July  2005

Foxhunting in the Southwest: On the
Trail of El Coyote by Judie Framan... 8
Camping and Packing: A Veterinarian’s
Perspective by Doug Thal, DVM... 10
Camping With Your Horse
by Ruth Bourgeois.. 12
Focus on Mules by Sophia Sarember... 13
Why Trail Ride? ... 16
My Idea of Camping by Christina Fleming... 18
Equine First Aid by Kathy G. O’Neal... 24

d e p a r t m e n t s
NM Quarter Horse Association Newsletter . . . . . . . . 14
Stallion Showcase  . . . . . . . . . . . 20
News Briefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Breeders Directory. . . . . . . . . . . .45
Instructor/Trainer Directory . . . . .46
Classified Advertising . . . . . . . . . 52
Equestrian Property . . . . . . . . . . .57
Classified Advertising/Subscription Information. . . . . 62
Advertising Rates & Information..  62

Why Trail Ride? 


Trail riding is one of the most enjoyable ways to improve a horse’s movement. Horses that do lots of trail riding have better musculature, are often more sound, more resourceful and more sensible than horses confined to ring work. It is the
closest form of riding to the horse’s natural life.

Trail riding prevents horses from becoming bored and ring sour. Both horse and rider benefit from trail riding for movement, balance and attitude. When trail riding, encourage your horse to walk out. A good ground-covering walk is a pleasure
to ride and develops the horse’s hindquarters. Feel for the swing of his belly as he walks and use alternating leg aids to ask him for longer strides. Encourage him to stretch his neck and back by allowing him long reins. Allow the horse’s movements to go through your body. The rider who tries to hold a rigidly “correct” position
will stiffen, grip, bounce and interfere with the horse’s ability to move freely and comfortably under him. Tightness and tension are picked up and reflected in the horse’s attitude, causing nervousness and unpredictable behavior.

Hills and rolling terrain are great developers of movement. Walking up hills develops the horse’s hindquarter muscles. Trotting up hills develops muscle, wind and impulsion. When going up hills, stay off your horse’s back in a “half-seat” to prevent your horse from developing a sore back. When going downhill, slow your horse down and insist that he frequently rebalance himself so that he rounds his back and engages his hind legs. Going downhill crooked or hollow-backed and high headed can injure your horse. Good balance is not only a good practice;
it is safer for both of you.

You can use natural obstacles to practice bending and handiness. Try weaving in and out of trees or follow a winding trail. Use your inside leg to keep the horse from knocking your knee on a tree. Stepping over fallen logs and natural obstacles
is much like cavaletti work and helps the horse to engage his hind legs and round and stretch his back while increasing attention to where he is going. Stay up off his back to help him negotiate such obstacles.

Many horses will be more motivated to move forward outside the ring. Trail riding is a good time to work on lengthening strides in the trot while keeping him in balance. Don’t let the horse fall into a running tempo and sprawl forward. This is not a true extended trot and will cause bad habits when asking for such a gait inside the ring. Cantering and occasional galloping are great for developing a free forward and balanced canter. When allowing the strides to lengthen to a gallop, watch for balance and rhythm. Letting the horse go as fast as he can makes him hot and crazy and does nothing for developing stride and balance. Keep him “in check” and always maintain control. If he becomes agitated, do more calm, quiet work at the walk and trot and omit the fast work. One of the best tools for maintaining soundness is conditioning. Stretch your horse before and after workouts. Increase stamina by developing a schedule to increase length and speed of your rides. Take your horse’s pulse rate (heart rate) five minutes after working out and note: 60 beats per minute or less indicates the horse is not working enough; 60-70 beats per minute is improving his condition, and 72 beats per minute or more indicates that the horse is working too hard.

Reprinted from the February Trail Riders News, Washington BCH, as printed in BCHA newsletter, April 2003.

Hard-Mouthed Mule Part One


I was once asked if a particular mule I was having trouble working with was “hard-mouth”. I quipped that the mule had an excellent mouth, but was just “hardheaded”.

Improving a hardmouthed mule is mostly a “head game”—a mental battle of winning the mule’s confidence and obedience while setting yourself up for successful
rides or drives. Patient training, rather than brute force, can improve
the mule’s responsiveness and making a more reliable mount in the long run.

Going back to ground work when retraining is often helpful. Teaching ground manners with in-hand halter lessons should be done first. In subsequent lessons, lunging the mule with a halter or lunge cavesson and lunge line, can build the mule’s confidence in you. During all ground work, you should teach the mule simple voice commands, like “whoa”, to stop; “easy”, to slow down, etc. This helps you establish a foundation of trust, communication and respect. When lunging keep a steady, but light contact on the lunge line. Cue the mule to slow down or stop by using a voice command, supported with a series of distinct, sharp tugs on the lunge line. Do not let the mule trot or run uncontrollably in a round pen without appropriate tack or lunge line. “Tackless” training in a round pen is appropriate only for wellbehaved mules. Do not allow the mule to come into the center of the circle when you want to stop or change directions—keep the mule working on the end of the line and remain immobile when you ask for a halt. When you want to change directions have the mule stop and then walk out to the mule. Lead the mule around to get it to face the other direction, then start work again. This style of lunge training is, by today’s trends, old-fashioned method—but it gives much better control and obedience.

When these lessons are going well, if you have experience with ground driving, you may ground drive the mule in a training corral or arena. I like to ground drive with just a halter or a smooth snaffle. If necessary, you can use a twisted snaffle that has a medium to large sized mouth piece. You want the mule to respond well, so don’t hang on the mule’s mouth or struggle with the lines as this can exacerbate a hard-mouth. If the mule doesn’t stop, slow down, or turn well while ground driving—even with a twisted snaffle—then I try another tactic. I go back to a smooth snaffle, usually a “D” bit, half or full-cheek. Then I arrange the lines in a draw-rein configuration. I snap the lines on each side to the saddle billets, saddle dees, or dees on a harness/surcingle about the same level as the mule’s head when it is a
relaxed position. Then the lines run up to the bit, though the bit rings and back to my hand. Draw reins give a lot of power without having a harsh bit. The rule-of-thumb is to use a more mild bit with the draw reins, than the kind of bit you intend to use with ordinary reins—otherwise you will be stuck using draw reins forever; or you will fail to “lighten up” the mule’s mouth.


Next Month: Hard-Mouthed Mule Part Two


Sophia Sarember is a trainer, writer, and “muleteer” living in Edgewood, NM. She can be reached at Mulegal@aol.com.