Who knows when he was born or how long he'll live if he keeps eating my flowers?! :)
Ricki Bobbi's job was originally to desensitize the training animals to, well, goats. Since then he has tore the handle off my car, dented the new barn door and the house door, butted the siding on the house, ate every flower I ever had, emptied the bulk bin numerous times, scratched the bumper on my new Durango, and well, yes, he has desensitized a few training mules/horses. He's a pain in the rear but we do love him and so do our visitors!

      

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December 1, 2002-July 16, 2011
China was Chris' dog. She was a Valentine's Day gift from Kelli to Chris in 2003. Someone shot China in the head twice a few years ago and survived, still having a bullet lodged in her throat. She lived up to the saying "hard headed", especially because we had to tell her 5 times to do something before she'd do it. She's was a good dog though and we loved her.

      


       Mr. Bandi
November 22, 2000-September 5, 2010
Bandi was a very special dog to us and will be forever in our hearts and souls. Bandi was Chris' dog and he loved Chris dearly. He was such a loyal and loving dog. He was a dog that would make you smile even on your worst day. Bandi had a tough life, battling 3 rounds of coon bite paralysis. We had numerous people tell us to just put him out of his misery when he would be paralyzed for 13 weeks at a time but with love, kindness, and hours of care, he pulled through, time and time again. God blessed us with a very precious gift, born the day before Bandi passed, Mr. Brumby (see above). He truly is a miracle puppy.

      

Back in 1997, Chris French and Kelli (Livengood) French met at the Hopkins Tractor Pull. From there Chris fell in love with mules, even though at first he was real skeptical.

In May 1998, Kelli's mother and father, Jim & Suzi Livengood, gave Chris a nice yearling mule named Skipper for high school graduation. Skipper was the first mule Chris ever owned and trained. Skipper was pretty easy to train. We used to joke that he was just born broke to ride.

Chris rode him everywhere and wasn't afraid to ask him to do anything. Not only did Skipper do everything willingly, he always gave 100%. The first time Chris ever threw a rope off of Skipper they won the Steer Doctoring at the IDMS show in Dennison, IA. He, as the only mule, won Reserve Champion his first time to compete at an Extreme Cowboy Race out of 19 horses. He was just an exceptional mule in every aspect.
Chris proposed to Kelli by making her ride blindfolded and double with him on Skipper. Chris and Kelli got married on their mules Skipper and Sapphire and rode out double on Skipper. Skipper was a really big part of their lives.

Skipper took hundreds of people on trail rides, many of which had no idea how to ride. Chris and Kelli have a mule training business and all the clients would ride Skipper and watch Chris train their mule and then switch half way through the ride.

In the past couple of years Skipper was the best mule to many kids that visit and ride for the first time in their lives. Chris and Kelli's nephew and niece, Cody (age 7) and Jacquelyn (age 5) Cline have enjoyed showing and riding Skipper and Sapphire. The kids come to visit and go out and catch the mules and ride until they're told the mules are tired and need to go to bed which is well after dark.
Skipper died at age 13 doing what he loved to do, trail riding. Kelli thought just before he started losing his balance what a nice ride he was.

The vet said he died of an aortic aneurysm. He went pretty quickly and didn't have to suffer.

Skipper had a special place in many hearts and will be greatly missed. Skipper started out as a gift from Kelli's father and remains one of the best they'll ever receive.