Dragons Love Fire

Oooo I do love a good fire!

As befits my Dragon name I am never far away when the bonfire needs lighting.

I was watching carefully as MH was dealing with some of the garden waste.  I squawked a lot but apparently none of this was good for me to eat....

MH looked like he was having a bit of a problem lighting the fire so I breathed a little bit of Dragon smoke out of my delicate muzzle..... here you go, I'm sure that'll get it going!

There we go! I said it would get it going, a puff of Dragon smoke is all you needed ;-)

Hey Mini do you like my fire?  I made it all by myself....  there's no need to look bored by my attempts at keeping you boys entertained, I thought a little bonfire and firework spectacular might be enough to stop you from eating!

\

At least Roller has the decency to look mildly interested in my fiery extravaganza.

Never mind I sure did entertain myself by looking at my own fire. Some might say I was a little mesmerised by the flames..... they were pretty :-)  

Wonderful Weekend

What a wonderful weekend was had by all!  Let me tell you all about it.... have you got a minute or two to spend with us Muleteers?

Let me tell you about the fun I had!

There was lots of chilling out and doing things that we all like, all topped off by sunshine which isn't bad for the first day of September :-)  So here's a quick resume of our fun and frolics!

Work, Work and More Work

Dragon is soooo happy because she has been working (which in her mind = pleasure) a lot this week, four times in one week, good job Dragon has two riders in FH and Smiley Human!  Lovely potters around the lanes, FH was happy this Sunday morning even though she did get up very early.... apparently it's the best time of day to ride Dragon and appreciate the best view in the world.... something to do with those mulificent ears?

Probably.... the best view in the world!

Dragon's ears are starting to get rather fluffy, the sleek lady is turning in to a fluffy one... best not tell her that though... she will breathe fire else.

In true Dragon style she celebrated a job well done by munching the local tree branches!

Is that snack big enough Dragon?

Reunion

When she got home we had a reunion over a snack.  How many ears can you fit in one shot?

Grocery Delivery!

Then we had a grocery delivery from our friendly farmer.  Roller was busy checking out the quality, honestly he wasn't trying to munch it or nothing....

Quality Control

Scuppered

Oops! Rumbled by the Dragon! Not sure there's room at the door for both of you!

Rumbled!

The Cat Police

It's OK because the Cat Police are in town and have commandeered this straw bale for their own purposes!

Anyone that's brave enough to take on this Puss In Boots alike is welcome to try.... ;-) She may be small but I have trained her in ninja mule ways well!

Mini Racing

I heard all the commotion and came running, FH has set up this track grazing thingy so in honour of it being a track I have made it in to a Mini Racetrack!  I love it!  My cornering abilities are legendary, FH closes her eyes every time I do this.... I think it's cause she sooo excited?

Full....

......steam

......ahead!

It's a Dogs Life

On the other side of the fence the Cloth Dog was trying out his latest look of exasperation.... if he gets the look just right he gets food and / or attention... he is the master of this, I must learn and try harder if this is the result.  GH says that Murph is the master of 'begging with style' we'll see about that I think I could excel at this too!

Look in to my woeful eyes... all this could be solved by food or strokes!

The puppyteer is still a little broken (not that you'd know it) and has been busy stealing FH's clothes again.... I think he has secretly been jealous of my shield of steel rug and decided to get himself some clothes too?

The puppyteer is also very pleased with himself as he has a sparkly new 'big boy' collar.  Hmmm I'd like one of those..... FH is rather fond of bugs so Milo is sporting a bugtastic collar with a ladybug, dragonfly and bee, somehow it seems to suit him?  

After a busy day us Muleteers need to get our rest.  Some us like to snooze on the job (guess we'll let her off after four rides).

While others stay on guard duty.... albeit sitting down.

Hope you had a lovely weekend and here's wishing you a happy week ahead!

First Ride Ever!

Wow Muleteers, what fun, I got ridden for the first time EVER!

Yesterday I had a new fan visit. I knew I was going to be the centre of the attention as FH got me on to the yard without the long eared ones..... apparently they were not what was required for the afternoon's excitement.... hmmm?

I waited a little while and what's this?  One of my favourite people has brought some visitors with her... and look there are small humans!  Humans that are not giants!  I can look one of the humans right in the eye, he is just MY size :-)

Hello little friend, would you like to brush me?  That's right I like being brushed there!  I am sooo soft and warm and not at all like those big monster horses and mules, you and me are just the right height, it's everyone else that is the wrong size, I think.

I was having such a lovely time!  Lots of brushing and stroking and my new little friend was very interested in my stable and what I ate.... I like humans that understand the important things in life.  

Dragon was busy trying to get in on the action!  Ermm hello!  I am the centre of attention today!

I was just having a little doze when I heard my new little friend say "can I ride him".... "yes, yes, yes, FH say yes!"  I've never found anyone the right size and ok I'm not really trained but I was born ready!

Hmmm FH has said "maybe"I think that should mean YES!  So I try a little harder and show off how calm and well behaved I am.... 

And then!  I had a little rider all of my own!  We had a little potter around on the yard and my little friend hung on tight to my ample and well placed mane while his Mum held on tight.  Oh I like this!  I have my own jockey!  If you look close I think the long ears are impressed aren't they?  Dragon is busy checking that I am doing it right, of course I am! 

Before my riding lesson began it was over... not fair!  But I heard plans for more riding with proper gear and everything!  Yay :-)  I do have a teeny weeny (read normal sized) saddle which I have always wanted to try so this may be just the occasion, I think I have found my very own jockey, Shetland Pony Grand National here I come?  Might be hard work.... maybe the Eating Grand National?

I knew that my new little friend was just the partner in crime for me!  After we had been riding he stood and chatted to me about the benefits of straw and even gave me a hand with pulling the straw from the net - a little man after my own heart.

I am loving this riding thing!  I hope my little friend doesn't grow too much, he only visits occasionally, next time he might be full grown, I hope not!  

So in honour of my new found career as a riding pony (please let there be more rides!) I leave you with my Friday Quote.

The essential joy of being with horses is that it brings us in to contact with the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit and fire.

Sharon Ralls

Catching Up With The Girls!

Don't you just love a good catch up with pals?  I had a lovely weekend catching up with the girls :-)  It's been ages since I've been out for a lovely long ride with my short eared hero Breeze and her human, we'd almost forgotten what Dartmoor looks like!

So we put our ears together and hatched a plan and made the humans promise to take us out this weekend!  It was a long holiday weekend so there was no excuse.

My Hero and I carried our humans all the way to the moor, can you believe how much they talk?  Honestly blah, blah, blah, do they not realise that my ears are delicate and all that noise... but it was good to listen in to the tales of silly humans (best not to even think about...), the weather (not bad for the UK!), the hay crop (apparently good - phew!), friends (mostly good), acquaintances (mostly puzzling) and just odd things.... Breeze and I exchanged our own news, I told her about my win at Mule Agility, she told me about her new task teaching a new short eared friend the ropes and her sessions with the dancing teacher - very impressive!

Most of all the four of us just went *sigh* isn't it pretty, ah isn't it peaceful, ah why don't we do this more often (what's stopping you humans?) and we must get to the top of that VERY steep hill before the end of the Autumn (hmmm looks like a jolly steep climb and it's not the picture below that's a tiny mound in comparison).

So we splashed (well I mostly got wet as My Hero is such a good aim with her splashing) and pranced and had a jolly old time....

It's coming up to the best time of year for riding on the moor, not too many flies, cooler breezes, clear skies (please) and hopefully less rain than the winter - here's hoping!

Alas it was time for home, I was sad and a little deflated to have to wave my ears goodbye to my pal, it was secretly nice to have a girl to discuss stuff with.  

FH promised a little something to say thank you for a nice time though... I wonder what she has in there for me?

Aha!  A lovely carroty treat, I am very gentle really and didn't chomp her fingers as it might look like in the picture....

Finally ears of relaxation and happiness. I'm dreaming of the next work day!  

 Until next time Muleteers I wish you a good week ahead!

Wound Dressing (Up)

Oops I did it again.... I speeded around a bit too much upset the senior dog and got chomped!

I is not bothered at all, the itty bitty (ok maybe quite big) hole in my side is healing ok and my leg hasn't falled off so I'm all good :-)  Unfortunately I has managed to pull out my staples that was supposed to be holding me together which made the humans a little bit anxious, don't they know that us Super Pups is indestructible!

It appears that it's pretty difficult to keep bandages on a wiggly lurcher pup, you should see how they tried at first, they got this horrible lamp shade thingy out and put it on my head.... hmmm how many bruises did I put on your shins for that disgraceful behaviour?

So FH decided to take drastic action!  She raided her wardrobe and is dressing me up in her image!  I wasn't sure at first.... I don't want no pink dressing up stuff!

OK so she actually chose something quite fitting.  I gots myself a blue muscle top to wear which covers all the relevant bits to keep them and the dressing clean.

I tested it out, could I play in it?  The answer was yes! Do I look good or what?

As an invalid pup I must try to milk sympathy as much as possible, look at my soulful eyes.... I know what will fix me.... more food!

Later pupeteers! I'm off to look pathetic and wounded at FH to see if it's dinner time yet!

Roller's Philosophical Friday: Limitations

Some of the inhabitants of Muleteer HQ have been getting in a bit of bother.... honestly, it's a good job one of us is sensible!  After Dragon's victory dance on Sunday night (think bucking, rearing, galloping mule) and The Mini's near hoarse (not HORSE!) voice from shouting for his Dragon while she was out  I thought all the excitement was over.

But....no.... this time it was the turn of the non-equine members of the clan.

Firstly there was Catanian and her dice with danger.  We found her with a very fat chin and a sad look on her face.

Thank goodness the kitty cat is soft and likes being fussed, she let the humans investigate and they found a nasty bee sting in her chin!  Ouch!  That must have really hurt!  So with some tweezer style finger nails and some yummy soft food she is fixed.... perhaps next time you could not hunt stingy things?

Then it was the turn of the puppy..... he is getting very speedy and decided to have a run around with some doggy pals.  Oops he was too speedy and enthusiastic and got told off in not very nice style by one of the 'senior' dogs to be left with a bite hole in his side!  Poor pups was not very happy :-(  thankfully he has a whole fan club of doggy doctors at the ready who patched him up, he was telling me that they don't stitch no more but use staple things, I thought that was for the office desk, maybe they got confused between him and a paper document, he is quite slim?  To top it off the pups has also cut his leg.... totally in the wars!

Thankfully the puppy is healing and none the worst for wear, perhaps he might be a little more careful about being speedy around 'senior' dogs.... somehow we think he won't learn but anyway we wouldn't want to curb his enthusiasm?

Kitty Cat is also totally fine, she is still hunting bees, we can't persuade her otherwise!  Alas she is a 'giant' in her world.... she brought FH home a Weasel to celebrate feeling better..... no mean feat the teeth on those things are sharp!

So I got to thinking that my little furry friends are not very good at knowing their limitations.  Both are totally whacky and wild and seem to think they're indestructible.... I guess that's what makes them so fun?

I myself know no limitations, they are only in my mind.... which is always open to new experiences... especially culinary ones!

So here's to no limits and the healing power of rest, relaxation and some tasty food :-)

Learning too soon our limitations, we never learn our powers.
Mignon McLaughlin

Winning Mule

Winning agility mule!

My attempts at human training are coming on well!  After reading all about what FH really thinks of me  (I knew she was soft on me really....) I decided that I should take our training to the next level and enter her for an agility competition.

Whilst the competition was called 'Horse Agility' I shall rename it 'Human Agility', FH has named it 'Mule Agility'.  Honestly I think she just tries to deflect pressure from herself on to me!

So the Dragon mobile arrived and I hopped on board without any problems..... I had plans for my day out....

Hello fans, nice to see you all.  There were lots of handsome short ears to chat with and show off in front of.  They had all brought a human with them too, some had even brought two (not sure I could cope with two humans, one to train is quite enough thank you!).  

So we had a little practice,   I got FH through the flappy curtain once she'd decided it wasn't a human eater....

Then over some poles, through and hoop and over a jump, backed over the poles, controlled FH's paces (impossible, she is too slow and prone to stopping for a little rest....

Then I loaded myself in the trailer while FH watched (lazy human), picked my way through the 'S' bend pretending there were snake infested waters on either side, stood on the podium with all four hoofellas off the ground

Then I had a little play on the tarpaulin...again FH stopped for a little chat... honestly humans talk too much... have you noticed me?!

Then my big mule moment came when I showed FH how to play see-saw, I was not at all bothered about tottering on the plank.... FH looked alarmed!  Sorry no pics of this one... blink and you'll miss it!

Then a stop for a lunch snack.... mule cannot function on an empty tummy so I opted for the 'all you can eat grass buffet'.  FH went and ate unhealthy human food, no wonder she was sluggish!

Then my big moment!  The competition!  Gotta show those short ears how to train humans..... I gotta prove that humans are not stubborn (not all the time at least) and if you negotiate with them you can get them to achieve quite a lot.

So around the obstacles I went with mulish charm and a swish of the tail here and there to keep the human listening to me.  FH did fairly well and managed to keep her feet up with mine most of the time, she did fail to get her feet in the right place in the S bend and dropped some points but I was perfect (not meaning to be big headed of course...)!  When we'd done we patiently watched everyone else who did great (whilst eating grass ;-) and then waited for the big results!

And the winner is...... ME!!! I managed to train my human so well that we got first prize!  How about that!  My first competition and a winner :-)  It's not the winning that was good though, it was the big grin on the human's face and the fun that we had.  Secretly I quite like this human training thing, I could get used to it..... now I have to train her to provide carrots on demand, scratch my itches, tidy my room, talk to me nicely..... hmmm actually I'm not doing too bad so far am I?  

Time for home and there was just one thing left for this superstar mule to do.  Have a nice little snooze in the afternoon sun.... it's hard work training humans!

Snoozy Mule!

Have a great week muleteers, whoever said that humans were stubborn?  They're actually quite a trainable species really but I doubt they have the intelligence of us mules... ah well at least they have us to look after them :-)

Many of the pictures  in this post are used with the kind permission of Martin Lovell Photography and remain copyrighted.