i discovered that many people in europe still do not believe Steve when it comes to mule saddles but i AGREE with Steve.

This is the best vid I have ever seen about saddling a mule .excellent job sir.This man certainly knows his stuff.

@muleranch

5 жыл бұрын

Hi 738, thank you for the kind words and thank you for watching! Happy Trails!

You said if your standards are low enough to ride a horse. I laughed until my eyes watered clear up to the end of your video and then some. Thanks for the great saddle tips

@muleranch

5 жыл бұрын

Glad to be good for a laugh. Ha!

This was very informative. I ride a pack mule but we don't have a mule saddle for him. He's the first, and only, mule I've ever been around. He is very sweet and gentle and in. his late 20s or early 30s. I've worked with tons of horses though. I didn't know you should have the back cinch tighter than the front on mules, now I know. I really like this mule and thinking about getting a mule, someday, when my finances are better

back home we don't call the back cinch a "Bucking cinch" we call it a "Safety Cinch" wanna get bucked off on a trail, loosen that back cinch and see what happens. It's not for your butt, it's for his back! you are absolutely right!

Wow!! Soooo informative!! Thank you!!!!

@muleranch

3 ай бұрын

So happy you found this helpful! Thanks for saying something. Very encouraging. Blessings to you! 👍🤠❤️

Thanks for upploading! Ths was intresting and educating I don´t kno much aboue mule nor donkeys but now I lerand a bit more Thank you

@muleranch

5 жыл бұрын

Hi Vindheimar, how have things gone since last year year?

Thanks, I never knew that, I have been thinking about getting a mule as a pack animal for both trekking by foot in the mountains and when on my horse. before this i would have been tempted to try one of my horse saddles

I always wondered why so many people leave the back cinch 6 inches too loose. The front cinch keeps the saddle from rolling sideways and the back cinch keeps it down and prevents rocking up and down. If you get your equines used to having the back cinch tight they get used to it and it’s a better ride for you and the horse. Of course make sure the back cinch is connected to the front cinch so it doesn’t roll back to the groin. That’s when you’d get bucked off.

I realised much of what you're saying having worked with donkeys and horses. In 60 Plus years experience, I have never seen or met a mule in the flesh. They're so rare here you just never see them. Also, due to grass sickness in the early 19 hundreds, the part of Scotland I come from, became mechanized before anywhere else as many of our horses died. Horses never came back, we didn't seem to have mules after the war so when the horses died they went straight to tractors, mores the pity. I would love a mule but will have to be content with my Friesian cross and hopefully rescue a Highland pony or cob next year (I would always aim to take a donkey or elderly horse, at the same time, as lots never get home and if you're getting a decent riding horse, the least you can do is take one other to free space for more needy animals.) Thanks for such an informative video. Although I don't see myself getting a mule anytime soon, I do make scale dioramas and intend to feature some mules or pack ponies in the one I am presently doing. Your description of the tack helps a lot. I don't know anything about quarter horses either. Maybe people have them here now but not my kind of people. I think it's appalling to import horses when the horses we already have (and donkeys) don't have decent homes. You should always rescue first if you are just looking for a pleasure horse and if you have the space you should take one that you can ride and one extra as a companion even if it can't be ridden to ensure they are rehomed. All our horses in the last 3 decades have been rescued or born to rescued mares as an 'added bonus'.

Great advice. Thx

There are a lot of truths in this video. However the horse saddle tree would fit high and off of the stand like the mule tree if it had a built in ground seat like the mule tree. The mule tree sits up off of the bars of the tree because the ground seat is what making contact keeping the tree up. Steve is correct in the fact that any tree horse or mule should rest on the rock of the tree not the front or rear bar tips otherwise as he stated you end up with kidney damage and scapula damage. He is also spot on about knocking a rib out with an ill fitting tree or rigging. My friend was starting a colt that would buck like hell and you could tell that he was in pain so I recommended an equine chiropractor and one of my saddles. He got the ol boy adjusted and used one of my saddles and to this day he has never bucked again. Most saddle makers do not realize this let alone tree makers. As a custom saddle maker myself there are only two tree makers that understand the proper way a saddle should fit.

Can you make a video about how to load a disobedient mule into a trailer?

“Standards low enough to ride a horse” LMAO

So i am a little confussed . the back cinch tightens around the belly . wont they just suck up their belly to loosen that cinch ? I owned a mule in my youth and rode bare back . i couldnt find a saddle to fit . i have had many horses in my years . and dont concider my self a pro by no means . i found horses to be more choppy in the trot compared to mules . so in my golden years i have been looking for a mule to last the rest of my riding career. So can you please explain how to use that back cinch so that he or she can be comfortable in the stomach area as well as on their back ? And also wont a crouper cut into the tail when going down hill ?

So what about bareback pads with additional padding on either side of the spine? The mule I've been handling and thinking about buying is an angel (probably because I don't hit him but that's another story). I've always ridden my horses with an extra padded bareback pad and a hackamore or bosal. I don't know much about mules other than the few I've been around are amazing to handle and extremely intelligent. I'm just wondering if that type of set up would be appropriate for a mule

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I was wondering how would a Macclellan saddle work on a mule in your opinion? Both back front and back cinches are connected to the girth that sits quite central, do you think it could be a good alternative choice?

@muleranch

4 жыл бұрын

Hi David, we talked about this today on this video around the 19 minute marker - kzread.info/dash/bejne/lYGbmtZ7ZaSbgJM.html

@davidelippi7619

4 жыл бұрын

@@muleranch thank you sir, best regards from Sweden

So.... what about Australian Saddles? Where do they fit in the saddle mix? Would an Aussie saddle fit a mule?

What about treeless saddles? Since they don’t have a tree they can usually handle alot more change in muscles.

@alberta1980

4 жыл бұрын

Lucas A treeless saddles are really bad. They are a gimmick for people that don’t know any better. A traditional saddle with a wooden tree is designed to distribute the weight of the rider across the horse’s back. Without a tree, all the weight falls on a small area of the spine. Absolute disaster for the horse’s back. Throw your treeless saddles in the garbage people and get you a real saddle.

Can Mules be ridden with a good compact wool bareback pad?

@muleranch

Жыл бұрын

We talk about this around the 54 minute marker, thanks for watching! kzread.info/dash/bejne/aqVs1rt7kry6hrQ.html

your information on saddle trees is incorrect. full quarter horse bar does not mean the saddle is wider. it only says what angle the bar is set at. the gullet width is what determines how wide the saddle is. bar is angle, gullet is width. you can have a full quarter horse bar that is set at a 3 inch gullet and it will be too small for a poney! you can take a semi quarter horse bar, and put it at a 10" gullet and would be to wide for a draft horse. bar is angle, gullet is width, and you must fit angle and width to any animal you want to saddle. if you have a saddle that tips forward, is usually caused from an unbalanced tree, or the rigging is in the wrong place for that animal. changing your rigging between front, 7/8ths, or center will make a difference on a saddle tipping forwards, and possible removing of tipping. as for the back cinch, you should never have it tighter than the front cinch as you will restrict the animal from breathing as his diaphragm is back there! most of the animals lungs sit behind the front cinch, and you can do some serious damage, with choking the animal out, to breaking a rib. the animals ribs expand when going down hills, as part of their natural movements, so restricting that, will only impair the animal and put you both in danger. the bars should touch the length of the back, as that will distribute your weight over the whole back, instead of on the spine in the middle of their back, which causes spinal injury. to avoid kidney and flank injury, get a saddle tree where the rock, flare, and twist match the animals curvature of their back, and you will be just fine, and avoid all injuries. gaited horses also have shoulders that go up and down instead of forward and back like most horses have, so if you get a gaited horse tree, set at a 7 inch gullet, semi quarter horse bar, low twist, low rock, and wide flares, it will fit a mule all across the back, without rocking bridging, or gaping. rigging on a mule should be set at a 7/8th to keep the front of the saddle from pulling in at the shoulder, and going too far into the mules elbow and heart girth, while allowing the mule to breath and move comfortably with a looser back cinch, that gets tight when going down hill. white marks on a mule or horse cannot come from a pad alone, but many times come from the saddle as it is ridged. a pad alone will not scar a mule, but a saddle always dose, when its not fitted correctly with a pad or not, the bar should always match the curve of the mules back! those white marks are a sign muscle atrophy, scapula damage, no circulation, and muscles tears under the hide of the animal, and they are a serious problem! white hairs only appear after the damage has been done to the tissues and circulation cannot get to the skin from the muscle. they are a big deal! i dont know a single veterinarian that would claim your saddle tree fits the mule. just on the fact you claim a semi bar is smaller than a quarter horse bar, tells me you dont know the difference between the bar angle at which it gets its name, versus the gullet width its set on. i dont know where you got your information, but it is not correct, as to saddle fitting. the only real defined difference between a mule tree, and a horse tree, is the bar on a mule tree, is much straighter than that of a horse tree.

@eliannoaks3101

6 жыл бұрын

same to you too.

So you tighten your back cinch like the front? Where I come from, that’s called a bucking strap lol.

@muleranch

5 жыл бұрын

Howdy! So the rear cinch is snug and the front cinch is loose. You don't want the front cinch to be tight because it will pull the saddle forward and down, putting more pressure on the scapula. Tight in the back to prevent cantilevering and coming down on the kidneys. Hope that helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions.

@brucemosegaard7204

4 жыл бұрын

Queen Valley Mule Ranch k

Can u use an English saddle on a donkey. And can u use a horse English saddle on pad on a mammoth donkey.

@muleranch

3 жыл бұрын

No english saddle will work on a mule or donkey. There is only once cinch, it will be up underneath the elbows and the saddle will start riding on top of the scapula. I've tried to make one, I've tried to adapt them... didn't work. Destroyed the scapula and sored the mule.

@chalenivy0039

3 жыл бұрын

@@muleranch so what can i use cause i want to jump my donkey with me on her.

@chalenivy0039

3 жыл бұрын

@@muleranch would a bareback pad with stirrups and a cinch work??And can u use an English saddle with breeches to keep it off the scapula or no.

I'm not buying it.

@caleb8626

5 жыл бұрын

Robbie Glass Lol what

@anitarussum4590

4 жыл бұрын

Robbie Glass ....you’re joking right?