One day
you’re reading through the
ads and you see her. She’s
just what you’re looking
for. Beautiful! Look at all
that color! You decide to
make a phone call. The
feller on the other end says
"She does every thing,
come on down and take a
look. I’ll take $1500.00
for her." You jump in
the truck thinking,
"boy I’m gonna own a
mule." When you
get there, the mule is all
saddled up ready to go. The
trader starts telling you
all about the mule. He gets
on and rides and then offers
to let you ride. You’re
excited. You ride
around a little. Maybe
you notice that the mule won’t
go just where you want or
your having to pull her
around. That’s OK -she’s
cheap, and a mule. So
you decide to take her home.
When
you get home you put her in
the corral because it’s
late. It’s late because it
took three hours to load
this great mule. Now you
feed your mule and say good
night. The next
morning you go out and walk
into the corral. Old
"good deal" won't
come near you. Two hours
later and much help from the
neighbors enable you to
catch "good deal."
Now you are leading the mule
to the hitch rail and you
wish you had a tractor to
lead with. With her tied at
the hitch rail, you go to
brush "good deal"
and she tries to kick your
head off …and on and on
and on.
Now
this is just one little
story out of hundreds we
have heard over the years.
Lots of folks have thoughts
on what a broke saddle mule
is supposed to look like. I
like what Ben Tennison said
in one of his articles.
"My favorite color is
broke." Which is the
old cowboy term for trained
or, as I have seen it on
most outfits, half trained.
I want
to share with you some of
the things you can look for
in a mule that rides, drives
and packs. First, let's look
at a saddle mule.
"Disposition" is
everything for any mule. If
your mule won't work with
you and doesn’t like
people, don’t go any
further. As you are looking
at the mule, let the owner
go into the corral to get
the mule. If the mule is all
ready saddled when you get
there, this always throws up
a red flag to me. The mule
could be lot of things,
drugged, hard to catch, bad
to saddle, and have lots of
other spoiled habits. What I
would like to see is: the
mule is in the corral, she
meets you and the owner at
the gate. Watch if the mule
turns and faces the owner or
if it turns to go the other
way. Now, as he halters the
mule, you want to see the
mule put its nose into the
halter. As he leads the
mule, it's good to see the
mule lead easily with slack
in the lead rope, following
rather than dragging. While
you are brushing it, I like
to see the mule stand
quietly, enjoying the
brushing and the
conversation . Yes,
conversation! Mules like it
when you talk in a nice
quiet voice. Yes, their
vocabulary is limited to a
few words they were taught
in the foundation training:
get over, give me the foot
gee, haw whoa, etc. The best
word they need to know is
WHOA! Whoa means a complete
stop, no other movement,
just stand still and quiet
and wait for you. Now he
should pick up all the feet.
At no time should the mule
lean on you or pull away.
Have the trader take a
hammer and tap on each hoof.
Mr. mule should stand still
and quiet the whole time.
All the time, watch the ears
and the tail. The ears
should be quiet and not
stiff. The tail hangs quiet,
not switching or sucked up.
At this point, it’s time
for saddling.
You will notice that as the
trader is saddling the mule,
it should stand quietly. Now
the bridle. As they put on
the bridle, the mule's ears
can be easily moved into
place. If the trader has to
unbuckle the bridle, the
mule most likely has
ear-shying problems. This
can be a big problem. I have
found that this is a hole
(flaw) that is time
consuming to fix. It can
also be the start of other
problems that will surface
later on or when you are not
expecting them. Note the
bit. How does the mule
respond to it? Does she neck
rein or do you need to plow
rein to turn? Now you are
ready to watch the trader
ride. I’m never impressed
when some one jumps the
animal out into run or a
lope (canter). I want to see
the mule stand still to get
on, waiting to see what the
rider is going to ask of
him. That could be step to
the right two steps or to
the left five steps or a
quiet back up or back at
least five steps, then walk
off quietly.
If the
mule is saddled, ask the
owner to remove the saddle.
Look at her back. If you see
white spots, she has had an
improper saddle on her.
Folks try to fit a horse
saddle on a mule and they
hurt her back. Here is the
problem with a bad fitting
saddle. A mule doesn’t
like pain and the wrong
saddle is like boots that
don’t fit. Soon with the
wrong boots, your feet will
get sore. There are a lot of
mules that bob their heads
going down a little hill.
They are telling you that
the saddle is hurting their
back. One day they will get
tired of telling you and
then will buck you off when
they have had enough. That
way they get your attention.
Other poor saddle fit
symptoms are walking short
and choppy, jumping around,
and kicking the saddle out
of your hands, to name a
few. The bigger the white
spots, the more severe the
problems. Look for any old
scars on the mule and ask
questions about the scars.
All the time, watch the
mule's disposition. The ears
need to be loose and moving
around quietly. The tail
should hang loose and not
tight. Now have the owner
lead the mule back to her
corral and turn her loose.
Visit with the owner and
listen to the stories about
the mule. Ask where he got
the mule, how long he’s
had her and why is he
selling her. Note the mule's
attitude while she is
standing in the corral. Now
have him bring the mule back
to the hitching post and
have him saddle her. If he
has a britchen, note how
goosey she is and the same
with a crupper. If the
owner doesn’t use a
crupper or britchen ask why.
I have seen lots of mules
that when you slide the
crupper under the tail or
the britchen down their
hips, go to kicking at you
or they are very goosey. If
he doesn’t have either of
those items, have him tie a
rope to the saddle horn , go
the long way around, slide
the rope under the tail and
around the hips. This will
show you how goosey or kicky
the mule is. Now, the bit
Note the bit for its ability
to work with mule. When the
trader gets on the mule,
does the mule stand still
and patiently. Ask the rider
to back first. Note the ease
of the back-up. Did he work
off the bit or the riders
legs or both? Next ask him
to ride the mule in a
figure. Is the rider having
to pull on the rein to get
the mule to turn or is the
mule light on the bit? Watch
to see if the mule responds
to leg cues. Spend as much
time as you can the first
visit. Now at this time, you
should tell the owner you
are going to think about it.
Go home and do a lot of
thinking. At this point, if
you’re interested in the
mule, set up an appointment
for a pre-purchase exam by
your vet. Then, if the mule
is sound, revisit and go
through the steps again. You
are buying this mule to
relax with in your time off,
so take your time. When you
take your
mule home, spend a lot of
time on the ground with it.
This will help the mule get
used to you. Take him out as
much as possible. Lead him
around. Tie it to the mule
trailer and anywhere else,
so the mule doesn’t think
their only job is to get fed
and stand in the corral.
Steve
& Susan Edwards
Queen Valley Mule Ranch
e-mail: steve@muleranch.com |
