Earl and Cheryl

Cheryl sent in these photos of her and her mule Earl during their ride up in Garden Valley, Idaho. Cheryl said she uses only Steve Edwards gear and it has transformed her rides from ‘okay’ to ‘absolutely wonderful.’ She mentioned specifically that she uses the Mule Rider’s Martingale along with Steve’s saddle and says, “No more naughty mule… he is comfortable and so am I.”

What would you say to someone who is thinking about investing in Steve Edwards saddles and tack?

It often takes [two in order to] make for a bad pair-up of mule and rider. But I found changing my equipment on my mule and [then stop] using what everyone else had used on [Earl] was the magic.

Earl use to play with his bit and I could hear it clink along the trail as we rode into the backcountry.

Yeah…. no sneaking up on game with Earl and I around. Plus my hands ached from constantly having to correct him for behaviors which he was old enough to have outgrown.

Well it was all in the tack!

I changed his bit and changed to a mule saddle and I wouldn’t sell my mule for 10,000. It was like night and day.

I ride with two fingers on the reign and he drops his head and is relaxed. Earl enjoys the rides as much as I do, he use to “jackass” when I would load him up. Now, I put the lead rope on his shoulder and he is in the trailer, standing pretty as if to say… “Let’s go, we’re burnin daylight”.

Having the right tack with the right mule is like having a super power of common sense.