The Old Folks Home

[sourland]

This makes sense. That way the mule wouldn't cut up it's belly when jumping over the fence.

Yes, it gives the mule a visual so that it can gauge its jump.

 

[CSolis]

Yes, it gives the mule a visual so that it can gauge its jump.

Hmmmmmmm, maybe jumping minis for my future pasture?

 

[microchick]

Do the mules do the jumping like horses or are people jumping the mules?

Actually, Mules jump differently than horses. Horses jump from a running start. Mules jump from a standstill. They walk up to the hurdle, stop and then jump over like they are on springs.

They have a Mule Festival north of us every year...well, every normal year and Mule Jumping is a big draw.

Morning all. Pumpkin bread for breakfast. Coffee on board, ready to face the day!

 

[ronott1]

good morning all! coffee is here with bagels!

Thanks!

 

[Bunnylady]

This makes sense. That way the mule wouldn't cut up it's belly when jumping over the fence.

If the mule got involved in the barbed wire fence, a jacket wouldn't do much to protect it.

The jacket is for visibility. Though equines generally see better than humans do in the dark, there isn't a lot to see with barbed wire - I imagine the mule would see just enough to know that it did not want to go there . . . . which makes me think that the first clue the rider had that the fence was there might be the mule refusing to move forward. I expect coon hunts have always followed pretty much the same pattern - the hunters followed the baying dogs from whatever roads were nearest, and only went cross-country when it was unavoidable (most likely on foot).

The practice of putting a blanket or jacket on a fence to make it more visible for the horse that you want to jump over it is eons old. A horse's depth perception isn't great to begin with, and anything as unsubstantial as even a rail fence in full daylight can really freak them out. The jacket or blanket gives the animal something to focus on ("the fence is right here") so they know when to jump and how high. But it can be a bit of a double-edged sword - if there is any breeze, and the blanket or jacket flaps at all, the obstacle would appear to be moving all over the place, and the animal would be more likely to refuse to jump, rather than less.

 

[Bunnylady]

Actually, Mules jump differently than horses. Horses jump from a running start. Mules jump from a standstill. They walk up to the hurdle, stop and then jump over like they are on springs.

This is how they are trained. Mules can do hunter/jumper courses just like a horse:

Notice how most of the obstacles in this training course are highly visible and/or solid looking? That's to give the mule something to focus on, so he knows exactly where the object he's approaching is and can time his takeoff appropriately.

 

[microchick]

So they can do regular jumping as well as the Standing Jump! Didn't know that. Here they do the standing jump. Haven't seen it, just read about it and thought it was cool.

If somebody was to offer me a horse or a mule, I think I would take the mule. As much as I love horses, mules are just smarter.

 

[getaclue]

Dd #1 spoke with the private college. They charge a LOT more than the community colleges. In addition to her grant money, she would owe an additional $24,285.00. They typically don't have over 30 students apply for the course she wants, with 10 slots available. She would have to take at least 2 prerequisite courses, before she could apply for the actual course. We're still checking around.

 

[microchick]

Not surprising, Clue. When we retired we hoped to catch a new medical school grad to take over the practice and DH called his old college. One grad did respond to the notice they posted. Come to find out, he was looking for hours and didn't want to start his own private practice. He was over 250,000 dollars in debt and working his backside off trying to pay it off.

 

[Alaskan]

If this is the sort of thing I'm familiar with, it used to be called "coon jumping," but because of the possibility of a misconceived racial slur, it often now has a different name. Yes, the mules are doing the jumping, but it isn't like jumping with horses. A horse gets a run-up, while the mule jumps from a standing start. With horse jumping competitions, the horse is ridden, while with mule jumping, the handler stands beside the mule. Supposedly, this all started with pack mules, and the need to occasionally get past a fence where there wasn't a gate - do you take the time to disassemble the fence and reassemble it, or do you take the animal(s) over it? Some mules are amazingly good jumpers.

(D'ya reckon that mule has gotten into the coffee? He seemed pretty wired!)

But then... once you have a fantastic jumper... HOW do you keep them penned in?