Garry McClintock
Garry McClintock is a well-known and highly respected saddle maker who lives in Descanso, California.
Mules have variously shaped backs, as do horses. The shape of the muleís back depends on the shape of its damís back. The back of the jack is rather flat, as compared to the horse, which has more ìrockî or sway to its back.
Another characteristic of mules and jacks is that they are what are called ìeasy keepers,î which means that it takes very little feed for them to stay fat. If mules are not ridden very often, they may get too heavy.
If you are lucky enough to have a saddle and it just happens to stay on your mule, ride the heck out of it, and if that means an hour or so in an arena a few times a week, life is good. However, if you get out on the trail quite a bit, and notice that the ears of your mule seem to have gotten a little closer than when you started and your reins are suddenly much too long, then quickly find a good place to quietly dismount in a way that your saddle does not roll under your mule when you try to get off. Your cinch will be loose, and your saddle will have slid forward. Anybody who has ridden much will know what kind of a wreck this can cause.
Donít simply run out and buy a britchiní or a crupper to solve the sliding problem. Either item will help, but take a little deeper look at what is going on here so you can deal with this, as it comes up with different animals in different situations.
In the above scenario, the first thing that happened was the saddle slid forward. Why did that happen? The saddle was probably built for a horse, which means that the bars of the saddletree were built to accommodate the sway that is in a horseís back, instead of the flatness of the muleís back. Picture the rockers on a rocking chair and you will understand what I mean. You can see this on your mule if you will place your saddle on his back without any padding or cinches and take a look at how it rocks back and forth. Do not put the saddle too far forward on his shoulder blade or it will not work, and neither will he. The back will settle a little when you ride, so do this before and after you ride in order to get a better understanding. There is less bearing surface to evenly distribute your weight over the bar surface as it sits on the back, and the tree or saddle will skid along more easily, and usually move forward. A saddle with mule bars is different because the bars are built to have less ìrockî in them and are consequently flatter than the bars built for a horse.
A mule can also have a back with withers, like a Thoroughbred, or be mutton withered like a burly Quarter Horse, depending on what the muleís dam was like. What this means to a saddle-maker relates to the angle to which the flatter bars are set. We can still use Thoroughbred bars at ninety degrees, semi-Quarter Horse bars at ninety-two degrees, or a full Quarter Horse angle at ninety-five degrees on the mules, just as we do on horses. Generally, the bars for mules are set to a semi-Quarter Horse angle, with a little more separation between the bars, like six-and-one-quarter to six-and-one-half inches of width, which accommodates the more fleshy or heavier wither area. The big, wide, flat-back mules need a full Quarter Horse bar angle with seven inches of width between the bars. The backs of mules are just as different as are those of horses; they are generally flatter like the jack that fathered them.
The other thing that needs to be considered is where the cinch will be located in relation to the size and shape of the belly of the mule. A saddle can have the front cinch far forward in a full position, back to the middle of the seat in a center-fire position or anyplace in between. This is where fat can get in the way.
To understand this a little better, place your saddle on your mule where it is supposed to be, back behind the shoulder blade and not on it. Now take a look at where the ring that holds the latigo is located. A full position, or Spanish rig, is under the horn or a little forward of the horn. This is about as far forward as you can get it. Some mules require the cinch here, because their belly fat will push it there anyway. The problem is that you may gall the mule as he moves and rubs against the cinch and/or the buckle. A neoprene cinch can solve the rubbing, but that material is slippery and in other positions can move more easily than a stranded cinch. If this happens on your mule, and the rigging position is more toward the middle of the saddle and consequently the belly, a saddle-maker can move the position of the ring to a full position. Otherwise, the saddle will continue to slide forward to where the cinch wants to come to a rest, in the little hollow spot just behind the front legs. This will vary depending on the conformation.
The rigging position should be placed directly above this hollow spot to help keep the saddle in place. The saddle may still slide forward, up onto the shoulder blade, but this will minimize the movement. This is when you need a crupper, or better yet, a britchiní, because it can hold the cinch as well as the saddle, and a britchiní adds class to the long ears. Any rigging position that places the cinch on the downhill slide of the belly will only cause it to move to where it will stop. If you are lucky and have an animal that is more hound gutted, the cinch will either move back toward the tail or stay where you put it and not move. A breast collar is an easy solution.
Over the years I have had an opportunity to spend time with some of the ranchers of Baja, California, where they are just now getting roads and pickup trucks. These hardy mountain folk have used mules and donkeys since Cortez first settled the country, and I mean literally. This is a steep, rough and sparse desert, and their stock will go where the feed is; rounding them up can get interesting. These are the true Californians who still use the center-fire saddle effectively. They place the cinch right in the middle of the belly and crank it down. The cinch is only twelve or maybe fifteen strands wide, and they put it on tight and keep it there.
If you were to watch riders come off of some of those hillsides, you would not believe they could do it, let alone keep their saddle in place. But sure enough, with a center-fire saddle and no crupper, britchiní or breast collar, the saddle stays in place. I think the difference is the fat. Those mules are all muscle and have backbones and withers to help keep the saddles from sliding around. I often use a center-fire saddle on my mule, and without a britchiní the cinch still slides. In my opinion, the center-fire position is the best place for the cinch, because it pulls from both ends of the saddle, which evens the pressure on the bars and back, and the cinch pull is around the belly and not the heart and lungs.
Even though the center-fire position may be theoretically better, it is bound to cause a wreck if it slides. In todayís world, your best bet is still the seven-eighths double rig. The back cinch should be used equally as tight or tighter than the front cinch. If you do not tighten it, you might as well leave it home. Tighten it up in a round pen at first in case the mule needs time to get used to it. Let him buck if he needs to; he will get the hang of it without you on his back. Make sure you have a strap between the two cinches, so they cannot move away from each other, forward or back. Besides keeping the back cinch out of the flank, it will keep the front one off of the leg or shoulder. This should help to keep the saddle from moving.
Your best bet is a lot of wet saddle blankets and a little experimentation. Padding can often make a bad situation better; get off your animal once in a while and loosen the cinches and let the back breathe. If the saddle is too tight, it can burn his back even if it does fit him well. If you have dry spots, pad around them and see if you can make a better fit. It is hard to go out and buy a new saddle simply because your trainer says to. Seek the advice of those who have been there; they can help. In the end, it is up to you.
Fitting saddles to mules continues to be a dilemma. Mulesí backs are generally flatter than horses, and saddles with flatter bars are better for their backs, but all are different and need individual attention. Do what you can, but be safe. White spots (caused by bruising) happen, but they are not the end of the world. If they happen to you and you think your mule is less valuable, let me knowóI am always in the market for a good mule.