New mules should be handled with the greatest patience, care, and kindness until they become thoroughly accustomed to the new service required of them. All violence must be avoided, for mules are naturally timid and easily startled, and for this reason men of good temper should be employed in breaking them; any rough treatment is sure to lead to delay in the training and may cause irretrievable harm.
Age.—Ordinary limit 15 to 16 years; many live to 20, some to 30, years. From 8 to 12 he is in his prime.
Age is told by teeth, as with horses.
Sex.—Females are generally to be preferred to males for mountain-batteries, being, as a rule, more docile and better shaped.
Pace.—A battery-mule can walk four miles an hour. The average transport-mule walks a little over three miles an hour. A mule's pace is slow down but quick up hill. Mules show fatigue in their gait by drooping the head; the neck becomes horizontal and the ears droop back; the ordinary carriage of the latter is erect and forward; when the mule begins to fan them, he is probably tired.
Condition.—They should be kept in hard condition—not fat.
Watering.—They will ordinarily refuse hard or bad water; and sometimes decline to drink merely from fancy, and will water from a bucket when not from the stream. By throwing a handful of grass into the bucket of water, they may generally be induced to drink. They may be watered on the march, even when hot, if kept in motion afterward. Where there are leeches in a stream, be careful not to water too close to the bank.
Feeding.—The government allowance for a mule is 14 pounds of hay and 9 pounds of oats, corn, or barley per day. In special cases of hard service or exposure the Quartermaster-General may authorize the grain ration to be increased not to exceed 3 pounds when recommended by the Chief Quartermaster of the Department or of an army in the field. One hundred pounds of straw per month is allowed for bedding.
It is a mistake to suppose that all mules require the same amount of food. The officer should notice each animal, and determine the increase or decrease in the regular ration to keep him in proper condition. A mule will eat as much as a horse of the same size; he will eat almost anything to keep from starving.
Salt, in a lump, or ground with feed, should be given whenever it can be had. It is obtained on requisition (Form 41) from the Subsistence Department, each animal being allowed 2 ounces per week; or 12 ounces per month if deemed necessary by the commanding officer.