I just bought two mules. They pull great. I am having problems with them being head crazy. you cannot put their bridles on without twisting their noses. how can i break them from this? any suggestions please.

This has been covered ad nauseam on this board. Please search the site for ear shyness. You will find every thing from simple solutions to testimonials that it takes years to solve.

I have had some of them and its not easy getting them over it and I belief some won't get over it.You can try just rubbing their necks and quickly touching the ear and right back to the neck but it is going to take alot of time.First thing I check when looking at a mule to buy.1.touch ears.2.have owner pick feet.3.turn them loose and see if I can cath them.3 things I despise the most in mules.

First stop twisting their nose.Now they think that is part of the process of putting on bridles.I am not sure why people think that pain will fix a problem with a mule,they are smarter than that its a shame the owners are not.Contact STEVE EDWARDS.

I don't think twisting my nose or twisting my ear would get me to open my mouth other than to try to bite you. The suggestion to do a search on this forum is a good one. In fact just a couple of messages down the topic is discussed briefly. Working with animals is not a short cut. Man handling horses, mules, oxen or any animal might get short term results, but in the long run, you will never have the "partnership" feeling true teamsters feel and talk about.

These mules have been eared down. By Twisting thier noses, you are just continuing to add to the increased pain they have felt. Poor way to solve the problem. You may or may not be able to solve the problem with a lot of time of gentle handling may cure the problem ,but most people don't have that patience and want to treat them like horses. Mules have a very good memory for both good and bad.

Well the first thing is to not get mean with them,get some treats and start spending time with them,scratch their neck and move towards the head,when they start to shy away back off and start over,every time you touch their head or ears give them a treat,you'd be surprised how fast they will catch on and soon will become pests.All you got to do is get them where they trust you and you can do just about anything with them.

Yes, do check the archives - lots of good info there. I've been on this board for awhile and still forget to look there before asking a question. It's a difficult habit to break for sure. But, they didn't get that way because of good handling so if you are gentle with them and willing to spend extra time desensitizing them, they will likely get better about it eventually but may never get over it completely. A lot of people deal with it by unbuckling the bridle and slipping it over behind those beautiful acres of ears instead of putting it up and over the front like a horse bridle. It takes much longer to retrain any equine than it takes to do it right the first time around. Maybe you could rig the bridles so the bits clip on instead of buckling in, so you could take the bits off and bring the bridles in from behind the ears. I don't know for sure if that would help you but if the mules are great otherwise, it would be worth doing something different so you don't have to twist their noses.

Maybe you can't?

I'm not a very tall fella and in the past I've had to handle tall, headshy horses and every time they would lift their heads up out of my reach I'd be teaching them something I didn't want them to learn.So now I always handle the heads of unbroken or problem horses from the back of my "bareback horse".I prefer a strap or rope with a non slip knot around the animals neck to give a bit of control(don't tie them up) and if they're really anti-social a pair of soft well-oiled leather hobbles to restrict their movement.Always remember its not a fight, take your time don't take anything they do personally and be prepared to have to do this every time for the first few weeks (even though this is usually not necessary)because there are no short cuts "it takes as long as it takes"

Tracy check down inside of your mules ears for ear mites is the first thing you need to do .

You go sticking your fingers or whatever down a head shy mule's ears and you might get a little more excitement than you want or need, unless you sedate it.

It took about a month of almost every day but this is how I got a small mule to let me finally put a headstall over its ears so I could finally sell it. I would put it in the cross ties and start rubbing it all over with a stock stick.I'd work it up to his ears and lay it between his ears. While he lifted and twisted his head I'd just talk nice and leave it lay in that one spot. when he'd finally stop moving I'd leave it about 1 min. or untill he acted like he was going to move again and then remove it right before he did. always petted and rubbed him with my hands then fed him a handfull of feed before I let him go. Took a long time and I'd progress a little every couple days till I could lay my hand between his head. Once I was able to start slipping a bridle over his head he was put for sale. Don't know if he reverted back or not but was fairly easy to bridle after that. Never did try to just rub his ears only put my hand between his ears and pull the headstall over. Good luck and patience.

Vince looking down in a mules ear with a flash light will not cause any pain to them . Don't believe you have ever owned a mule that has had ear mites .

Pete. Had ones with mites and ticks. Sure can't see how you can see down in there with a flashlight unless you first clean out the hair and second to do it without holding the ear. Not saying not to do it,just that it may get a little exciting with an ear shy mule.
I'd still sedate it if I thought that was the problem and then do all the looking I wanted. If not,the problem may be made worse

Vince sounds like you know how to do it .