Teach me the proper way to use saddle britchen. Okay, in Florida it is an oxymoron to use britchen but I thought I'd try it just for fun. The first time out didn't go like I thought it would.

The questions I have is for mules. I attach the quarter straps to the cinch rings. Then I leave the britchen kind of loose around the rear legs right where the rump curves forward.

If I saddle the mule with the front of the cinch back a few inches from their elbows, after the first few minutes of walking and their gut has pushed the cinch up to behind their elbows.

Then the britchen is too tight and starts to rub two bare spots on the mule's rear end.

So I suppose the solutions are to make sure the cinch is already forward before riding off or make sure the britchen is extra loose.

Then if I would go down a steep incline the britchen will tighten up when it tries to keep the saddle in place. So since the saddle isn't going to slide back on its own, I suppose, I'd need to stop and pull the saddle back or loosen the britchen.

On the other hand, I've always used cruppers. They never seem to get overly tight. Maybe the saddle does tend to slide back when I hit level ground or go up the next hill. So maybe it works the same for britchen(?).

Okay, a rookie britchen user but the whole idea seems kind of goofy. And I want to avoid any more sores on the mules.

Am I all wet?

To start with you need to use a flank with a britchen and a cinch, The cinch and the flank should be the same tightness in this case..you have the britchen done properly..The saddle on a mule should slip forward going down hill but stop before you get into the neck, then slide back as you go uphill..Its up to the riders skill to maintain the saddle position as much as possible.

I don't care for a britchen except on a pack saddle...

On a saddle mule I use a crouper or if I break the mule, I will use a slightly set back 2" flank and pull it tight as hell, by set back I mean at a point where the belly starts back UP, then I barely snug the cinch...That's the way and we always did it at the ranch in far West Texas in the big bend rimrock country..A good option is buy a mule that has some wither...

I would not advise the cinch set back on any mule, only one that was desenitised to it or the mule will probably have a fit..but once done its the only way to go..

To desenitise the mule, we started with colts, but a grown mule is a bit harder..let him wear the saddle around lighty snugged in the pen for a few days, then tighten it up a little the next session and so fourth usually works, use a breast collar up front. Don't use a strap between the cinch and the flak of course..To start with you can use a roper flank for awhile, then go to the thinner one of 2 or 3 inches..remember it takes longer to do anything with a mule than with a horse, so patience is the rule of thumb..

The old timers beat a mule into submission, and it worked pretty good but they ended up getting kicked and bit from time to time..Mule has a long memory!!!

Ray,

I've always used a crupper but for some reason it has started wearing the hair off on the sides of my one mule's tail, up at top. Never has before. So I thought I'd buy a britchen and just see.

I've concluded it was a $255 experiment gone wrong!!

I'll probably never see steep mountains again, so a crupper will do.

A breast collar, a crupper, and a tight flank cinch lets me have a fairly loose cinch, which makes that same mule happier. She doesn't like a tight cinch though I've always been a fan of a tight cinch. Having the saddle slide over on a round-backed mule ain't my idea of fun!

I have always used a two inch flank cinch pulled back into the flank, but you must teach them this when they are young, it is in effect the same as a flank on a rodeo bucking horse, it makes them buck, but both horses and mules will get use to it in time, takes a mule longer. snug is fine as the flank push back that far can't go forward so in effect you have solved all the problems, the mule is comfortable and saddle won't move..I don't know if anyone else in the world uses this method, but we did it on all our mules growing up as did my dad, granddad and his father for years past..I do remember when dad use cotton rope and a form fitter saddle and his saddle blankets were sew by mom form toe sacks..It was right after the big depression and times got better after that so I never had such equipment. I did have dads old formfitter and use it to break mules. I felt like nothing could buck my out of that trap, and nothing ever did..

We only used on mules for the most part, but I remember a couple of old fashion quarter horses that looked like pig and had no withers that you could ride that way or with a standard 6 inch cinch.

First off...yes, I have a mule...gaited mule.

Throw away the crupper...terrible useless thing only good for the rare pony. Cruppers should not have any more than 5 pounds put on them when they're used.

I'm guessing you're riding a western saddle (since nobody makes an english saddle with a mule tree and it's a rare mule who'll fit a horse tree.)...I can use a Passier medium tree but that's about it for my mule.

Britching should never be tight on your mule's hind end, never rubbing. I attach mine over his butt to the fitting on the back skirt and the lower straps to the front girth ring. I also use a breast collar to help keep eveything quiet. Have you ever looked at Steve Edwards website....he has some excellent info on fitting your saddle to your mule.

Will,
As I have communicated before, I have a "mule" brother who is a genius at creating things other folks should have thought of. He has had some customer cinches made that are really one cinch, braided together that hook in the traditional front and back in the traditional way, but really are a V down to a double width cinch on the bottom. You can locate the center by how you adjust the front and back girths respectively. He gets them made down at a Saddle shop in Cortez Colorado I believe. They really about solve the Pot belly problem. Also as mentioned, the Britchen should flop a bit. Just touch the hind leg when that leg is a full rearward extension at a walk or trot, whichever you travel at the most. I being of the "horse" persuasion, ran into a little family at a horse show that had a pot bellied pony that the whole passel of kids rode all day long. I took pity on him and had my brother send up a cinch for him to me in KS. Made that pony, and family, very happy!

Will I use britchens on both my mules and I also use crupper . Will try and take some photos of my mules with there britchens and send them to you. I love mine and use them even when I'm not in the mountains

You should be able to fit a hand width wide behind there butt and the britches anymore than that it's to much distance

You have a problem in that your saddle slips forward as you go downhill on a mule, if the britchen is too lose the saddle slides forward, if the britichen is properly fit the saddle won't move, when a mule moves his hind legs the britchen goes lose on the side the leg is moving forward, and a lose britchen allows your saddle to slide forward a bit, then again on the other side if you see what I mean, thus the need for a proper fit....so what can we do and use a fitting britchen?..have britchens made with padded sheep skin, like your saddle and you can snug them up. Another trick Ive used is to roll up a toe sack (gunny sack) tape it with electrical tape every 6 inches or so and tie it to your leather, its a good britchen, but not pretty, but at the time I lived 125 miles from the nearest neighbor so cosmetics didn't count. YOu can also use the two sack for hobbles, so its real handy..If your confusled email me your email Bill and I'll send a picture..

I could ride a mule all day long with a breast collar and a britchen, no cinch or flank, never have but I have done just that with a extremely loose cinch and flank with about a 2 inch gap between horse and cinches, and on a good broke mule that I trusted not to buck.

All this comes about based on the withers, most mules have none, especially quarter horse crosses..Some have withers enough to hold a saddle, usually those big awkward slow moving mules I have no use for.

The option might be a one inch flank not connected to your cinch pulled tight up in the flak and a front cinch that's barely snug..A problem for some with this is they can't mount the animal without damn near pulling him over, you must know how to step up lightly and quickly or you pull the saddle over. get on them the same way you mount a unbroken colt and don't twist the stirrup towards you. jeeze that's stupid.

That's the way we have done it in my family for generations, we used mules with a quarter horse mama and a Spanish jack, they are smaller and have a lot more fire than the typical Missouri type mule..We only used them to hunt, and to move cattle out of the Rimrock part of the ranch that had a lot of slick rock. They are much harder to break also..The rest of the time we rode horses, Today I ride only horses, but a "good broke mule" is nice to have around during deer and elk season, otherwise they don't fit my uses..Hope this helps.

Additionally maybe you could add a little sheep skin to your crouper..I like a crupper because in the brush country a britchen can get one into trouble, if you ever run a tree limb or a Tassahia cactus between a britchen and a mule, cowboy up, you in for a ride, so anyone tells you to toss your crupper tells me a little knowledge is a dangerous thing..In our case growing up a little hair wear was ignored unless it was causeing a sore.