Since my last visit during which I leant over Xato, Xanthe has bided her time waiting for the right rider to come along. Another Jordi, this time human, has started to get a keen interest in IH and other natural horsemanship techniques even coming over to see Monty for one of his demos in the UK. In his early twenties he is an ideal and capable assistant for Xanthe. He'd sat on Xato (pronounced Chatto) a couple of times before I arrived without any drama. All good news.
It's hard to read Xato's expression but what I do know is that mules are a real bag of strong emotions and very sensitive. You have to be very sensitive and empathetic with them.
Giving Jordi a leg up while Xanthe observes Xato's reactions at the front. We tried a number of different saddles and bridles on while I was over in the hope of finding the right set up - but we haven't found it yet. Xato absolutely hates the bit but is too strong in a simple Dr Cook side-pull. The German Hackamore works best so far but doesn't suit the contours of his face. This led to several very enjoyable trips to the tack shop in Inca.
I was honoured to be his second rider ever. He proved to be amazingly sensitive to thought alone. Here I have just imagined him lifting up through the withers to take the weight of his front feet and move backwards - and there it was!
A clicker demonstration for Jordi with Tomeu the mule. Tomeu cottoned on very quickly having done quite a bit early on. He was such a traumatised mule when he arrived with Xanthe that she wondered how far she would ever get. He's now at full maturity and looking really good. She's hoping that he will be backed and also driven fairly soon.
The excitement caused by a fresh bale of hay. There is little green fodder for equines in Mallorca so they spend a lot of time browsing. In some ways it is the most natural Paddock Paradise and their feet are certainly really hard. They rarely get problems.
Another day and the girls have heard the word 'vet', due to call later to see Tally the Suffolk Punch.
Once they come up, they have a competition to see how many heads they can get in the bucket. There's a third in the middle, Xato.
Final day and I demonstrate how to teach a mule to park next to the newly purchased mounting steps using clickered treats.
Jordi has progressed to riding Xato off the lead rein for the first time. He's naturally light with his hands and doesn't clamp to prevent bucking. Fortunately Xato has no thoughts of bucking anyway. Much concentration on both of their faces.
