to have a person to guard him, so that he does not foul in the harness.  If he will not go, after a day or two of this sort of treatment, give him one or two more of it, and my word for it, he will come to his senses and do any thing you want from that time forward.  Some persons assert that the mule is a very cunning animal; others assert that he is dull and stupid, and cannot be made to understand what you want.  He is, I admit, what may be called a tricky animal; but, for experiment sake, just play one or two tricks with him, and he will show you by his action that he understands them well.  Indeed, he knows a great deal more than he generally gets credit for, and few animals are more capable of appreciating proper treatment.  Like many other species of animal, there are scarcely two to be found of precisely the same temper and disposition, if we except the single vice of kicking, which they will all do, especially when well fed and rested.  And we can excuse even this vice in consideration of the fact, that the mule is not a natural animal, but only an invention of man.  Some persons are inclined to think that, when a mule is a kicker, he has not been properly broken.  I doubt if you can break a mule so that he will not kick a stranger at sight, especially if he be under six years old.  The only way to keep a mule from kicking you is to handle it a great deal when young, and accustom it to the ways and actions of men.  You must through kindness convince it that you are not going to harm or abuse it; and you can do that best by taking hold of it in a gentle manner every time it appears to be frightened.  Such treatment I have always found more effective than all the beating and abusing you can apply.

There is another fault the mule has to contend against.  It is the common belief among teamsters and others that he has less confidence in man than the horse has, and to improve this they almost invariably apply the whip.  The reason for this want of confidence is readily found in the fact that mule colts are never handled with that degree of kindness and care that horse colts are.  They are naturally more stubborn than the horse, and most of those persons who undertake to halter or harness them for the first time are even more stubborn in their disposition than the mule.  They commence to break the animal by beating him in the most unmerciful manner, and that at once so excites the mule’s stubbornness, that many of them, in this condition, would not move an inch if you were to cut them to pieces.  And let me say here that nothing should be so much avoided in breaking this animal as the whip.  The young, unbroken mule cannot be made to understand what you are whipping him for.