Buying a Mule

[406flyfish]

My wife and I are in the process of listing our house and moving to a place with more acreage. I got the green light for a Mule so I’m in the early stages of my research. Ideally, I would rather pay the money for one that has a few years of training/packing/trail riding under its belt. I live in SW MT but willing to travel.

Any tips or suggestions on selection process would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jmez]

Have you owned one before?

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[406flyfish]

My wife has grown up with horses her entire life so I’ve ridden horses over the years. I’ve been on a mule a few times on extended packing trips.

 

[wyosteve]

Put Father's Day weekend on your calendar and do a road trip to Ralston, Wyoming (not too far from you-just outside of Cody). Jake Clark Mule Days. Check his website.

 

[TreeWalking]

I have been on horses since was a wee lad. Have ridden mountain horses with an outfitter several times but on two such adventures there was a mule in the corral as one of the wranglers did not trust horses. None of the other wranglers in camp trusted a mule. Each morning about two hours before sunrise the mule would back up to the metal gate on the temporary corral and kick a crossbar every couple of seconds until was fed. Sounded like a blacksmith working diligently. I formed an opinion re mules as I like my sleep.

So, I have to ask, why voluntarily seek out anything that relies on you to feed and keep it alive? Secondly, why specifically a mule?

 

[goathunter]

You can't just have one, they need a buddy.

 

[S.Clancy]

Our family had (and hunted with) mountain horses for the first 26-27 years of my life. The one thing I will tell you is that if you go down the road to owning stock (horses, mule) it is a yearlong commitment if you want to do it safely. We rode our horses 9 months of the year, took them on pack trips all summer, hunted on them all fall. They were very well broke and extremely experienced with all types of packing, terrain and conditions and still we had accidents and narrowly avoided real tragedy a couple of times. If you are gonna be a guy that "only uses them for hunting" I would highly advise against getting them, for your own safety and theirs.

 

[KenLee]

Our family had (and hunted with) mountain horses for the first 26-27 years of my life. The one thing I will tell you is that if you go down the road to owning stock (horses, mule) it is a yearlong commitment if you want to do it safely. We rode our horses 9 months of the year, took them on pack trips all summer, hunted on them all fall. They were very well broke and extremely experienced with all types of packing, terrain and conditions and still we had accidents and narrowly avoided real tragedy a couple of times. If you are gonna be a guy that "only uses them for hunting" I would highly advise against getting them, for your own safety and theirs.

Amen on the ride em regularly, and often in some adverse conditions.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Being able to put a horse out to pasture and not worrying about feeding him and taking care of him daily is nice. When you say acreage, are you talking about a couple of acres and 365 days of feeding?

 

[SWOHTR]

Name it "Kawasaki."

 

[PNWGATOR]

Reach out to @wymtnpounder and see if he has any he’s preparing for auction or if he knows of any for sale.
Here is a link to their channel and it’ll give you an idea of the quality of animals he trains:

https://m.youtube.com/@sarahkincheloe5820/videos

 

[wyodan]

I bought a very nice mule at the Salmon Select sale last year. Prices at Salmon were down, they were up at both Jake Clark and Chrome in the Canyon. They have to have a buddy.

 

[jmez]

You will want one that is well broke. Mules are not horses. Completely different animals. They can be dangerous if you are not experienced with them. Great animals, you just need to use some caution.

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[ewade07]

Get a couple horses and save yourself the trouble.

As stated above, any tack animal needs a mountain and attention. As my brother stated above, if youre not willing to put in 9 months a year of solid work i would advise against getting horses/mules.

 

[406flyfish]

We are looking at 20 acres. Luckily, there’s hundreds of Forest Service trails within a couple miles of this parcel. We would be riding around 8 months of the year.

 

[406flyfish]

Name it "Kawasaki."

Already have a Can Am lol

 

[ianpadron]

Need at least 2.

 

[406flyfish]

I know mules are very social creatures. Would they benefit the companionship of a horse instead of another Mule? My wife will most likely be getting a quarter horse.

 

[TWHrunner]

Just start with horses. They are a lot more forgiving. I don’t own mules and don’t have the patience they require. As others have said, they are different animals than horses.

 

[jmez]

Mule would be fine with a horse as a companion

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