Black Cat Mules & More

10/19/2023

Black Cat Mules & More is now booking outside horses and mules for 2024.

If you’ve been wanting to send your horse or mule over to fix problem behaviors, get a little tune up, add finishing and finesse or have a youngster started under saddle with a solid foundation, send me a message so we can start discussing training plans and packages/pricing. Rates vary based on which program will best suits the needs and goals of you and your critter.

30 day minimum on all client horses and mules
60-90 days not required, but highly encouraged to plan for a longer stay when it comes to c**t starts, but that depends on what level of start you’re wanting vs where your youngster is at mentally and physically.

I will answer inquiries in the order that they come in, text is best: 281-723-3662

10/14/2023

😜

🎃👻🍂

10/12/2023

Ohhh fun stuff

Exciting things are in store for 2024! We are honored to be a part of the inaugural Texas Ranch Horse Championship
November 22-24, 2024
Athens, Tx
Stay tuned for more details coming soon!

10/12/2023

Amen

Replacing Old Faithful

The best horses are built over years of hauling, hard work, tough times, good times, bad times, big spooks, little spooks, their mistakes, our mistakes and continual love and care.

No, your c**t starter can not turn your young prospect into your old faithful in 30, 60, 90, or even 365 days. It takes years.

I’m plagued with the problem of trying to impress on people how long it truly takes to build that dream partner. There’s not a smooth paved path. Your green horse will embarrass you, frustrate you, and maybe even hurt you. For some of y’all buying a $20,000-$30,000 horse is going to be worth it and SAVE you money. Even that more finished horse will take a year or more to sync up with.

In Texas right now, a cheap rate for horse training is $1,000 a month.
1 year of training: $12,000
2 years of training: $24,000

Many of you won’t believe this but your dream horse is on the other side of two years of training. It’s likely around two years of training and two years of seasoning (hauling them to town). Will that horse still make mistakes? Yes, they all make mistakes until the day they die. But that horses mistakes probably won’t put you in serious danger and that horse will probably pack your grandkids around.

If you’re trying to decide between a $3,500 prospect or a $15,000 proven horse. My advice is to do an internal inventory and figure out what you want. Buying that prospect is like the first roll on the Jumanji board. You’re entered up, get ready for a journey of ups and downs (possibly quite literally!) If you’re buying that finished horse decide what you really want, get ready for a lot of shopping and painfully overpriced sh💩tters. Take a friend or a trainer on this journey with you and try to double your budget (that’s right, 30k). Be smart and buy something OVER 8 years old. Don’t buy that pretty 5 year old they only want 20k for. He isn’t old enough to be proven for you. Lots of horse traders are trying to flip horses, anything under 8 is likely twice as green as he looks in the video. Maturity, both mental and physical will be key when looking for a safe horse.

If you want a project and a challenge I’m not hating, that’s what I want in a horse too, so I buy young ones. If you need a safe one, bring lots of money and quit thinking you need a 6 year old. You probably don’t have what it takes to mentally support that 6 year old through new situations.

The biggest reason I bring this up is because as folks retire their old faithful they are so far removed from when that horse was green and did dumb stuff. They forgot how tough those two years were back when he was 4-6. They only remember the amazing horse he was when he matured. The 3 year old they just bought is YEARS from filling that horses shoes when it comes to training level and safety level. I see people hate on trainers because the trainer couldn’t make their young horse, “finished” in 90 days. It’s honestly the biggest reason I like taking c**ts for 30 or 60 days. The expectation is shockingly lower than when I take one for 90 days. It’s weird what people expect from a 90 day start. Most people should commit to sending their young horse out for a full year. Two years would be even better.

Green horses do green horse things, don’t blame others for the challenge you bought yourself. Accept the challenge or pay the price for one further along. No matter which path you choose with horses, it’s going to cost you.

The horse in the photo is Katie’s horse Tater and this photo happened after 8 years of her owning this mare.






📸: Karen Perry

10/12/2023

Your Late Night LOL! 🤣

10/12/2023

Yep yep and yep

09/15/2023

Front porch yard sale at 6721 Pisklak Rd 77469 TOMORROW! 6:30am Saturday 9/16
Black Cat Mules is cleaning up the tack room and show/parade attire closet!

We are offering reasonably priced, somewhat negotiable:
-gently used and/or well maintained working tack and training equipment

-show quality tack and attire for English and western (pants size 25-30waist/long length, lots of western shirts small-large, English riding pants/shirts/show jackets x small-medium)

-HALLOWEEN costume pieces and decorations

-bargain farm stuff like buckets and hay nets that still work great, just a little on the scratch/dent end of things or color faded

All items are THOROUGHLY CLEANED, all leather tack has been oiled and/or treated with horseman’s one step.

Cash preferred

Funds from this front porch yard sale will help us stock up on hay for the winter and continue offering premium above and beyond equine care for our clients and occasional rehab/rehome project mules and horses.

AND anything beyond our hay restock budget will help us continually pay it forward as we purchase materials for new obstacles for Horsemen of Texas (local AHCA affiliate) - we sponsor this group of youth and adult obstacle competitors by providing and storing obstacles year-round for monthly shows.

09/06/2023

mixed media Banana Spider (a memory of a hilarious encounter with Elvira)

09/06/2023

Kimmie Sue ❤️

09/05/2023

Considering Thunderbirds 2022 mixed media - Hand Painted Hats by Monica original, signed and dated. AVAILABLE

08/17/2023

Levi progress report and recap of his dramatic entry to (almost) full turnout privileges.

Levi’s big accomplishments so far:
🔥he’s getting easier to catch! Super easy in the round pen, just send him to work and he might make it 1/3 around at a trot before he stops, turns to face you and asks if he can play boop the snoot instead.
🔥once you have touched his nose the first time, he will hang out and get face rubs for as long as you want. Doesn’t care for reaching up and touching the top of his head, but he’ll take it if you insist.
🔥after brief face rubs, you can clip a rope on his halter and he will happily go for walks to explore the barn lot, investigate some obstacles, go find snacks, etc. Needs about 6ft of slack on the line bc that’s where his personal bubble is, but he’ll follow pretty good.
🔥if he gets stuck/balks on the lead, you can lunge him in a couple walk/trot circles and then resume.
🔥standing tied practice has just begun. First session of formal practice took about an hour before he truly relaxed. He went back and forth between interpretive dance moves and sulking with every muscle stiff as a board, but once he finally settled for a grand total of 6 minutes with licking/chewing, cocked his hip and softened his eyes, he got a rinse off and walk around before being turned loose. This is NOT the kind of animal that should stand tied all day - he’s the kind you babysit and release after a few minutes of ideal behavior bc he will try just about anything to figure out how to get loose and tries a new tactic every couple of minutes. He will need consistency in being released when he relaxes or he will just go back to tantrums and looking for a different answer to how to escape.
🔥He’s not terrible to catch in the barn lot anymore. As long as you don’t get in a big hurry and ask him to whoa and touch his nose first it shouldn’t take more than about 3 minutes.
🔥He’s learning how to play zoomies with a group so he can start to differentiate between play and serious situations. After a short bout of zoomies, everyone gets face rubs to check in with the person instigating so they can all settle and calm back down, followed by snacks.

08/03/2023

Eli doing what he does best - teaching ground manners. Scroll through for various tips and tricks from the master of the craft himself.

Levi the mini mule is not sure what to think about his new mentor. (Day 7)

07/27/2023

Welcome to LEVI - Black Cat Challenge winner.

Levi is a 3yr old mini mule, about 10hh. He was raised on an exotics ranch where he basically ran around like a gorgeous wild heathen pasture ornament with a gaggle of mini mares that I’m sure he took FULL liberties with.

🔥He is gelded - no big jowls, so probably lost his trouble puffs early enough the testosterone didn’t totally wreck his capacity for intelligent thought
🔥has a current coggins
🔥some brave soul trimmed his feet and gave him a haircut at some point not too long ago (probably in a cattle chute or LOTS of drugs)
🔥leads like a boat anchor and ties like a ping pong ball, will load in a trailer if he’s boxed in
🔥kicks like a king foo fighter, bites like a snapping turtle,
🔥has moves like a working cow horse when it’s time to be caught and haltered.

I will be doing progress updates on TikTok as we see if we can get though his hard little head over the next 30-60days. At the end of September, Levi will be available and looking for his next adventure. He will be priced accordingly for the amount of progress he does or doesn’t make by then, but we also have a bottom dollar break even/cut our losses number already in mind.

We had SO many great candidates apply for the fall Black Cat Challenge and it was a very tough group to pick a single animal from. To everyone else, don’t worry, I kept a list. As soon as I’m caught up on a few things I will be in touch with y’all about scheduling a way to help y’all out with your asap as well.

07/26/2023

HoneyBee 💣🐝 has siblings for sale!!!

If anyone is interested in having one just like this, contact William Hutson - he has a 4yr old green broke creamy buckskin filly that’s HoneyBee’s half sibling already solid on obstacles, (2) 2yr old halter broke fillies one cremelo and one bay, and 2 yearling fillies one buckskin and one dun that are totally blank slates. Looking to make some sales to help pay for his mom’s medical bills and rehab care.

05/19/2023

These 2 pictures might seem pretty mundane to the average person, but they show a huge accomplishment in continued trust building with Mr. Claustrophobia.

Although much better than he used to be, Troubadour is still extremely leery of tight or enclosed spaces, especially if he has to step UP into them. He can cross bridges, climb pedestals and tall platforms, get right up on double stacked tractor tires packed full of dirt… they’re all out in the open.

But ask him to come into the hay storage? Feels suspiciously like a trailer to him. And trailers are the devil. Clearly.

This is one tiny step in the right direction, after many, many discussions about how he’s not going to be trapped in there and nothing bad is going to happen to him.

05/12/2023

Happy Trails to Gus! What a smart boy 😎

05/05/2023

Gus is really getting that extended trot down to a science. This is the biggest donkey I’ve ever worked with and he’s been so much fun.

05/03/2023

Nothing beats a good breezy afternoon ride down the turnrows on a sound-sensitive mare. Good job Phoenix! You survived the constant crinkly noises of the plants with no big sideways spooks today.

04/19/2023

Friends, please help me help Horsemen Of Texas win this contest! Please use the link below to ❤️ and share the contest post. The group who receives the most likes/hearts and shares will win 20 custom trophy buckles for their association to use as awards! Winning this contest will mean we can take out would-be buckle budget and turn it in to bigger, better, higher dollar value prize items for the Top 5 in each of the 14 divisions for our year end awards.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=595526295940484&id=100064493570479&mibextid=Nif5oz

03/02/2023

Can’t wait for the dirt to pack in on my new climbing structure so the mules and short ears can play. This is going to be a really useful tool for helping them practice careful foot placement and impulse control.

Who do you think will be the first nosey one to climb it on their own out in the pasture? I think my money is on Eli… maybe Harvey.

02/22/2023

It’s pony squishin season around here!
I mean, I do say I like the short ones…

Meet Waylon
He’s a coming 4yr old pony gelding here for all the basics. He’s puppy dog gentle but had no real under saddle education prior to coming to “mule school”. However, he’s very smart and was starting to come up with creative and rude ways to get out of working with his owner.

His big accomplishments in the first week:
🔥Quit trying to lay down to try and get me off
🔥Only bit me on the leg a couple of times before he gave that up too
🔥cantering under saddle for short distances without having a fit
🔥soft stops off verbal cues and seat - no more slinging his head around and pushing through the bit

Waylon’s kiddo wants to do play days and barrel races. Can’t wait to get a real solid handle on this little dude so they can start learning the patterns together.

01/19/2023

Sunsets n stretchin’
Now that he understands how to get himself up there, Vegas decided he likes the blue box after a good ride. Who says an Ol Dude can’t learn new tricks? 😜

01/19/2023

Black Cat Mules & More is now booking outside horses and mules for summer 2023. (Got a couple spots left for the spring)

If you’ve been wanting to send your horse or mule over to fix problem behaviors, get a little tune up, add finishing and finesse or have a youngster started under saddle with a solid foundation, send me a message so we can start discussing training plans and packages/pricing. Rates vary based on which program will best suits the needs and goals of you and your critter.

30 day minimum on all client horses and mules
60-90 days not required, but highly encouraged to plan for when it comes to c**t starts, but that depends on what level of start you’re wanting vs where your youngster is at mentally and physically.

I will answer inquiries in the order that they come in, text is best: 281-723-3662

10/01/2022

In case you missed it…
We have a new personal project around here.
Troubadour is a 5yr old BLM Mustang from Pine Nut Mountain, NV. Originally he was my draw for this year’s Fort Worth Extreme Mustang Makeover.

I never intended to keep my competition horse. My goal was to complete the 100 day training, master all the basics and see if we could make the top 10 and do a really cool obstacle based freestyle. But you know what they say about “best laid plans”…

Within a couple of days of getting him home from Oklahoma, it became evident that he had a drop hip injury and was short striding on the hind end. Not totally lame, but definitely “off”. I wanted to give it a good try and see what we could do anyway. We saw the vet on day 14 for x rays and confirmed that he did have a fractured pelvis, as well as a puncture in his forehead nearly into the sinus, bruised/fractured ribs, and we just quit counting the bite marks all over his body. I spent all summer working on trust building, ground work, and physical therapy with this beat up scrawny little guy. He had to spend 8weeks on rest and per vets orders, stay at a walk only, no lunging until his fractures could heal.

At about 90 days he was finally at a healthy weight and physically strong enough to start working under saddle but after half a dozen light rides, his hip was telling on him. We ended up having to drop out of the EMM because he was going to have to scratch lame for the riding classes for sure, and although greatly improved in his trust with ME, I didn’t feel like he was mentally capable of handling the hustle and bustle of a major show environment. He tries really hard, but still gets easily overwhelmed about people and horses passing by in his blind spot behind him and can be dangerous if he feels trapped. I didn’t want to take a risk of him hurting anyone in a busy public atmosphere. He just wasn’t a 100day horse, and sometimes that’s just how it goes.

I was given the option to return him, but he would’ve gone to long term holding. And seeing his behavioral issues and fear levels initially, I just couldn’t bring myself to risk his safety to try and get him loaded and hauled back to Oklahoma. Given his injuries and extremely high flight responses and defensiveness, I knew he probably wouldn’t be one that anybody would want to adopt. If I didn’t go for it, I don’t think anybody else would’ve wanted to take a chance on him. So… I adopted him myself (bc I am dumb and maybe have a death wish lol).

This is by far the most challenging project I’ve ever worked with. If he was just a “normal” mustang I have no doubt I could’ve made it to the show. But he’s been beat up by other horses in the pens, and he has good reason to protect himself. He doesn’t give his trust freely. Typical training techniques aren’t always effective because of his fear and trust issues. But lots of creativity has been paying off a little at a time. He is a far cry from the rangey sad little horse that we started with in May - had almost no body fat and had literally just about gone insane from life in the holding pens for 3 years of his life. He’s as underdog as it gets. But I don’t think he’s the lost cause most people would write him off as.

After dropping out, we stopped focusing on the stuff he would need to be able to do for the competition and shifted to just teaching him how to enjoy domestic horse life. He’s relaxing little by little with each passing week, and the swelling on the point of his hip is slowly but surely disappearing. It’s just going to take time, patience and resilience, but I know I can get him there. We have to remember that not every horse (domestic or feral) is going to fit our timeline of expectations. And if we work on the horse’s timeline, it’s always worth the wait in the end.

07/06/2022

Just some thoughts about how things are going lately.

1. Hay has been hard to find before.
2. My pond has dried out before.
3. My ground has had huge cracks before.
4. Gas has been super high before.
5. I have always survived before.
6. I will save where I can, but won’t sacrifice taking excellent care of the horses.
7. I wish people would contact me before they haul their good horses to the sale barn.
8. I still have families looking for good horses.
9. Try to keep stimulating the economy.
10. Hang in there. We’re going to make it through this too.

06/26/2022

NEW HOME PENDING - marketing suspended for now, further evaluation of correct placement/fit underway starting now.

“Mia” 2007 APHA mare. 14.2hh (haven’t sticked her for an exact measurement) and built like a brick house. Current on everything, easy keeper, been there done that trail rider. The kind you can turn out for a good long while and she’s the same nice ride today as she was 6months ago. Recently chiropracted, massaged, freshly trimmed, and feeling good.

Has a couple minor vices: might make a pretty theatrical mare face or lift a LAZY back foot with no real follow through when you’re first cinching up. Since being chiropracted and massaged, this behavior is quickly fading away a little more with every ride. Priced accordingly- seller is more concerned with this mare going to a good home than anything.

Excellent kids horse under saddle, more whoa than go, excellent stop, a little rusty on her backing and neck reining but it won’t take long to get her back in the groove. No buck or spook in her. Played with her on a handful of obstacles and she’s pretty brave, bold and willing to try new things. Curious and inquisitive on the trail. Super smooth mover at the trot and canter, picks up her leads like a champ. Just needs a little legging up and someone who can reinforce behavioral boundaries when it comes to getting tacked up until she fully accepts that sore withers are no longer going to be a problem for her.

PM for more info/ make an appointment to meet her.

04/19/2022

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdXJbWk9/

This is what high level extreme trail readiness training results look like. Peanut is kicking ass and doing us proud over here! 💣

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