"Gee" and "Haw"—Commands for Animals

For several of my books, I've needed the commands used for draft animals—mules. The terminology used is not something I remember, so decided to post them on my blog. Here I can easily find them when needed. I want to get the commands correct, or my book will draw criticism from someone who knows the correct terminology.

Isn't this fella cute? Love the ears.


The commands I'm listing were taken from My Horse Forum and posted my senior member harli36.


Walk—to go from halt to walk
Walk—to slow down from trot to walk
Trot on—to go from halt or walk to trot
Slooooowww—(well this one is obvious)
Gee—to turn right, most commonly used in tight turns where no forward movement is used.
Haw—same as above only for left hand turns.
Woah
Stand
Back

I've used these commands in my novella, A Love of His Own, a western time travel, and in my work-in-progress, A Touch of Irish, a historical western that begins in Ireland.

I couldn't resist this picture of a carriage mule at Jackson Square in New Orleans. She doesn't appear too happy about this costume.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
www.lindalaroque.com