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
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