The pads should cover the mule from donkey-mark on wither nearly to hip-joint. Large pads cause less rocking of the load than small and give larger bearing surfaces; by distributing the load over a large surface of the back, the animal is enabled to carry it easier and with less chance of galls.
Pads properly stuffed show no creases in the lining, feel smooth, firm, elastic, and not too hard, and have no hard knots.
Stuffing should be of wool, well cleaned, and unravelled before use.
Avoid giving hard work on new stuffed pads, if possible; otherwise do not stuff pads too tight, but add daily as stuffing settles down. Pads must be quilted for about one and a half inches along the upper edge to keep the spine clear of pressure; also where girths cause friction. They should be beaten and brushed, but the stuffing should be seldom interfered with when once settled down. When hard it must be pricked up with an awl.
Injuries to mules from bad saddlery arise from uneven pressure in stuffing; stuffing working to front or rear, or getting hard or knotted; pads not properly quilted; badly made repairs; or extraneous substances getting between the pad and the mule's skin.
Surcingles should lie flat over and should not be tighter than the cincha. Breast-pieces and breeching should hang from their bearing-straps at such a height as not to impede the free action of the limbs or the breathing. The breast-piece should not hang on the point of the shoulder, but its top edge should reach to where the neck joins the body.
In going up or down hill the saddle and load should be kept in place by adjusting the breast-and breech-straps without halting.
The breast-strap should be tightened in ascents, slackened on the level and in descents.
Breeching should always be tightened in going down hill, when it and not the crupper should take the strain. Hip-straps should bring it about in line with its point of attachment to the saddle. If too high it may slip up under the tail when the strain comes on it.