Mules and Mule Packing

How I got where I am

I have been intrigued with horses for as long as I can remember, even as a young child. I worked after school jobs and earned the money to buy my first horse when I was in Junior High School. I had to find a place to keep my horse and earn the money to pay for her feed and needs. My love of them has only increased over the years of my life. I became interested in mules from the first time I ever rode one when I was around 12 years old, although I didn't get my first mule (Shadow) until I was almost 40. I've had numerous horses since my first one, and as I raised my two children I got ponies and horses for them also, and I also started packing during that time. After finally getting my first mule, however, my packing life started changing dramatically.

I soon discovered that you can't have just one mule! After I began riding Shadow, I soon got my own Jack and started breeding my mares for mule foals. I also started buying more mares to breed for mules. I discovered that raising mule foals was one of the most fulfilling things I'd ever done. I moved up to Siskiyou County where I was able to do a lot more packing on a regular basis. Packing became the love of my life. As I did more and more packing I also began getting the machines and tools, and gaining the knowledge, to build more and more of my own gear. I have been able to build gear which works well for me in my packing, and over the years I've fine-tuned many of the items which I build to work better and make packing easier for myself and others. This gradually turned into a business with which I earned my living.

I have had to give up most of my mule breeding. Packing season and mule breeding and foaling season are during the same time of the year. That, along with earning my living building pack gear, took up so much of my time that I didn't have the time to spend working with the foals and doing the breeding that I needed. I also started spending less time packing because I was having to spend so much of my time building gear. Then, out of the blue, I got a call for a packing job thru the Forest Service. While working on that job I was offered the chance to get a Forest Service Packing Permit which I have coveted for years. I am now in the process of getting all my ducks in a row to get this permit, which will allow me to make part of my living by packing into the Wilderness with my mules and horses along with my gear building. I can think of no better life!