
Mules are interesting since their behavior is a
combination of both horse and donkey behavior and there’s probably more
variation: some may behave more like horses while others behavior more like
donkeys. Since they’re a man-made creature
(they don’t often occur in the wild), that means we can’t look at their
natural/wild behavior and apply it to domestic mules. I think we can get a lot of information and
understanding about both horses and donkeys by watching those who live in the
wild or are feral. We don’t really get
that opportunity with mules.
Mules
are normally infertile, although there are rare exceptions. This is because donkeys have 64 chromosomes
and horses have 62. When the two are
crossed, they create the mule with 63 chromosomes. The odd number of chromosomes
make it difficult for them to pair properly when bred. However, mules still experience reproductive
drive and behavior: molly mules go into
heat and may be receptive to stallions, jacks, and john mules. John mules still
produce testosterone, unless gelded, and can be territorial and aggressive,
similar to jacks. John mules should be gelded to reduce aggression and fighting
and to make them safer to handle.
Mules
combine characteristics of both parents, and they’re used for everything that either
a donkey or horse is used for: trail
riding, pleasure riding, showing, packing, driving, etc. Most mules have a better tolerance for
severe climates than horses do (more like their donkey halves), and they tend
to be sturdier and healthier than horses.
Like horses and donkeys both, they still need regular veterinary,
farrier, and dentistry care and they need routine de-worming. They also tend to be easier keepers than
horses, although not quite as hardy/easy as a donkey.
The
conformation of mules lies somewhere between that of a
horse and that of a donkey.
·
Mules have
shorter ears than donkeys do, but their ears are longer than a horse’s ears.
·
Mules have
a short, upright mane.
·
Mules have
a thinner tail than a horse.
·
Their
hooves are narrower and more upright than a horse’s hooves, much more like a
donkey’s hooves. They’re tough and
rarely chip.
·
They have a
short back without prominent withers.
This makes saddle fitting somewhat difficult.
·
They are
athletic like horses.
·
They have
straighter necks than horses. (They
rarely have an arched neck like many horses do).
·
Their
forehead is broader than a horse’s.
Mules come in a variety of colors: nearly any color that a horse comes in. There are even mules with Appaloosa
patterns! They don’t come in true Paint
colors, but there are spotted mules that resemble Paints. Regardless of the color, many mules have
lighter colored bellies and muzzles.
Like donkeys, mules come in a few different sizes:
·
Miniature
mules: 50” or less
·
Saddle
mules: Over 50”
·
Draft
mules: They’re also called mammoth
mules. Their horse side comes from a
draft horse, and they are taller and stockier than saddle mules.
Behaviorally,
mules fall somewhere between horses and donkeys, but they normally to behave a little
more like donkeys. Mules are often less
spooky than horses, and they more often decide to fight (standing their ground)
than to flee. When they do spook they
rarely go far before turning around to face whatever startled them like a
donkey would. Like donkeys, they often
confront new situations or things that scare them and try to work through
problems.
Mules
also have a strong sense of self-preservation.
This means they make great trail animals and often keep themselves and
their rider safe in dangerous situations:
they may refuse to cross ground that is unstable, go through water
that’s deeper or more treacherous than it appears, or refuse to travel down a
trailer that’s been recently visited by a dangerous animal. Sadly, this often earns them the scorn of
horsemen. They’re called stubborn and
stupid, when in fact they’re only trying to keep themselves safe.
Training mules, like donkeys, can be a little
different than training a horse. It is
much harder to force a mule to do something he’s not comfortable with. His sense of self-preservation will kick in
and he’ll refuse to budge. If pushed too
hard, he may even fight with you.
Fortunately positive reinforcement and shaping both work very well when
training mules. They’ll work hard for
attention, praise, and food rewards.
Many mule trainers agree that one of the biggest
problems they see in mule training is overcoming fear experienced by
mules. That may be fear of pain or of
bad handling caused by unkind handlers in the mule’s past. It also may be a fear of the unknown. If you can remove the fear and make the mule
comfortable, he’ll learn quickly.
While it may be a challenge to adjust to thinking
more like a mule or donkey than a horse, many horsemen enjoy the change in
routine and the chance to work with a different, yet similar, species. You can train a
mule or donkey to do anything a horse can do, and there are mule and donkey
shows and competitions to showcase your training achievements.