My grandaddy grew up on a subsistence farm in Clax Gap, Tennessee. The only consistent agricultural success they had was squeezing and cooking molasses from sorghum, which depended on the skill of the molasses-maker and the compliance of the mule. It’s Tennessee lore that farmers with ornery mules would take them to town on “mule day” each spring to trade in the ornery ones. Once you swapped, you might still have a problem, but at least you’d have a new problem - because there’s no potential for education in the second kick of a mule.