Too much energy

I have a working mule. Meaning, WORK him or be prepared for him to work you!

Butch mule is not tall - he's about 14.3-15 hands. But he's built strong and solid, full of energy that needs to be either burned off with play (picture: tearing round and round an empty arena at a dead run, screeching to a halt, bucking for a few minutes, doing it all again...) or used up with "work": pulling under harness or being ridden minimum an hour or two a day. When he's kept penned for more than a day, he regresses back to his 6-year-old self. (He's just turned 8.)

Didn't ride yesterday. Only 30-minute ride the day before. Butch was stuck in his pen all day today. We only had time for another quick 30-minute loop at sundown. (I was all day finishing a commission on deadline for Xmas.) I knew it was trouble before I even tied him to the post. He wanted out, but - hey - it's dinnertime and food will arrive any minute now! What a dilemma! Whinnied hello, pushed at the gate, then when I led him out he looked back at his empty feed bin and did a double-take between me & bin. Sudden head up, prancy snorty, Butch can't decide whether to behave or not! So I decided for him, with a quick tug on the lead. Fidgety at the rail. Playing "betcha can't stop me before I eat the post." Then prancy-balky-snorty on the way to the trail gate. Stiff-legged ears-on-alert in the riverbed. I knew what was coming...

Sure enough, first he suddenly tried to turn back and threw his head preparing to buck. Just a half-hearted attempt, though. Easily checked it and steered him straight. I urged him into a trot, knowing he'd want to toss off some of that energy. Sure enough, I felt him start to round his back, but in a split second before I could even respond he changed his mind. And trotted quickly, nervously ahead for quite a ways. Just before the ramp up to the other side, he spotted a monster in the dense brush to our right. Freeze, high alert. He let me urge him forward, freeze again. Now, there's a point at which Butch becomes so fixated on a threat that no amount of calm sweet talk, cajoling and running my hand over his eyes will get his attention. Rarely happens anymore but, when it does, his whole body stiffens and his ears won't even flick in my direction. That's the danger moment. He's about to spin and, if I time it wrong and he thinks I'm forcing him into certain death, I risk getting thrown.

This was one of those moments. I suddenly remembered the hidden hobo camp I'd come on in exactly the spot Butch was staring towards. I gently turned him at a slight angle away, to go left towards the ramp. I knew my mule was genuinely frightened, not just play-scared, when he kept asking - not trying to bolt, but asking - to run, which is totally out of character. I could feel is adrenalin pumping. We got up the ramp, to the bridle path above the riverbed. Now he was "safe," but still overstuffed with energy - stare across the wash, snort, checked attempt to go sideways, wrung his head & gave the dreaded "buck grunt"... kicked him into a trot and that stopped it. He finally relaxed and we got home with no further shenanigans.

For every few weeks of great progress, there's a day like this and I think, "This is the mule I'm planning to ride alone in the middle of nowhere?!?" But then I remember how good and calm and willing he is 90% of the time, and that when he does have an off day, I usually know exactly why. The next 5 weeks will be interesting, though. Between holidays and trip to CA, he won't get ridden nearly as much as usual. Expresso mule!