[houstonmule]

@Barw 35576 wrote:

Nice looking pic’s.Your team is identical to mine.
Did some plowing,discing and harrowing with my team
June 16 & 17.My team is shown at http://www.swta.ca

Yes…nice mules. I’m selling a nice team that I bought last year that matches both yours and mine. They walk faster than the team in the picturse. So. I’m looking for another team to make a 4 up.

[houstonmule]

Thanks, My dad used to mow with his Halflingers using this mower. He thought the pole wieght was too much for them so he put a dolly wheel under it. Its square tubing.

[houstonmule]

@Barw 32243 wrote:

I would like some thoughts on how to bridle a mule with sensitive ears.
As soon as the bridle touches her ears she lifts her head and pulls back.
I even dropped the bit off thinking may be it was hitting her teeth but that
didn’t make any difference.I have been using a twitch on her nose to get
the bridle on but there as to be a better way.The fellow that raised the mules
said he never abused her or her ears.Once the bridle is on she is a well mannered
mule.Her team mate you can do anything with his ears.
Any opinions on what to do?

I’ve fixed several this way;
It might be hard for me to explain this as I type so if you wish to call me you can.

Halter you mule and tie to a wall with about 3ft of halter shank.
Take a buggy whip a hold it revesed (oppisite end from the handle).
If your right handed…face your mule (or a step off to the right) with the whip in your right hand and bring your left hand to the square.
You begin to tap on his rear with the butt end of the whip attempting to drive him to your lifted hand (which will be about as high as his forhead.
I say “come here” as I tap.
You are just tapping ( I could tap you this hard and we’d still be friends)
Each time he makes an effort to come to you….you stop tapping. Then start again until he takes another step forward.
You never go to him with your left hand. If you do you’ve lost and he will make you reach farther next time.
Usually he will come to your have in about 5 minutes.
As he comes up and puts his forehead on your hand….you start to rub around. If he moves his head away from your hand the tapping starts again.
It’s the simple saying of “make the wrong thind difficult and the right thing easy”. He would rather you play with his ears than you tapping on that spot that’s statring to get sore.

It might take a few sessions to get it solid but I’ve fixed a few bad ones and it works.

[houstonmule]

I’ll try and put some on tonight. I’ll put them in the equipment thread.

[houstonmule]

@Mac 26780 wrote:

Wow, I don’t know what I’m more jealous of, the mules or the disc! I wish I could just get into my field, let alone disc it. Its about 1/2 underwater, and the rest is a sea of mud. Just be glad you have a dry field to disk!
Best of luck
Mac

lol, this was about the first day that it was dry enough to get into the fields. I was hoping to finish that field today but it rained all night again. Here in Alberta most guys haven’t turned a wheel on spring work yet. The mules were glad it rained.

[houstonmule]

@jac 26773 wrote:

Excellent !!! that team look really settled and doing a good job. How wide is that disc set ?? 8ft ??..
John

Thanks, it’s an 8ft double disc. A little much for 4 head, but I don’t have it set very aggresive. After a couple rounds around this small 6 acre field, they were happy to stand when I said whoa, lol. I would let them blow 2 times per round. There is a pretty big dip the the field that made them snort when comming up out of it.

[houstonmule]

I talked with miller tire. They want $400 for a tire and $60 for a tube, yikes! The tire wasn’t exactly the one we wanted but close enough.

Looking for something a little cheaper.

[houstonmule]

Thank you so much. I called the number and it says it is disconected, so I emailed him. I hope he still has them.

Thank you

[houstonmule]

@Ronnie Tucker 26527 wrote:

that is very southern harness you are using.that is my favorite type.you dont see that style much but in middle tn.it is getting hard to find people who make it anymore.four inch flat breeching is very strong and durable.this style is how the wheel harness was made for the jerkline teams that the army used and the conestoga wagon teams. ronnie tucker tn logger

Thanks, I bought in Tennessee. Very different from what people see here in Alberta. When I put the collar housings on and the spotted name plates on eack mule they really look sharp. I was goint to take them into town later this day but decided I’d had enough. They’ll work in thier old harness in the fields from now on.

[houstonmule]

@jac 26520 wrote:

Thats a real nice team you have.. and the hitch cart is interesting, Did you build it yourself ? ..
John

The cart is a “Teamster 2000”. The company was in business about 10 years and ended in about 96. This unit sat outside about 18 years and was all rust. We worked on it for a month. It has 2 drive chains that turn a PTO at 500 rpm and a cat 1, 3 point hitch opperated by a deep cycle battery and a foot pedal.

[houstonmule]

Not a bad idea. When is it?

[houstonmule]

@Roscoe 23874 wrote:

Wow, they are really impressive!

Thank you. We used to have 100 beef cows. We now have 10 Watusi. We love them, they are so fun to watch.

[houstonmule]

@Dick Roosenberg 23862 wrote:

Beautiful animals! Better fed than most that I have seen in Uganda. But you may be surprised about yoking them. I have seen them unfazed by crossed horns while in the yoke.

However, at their current ages, they may be more of a challenge to train.

I for sure won’t try and yoke this bull. I would love to see someone try though, lol. He is quite a handfull and hates people. I’m toying with having a couple of his calves broke. Just an idea at this point. I would like to see if I could bring a team to someone and hire them to keep them for as long as it takes to train them to work and be safe. Then teach me what I need to know when they are broke. I have trained lots of horses and mules to drive but don’t know anything about training cows.

[houstonmule]

Okay thanks, I’ll try those ideas. I’m going to hook the again in a couple weeks. I’ll let you know.

[houstonmule]

@OldKat 23858 wrote:

Nice hitch. Very impressive setup & animals. Looks like you are in someone’s indoor rodeo arena.

Thanks,
It’s an arena about 10 miles away from us. Very handy to ride in on cold winter days. It was -25 yesterday. I drove them 4 abreast for 3 hours and in a 4 up for 20 minutes before we ran out of time. That was my wifes grandfather sitting with me. He used to haul frieght with teams in our area, he got a kick out of it.

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