Long Ears Awards: 2012

Dearest Muleteers can you believe that 2012 is nearly over? Will you be awarded a snuffle from us Muleteers for contributions to all things long eared?  Read on...

Soon we will be in 2013 with a whole new year ahead of us, mostly we will be blogging!  We think it is fitting to review a fun filled year with the Long Ears Awards for 2012

Rear of The Year
In true Muleteer style we enjoy celebrating the important things in life so to get things started the award for Rear of The Year goes to....

Ro-land! How can you resist this beautiful bottom?

Best Picture of 2012

Our humans are ever busy with their camera thingy taking pictures on our behalf, there are many that we have to destroy as they are just too embarrassing... we had a real argument about this category.  We all thought the pictures of ourselves were the best so we had a compromise and decided that each of us could choose one picture.... so here are the winners!

Deep in thought

Queen Diesel rides her trusty steed!

Moor Mule enjoys the view, do my ears look Mulificent? 

Nothing beats sitting on a human's lap!

Blogs of 2012

When not writing our own mulificent blog we enjoy reading lots of others.  This year we have particularly enjoyed reading..

• Zoe the Dales pony's 'A Day in The Life' http://zoe-adayinthelifeof.blogspot.co.uk
• Mulewings -  Val's mulificent blog all the way from Wisconsin featuring lots of beautiful photos, long ears and the ever so perfect dog Morris! http://mulewings.blogspot.co.uk
• Adventures with a Horse - Shyloh and Allison's blog with lots of Haflinger fun and frolics http://adventureswithahorse.blogspot.co.uk
• A Donkey Diary - Cynthia and her lovely herd of mini donkeys in Canada keep us amused, especially good for Clicker Training Tips! http://donkeydame.blogspot.co.uk

Favourite Blog Post of 2012

There are some blog posts that we really enjoy writing and there are some that we really enjoy reading people's comments.

After the mulificent comments left by our friend Carmen on Stressed? You Need a Mini Mule we now have a new saying in our house, when things are not going right because of people and their egos we call it a 'Carrot Situation'!  Thanks Carmen!

Best Ride of 2012

The perfect mule ride of 2012!

Dragon and FH have been doing that riding thing a lot this year, Dragon is so energetic that she now has two riders (thanks for keeping her entertained Smiley Human :-)  Every ride is fab but some are better than others, it would seem that the girls particularly enjoyed their Dartmoor Ride In Autumn. Sunshine in a year of endless rain, miles of mule terrain, a well behaved human and of course a mulificent mule - heaven!

Fans of 2012

We are just so lucky to have some brilliant fans this year!  There are those of you that are brave and tell us that you're there (we love your comments!) and then those of you that we think are out there....
So to all of our blog fans this year we couldn't pick just one of you so snuffles to you all :-) We're sorry if we forgot anyone!

Allison, Aunty Di and Co, Carmen, Cheyenne, Cynthia and the Gang, Cyril the Dales Pony, Granny Human, Janis, Ruby and Woody, Jo and Family, Judy in Cambridge, Kathy, Kimberly, Mags in Ireland, Naff and Kath, Nikki, The Office Gang, Val, Zoe and Co.

Most Obscure Search Terms

You have no idea what strange search terms bring people to our Muleteer world.... there really are some odd folks out there we think!  So we thought we'd share some of the best of 2012 with you (at least the clean ones!), we're as confused as you are!

 I can't nap comfortably without my trusty ear horn
Land roller
Sedge for hay 
Fluffy bunnies (we think they've found the wrong long ears?)

Naughtiest Mule Moment

Hmmm we are very sure who this will be awarded to this year.... for once The Mini is not in the spotlight for this award.  It would appear that Dragon's attempt to have a nice roll to itch her scratch... with FH in the saddle was a step too far on 'Roll on Moor Rides', she really should have waited until she was home!

Most Popular Post of 2012

Strange what the great wide world appreciates in a blog post, could it be Roller's philosophical moments? Could it be mulificent rides and pictures of the wilderness? No....

The most popular post of 2012 turned out to be the story of a rather rotund Mini applying to take part in the Olympics 'Mule-lympics Here I Come!... sadly his hopes were dashed but he learnt to post a letter and use the phone so at least he gained life skills!

Most Popular Image of 2012

We are always surprised how many folks come to our blog to gaze upon our mulificent selves in photographic form.  Some images are more popular than others and it would seem that the most appreciated photos of 2012 are:

What a pretty mule! No she's not for sale!

Mini Mules can run!

Dragon does look rather wonderful in her summer coat and with her white socks and stockings doesn't she, it seems a few folks would like to buy her, not a chance!  As for The Mini well it makes us giggle a little every time we see that picture....

Best Philosophical Moment 

Roller has developed quite a following for his Philosophical Fridays; every week he and FH have a little ponder over life's great challenges, pleasures or mysteries.  Roller always has a wise word to say on all matters and offers inspiration where others cannot.  There was a particular time not so long ago that FH needed reassurance that she had the strength to do something really hard.  Our Roller didn't let her down and came up with this quote...

We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face...we must do that which we think we cannot.
Eleanor Roosevelt

...and some rather lovely words too http://www.muleteers.com/2012/11/rollers-philosophical-friday-strength.html Roller you really are a sweetheart :-)

Best Treat

The award for the oddest mule treat (not to be encouraged we hear FH cry) has got to be Dragon sampling the delights of Red Bull for the first (and last) time.

Never have we seen the big girl so enamoured with anything.  She sniffed it at a hundred paces and decided to insert herself in to FH's face for a slurp.  Just the smell of the stuff sent her a little loopy.  Don't worry Muleteers she only got the tiniest sip...

Best Progress

Every year there is one of the Muleteer clan that we are particularly proud of.  This year the award goes to..... Granny Human!  It is fair to say that Granny is not the most familiar with four legs of the long or short eared variety, that sure hasn't stopped her though! Thanks for the walks, carrots, apples and cuddles GH!

Hardest Work

Ok so we do have to admit that us Muleteers may struggle a little bit to exist without our PA and Handyman.  FH and MH have been responsible in 2012 for shifting tonnes of mule's gold, filling 1000 haynets, over 800 buckets of water, poo picking the field 200 times, mucking out 500 times, picking out 4400 feet, giving kitty 730 pouches of cat food, cleaning up multiple rodent noses which Catanian has discarded (she doesn't like the whiskers....), taking 100s of pictures and generally keeping us all in order.  In return we have helped along the way and made them smile, we think that's a fair trade!

Best Mule Quote of 2012


We do rather like quotes in case you haven't noticed.  We are always after new ones and are very fond of this one that FH found about why some humans like long ears by a chap called 'Robert Miller'

"When asked why I like mules? I say "If you knew a man who would rarely start a fight, but was always capable of finishing one, who had very good judgement, high intelligence, a tremendous work ethic, but would never allow himself to be taken advantage of or overworked, what would your opinion of that person be?" Most people say that sounds like a person with character!"


Long Ears Award for Outstanding Contribution

No awards would be complete without the big prize!  The award that goes to the person that has contributed the most!  We didn't even have to think about this one Muleteers.

The award goes to....

Carmen Mandel!

Carmen has been a follower for such a long time now and never fails to leave us kind, funny, intelligent  comments and has also taught us some wonderful Spanish phrases, our favourites are 'Cruz del Sur' to describe Dragon's cross and Mula Feliz - Happy Mule because this is what we are!
Carmen has taught us that we may have been strangers before meeting through the blogosphere but through shared interests (a love of long ears and all things natural) you can make new friends and share the ups and downs of life wherever you are in the world - Ears to you Carmen!

Wishing all of our Muleteer friends a Very Happy New Year! 

We look forward to sharing 2013 with you xxxx