My Little Pony Gets a Spring Makeover

Greetings Muleteers!  Roller here today, I am feeling fine and dandy after a lovely spring time makeover.  All the sunshine that we've been having is playing havoc with my polar bear good looks and I'm shedding my coat like it's last year's fashion (don't tell anyone it is!).

Human kindly decided that I needed a little extra help with my hair situation and decided to spruce me up ready to show off my good looks in the good weather.  She said that I would look just like My Little Pony, these were some of her favourite playthings when she was little and she said she is so pleased she now has a real life one - ME! I've heard about the My Little Ponies, there were lots of girl ponies but only one boy that I know of called Lucky the stallion, he was fine but not sure about the colour?  Secretly I think I'm much more handsome....

So human was very kind and took the furminator to me, this is the best brush ever.  It feels lovely and scratchy and takes out my shedding hair without making the rest of me look rough and horrible.

It took quite a long time but we both persevered, I had a lot of thinking time and human seemed happy chattering away to me whilst gaining some strange pleasure in pulling my hair out!

When the experience was over I couldn't quite believe my eyes, I had lost a bag full of hair and felt so much cooler!  Human says that we can play this game again tomorrow, I can't wait, especially as I got a carrot for being a good Roller Polar :-)

Until next time muleteers, I will be doing my best to show off my best poses to the new girls in the field next door and I seem to be very popular with the ladies that pass by even if they are a little bigger than me, it's all about the attitude though!  Good things come in small packages ;-)  Roller xxx

Mule Fun in the Sun!

Greetings Muleteers!  Callie here or Calorific as my human has taken to calling this weekend as I'm soooo terrific! The sun has definitely got his hat on :-)  I have had a lovely weekend of playing with the humans and making mischief with the minis.  Man human had a birthday on Saturday so we all serenaded him with 'Happy Brayday' he seemed very pleased with our present of extra Mule's Gold for the day too!

New human who we shall call Smiley Human came to play again today, she has come to lend an extra pair of hands and to get some training from me, us mules are the best trainers...  We all went out for an adventurous training walk.

First of all I did something called long reining... this is where a human hangs on behind me and I pull them up the hills (I guess they are really telling me where to go...).  We went on a brand new route today and met lots of people and people in those tin cans called cars... they were all on their way to enjoy the sunshine I think.  Then we met the local farmer in his tractor, he was very polite and gave me a wide berth, I think he thought I might be a bit scared, what he doesn't know is that I eat tractors for a living!  

Long Reining

After a little while one of the humans got tired and decided she needed carrying, yippee I like playing piggy backs!  On she got and we were off, I got my best fast walk on and thought it was extra funny that female human couldn't keep up...hehehe  She did keep trying to get my picture but I didn't oblige much except for when we had to go check out the monster in the hedge....

It turned out to be Black Beauty peering at me over the hedge.  We had a short chat and then onwards muleteers!  I delivered Smiley Human safely back and had a nice wash down (my tummy had got a little bit sweaty, how undignified).  We'd been out for nearly two hours, I'm a little out of shape but am building up to summer fitness!

Homeward bound

Then it was back to the minis who had been scoffing all the grass while I was away, there wasn't so much as a brayneigh to welcome me, how disappointing.  So I decided to celebrate all on my own with a victory roll.

Boy did that roll feel good!

Til next time muleteers!  Have a good week until we speak next - Callie xxx

Don't Make a Mounting Out of a Molehill

Greetings muleteers!  Please excuse the title to my post but there is a reason for my spelling, my hooves haven't slipped on the keyboard ;-) and I'm not mixing my metaphors!

The sun has been shining and it is officially Spring!  Yipppeeeee.... I've been busy playing kiss chase with The Mini and making sure I mow the lawn with precision.  The mornings and evenings are getting lighter and this means that human and I are managing to do more fun stuff.  When she's finished the boring jobs like mule poo collection (you humans really do collect the strangest things in your wheelbarrows) it's time for training.

Human and I have been working on standing still again this week (yawn....) and have nearly got it sorted.  I have developed the saying 'don't make a mounting out of a molehill', aren't I clever?  Now human getting on and off without me moving is getting easy now that I know what on earth she is talking about!

So human very kindly broke it all down in to steps, it's a bit like learning to read (which of course I can do!), you don't start reading the full series of lord of the rings until you've mastered the Winnie the Pooh books.  We started out with her telling me where my feet needed to be.... she was very precise and when I'd got it right I knew it as I got a lovely ear rub and forehead scratch just where I like it.

Once I had mastered standing like a statue human gave my saddle a gentle tug to tell me that she was preparing to launch herself onboard.  This is very important because us mules need time to anchor our feet appropriately, how would you feel if someone jumped on your back without any notice?

And then gently does it, I stand steady and beautiful as human leaps on board!

Finally she was on board and after practicing a few times we were ready for the off for a gentle stroll up the lane... guess we need to master the mounting up before we can be off on our long trail rides. 

This whole process just goes to show that standing still for human to clamber aboard is easy when you know how, it just has to be explained properly, we're not mind readers you know... why make a mounting out of a molehill?

I've got another busy weekend ahead muleteers so will update soon, til then enjoy the sunshine!  Callie xxx

A Banana Short of a Bunch

Greetings Muleteers!  It's The Mini and Roller here today ;-)  We've decided that Dragon should not be the only one to be allowed her rather large and less than dignified hooves near the keyboard so here we are!

We had a lovely peaceful weekend without Dragon trying to kiss us both all the time, she seems to be feeling frisky at the moment and is playing kiss chase with us constantly.....  We're quite happy to tolerate it sometimes but when us boys have head down and are munching it really isn't the time for sweet nothings if you know what we mean? 

While Dragon was away playing we got up to our favourite game which is called chase the banana peel.  Imagine a world without banana peel?  Can you?  It would be awful!  Before we joined the muleteer gang neither of us had ever experienced the pleasure of a lovely fresh banana peel.

Now there are real necessities of eating peel, it has to be very fresh (no brown ones thank you!), it has to be split in to chunks lengthways so that we can wang it around in our mouths and if possible we don't want too much squidgy banana left inside.  Our favourite bit is not the filling it's the skin! 

Banana peels must be delicately grasped from human and gently tugged like so..

They must then be scoffed quickly before your mate (competition in other words) gets chance to steal it away :-)  Afterwards a good chew and poking out of the tongue is in order to ensure that human is rewarded for their efforts fetching said peel.  Human often laughs and says we're both a banana short of a bunch, hmmm that's cos we've eaten it!

We would like as many banana peels as possible but mean humans limit us to one each a day, partly because man human can't eat the squidgy bits quick enough to keep up with us - lightweight ;-)

Til next time muleteers!  And remember one man's waste is another mule's treasure! 

How to Train Your Dragon

Greetings Muleteers! Well I'm back from my wonderful weekend away.  I have been at training camp for the weekend, this is normally an event where I train human to be more compliant to my will, somehow this time it seems that she managed to persuade me to do what she was thinking!  I'm not sure how that happened..... anyway it was great fun :-)

I got to go away with my big friend Breeze who is a great pal and my mentor, she is a lot bigger than me and is a proper grown up who is allowed to ride for miles and miles with her human, she has the most amazing tail and shines in the sun but alas her ears are not as mulificent as mine!

My big friend Breeze is my heroine!

So off we went together in the trailer, as soon as I saw Breeze was on board I hopped straight in.  We had a good hour to catch up on the gossip, Breeze was telling me all about her training exploits with her human and I compared notes, we spent lots of time plotting some joint expeditions.  Just as we were plotting pixie hunting expeditions we arrived!

This place, let's call it holiday camp, is fab!  There are short ears everywhere and even another long ear, we all get to eat and chill out and watch what's going on and spend our evenings eating lovely moorland grass and hedge, my idea of heaven!  Apart from all that chilling out stuff we also play games and train the humans.  There are some lovely people here too who call me The Lovely Callie!  I'm so pleased, people appreciate my muley good looks.....

We played tag!

To start with human and I played a bit on the ground, she calls it lunging, I call it tag!  She runs around after me and I stay just out of reach....the only thing is apparently she has to be the one that sets the rules of the game, she seemed most upset when I decided to go faster without her, well really if she can't keep up that's her problem.  After a rocky first game we had it perfected!  Second time round we were walking, trotting, stopping and starting with precision, I did throw in the odd unexpected rule of the game to keep her on her toes but she did ok, our trainer shouted helpful hints to human as she kept forgetting (I think this is cheating but I'll let her off).

Next bit was even better, we went riding!  Human and I have been having some chats about brakes and steering recently.  Apparently because I don't always know best (REALLY???) human has to be able to tell me what our destination is, what direction we need to go in to get there and at what speed, oh and sometimes I have to stop (yawn...).  I have learnt a bit of this before but have never really thought it's super important but according to our trainers it is.  Otherwise I might get splatted by a bus or human might fall off (we don't want that as she supplies me with scratches and food) so I guess we better get this sorted out.

We sent lots of time chasing bollards on the ground and I also thought it was fun to try to get as close to our trainer as possible; I think she likes to play tag too ;-)  We also went for a ride around the farm yard and in the mulificent outdoor arena, I could get used to this (human says I better not as we don't have enough mule pounds to make my mule palace look this nice!)

I stayed overnight and had a great old chat with Breeze and the sheep in the next field and had another fantastic day playing games before it was time to go home :-(  I waved goodbye to Breeze as I climbed out of the trailer and human and I tottered back home.  The only thing that made up for leaving behind such excitement was the welcome the minis gave me when I got home!  The Mini had saved up his biggest brayneigh just for my return :-)

I was a little tired the next day and had a lot of sleep to catch up on after being out on the tiles for the weekend, the boys kept guard while I soaked up the sun.

Til next time muleteers!  Callie xxx

New Horizons

The weekend started well when I got to WORK - yippeeeee I love getting out and about.  So Female Human and a new human who seems ever so nice took me out for a walk and a ride in the lovely sunshine, wow it was so hot my ears were a little damp (how undignified I hope no one noticed?), spring is finally here!  I was a very good muletta and my human rewarded me with a lovely scratch and carrots when we got home, The Mini had been braying loudly for my return so we decided we better go back eventually.... 

Then we had an even bigger adventure, imagine my amazement when mini sized bridles were produced (they really make these???) and we were all togged up in our finest gear. 

We were off on a big adventure! Female human had her work cut out with the minis, one in each hand they wobbled down the road, unfortunately for her (funny for me!!) they are not very well matched in speed terms.  The Mini was full steam ahead and was leading this mule train (looking very handsome I have to say) with Ro-Land dragging along behind, I was wondering if human's arms could really stretch apart that far???  I was allowed to bring man human for the walk, he wasn't very good at keeping up and I really must do some groundwork exercises with him as I'm not sure he understands personal space but I kept him safe :-)

After what was only a short expedition we arrived at a very big grassy field!  My eyes nearly popped out when human said this was our home for a few weeks - wooooohooooo looks like fun.... however I then looked more closely and saw the dastardly electric fence ready to zap me if I have too many ambitions about super sizing myself :-(

We have been installed in our new mule camp for a few days now and life is good!  We've been enjoying meeting lots of new pals over the fence although lots of the short ears going past seem less than enamoured by our beauty, their loss I guess!  It's a hard life eating and sun bathing but a mule has to cope....  This morning my view of the train line was obliterated by the mist (I like trainspotting) so I'm afraid my pictures are not very good but I'm sure you all need to look at our mulificence anyway.

We're all hard at work mowing the lawn!

I'm off at training camp this weekend folks so will be telling you all about how the human gets on, I am trying to train her as best as I can and we're making progress but there's room for improvement!  Til next time have a mulificent day - Callie xxx

Getting to Know.... Callie

Greetings Muleteers!  Callie here!  What a fantastic weekend!  I promise to tell you all about it soon...  But for much more important things, I've been saving the best til last in my roving reporter series where I interview the muleteers, yes that's right ME!  So here's my 'Getting to Know You...' I think you'll agree it's far superior to those naughty minis ;-)

Name: Callie (aka Dragon or Noo)
Age: 4.5 years - the half is very important I'm nearly old enough to be legal!!
Breeding: Stupid question.... MULE, I have no idea about my parentage, a short ear and long ear I guess, they must've been good cos I'm mulificent!
Size: 14hh and still growing...
Coat Color: Dun
Favourite Pastimes: Working, showing off to the boys, eating the hedgerow and pulling faces.
Favourite Person: My handsomeness The Mini, he is soooo cute although he does tell me off a lot and won't let me share his dinner.  It would seem ferocious things come in small packages, he is so manly a girl could just swoon.
Favourite Food: Carrots, human gives me small pieces when I've been a good girl, I've realised this so try extra hard to please.  I also really like the hedgerow, there is nothing like a woody treat to finish off a meal.
Favourite Drink: Anything from a puddle or stream, I love checking out the different flavoured vintages from puddles and streams when I'm out and about.


Favourite Movie: Calamity Jane!  Did you know in real life she was a muleteer as well as world famous cowgirl?  Sort of my namesake, also female human's fave film.  One day I hope she'll install a telly in my mule palace so that we can watch together and sing all the songs, she said my voice needs a little tuning though, I don't know what she means!  Yeeha!
I also love watching this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1sfDlLluJY - very inspiring :-)
Favourite Music: Country and Western of course as befits my cowmule status.  I love a bit of the Dixie Chicks and The Waifs
Favourite Book: The Natural Superiority of Mules - need I say more?!!  I also love George Martin's Game of Thrones books, I could be a dragon princess in this series!
Favourite Car: I'd love a Mazda MX 5 in hot pink please, it has to be a convertible to provide ear clearance.

I'm forever showing the short ears how to do stuff!

Favorite Words: Time to go to work!  I also love the sound of 'walk on' , music to my mulificent ears.
Unique Talent: I am talented in every way possible, if I had to choose one it would be looking good.  Oh and I'm quite brave and show the short ears how to be a proper equine!
Guilty Pleasure: I love the naughty kitty cat Catanian, I have been known to take her for a ride and lick her when no one is looking.  I also spend hours every night watching the cars and trains in the distance, their headlights are mesmerising, it is my duty to protect the herd but secretly I enjoy train spotting!




Least Favourite Thing: I don't like hanging around, if you're gonna do something DO IT NOW!!
Favourite Vice: I love to eat wood.... I'm not that fussy; fence rails, trees, logs, hedges they're all the same to me :-)
Favourite Colour: Hot Pink of course!  I need some pink toe paint but human says it doesn't come in big enough sizes :-(

My ass is bigger than your ass.... Mules Rule!

Favourite Clothing: My cow mule gear, I love my comfy western saddle, mostly because it means that I'm about the work - yippee!
Favourite Possession: The Mini, he says I don't own him but come on girls we all know that's not true, right?
Alternative Career: Super Model, Rocket Scientist, Brain Surgeon, Campaigner for World Peace or maybe just Queen of the World - aim high I say!
Describe Yourself in Three Words: Beautiful, Bold and Sophisticated.  Human says I should be Juvenile, Delinquent and Hilarious?  I think she was joking as she said it with a smile????

Favourite Quote: Stronger and saner than a horse, sturdier and faster than a donkey; the mule has the best of both and more than either.  She is more intelligent, more loyal, more sure footed ... and of course more beautiful!

Your Perfect Day:
I'd like to start my day with a spot of food as us girls need sustenance to look girl - I am not meant to be a size zero stick you know (although human says I need to shed a few pounds... how very rude!)!

I then think I'd like a little run around with my handsomeness The Mini, I do like to make sure he notices my best features!

I then might like to take on a mule obstacle course, showing the short ears how to do it!

Then a nice ride with human, she says I am still in training but I wish we could hurry up and ride for miles and miles across the moor that lies on our doorstep, hopefully soon!

The day would be perfectly rounded off by a smooch from my handsomeness The Mini before falling asleep to the sound of Ro-Land snoring!

A snog from The Mini would end the day well.

Bye for now Muleteers I promise I'll be back tomorrow when I'll tell you all about the weekend's adventures, I just need female human to help me upload my pictures, you just can't get the staff these days!  Have a mulificent day until we speak next - Callie xxx

That Friday Feeling!

Greetings Muleteers!  I've got that Friday Feeling today!  I can't wait for the weekend, it has been a bit boring this week.  Catanian and Dragon have been getting lots of attention whilst yours truly taps his tiny hoof waiting for human to notice that it's MY turn...

This morning I did get an ear rub which made my eyes go wobbly.  I also got a promise for more when I forlornly neighbrayed at human to come back as she left for work..... it works every time, her heart is so soft on my handsomeness ;-)

Having my ears rubbed makes my eyes go funny - happy Friday!

I'm ready for the weekend and the adventures that it will bring, hope you are too!  Wishing you all a happy Friday and a mulificent weekend :-)

Riding with Catanian.

Greetings Muleteers!  Callie here to tell you all about my exciting evening :-)

As some of you may know I have only been with the gang for a short time so have been getting used to lots of new things.  I am only four and although I have shown the humans how to ride I am still a little new to this wonderful experience.  My human and I are still working out our language and we are learning together what works.  I'm enjoying it, human makes things fun by lots of praise and the occasional treat when I've been a really good mule.  She tends to ignore me when I have an 'opinion' about things (The Mini calls them teenager tantrums but I don't know what he means?) so I've learnt that to get attention I only have to do what she's thinking (secretly this is normally what I've told her to do :-)

Today was great, human has decided that as it's Spring and the nights are getting lighter that we can start to do that thing called work when she gets home.  So tonight we did a little more standing still practice (gosh this is boring!) and she practiced getting on and off (she needs the gymnastics practice, it's not just us mules that should be agile you know) and then we set off for a jolly walk up the lane to check out the new arrivals in the area.  We've got lots of new lambs and their mums as neighbours at the moment and boy are they noisy!  They are quite fun to watch though so we'll let them stay...for the moment....

So off we went on our jolly walk with human aboard, I was a super mule, human was soooo pleased with me!  My mulificent ears couldn't get any prouder as we set off.  But wait....

There's something following us.....

Catanian comes for a ride too!

Yes that's right it's that naughty kitty cat Catanian.  Catanian has decided to come for a walk with us too, hope she can keep up!  I really like Catanian, she shares my yard and her and I have to gang up on the boys sometimes, it was so nice to have her with us.  I had my dog defenders at the ready if any canines should spring out to hurt my little feline friend, they will regret chasing this cat as she has a mule to defend her!

So we all had a lovely walk, Catanian kept up the whole way, not bad for such short legs.



As we neared home human hopped off, she says she likes to let me cool down before we get home and it's my reward for carrying her, we also get to chat eye to eye this way which is great!

Catanian tries hard to keep up!

In the distance I could see man human with his camera, I love the camera - mule super model here I come! Catanian caught up with us and wanted to get in on the fun with the camera
So here we are the girls of the gang after our lovely ride together, we're already looking forward to next time!

 'Til next time muleteers!  The week is already half over so I'm looking forward to the weekend already, apparently there is lots of fun on the horizon for the Three Muleteers.... watch this space.

Sweet mule dreams - Callie xxx

Getting to Know... Roller Polar

Greetings muleteers!  Wow we are sooo happy we have had over 1000 page views!  Thanks for stopping by and catching up with us, we love telling you all what we're up to :-)  So here we are with the next instalment of 'Getting to Know You'.  Oh My Mule I have got to tell you this was hard, Roller Polar thinks A LOT!  So here it is....

Here I am looking at my Polar Bear best!

Name: Ro-Land (aka Roller Polar, The Philosopher or my posh name is Keensacre Roland!)

Age: 4

Breeding: Miniature Shetland

Size:  8 hands - huge!

Coat Color: Dilute Bay, human says I'm dun but change from silver to golden brown depending on the seasons, I think my coat colour should be called 'Special'!

Favourite Pastimes: Staring at the wall thinking! Investigating shoes.... I have a real shoe fetish and particularly like licking them, welly boots with tags on the side are my favourite! I also like small people coming to groom me :-)

Favourite Person: Errrrmmmmm I love everyone! I am particularly fond of man human as he brings me banana peel and I also like a small person called Inaya who came to see me once, I hope she'll come back soon?

In my summer colours

Favourite Food: Grass!  I don't get those silly mules who waste their time eating wood.... weirdoes!  I am also very partial to parsnips, partly because The Mini doesn't like them so I can nick his.

Favourite Drink: Tea (I am a quintissentially British pony you know), I love it when female human forgets her cup of tea on the floor when she's cleaning the Pony Pad, I am quite fond of slurping tea from it, of course I leave her lots of Roller Polar dribble to tell her how much I love her :-) 

Favourite Car: A soft top Jag, my hair would blow seductively in the breeze.

Favourite Movie: Pretty Woman and other romcoms.  I also loved Black Beauty, short ears rule!

Favourite Music: A nice bit of relaxing music by Moby and I also love Fleetwood Mac!

Favourite Book: Charles Darwin's Origin of Species - deep thinking man!  And a bit of Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle...

To boldy go where no pony has gone before..

Favorite Words:  'Leave him alone'  generally shouted by the humans to tell that naughty Dragon not to chase me!  I know I'm top dog really I just can't be bothered to tell everyone else so I let them fight my battles for me, she seems to ignore them though..... 

Unique Talent: Looking Good!

Guilty Pleasure: Squeezing my head under the electric fencing and knowing that I can reach the most grass, hehe there are some advantages to being small!

Least Favourite Thing: When the mule doctor visits and sticks a needle in me, I have been known to stand on my back legs and pretend to be a circus pony.

Favourite Vice: Going where I shouldn't be.... my small stature means I can squeeze in just about anywhere!

Favourite Colour: Gold as befits my beautiful colour!

Favourite Clothing: I don't need any like the mules, I have everything I need right here in my own coat, I rarely even need a headcollar as I never get tied up and I will follow where you want me to go.

Favourite Possession: My old welly that was given to me so that I'd never be without shoes again :-)

Alternative Career: Philosopher, I would like to be an Oxford Don - Aim High!

Describe Yourself in Three Words: Thoughtful, Gentle and Contented

Favourite Quote: I need a few as I am the philosopher so here goes! 

Small children are convinced that ponies deserve to see the inside of the house.
~Maya Patel - I love the sound of this!!

There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.  ~Winston Churchill - especially when they look as good as me!

He knows when you're happy 

He knows when you're comfortable 

He knows when you're confident 

And he always knows when you have carrots. 

~Author Unknown - more carrots please, I can sniff them a mile away!

Your Perfect Day: A gentle snooze in the sun, I'd like female human to take Dragon out for the day so that I can graze peacefully and only have one long ear to contend with! 

Just one long ear is enough some days...

A nice spot of sunbathing followed by a little potter up the lane to munch on the verges and meet my public!  I am soooo popular that people come out of their houses to see me, it won't be long until I'm invited in to tea :-) 

I would then like a long groom whilst munching carrots followed by a light breeze to blow my fringe around and demonstrate how beautiful I am, I'd then like to eat some more!

Finally a snuggle in to my nice deep straw bed and a long dream about the problems of the world such as the weather, grass shortages and the state of the world hayconomy.

Yawn!

Greetings Muleteers!  Callie here again, roving reporter in the world of the Muleteers.  What a busy weekend, I promise to report more when I've had time to think it all through.  Human and I got caught in a hail storm on Saturday while we were practising standing still at the mounting block - yawn!  What a boring experience that was.....  although she did make it bearable with lots of nice crunchy apple pieces when I stood still like a good mule :-) 

Yawn, training really can be quite boring!

After a while I gave in and let her know that I really do know how to stand still while she climbs on board, it's just so much funnier making her lose her balance and trotting off up the lane with her, we'll make a mule out of her yet (well her balance at least, those ears will never do!).  The hailstorm was most upsetting though, my beautiful cowmule saddle got wet and I stood dejectedly waiting for it to go, my ears were all droopy, alas I carried human home safely with no more than a flick of my tail, she was very pleased with me, I even got extra carrots!

So while I'm pondering what to tell you about my fun weekend I've been interviewing Roller Polar, boy was that a long process, he has to think about everything VERY carefully, his favourite word is errrrrmmmmm.

My report will follow soon once I've finished painting my hooves, a girl needs to look bright and cheerful in these days of spring, who knows when prince charming will come knocking!



Hedgerow Maintenance.

Greetings Muleteers! Dragon and The Mini here today to tell you about some maintenance jobs we have been diligently undertaking.  We are lucky to live in the beautiful county of Devon which has sun (sometimes), sea (never seen it but we'd like to go!), grockels (Devon word for tourist - they like to gawp over the gate at our mulificent selves! we can always tell when they're grockels because of the lack of ingrained mud on their hands or baler twine holding up their trousers), cream teas (can we please try one human??) and finally hedgerows.  Hedgerows are full of exciting birds and plants and female human says that they are protected, yikes that sounds important?

Now the thing with hedges is that they require maintenance which in our Mule Kingdom involves eating them.  Yes that's right, eating them.....  Female human has just put us in to another paddock which has no grass, we are desperately awaiting the return spring grass as we have eaten all of ours and are bored of straw now, so she let us loose on the hedgerow which is great fun!

When people ask what the differences are between a horse, a donkey and a mule one of the biggest ones is what we like to eat.  Us long ears are much more flexible, we like to browse as well as graze which means that given a choice we like a significant amount of woody branches and leaves including brambles, beech twigs, ash twigs and willow.  We are not posh like the short ears and don't just want grass (although we do like it) we're happy to eat just about anything.  So we were delighted when female human opened the gate, took down the electric fence and told us to get to work!  Well nearly all of us..... Roller Polar didn't get it, he just stood looking puzzled as we chowed down on some delectable morsels.

Dragon and I have developed some important techniques for hedge clearance.  

She takes the high branches (alright for some!)

And I take the low ones!

We have also got a technique to make sure we don't prickle our mulificent ears, we put them in to reverse (g)ear and then hold them back so that they are protected from being prickled!

Sometimes Dragon takes hedge trimming a little too far and practically disappears in to the hedge, I can't imagine what she's found to eat in here......

 There are also limits to hedge trimming, Dragon eyes up the holly, she has been known to give it a go but has soon discovered that even mules have mouths too delicate for this!

Poor Roller Polar just can't get with the programme, hedge maintenance is not his thing.  He had a quick glance at the gorse but seemed unimpressed.  We think he was really pondering the old saying that when the gorse is in flower you can kiss the girls!  We don't think he's realised that gorse flowers all year round, we'll keep it to ourselves or he might want to play kiss chase with Dragon every day!

Until next time Muleteers!  We'll be busy at our important maintenance duties for the day and then it'll be time for a snooze before starting all the hard work again tomorrow, it's a mule's life!