First ride on an unridden MULE!

Sir, I still have to go back and watch the first videos in the series but I woke up and saw this one posted and was immediately intrigued.  I think I have watched it three times total now and am just amazed and inspired at your dedication and determination to train your animal and do so in the proper manner.  Ultimately I have never broken a horse or mule however I grew up riding and have trained with pack animals at high elevation desert training sites for mountain operations over seas.  Your commitment to the way you conduct yourself with all aspects of everything you do whether it be hunting or this new arena, you are inspiring to an aspiring hunter.  You display a great model for all huntsmen to follow and I look forward to more projects from you.

I’ve been in the horse industry for 54 years. The simple fact that you acknowledged when it was your fault, that’s what makes a horseman! You love them and they’ll love you right back. I’ve seen Olympic level riders, with tempers! Thank you for being so kind to her!!

I used to break and shoe full time and I still do every now and then. I can’t believe the snobs commenting on the fine job you did. For a first timer that was fantastic. The ones nitpicking you aren’t professionals; a professional knows that there are as many opinions as there are farriers and trainers. Keep up the good work!

All it takes is some intelligence on your part. 100% consistency, 80% kindness, 20% firmness, and patience. The secret is short sessions EVERY DAY.

In the future, and given the right circumstances that you could do this. Tip for trailer training. Park the trailer with the door open out in the pasture for a few days and throw some hay in it. Horses being curious animals will eventually go check it out, and the hay is just an incentive to coax them to hop in on their own. Once they realize the trailer isn't as scary as it seemed, and they were aloud to check it out/get in without being forced, it makes that first time being asked to hop in a lot easier. Don't know if it'll work as well with mules, since I've never directly worked with one, but this trick tends to work on horses in my experience. Another small tip. If you're horse/mule has a buddy, load the buddy first, then try and load the other. The draw from their pasture mate will coax them in and make the situation less scary for them if their buddy is calm about it. Good luck in the future!

I've been horseman an cowboy for most of 40 years and with that experience there are somethings I would have done different, but all in all you where great. Your goals and fundamentals were right on. True horseman leans along with their partners be it a mule or a horse. Its a relationship of working though the mistakes and sharing in experience. You learned how to keep breaking it down in more simply transitions that helped her relax and communicate with you better. Every horse/mule is different an all videos an fancy tack,won't make any difference if you're not in it for relationship. I've often said that horse-man-partnership is a 51/49 % split you only need 51% of controlling interest. In the end you where there an your little mule showed it. You did a fine job an will have a great partnership for a long long time. What twists my tail is all negative feedback. If you're anything close a horse person, would seen your self in these videos. If you never tried the right thing an got the wrong result you've never worked with a horse or mule at least not a live anyway. This the worst part of an industry I've worked in most my life. To many trainers so full of their own insecurities they have nothing good to say. There's an old horsemans code that most of you tin horns should learn . Never tell a man how to ride his own horse, unless he asks, cause its not your partnership. Good job young man we should get us a string of those pretty young mules and go into business, the world needs more good mules like you have, so they don't end up with these bull s*** wouldabeens.

"The heightened sense of awareness you feel in a situation like this feels almost superhuman. The human experience doesn't feel truly lived until you've been on the back of an animal like this." Thanks for the inspiration man. The challenging but fulfilling reward of pursuing ownership of such a complex animal is so compelling to a young Jersey boy like me. I'm planning on settling down in the Pacific Northwest in the next couple years with career goals as a game warden, and having a mule sidekick seems like a solid option for a companion inside and outside of work. Hope all's going well with ya'll!

The people complaining about how you trained YOUR Mule probably watch YouTube videos and think they’re professional horse trainers. Keep up the excellent work buddy, enjoyed the videos

He said he's never done it before and yet he did it better than some "experts" I've seen.

Good work, you are now ready for a lotta really pleasant times with your mule. My grandpa farmed with mules so when I got out of the army and started my own small farm I got a team of mules. That was 48 years ago and I have owned and used 5 mules in that time; I broke and sold all but 2 which I kept to use. I worked the farm, logged, went on wagon trains and rode trail rides until I was crippled up and can no longer go out and do physical stuff. When my daughter was growing up at 8 years old she started riding one of the mules. By 10 she would come home from school, saddle her mule by herself and ride the mountains behind our farm with her cousin who had a horse. I envy guys like you who can still do that, but I also salute you for a job well done. Happy trails my friend.

Pay no attention to all the negative nellies and naysayers! I've trained wild and feral horses, and have been breaking horses to ride for decades. Nobody does things "right" or "perfect" the first time around, and there will always be tons of people who would do things differently than you and feel they must put you down because they don't exactly agree. We all have to learn somehow. And, you Sir, are on your way. You recognized your difficulties that came up and you thought through them, you remained steady and did what you felt was right in your gut. End result, you have a great little mule who respects you and listens to what you need from her. I wouldn't do things exactly as you have, but, at many points in my learning process I have done every thing you have shown in this video, as I was trying to figure it all out, too. It is good to see some people here in the comments sharing their experiences and having positive discussion about the video. And it's disheartening to see the negative naysayers who are just kinda being mean and "know-it-all" instead of initiating constructive discussion about things that they would do differently than you. For your first time, I think you did leaps and bounds better than most people do! Just keep at it... you and your mules will continue to learn and grow, together. Confidence and knowledge from hands-on learning (sometimes the hard way! lol!) is far more meaningful and solid than any other type of education :)

So impressed with your determination, and heart and compassion working with this beautiful mule. For your first time training, you can see the amount of study and prep work you did so that you can be a better leader for her. Well done!

The patience of a good horseman is really a wonder to behold. Well done. Compassion and care won out.

I watched several videos, professional and non- professional, and this is by far one of the best videos I have saw. You don't have to watch hours and hours of videos to see what you do with this mule. You definitely have a gift and you use it!

Ah I love this! I love mules so so so much! They are so under appreciated! They are so smart and loyal and kind animals! I have a bond with my mule unlike any iv had with a horse. She is all around amazing. She has her moments but I love riding her and I love working with her! ❤️ I don’t know what it is with mules but they are just my heart!

I am a born and raised New York City guy. I am absolutely fascinated by this video. Such patience and skill. Beautiful " Many thanks

After reading more of the comments regarding the trailer loading process, and having experience myself with loading horses who are basically "untouched" or barely halterbroke... you get the horse into a small-ish area such as a round pen or small paddock. Back the trailer right up to the gate and secure the gate and trailer door open. Use your basic round penning techniques to get the horse or mule moving, turning on cue in both directions, and stopping to face you when asked. When done right, this is less than 15 minutes of work even with a feral horse or mule. Next, you get the horse moving and you take pressure off (allow to stop and relax) every time the horse/mule's nose is pointed toward the trailer. Big reward. The instant their attention goes away from the trailer, get moving immediately. Just like you said in your video... make the wrong thing difficult and the right thing easy. You're essentially turning the trailer from "danger zone!" into "comfort zone" by taking off pressure and allowing to rest as long as the horse/mule is moving toward the trailer, and putting pressure on and increasing "work" whenever the horse/mule turns away from the trailer. Within a 1/2 hour, you've got a mule jumping into the trailer happily, as that is the calm resting space for her, and everything outside of that is work work work and somewhat uncomfortable. If this is not an option, and you have access to using round pen panels (and rearranging them to set up a sort of squeeze gate), you can get some really great ideas from the youtube videos on the wild mustangs... just search for "blm mustang pickup day 1" and you'll learn a lot of safe practices for very quickly getting a wild equid on a trailer without harm or even much stress.

Great job. I love how patient you were with her.

This was very interesting, you see my great,great grandfather worked for the Mule train. I know that the mules are very great st long travels and harsher terrain. Will watch the other ones. Thanks.

This is exactly how I back every single horse. Time, patience, understanding. Every one of my horses is wonderful. I thought I was an odd ball. This is the first video I have come across that does things like I do. Glad I'm not alone.