Now it's time to put the saddle on. If you've done a decent job with desensitizing and halter driving, you should have no trouble with this. After getting the saddle on, make sure you incorporate the exercises you see Ty do in this video to make sure your mule/horse is comfortable with having the saddle on his back.
The next thing that Ty likes to do to prepare his mules for a successful ride is to work on lateral flexion. You want them to be able to flex to the left and right smoothly. It's important to note that you do not want to force this. Simply fix it up, and let him find it.
Now it's time to start ground driving. Make sure you have enough rope to put some decent distance between you and the mule. Ty will start off this exercise with a halter, and then he will work his way to using a snaffle bit.
Once your mule does pretty decent ground driving with a halter, go ahead and put him in a snaffle bit. Ty has done a few things to prepare the mule to take the bit, but he still has some resistance to it. Ty demonstrates a few tips and exercises you can use to help your mule/horse to accept a sna...