Let me start by saying that I really enjoy Rural Heritage. The website is a great resource, the videos on RFD are always set to record on my DVR and the magazine is full of great information for everyone from the greenhorn to the expert. But with that said I must comment on the cover of the June/July edition. It may be because I am over sensitive after years of a brother and father (both horse people) telling me I am slightly brain damaged for working and riding mules and if that is it I will just have to get over it and move on. For me, the full color picture of a team of 5 year olds in chain over checks being driven by a teamster laying back on the lines that were in the bottom hole of coach bits did not promote a very positive image for either mules or muleskinners. It is hard to turn back the myths or opinions that mules have to be started with a 2 x 4 and stopped with barb wire in their mouth with covers like this one. I suspect that who ever took that picture was thinking "these mules are huge and super impressive, they need to be in a magazine" it just struck a nerve with someone who works very hard to be more "modern" in their training and approach and I had to vent.

Thanks for the input. I truly appreciate your thoughtful comments..

I took the photo and selected it for the cover. As with nearly all photos I take, and nearly all photos I choose for the cover, no photo is perfect. That said, there isn't much I don't like about this cover.

I asked Tom to drive his mules for me when I visited him a couple months ago and I am grateful he agreed. He does a good job, his horses and mules are well trained and in good condition.

When I pick a cover photo, I often lay out three or four candidates and compare them. A lot goes into picking a winner.

Of course, it is important to strike a balance between coming up with an impactful cover and one that conscientiously represents the magazine focus. I will continue to do my best to do that.

Again, I appreciate you taking the time to offer your constructive and contemplative observations.



Joe

I agree with mlelgr and respectfully disagree with you, Uncle Joe. Tom's mules in the picture are NOT well trained. If they were, then he wouldn't have to use the barbarian equipment on them that he does. Although it is a good sharp photo, it only serves to perpetuate the myth that bits are restraining devices when, in fact, they are signaling devices. I do, however, enjoy the magazine and hope you continue it.

Thanks Carl.

Joe

I'm with Joe on this one - the picture is striking. it has drawn my attention several times. I'll bet Tom has a lot of time effort and money invested in that team. They look great. I have seen many excellent teamsters handle equines many different ways with equally fine results, political correctness not withstanding.

Where is my copy?

Your should have come last week, Klaus. We had a problem at the printer and it mailed late. But if you don't have it by Monday, let me know and I will mail a replacement.

Joe

As a mule owner I prefer not to use a harsh bit and I'm not a fan of them but I'm guessing this is not Toms first time around the field with these mules and if that is what he needs to safely complete his task in the given environment then good for him. The photo is great uncle Joe it looks a lot better than an photo of a run away

Each photo has many stories to tell if you look at it closely. First I see a teamster on a moving sled, he has his left leg back and his foot pointing outward and his knee bent to help stabilize himself, next if you look at the stride of the 19 hand mules and the dust kicking up I estimate that they are moving at about 7 mph. Then I look at the teamster again and note that his left hand is holding a tighter line to tell his mules to turn to the left. His right hand is forward and the right line has a lot of slack in it, Note; the right line between his left mule's bit and his right mule's hame ring. Next look at the mules, his right mule looks very relaxed and at ease with her job. The left mule is executing the lead on the left turn as she should. Both have their ears turned back to hear his commands, But they are not laid back as they would be if they were being abused. Next, the Liverpool bit that he is using is highly adjustable and is used on most young teams as a safety control and is not anymore harsh than a smooth snaffle and a rough set of hands. If there is anything in the photo that I would change it would be the chain checks, although they do the same job as if they were leather or biothane. The chain just looks cold.
What I do see is, two young mules that are 19 hands and hooked to a breaking sled. That tells me that they are still learning and by the looks of everything that I see, they will become a great team that anyone would be proud to own.
Tom, Keep up the good work on your mules. What you have accomplished with these girls is only the beginning to a great future. Please keep in mind that if ten people look a photo, they will see it from ten different views, and that is just how it is.

Bill

what we buy others failed to get to work you could whisper them to death, or just use them as they are. 30 days of pulling that tire and they will be a lot different and you will have a lot of flat ground leveled up. I would rather put the lines in the bottom slot on the bit and not need that much control, than need it and not have it. the photo is great the teamster is doing a good job of control knees bent for the balance and ride. We just hook them and go what ever they are they figure out to work easy or hard. we feed with teams that are not broke, but by spring they are broke to drive, back and stand while we are doing other work. you do it your way I do it my way neither way is wrong if it results in broke teams. I bought a team of pony's my 14 year old grand daughter caked cows for 2 winters before you could drive them away from the house with a slack line they were RUNAWAYS. there a well broke team today Just use them and they will get better. the best to you. take more photo's joe love them all.

First I do not see " a teamster laying back on the lines". I see that his knees are bent, anyone that has any experience at all riding on a tire like that knows that is this way to maintain his balance. As to where the lines are hooked all depends on the team and how heavy of a hand this guy has.

Barbaric equipment? That is what I think when I get in a team of run-a-ways that someone that "knew more then anyone else does" couldnt handle. I will not question the equipment that he uses. I have not drove that team. I do not know what kind of problem that he is working on if any. Maybe he is just showing off vintage equipment. But if you want to see barbaric just get behind a team of run-a-ways for a first class lesson in barbaric out of control attitudes. I have a little saying, "I do not tollerate rude behavior in, dogs, cats, kids (yours or mine), horses, mules or ex-wifes." I have told my ex this and she agrees. I am not sure what I have done to deserve all the run-a-ways that I get roped into working with but at times it seam like a full time job.

Ok Joe I am done ranting lol


Jim

Joe,
Your cover photo was very well done. Just taking a simple picture is NOT as simple as it looks. Along with being on the farm and working with animals my whole life, I also do professional photography. Candid photos are not easy!!!! When one person sees a bit other than a snaffle as a disaster, another sees a very loose line and does not see the bit at all, but does see a team that is comfortable in what they are doing. There were no gapping mouths or wide eyed mules in that photo. You did good.
Keep up the good work, I look forward to it everyday.
Bill

Thanks everyone for your comments. I appreciate them all.

Joe

That team looks pretty good to me, and I like the photo. If this team is anything like mine, there were probably moments that day when they looked better, and moments that day they looked worse. 19hh mules--WOW!

I feel like I must clarify a few things about my comment that started this thread. First I meant nothing against Uncle Joe's photography skills or his magazine, the shot is awesome. Second, I agree nineteen hand mules weighing in over a ton I suspect, again, awesome. My question was, is this the right cover for a magazine that is widely used (and rightly so) as a source of education and research by many. Will someone starting out still debating mules or horses look at this picture and think to themselves "there was the picture of the horses feeding hay with the lines hooked on the headboard being driven by voice commands and the one with the little boy cultivating with the big team of horses alone, NO MULES FOR ME!" I would rather the picture was in the mule calendar than on the cover of the magazine. No worries though Uncle Joe I will continue to buy them both. For those that went down the training path I will say this; I have had my share of both horses and mules under saddle and in harness. Started some, rehabilitated some (yes I have had the "pleasure" of more than one run-away) and sent some where they have longer furrows and steadier work than I have. In that time I have learned two things on which I will not waiver. 9 out of 10 renegades are made not born and I am more impressed by the team doing a log skid course in a single jerk line by voice command than I am by the team that has to be headed at the pulling sled because I know how they both ended up that way.

Another frame from the same shoot will, in fact, be in the mule calendar.

Thanks for taking the time to write your comments on my photo and my choice to use it on the cover of my magazine. I appreciate it.

I am not really interested in defending my choice save to repeat what I said before:

"When I pick a cover photo, I often lay out three or four candidates and compare them. A lot goes into picking a winner.

Of course, it is important to strike a balance between coming up with an impactful cover and one that conscientiously represents the magazine focus. I will continue to do my best to do that. "

I will also repeat what I said before: Tom "does a good job, his horses and mules are well trained and in good condition."

Joe

I am sure glad this thread got started.. I am not a mule man or fan, was told I ain't nearly smart enough to work or ride a mule and the little I was around some, I agree'd, but if not for this thread, I'd never have hardly looked closely at the photo… I learned a few things by looking harder and reading the comments… you know, some people think a spade bit is the harshest bit in the world.. it ain't so, much kinder and milder than a snaffle, for riding horses… so what some think, might not be correct… we need to educate ourselves, not just go by others notions, on many subjects. Yes, Uncle Joe, very nice photo… now, I need to go make me one of them training sleds for these trotty Halflingers who don't get nearly enough work! And all this time I was wanting to rebuild my bobsled so I could use it for training, on bare ground! I learn something everyday!

Regarding the issue of training and training methods, I do think it's best that a team leave the trainer going well in plain snaffles. I don't like to see reins on the lowest ring of a lever in a pure training situation. It could be that this trainer is using the lever temporarily to solve a problem, but the riding and driving trainers that I like use only snaffles. I think it can be appropriate to use a lever on the farm, especially if there is a temporary need to "get the job done," but not in most training situations.

Charlie (and others that are a fan of the snaffle) it is the most severe bit in use today. You can severly crush the jaw bones with one. That is why trainers use them - come or bleed. I have never seen a chain used as a tool to keep the head up but it must work or the man would't use it but I have never used an overcheck.

Thanks Uncle Joe, The main objective for this forum and RH magazine is to educate and make people think. Joe, you have done both well. Keep up the good work.

I always recommend the Liverpool bit. It needs a light hand if the lines are in one of the lower slots. It is by no means harsher than two-piece snaffle bits.
Liverpool bits are commonly used with the Achenbach system of driving.

I finally saw the infamous cover. I don't see what the big deal is. Looks like a team and teamster in action to me. No abuse in sight.