Mounting

[tonimarielowery]

Ok... I have a question for you all!

For the first several times I went to mount Miss Molly from the mounting block to ride she stood perfectly still and was great.

Now, not the case. She dances around, wont stand by the mounting block and it takes 30 minutes or more to mount her. I have actually fallen on two separate occasions off of her because she takes off as soon as I start to get on her. I am pretty sure that she is testing me and that is why once I go to mount her I don't stop until I succeed no matter how long it takes. Once I get on her she is fine. She will stand perfectly for me to get the stirrups all situated and so and is very calm, rides perfectly.

I don't know if it is something I am doing, or what, but she seems to think it is some form of horsey game She isn't acting scared or like she just has too much energy and like I said she is perfectly calm after I get on. Miss Molly sure is lucky she is so cute and when I have fallen she just stands there and looks at me like she is worried I am okay. After the first time I fell off she stood just fine for me to mount. The second time she didn't and resumed her game.

Any suggestions?

[cutiepiepmu]

More ground work for you two There are a few general purpose things that will make a horse do this - one is that they are avoiding work - they know that once you are up there, they have to work. But the most ocmmon is that, when you are stepping up to the saddle, it is pulling and pinching somewhere and it hurts. Make sure your saddle is fitting correctly and that nothing is causing issues.

Obviously though, at this point you need to go back to square one to re-teach standing still.

From the ground I would work on getting softness of the face - Clinton Anderson has some great ground work exercises for this. Once you have this, you can stand the horse square, ask for the nose to the girth area, hold it to the side, and mount. DO NOT EVER just get on and walk straight off. Until the horse knows that they need to stand, you need to mount and sit still for a good 5 minutes or more. Or, get on, sit still, then ask for them to back and yeild the hindquarters. Then, before you walk off, ask for softeness of the face and alot of bending to the sides without them stepping off.

Getting control of the feet is the first step in anything you do training wise.

Sara in WA

[wendyp]

The horse is always learning, but it may not be learning what you are teaching. You may have inadvertently taught her to move away from the mounting block - I know that sounds odd, but it can be true. She may think that you have to go thru the 'dance' for 30 minutes before it's time to get on.

Here's my two cents..........we worked on this at a our recent Kathleen Lindley clinic............

I cannot tell you how important saddle fit is - everyone says their saddle fits, but I for one said it, but didn't really know how to properly fit a saddle. Get an equine chiro or a saddlemaker to do the saddle fit. It's the best thing you can do for your horse.

Okay, so lets say the saddle fits......here's what we did at the mounting block:

1. walk the horse up to the mounting block *slowly* one step at a time using the left rein up by the bit to steer the horse straight forward slowly, one step at a time....

2. If the horse swings it's butt out, DO NOT GET OFF THE MOUNTING BLOCK, swing your right rein (assuming you have split reins, or carry a leadrope) on the right side of the horse asking it to yield it hindquarters back into position. The point is: The horse needs to participate in helping you to mount, so ask the horse to yield it's hindquarters, it will move backwards, and that's okay, when the hindquarters are back in line with the mounting block, ask the horse to move forward again -slowly, one step at a time. Be sure you are not accidently pulling the left rein in towards you, be sure you are pushing the head slightly away from you. If you pull the left rein in, the hindquarters will swing out. If you have to get off the mounting block to straighten the horse, just step down and stay as close as possible and swing the rope so the horse is doing the work. Step back up and ask the horse to move forward.

3. Once the horse is standing next to the mounting block, push the saddle from side to side to make sure the horses feet are set and ready for you to mount. If the horse is not in balance, it will have to move off to get it's balance. If it's a green horse, you would put your foot in the stirrup, put weight on it, take it out, etc, and pretend to mount until horse is unphased by the process.

4. Once you mount, don't take off immediately. If the horse starts to walk, back up to the mounting block and ask for it to stand. I don't ask them to stand for more than a minute (that's a Long time if you clock it). I just want them to stand until I ask them to move. And when you move off, don't always go the same way.

That's my two cents.

WendyP/Bend, OR