Our trainer Anja’s work with Larry went smoothly. He was the all-around good boy, just as we know him. He enjoyed working with Anja (although he made sure that Steph was always there, and when he got tired he would stop and try to be with Steph). He was a joy for Anja to work with. What my Katie mule thinks boring – groundwork, disengaging the hindquarters, learning to move up to a mounting block- were all things Larry really enjoyed doing.

Every week we were looking forward to our Saturday mornings in the arena, and every Saturday mornings the mules would be ready to go.

We were still going slow, being careful not to overwhelm Larry. We knew he did have blocked vertebrae that had been put right by our chiro, and that Larry might anticipate pain even if there was none. He was thoroughly checked again by our chiro and only after she gave the okay did Anja bring her helmet and body protector to finally mount for the first time. Larry was not at all worried about letting her up into the saddle. So I took Larry’s lead rope, and Anja mounted. At this point Larry was pointing his ears back to Anja, and while he didn’t look scared I thought he looked a tad concerned. We weren’t surprised by this though, as that’s what we had thought might happen, that he would be concerned about being in pain again. By making sure he had a great fitting saddle and having the chiro checked his back we had thought to be on the safe side as far as pain was concerned.

I lead Larry around the arena while Anja didn’t do much, just talked a little to Larry. Larry did not relax really, but didn’t seem scared either, he remained somewhat concerned. We were a few steps away from the end of the arena where Anja wanted to get off again, when all of a sudden the nightmare repeated itself: Larry bolted! Anja let herself fall off at once, as we knew from the experience that Larry would run blindly until the rider would come off.

Larry was, once again, in a state of terrible panic, obviously scared to death. It took him half a round in the arena to stop, standing there, gasping for breath, shaking all over, a pitiful little mule instead of the happy boy he had been before. It was a heartbreaking sight for all of us. We were in a state of shock. Steph went over to Larry to be there for him and help him get back to normal. He took the saddle off and walked Larry around, talking to him and calming him.

Anja luckily wasn’t hurt badly, as she hit the ground with the protector and helmet. She was much shaken of course, and started at once blaming herself for having overwhelmed Larry. While I agreed that we might have gone even slower I also said that I thought we were either dealing with a flashback (anticipating the pain and believing to be in the same situation again that leads to flight and panic) or a much more complex physical problem than blocked vertebrae. While Steph lead Larry around I already phoned our chiro for an appointment so that she could check for another blockage.

We loaded up and drove home. The rest of the day I just tried not to cry, and I also called the vet in our area who has a portable x-ray and is specialized in orthopaedic problems in equines. He at once agreed to come out the following week to x-ray Larry’s back. One thing Steph and I knew: we never wanted Larry in that kind of panic again, and we never want him to be in pain. And my heart told me that regardless of it being pain or a flashback it would be far too dangerous to ride Larry ever again.

I talked it over with Steph, and while we both had a hard time coming to terms with this, we both agreed it’s the sensible thing to do, regardless of the outcome of the x-rays. We had lost a great trail mule, a great riding mule, who loved being ridden. It would be very, very hard for Larry to get used to not being ridden on the trail anymore. Whenever we were taking a walk instead of riding, Larry had been pretty depressed and had no ear flop.

We also do not have enough land for more than two mules. But giving away Larry was not an option. He is a member of our family, and he loves Steph with all his heart. We could never give him away. Talking the situation over with Anja, who was as devastated as we were, gave us a new perspective. Anja reminded us how Larry likes to walk behind Katie, he has obviously been a pack mule before. Anja said as we were looking for another property with more land anyway, we could get another riding mule for Steph and pony Larry once we have more land. That way we would not have to leave Larry behind, which would be very sad for him. This idea did need some getting used to, as we were happy with our mules and hadn’t planned on having more than those two. But reflecting all that had happened and knowing that we would never give up Larry, I came to the conclusion that somehow someone seems to have a bigger plan for us. Our plan had been to have those two mules and ride and be happy. But perhaps Larry had just needed a good home where he can grow old without pain and worries. He might have ended up in a dog food can otherwise. And perhaps we are meant to have more than those two mules. Who was I to question the bigger plan the universe obviously has for us?!

On the following Monday the chiro came out to check Larry’s back. She could not find anything out of the ordinary. She was glad we had called the vet for x-rays and we were all happy he would come that week (as that vet is often flown out of the country when needed elsewhere, a week later and he would have been in Dubai for example). She was so sad for all of us, and wouldn’t hear of being paid for her visit.

Later that week the vet came. I had told him that Larry is scared of unknown things, so the vet came into the dry lot armed with an injection for Larry to send him napping for the x-rays. We haltered Larry and without making any fuss the vet came up to him, talked to him and patted his neck, one, two, three times and with the third time inserting the needle and injecting the sedation. He went back to his truck, got his equipment and hooked the x-ray to a power source. By that time Larry was peacefully napping while Katie had turned over the vet’s bag to check what’s in it (the vet’s a pro: he had of course closed the bag before putting it there!) and was in general keeping an eye on things.

The vet took the first of three x-rays, and after each x-ray he had to go down to his truck to download the picture on his laptop. I went with him when he went over to the truck first, and while the picture downloaded I told him what I would think we might find. The picture downloaded and started to get into focus, and I was looking at an old acquaintance of mine, so to speak. Before our eyes the reason for Larry’s problem came into focus: the tops of his vertebrae are too close together and would touch under the rider’s weight. The dreaded “Kissing Spines”. I was very familiar with this, as I had retired my Paint Horse mare 15 years ago due to the same problem. It is a slow degenerative condition in which the large spines which stick upwards from the vertebrae in the equine's back rub together and cause low grade inflammatory damage in the edges of the bone where they meet, causing extra bone to develop and compressing the soft tissue between the spines.

Usually this is very uncommon in mules, as most mules have a straight back. Larry came to us with a sway back, when he was 8 years old. This should have made the alarm bells in my brain go crazy, but somehow I did not make the connection. An equine with a sway back is the perfect candidate for kissing spines. Combine a sway back with carrying heavy loads or in general working hard and especially too early, and it’s a disaster waiting to happen. With a sway back it’s especially important to teach the equine to lift his back instead of hollowing it. Larry had learned that very fast when we got him, but before that he had hollowed his back and lifted his head most of the time. It had been too late for Larry, the damage had been done.

The following x-rays showed the extend of the problem: Larry had kissing spines virtually all along his back. This is rare, usually it’s only in a small part of the back. Larry must have experienced terrifying pain, which showed in the way he virtually seemed to run for his life when he bolted. As opposed to a run away mule, a bolting mule really believes he’s running for his life and will run through, over, or in anything that’s in the way, and with no regard for the danger of harming himself.

Now we finally knew what we were dealing with. It was an incredible relief. Now, after grieving for losing a wonderful trail mule, Steph still has a best bud who enjoys every day of his life with us. We will keep looking for a larger property, hoping it will come up soon. And we will import a third mule once we have found that new place. If we find that perfect new mule for Steph before the new place is found, my friend Cindy in Missouri has kindly agreed to keep the new mule at her place until we can fly her over to us.

My God, my life must have been so boring before we got our mules! Haha! Happy Trails, everybody.