Women who work with mules and donkeys

Meredith Hodges: learning about the work

Meredith Hodges’s Lucky Three Ranch offers Training Mules and Donkeys as a video-on-demand series, alongside Those Magnificent Mules, which includes interviews and events about mule people and their animals. The first is a place to start for the training process; the second offers a wider look at the people who work with mules.

References: Lucky Three Ranch

In a ranch sequence Hodges brings two working mules in from the paddock. One approaches the gate as soon as she appears; the other waits back and turns toward the feed area. She notices the difference and gives each animal time at its own place before preparing the day’s work.

Hodges enjoys the individual responses: the eager mule anticipates the routine, while the more cautious one makes her pay attention to small changes in posture and timing. The pleasure she describes comes from getting to know two different animals rather than expecting the same reaction from both.

Start with the short films

Lucky Three Ranch also lists short videos on donkey training and groundwork among its training tips. For a newcomer, a short video and a longer series serve different purposes: the former introduces a particular subject, while the latter leaves more time to see a trainer’s approach.

References: Lucky Three Ranch

The day continues after the work. Hodges brings the mules back, removes their equipment, brushes them and checks that each can reach its own feed and water. The return to ordinary care shows what living with working animals involves after the more visible task is over.

Lotta and Jonny’s journey

Lotta Lubkoll and her donkey Jonny crossed the Alps together. Their own site describes that journey and a later trip in the Balkans.

References: EselJonny

A companion on a walk

Lotta Lubkoll walks with her donkey Jonny and lets the relationship develop through the journey. On the path, the pace belongs to both companions: she pauses beside him, waits as he takes in a new place and shares the practical work of stopping and setting off again. The account makes the animal’s responses part of the journey rather than treating him as luggage.

That attention to an individual animal is a useful companion to the training material. Watching daily routines and decisions gives a different sense of living and traveling with a donkey than a lesson focused on one task.

At the beginning of the walk Jonny pauses at an unfamiliar crossing, and Lotta waits beside him before the pair continue. Later in the journey, when they reach another crossing, he walks toward it while she stays close. The difference is a small change in how the pair move together, shown through repeated encounters rather than a declaration that trust appeared all at once.

Sources and attribution

1. Lucky Three Ranch

   Video on demand: Meredith HodgesPublication date not listed · Recorded Oct 29, 2026

2. Lucky Three Ranch

   Training tips: donkey trainingPublication date not listed · Recorded Oct 29, 2026

3. EselJonny

   Lotta and JonnyPublication date not listed · Recorded Oct 29, 2026