On a farm just outside Loveland, resident Meredith Hodges has revolutionized the training of mules and donkeys.
She is now internationally respected as a trainer, a show champion, a rescuer, an educator, a children’s book author and a champion of the “long ears” to which she has devoted her life.
Her life’s work is rooted in more than the knowledge that she has built over four decades but also in her heart, where she holds passion for mules and donkeys and for resistance-free training based on the animal’s athletic condition, core strength and balance.
“These are all my kids,” she said while interacting with her mules and donkeys, “and they give me their all.”
A humble beginning
Hodges moved to Loveland in 1980, bringing with her one mule (Lucky Three Sundowner) and one donkey (Little Jack Horner) from a ranch her mom operated in California and a heart for “long ears,” as donkeys and mules are known. She started training these animals at her mom’s ranch and developed a love and respect for them.
When she arrived, at the age of 30, her new property was small with dilapidated buildings that she began to dig up by hand with a shovel. She jokingly refers to it as an archaeological dig because, when she went to dig out what looked like 4-foot-tall barns, she found another 4 feet under muck.
Hodges says it took her two years to dig out the layers of muck before she could start building Lucky Three Ranch. Today, she has 127 acres of sprawling fields of hay, pristine barns, a training facility, a place specifically designed for children to learn, a museum and many bronze sculptures.
She and five employees run the entire ranch, where she built a name for herself in resistance-free training based on core strength and balance, based on rewards and working with the mule or donkey rather than trying to “break them” or force them to perform certain tasks. Her methods are rooted in working with the animal, providing motivation, and ensuring prime athletic conditioning.
Reaching heights
Hodges created her own method of training donkeys and mules, right down to the details of what to feed them and what equipment to use. For decades, she has shared that vision through books and videos that are shipped from Loveland to destinations around the world.
She bred mules, trained animals and trainers and championed getting mules included into show events alongside horses. And once they were accepted into these competitions, she trained and rode her way to several world championships.
Above her indoor arena are the words: “Through these doors, champions are made.”
Those words are true. Hodges trained, raised and showed many champion mules over the decades. Each is now memorialized in bronze sculptures on her 127 acres.
Her list of accomplishments is too lengthy to list completely.
She has ridden in the Rose Parade and an inauguration parade.
She won awards for documentaries, was lauded by the Colorado Legislature, formed the Colorado Mule and Donkey Society, created an award-winning television series that aired on RFD-TV, Discovery Channel and Outdoor Life Network and has ridden her mules and donkeys to claim international fame.
In 1991, Lucky Three Ciji became the all-around champion for the International Side Saddle Organization and Little Jack Horner, a donkey, jumped over 4 feet in an exhibition, setting the world record. Over the next two years, Lucky Three Sundowner earned two championships in third-level dressage
Those are just a sampling of a list that spans pages.
Sharing knowledge
Hodges was never content to keep her revolutionary training messages to herself. She always wanted to share. At one point, she bred and trained mules, donkeys and horses on her ranch.
Now, she spreads her knowledge through the internet, as well as through training videos and books that she has been shipping around the world for decades. Her first were VHS, when that was cutting edge.
She also has penned a series of award-winning children’s books about Jasper the Mule with beloved characters to whom children can connect. On her ranch, Hodges converted a mobile home into “Jasper’s Bunkhouse,” a fully functional guest house but also a place tours of children can step into the storybook.
One wall contains a mural with a hidden yeti. The rooms are bright and cherry, painted the colors associated with the storybook, and decorated to share a love of mules and donkeys. Just outside the back door is an octagonal-shaped building that, by the end of the year, will house a custom-made miniature carousel featuring the characters in the Jasper book series.
Hodges loves children, and loves teaching them about the animals to whom she has devoted her life. She opens her ranch to the Boys & Girls Club and other youth groups for tours and is involved in the Hearts and Horses and its many different therapeutic riding programs for both children and adults.
Also, Hodges opens her ranch to tours, by appointment only from January through October, for fees that range from $12 to $50, spanning two and a half to four hours. Visitors can learn about her work, meet her animals, visit Jasper’s Bunkhouse and experience a glimpse into life at Lucky Three Ranch.
Living on
Rock and Roll, two large draft mules, came to live at Lucky Three Ranch, animals that would have been headed to slaughter had Hodges not rescued them. The large animals were in bad shape, particularly Rock who seemed lame and who they believed had a hairline fracture on his pelvis.
She began caring for the half-brothers, giving them a healthy diet and veterinary care, seeing to their chiropractic and other medical needs. Rock, who was the worst off, loved his massages.
Hodges has a picture of the mule that shows him smiling — a huge smile — during a massage. The image proves that mules, like humans, can light up a room with their smiles.
He could barely walk when he arrived at Lucky Three.
“Within two months, we had him laying down, rearing up and playing with Roll,” said Hodges.
His coat, tatty upon arrival, became smooth.
While he improved under Hodges’ care, Rock was unable to recover, and he died just over a year later, living out the rest of his life with massages and careful care at Lucky Three.
After his death, Hodges and her medical team discovered that, instead of a hairline fracture, his entire hip joint was fractured; he’d been hit by something as large as a dump truck.
Rock’s story lives on in an exhibit at a small museum at Hodges’ ranch. His skeleton is on display along with walls filled with pictures, chronicling his rescue, his medical care and the last year of his life.
Roll lived on, dying in February of 2019 at the age of 27. He, too, is memorialized in the museum.
Even in pictures, the two draft mules can grab one’s heart. They tell a story of resilience after hardship and embody Hodges’ true dedication to mules and donkeys.
“As an animal advocate, she has always understood the urgency and necessity of preserving the mule for future generations to come, and she has voiced her opinion in no uncertain terms,” according to a history of Lucky Three Ranch on her website, luckythreeranch.com.
“Appealing to committees, legislatures and the general public, Meredith has fought for and continues to champion fair treatment for mules and donkeys worldwide.”
Still going strong
After 39 years in Loveland, Meredith Hodges is still going strong in her advocacy for mules and donkeys. Though she no longer breeds or shows them herself, she and her team — which she highly praises — care for 18 animals, 127 acres and an international business.
She works to preserve history as well as the future for mules and donkeys.
And she is laying the groundwork so her museum, her training methods, her ranch and her message will live on in perpetuity.
“When I die and go over the rainbow bridge, there they are,” she said of the animals she has loved. “That’s why I do what I do. I’m an educator. As long as God needs me here, I’ll continue.”
Did you know?
- Mules are the result of breeding a female horse with a donkey and have the intelligence of a donkey and the athletic ability of a horse.
- Ancient civilizations prized mules for their intelligence and strength.
- Mules were introduced in America by George Washington, the first president, when he bred a donkey given to him as a gift with his finest horse.
- Mules and donkeys, prized for their sure-footedness, were vital to trappers, miners, farmers and settlers moving west, as well as to construction of the railroad.
- Mules were used in conflicts from the Civil War to the Korean War to carry food and supplies to troops on the front lines and as integral parts of mobile hospitals.
- Mules now compete in many equestrian competitions alongside horses, including jumping, racing, dressage, barrel racing and gymkhana.
Source: Lucky Three Ranch