I thought you softened after the brain tan/smoke?

I smoke at the very end. You use the brain/egg to soften with. I scrape (wet) and get off all the muscle, veins, and membrane that I can. I then do the salt rub and work it till its dry. I then dry scrap it to get all the membrane off. After that, I will wash it, which gets it wet again, and do a little stretching to help the emulsifiable oils in the egg/brain/netoil ect, to get in the skin (dry scraping helps this as well). I then wrap it on its self and cover with a damp towel and let it set for a while. IF it is cool, I let it set longer. I then put it on the stretcher and work it. I will add more brain/egg where it needs it. As it starts drying, I keep working it with the end of a broom handle. I do this until it is as soft as I want. Once I have it soft and dry, I smoke it. Smoke preserves the skin. I have alternated smoke and stretching before, but found the method i mentioned works best for me.

Sounds like you have time to at least be at home Chad.. I'd just like to be home every now and then, my jobs keeps me on the road so much I haven't shot my bow since Oct.

My shop is maybe 40 feet from my house--I pretty much never get to leave my "job"! It is nice being able to work from home though, even though the income is (very) light.

My wife has a horse, 2 cats, and 5 dogs. I only claim the mule and my son (sometimes).

So in this day and time, what does one do with a mule.

I hate mules. Had one jack my jaw once.

I've got her to ride (she came off of a TN walking mare). Much more sure-footed than a horse, much better endurance, more disease resistant, and generally a lot smarter. People still log with them, pull wagons, farm etc. I hope to get mine broke for shooting a bow off her back for hog hunting.

She's a 1,200 lb teddy bear--she'd sit in my lap and watch t.v. with me if I'd let her. They get in your blood, kinda' like traditional bows. Very much a challenge, but once you get an understanding it's a very rewarding experience.

She threw me once, but it was my fault. I had bought a really cheap saddle and had been riding her off and on all day. She kept trying to tell me something was wrong, but I wouldn't listen--I wrote it off as being "stubborn". Finally, when she had taken all the pain in her kidneys she could stand, she launched me. It was the saddle. Since then I've learned a lot, got a proper saddle (a mule saddle--there is a difference), and am working with her in the round pen before we go on any more extended rides. She's got more personality than any horse I've ever seen, and more than a lot of people I know.

Yea, I am rather equestrian illiterate. Probably some of the reason, I have trouble with mules/horses. It always scared me off of pack hunts out west.