There’s nothing better than riding a good mule on a beautiful scenic trail ride with people that you choose to be around.  That is the ultimate goal of so many riders.  Most of the time, there’s not big expectations of the mule other than “be safe”.  

                So many of my clients are trying to hold on to this cowboy way of life as long as they literally can.  It is who they are, through and through.  Thoughts such as “I don’t know if I would survive hitting the ground” start becoming a real concern.  Many of my clients had a wonderful mule, but its time was up and now they are looking for their next mount.  Every mule they get just isn’t making the mark. 

                Finding a suitable mule is an absolute must.  But have you by chance seen the mule prices lately?   There are still good deals out there, but you have to be pretty quick and pretty lucky to find them.  But when you are talking about life or death, and making sure the quality of your life is still good, sometimes the juice is not worth the squeeze.  What this means is sometimes putting up with a knuckle head of a mule is not worth the time, safety, or effort that you have to put into them before you can have the rewards and benefits of finding a steady and trustworthy mule.

                Here are a few huge red flags:

1. Hard to catch or load
2. Extremely buddy or barn sour
3. Never sound
4. Overly reactive or explosive behavior (even if short lived)

You are only here for so much time on this Earth.  Try to get the problems solved, but then you have got to let them go when it is not working out.  There are too many good mules out there to have to put more into the partnership than what you get out.  With me owning a trail facility and with teaching and presenting at different locations, I see people matched incorrectly for their equine regularly. 

I have been guilty of owning something that I was too stubborn to give up on.  I just do not look at it that way anymore.  Every pot in the world has a lid that fits it somewhere.  That mule just is not your “lid”.  And do not feel guilty, because the person that is out there searching for that “lid” can’t find it until you let it go. 

By Brandy Von Holten