MULES AND SADDLES Part I By Terry Wagner Four parts to saddle fit are the mule, the pad, the saddle, and the rider INTRODUCTION omeone once said that the easiest owners are so possessed over the subject add a mix of blind belief in saddle fitting way to get your saddle to fit a mule they no longer have fun with their mules; voodoo, and the not so perfect art of saddle Sis to keep trading mules till you find instead they spend their time worrying over fitting becomes one great big three ring cir - one that fits your saddle. saddle fit. cus. Standing quietly on the sidelines, are a For the last twenty years, without ques - Adding to this problem are untold number few knowledgeable people, who it seems at tion, the hottest topic in the equine world of saddle fitting gurus, telling the mule rid - times, are being out shouted by the self-pro - has been saddle fit. Mule owners are com - ing public that if their saddle doesn’t per - claimed all knowing. pletely wrapped around the axle over the fectly fit their mule partner, untold damage There are an untold number of people subject. Owners have gone over the edge on will be done to the mule and if they just buy making a living out of teaching others how the topic, buying saddle after saddle trying their whiz bang mule saddle fitting widget, to fit a saddle to an equine. These saddle fit to find the “perfect fit.” If they find one little all of their saddle fit problems will be gurus are an interesting lot. First there is the dry spot on their mule’s back, they immedi - solved and they can go down the trail bask - Starched Shirt Saddle Fit Guru . He always ately jump to the conclusion that their sad - ing forever in perfect saddle fitting fairy has a new expensive felt hat and a perfectly dle doesn’t fit and head to the local tack dust. creased, solid color shirt with a logo of shop to buy old long ears a new saddle. From what I see, saddle fitting today has some kind embroidered on the front. Armed Many times they irritate the mule by drag - evolved into an incredible boiling pot of with a big bag of trick looking tack he ging him along to insure that “perfect fit.” conflicting information. It is being fed by a claims is needed for a proper fitting saddle, Then a few months later they have another number of people who don’t know a cantle and if purchased at his clinic, is alleged to dry spot on the mules back after a ride and from a seat jockey, some alleged trainers be a true bargain. can’t understand why. They have a new sad - blame every bad habit a mule develops on Next is the Beautiful Young Reining dle, and it was deemed a perfect fit at the poor saddle fit, a number of unknowing, Queen , Saddle Fit Guru . Mandatory is a big time it was purchased! Most of these people misleading or misinformed, saddle makers silver trophy buckle, blond curls, and find it hard to move in their tack rooms as and dealers promising perfect saddle fit, pri - starched jeans, demonstrating saddle fit on it is cluttered with at least one of every sad - vate owners who base their very vocal opin - a big bloomy quarter horse that has never dle pad sold in the free world. A lot of mule ions on one magazine article they have read; been out of the arena. Then we have the Saddle or Tree Com - in Blue Jay California in the San Bernardino ten-year-old son can go, but because the fa - pany Rep Saddle Fit Guru. He is usually Mountains, where Don and Scotty Mauk ther weighs 350 pounds, he couldn’t go. partnered with a known trainer who is en - ran over a hundred head of dude horses. However, this provided the enterprising dorsing the saddle or tree of the reps em - Scotty employed four wranglers and each young wranglers the opportunity to jump ployer, it’s called paid to say nice things wrangler had his personal horse to ride. I right in and let the parent know that we about the product. Based on the trainer’s en - took my paint mare Penny with me, and a would take good care of the boy, or girl, and dorsement you are to believe that perfect guide rode anywhere from four to six hours see to it they had a good time. Of course the saddle fit can be obtained by just believing a day, on the same horse, six days a week, possibility of five dollar tip was a big moti - his message, smilingly approved by the fac - with his personal saddle. I never saw any of vator to a young wrangler. tory rep. the wrangler’s horses with sores on them. Horses and mules that are ridden on a reg - One of the most interesting is the Old It was there at the Blue Jay Stables that I ular basis, with properly adjusted tack, re - Waddy Saddle Fit Guru, who presents him - got my first real introduction to saddle fit - sult in a conditioning of their muscles, and self with a mouth full of chaw, a slough hat, ting and it has been one of my major inter - skin, and are less likely to get saddle sores. watery eyes, and some wore out tack. He ests ever since. Wayne Cozart was a farrier If you are a weekend rider and are going to spins a yarn or two about what has always who shod all the horses at the stable. Wayne ride only on weekends, saddle maker Tom worked for him in all his years riding the was a first class farrier, displaced from Pritchard pretty much ties the knot in the range, and if you do the same you can’t go Arkansas, who was quite a hand. He not problem with his advice that, to avoid sad - wrong, and “here is my long time secret to only shod horses, he was good at handling dle fit issues, “It takes three ten mile rides perfect saddle fit you can buy with confi - all livestock, both saddle animals and har - in a week to condition your mule for a thirty dence.” ness animals, floating teeth, and seeing to it mile ride on the weekends.” A real puzzler is the Mysterious Saddle that the horses on the dude string weren’t The quality of your tack goes a long way Fit Guru who just kind of appears out of the neglected. He was frequently at the stable to keeping your mules back in good shape. mist. His western duds are new and don’t and he was not bashful about letting the I had a man show up at my house a couple quite fit, and he starts out telling you his wranglers know when something wasn’t years back to look at a mule I had for sale. personal story how he worked for years as right. And, when it wasn’t right, Wayne had He was driving a new diesel truck and a 30- a resident crash dummy for a bowling ball a simple rule…..stop and fix it. Scotty foot long living quarter’s trailer. He was company and this naturally lead to his in - Mauk believed in Wayne’s wisdom and looking at the mule for a price of over terest in mules and saddle fitting…..???? when he said it, it was the rule from then till $2,000.00. He opened up his rear tack room Lastly, is The Young Clean Cut Cowboy the end of time. and I saw two cheap nylon western saddles Saddle Fit Guru . He is immaculately The only saddle sores I saw were the big and a cheap Asian made Australian saddle. dressed in high heeled boots, chinks, flow - gentle horses that carried the smallest riders. I knew from that moment on that if he ered western shirt, silk scarf, slightly worn, They had pony saddles on them and these bought the mule, it would not be a match five-inch brim, palm straw hat, and a five were tough on those big horses. It was be - made in heaven. A top hand cowboy friend o’clock shadow beard, and they always cause of this problem, that Wayne taught all of mine, Dale Newman, commented years have a name like Rocky, or Dusty, or the wranglers how to use “rocker pads.” I ago, “You can tell a lot about a man by just Rowdy. He will tell us all about his vast sad - wrote about rocker pads in the August 2012 looking at his outfit.” dle fit knowledge gleaned from packing issue of Western Mule Magazine . We didn’t If you read old books about equine his - mules for thousands of miles in the rugged have all the high tech equine accessories we tory, fictional or factual, you find little ref - mountains of Colorado, punching thousands have today, so a saddle sore got immediate erence to saddle fitting issues. In the old of head of cattle in the Texas panhandle, rid - attention before it took the horse out of the days, if you want to call it that, a man would ing thousands of bucking horses, roping string. often times, only own one saddle that he thousands of head of cattle, and riding thou - All the adult saddles had high cantles on would use his entire life.