aaaaaaaaaaaargh my horse will not stand when I try to mount him

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fabulous_fi

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Hiya,

Any tips please.

Using mounting blocks of different sizes or even from the ground my wee horse decides to move around and doesn't want anyone on him. he just goes round in circles and isn't mean he just doesn't want anyone to get on him. but once on he is fabby.

I have had all the usual checks like back and saddle fitting but I think it's a manners thing. He has always been rubbish at it but he is getting worse.

I have tried so many different things. lots of praising when he stands at the block, a tighter right rein to try and stop him swinging his butt out. he is fine when someone holds him but it isnt always convenient to have someone hold him.....


please help guys

x
 
Have you tried this one?

Get on the block with the horse lined up. Just lift your leg - don't move it toward the stirrup, just lift it. If he moves off, make him do circles around the block - keep him moving. Make doing the wrong thing a lot harder than doing the right thing.

When he stops, lift the leg again. Repeat.

If he doesn't move off, put the leg down and praise. Important. Then lift it again. Move to just placing it lightly in the stirrup. Same thing - if he moves off, make him work.

You may have tried this already. It does require a ton of patience and consistency but it works. My daughter's hard-to-mount horse now stands like a rock.

Good luck.
 
Baymareb,

Ah well to be fair I am not well known for my patience. But I have been trying something like it.

It is good to know that it works though if your horse is now like a rock....

Basically this is our story so far lol: I get him to the block and he stands. i get on the block he moves so I stay on the block and get him to walk round. Then i get him to stand again...the minute i move my body position and touch his saddle he swings his butt away...so i walk him round again and when he stands and I can touch all down his side he gets big praise. then the minute I get to lift my leg near the stirrup, its all the same rigmarole. by the time it gets to this stage I can't be arsed as it has taken 35 mins already lol. So I get someone to hold him.
 
I would agree with baymareb.
Maybe you are being to soft on him when he moves off. Make him actually work, make it so that it is easier for him to stand than walk off.
Does he do it when you mount from the ground or just with the mounting block?
This tends to be quite a tricky problem to overcome because it can be a deep seated problem, and one that has been around a while.
Groundwork may also help him. You want to be able to get your horse to ground tie, or park as some put it. You want him to know that where you put him, he stays.
If he isnt very good at standing still for periods of time, work on this first so that you can leave him standing to get mounting block, and he is still there when you get back.
If he cant do this, you cant really expect him to stand to be mounted.
Like baymareb said, if he still is walking off or swinging his quarters around, make him move his feet until he positions his feet where you can get on. Maybe you should get him good at this before you attempt to mount him. If you attach a lead rope to his bridle so that you can allow him room to move around but not to get to far away from you.
And again, if he moves dont just suggest him to move. TELL him to move. Make him work till he wants to stand. Make the right thing easy and the wrong thing dificult.
It wont happen over night, so patience is important. Just work at it.
Hope this helps somewhat. Good luck.
 
Only way we get my girl to stand was by someone holding her til I got on then I give her a treat when on top.Now have to get her out of the impatient 'wheres my treat' thing as soon as I am on but at least I can get on most times.
 
Are you REALLY praising your horse when he stands still? I have had a similar to-do with my boy. He is a lot better after I spent a long time doing the walking round FAST in circles thing then praising excessively when he stands. He will now stand while I mount, and every time he does I thank him for it.

Another method that works with my boy when if swings his butt away is to walk round the other side and give him a tap. This is of course a last resort but when you've got a group of riders all ready for a hack waiting for you to get on, sometimes a smack does the job.
 
Oh, another thing too. When you DO mount, don't let him move off immediately. Sometimes we're so relieved to just get on that a few steps or an immediate move into a walk doesn't seem like a big deal but it is.

Make him stand just where he was when you mounted. Adjust you seat. Get settled into your stirrups. Gather your reins. Really reinforce the idea that there is no hurry to go and that you will go when YOU want to.

Then clearly ask him to move off. Do that every time you mount.

My mare is wonderful to mount but I always do this. It's a great habit. People sometimes forget how important it is to have a horse that will just stand when you need it to.
 
Hi,

Thanks for the tips.

Yeah I make a point of not moving off immediately when I do eventually get on lol although I am so relived to be in the saddle i give a bit of a woop. When I do get on him he is very good and does what I ask. I used to think he just hated me getting on him but he's like that with everyone. I prob don't make him walk around in circles fast enough to be honest maybe I need to over praise when he does stand.

It's really frustrating but to be fair it could be worse.
 
I'd tell myself I was in for the long haul and keep trying to mount till he lets me, even it it does take 30 mins, then feed him a tiny slice of carrot (while mounted) and ask him to move off, then stop, dismount and do again. I'd do it about 6 times in sucession, then ride and do exactly the same after you've ridden, he'll get bored with his little game - just stay calm at all times :)

I'd repeat every day for a week or so until, he learns to wait for you.
 
Hello, sounds just like my girlie - won't stand still to mount at the beginning of the ride, but once we're out and about or at the end of the day, she stands like a rock. I've tried the method described by baymareb (and I do have huge reserves of patience), and it just didn't work for us. Hopefully it will for you as it makes sense and ticks all my 'horsemanship' boxes.

Anyway, what does work for me is to now put the mounting block in a corner against a wall, so when I position her, she can't swing her butt away from me, and she can't (without knocking me off the mounting block) walk forward around the block.

Good Luck!
 
"Another method that works with my boy when if swings his butt away is to walk round the other side and give him a tap"...
Not long after I got my horse, when he was nearly 6, he started doing the same thing. to start with he just swung his bum out, but if I tried to park him against something to stop him doing it he would walk backwards, forwards, sideways whatever to make it difficult to get on (I can't get on easily without a block). My poor elderly mum was co-erced into helping by holding him and feeding him grass, but she was worried he might push her over. I even sent him away for a week to see if someone else could solve it, but it didn't really make much difference. I spent hours patiently leading him back to the block each time he moved, as suggested by everyone else. Eventually after about 4 months, and being unable to go for long hacks because I knew I wouldn't get back on if I dismounted to open a gate, and not going to shows because I didn't know if I would ever get on him, I decided that enough was enough. So, the next time he moved I walked around to his off side and gave him a VERY sharp smack with my dressage whip (oh no! I can hear the cries of "cruelty" aready!). I am not exaggerating when I say that from that minute onwards to this day over 2 years later he has NEVER MOVED A MUSCLE until I ask him to walk on when I am comfortably on board. He was just taking the P..s! But you have to be very sure that they understand what you are asking of them before you go down this route!
 
Teach him from the ground to bring his quarters toward you, by taking up the outside rein till his head is brought round to level with his shoulder. stand on his near side, with your right hand over his wither and hold the rein against the pommel of the saddle. A firm hold (not a pull) on the rein will prevent him from taking his head back round to face forward, so he will have to work out how to relieve himself of the pressure from the bit. He'll do this by stepping toward you with his quarters, at which point you immediately give the rein and praise him.

The first time he will probably take a bit of time to work it out, but will do it easily once he understands how it works. Once he's sussed it, you can bring him to the block and take up a bit of contact on the outside rein and he will be less inclined to swing away as you mount.
 
echo the others- you need to break it down into tiny steps for him.

so standing with you beside him.

then standing with you on the block.

then standing with you moving on the block.

standing with you holding the reins like you are getting on.

standing as you put your foot in the stirrup.

standing as you bounce with foot in stirrup.

standing while you lean over him.

standing when your bum hits the saddle.

it can help to have slightly more contact on the outside rein to get him to stand still.

i had this with Millie as a 4yro when she thought she knew everything and got very impatient so i took her for a few sessions in the school with the mounting block- no time pressure and no rushing.

she was 'fixed' in about 3 sessions and is great now.
 
we had an awful pony that you had to run alongside to get on lol
my partner took him in a field came back 45mins later saying hed sussed it lol
if you had a relaxed rein he circled or run of..............
if you had a good contact he stood rock still ..............
may be worth a try
 
JackyandRosie said:
Hello, sounds just like my girlie - won't stand still to mount at the beginning of the ride, but once we're out and about or at the end of the day, she stands like a rock. I've tried the method described by baymareb (and I do have huge reserves of patience), and it just didn't work for us. Hopefully it will for you as it makes sense and ticks all my 'horsemanship' boxes.

Anyway, what does work for me is to now put the mounting block in a corner against a wall, so when I position her, she can't swing her butt away from me, and she can't (without knocking me off the mounting block) walk forward around the block.
!
Click to expand...

Ditto!!! Patience method did not work for me. My mare is always one step ahead of me lol!! I sandwich her in between the school fence and the mounting block so that she can't swing her bum. I know that isn't solving the problem but I can't even get her to walk around the block when I'm on it
 
get somebody to hold him
or put his headcollar over his bridle and tie him up then get on him and take the headcollar off my cheeky devil soon learned to stand
 
I'm having the same trouble with my 4 year old. I spent 40 minutes getting to stand next to the mounting block without moving for 10 seconds last week. Every time he moved a step he was moved backwards when he took 2 or more steps he was backed up and moved around the yard then walked back to the block.

I tried to make it uncomfortable for him to move than to stand still. Once on board, we walk round the yard, I get off and we do it again..... it's as exciting as watching paint dry but I'm optimistic that the results will be worth it. I expect I will have to do it again (and again) before it becomes normal behaviour for him to stand still.

My point here is that it can take a very long time to make them realise it's easier to comply than to misbehave.

There has been lots of good advice given here and I suspect that with an older horse who has been misbehaving for a long time it will take you longer than me to get your message across. Just keep doing it.
 
One I used was get a lead rope, clip it to something wherever you are mounting, put the end of the rope either through the bit ring or noseband (whichever you feel more confident with) and hold it with your rein. Have the mounting block handy and get on. Horsey can't walk off because he thinks he is tied up, but if there is a panicky moment you can let go of the rope and it will slip through and release, avoiding anything nasty. Once on, the rope slips through and you can move off.
Reeaally frustrating for you, good luck with all the suggestions.
 
I took my horse to Jason Webb (Australian horseman in East Sussex) when I brought he as he wouldn't stand still to get on him, I couldn't have anyone hold him either as he would go up and knock the person over (he took 4 people out once!) he was a nightmare!

Jason had him a week and now he never moves a step when I get on. He showed me what he had done,it's hard to explain but i will try:

As soon as the horse moves when you are getting on - you start turning a tight circle with the horses head turned inside the circle towards you from his neck- pushing his back end around with your hand.

Keep him going in a tight circle for a few turns then bring him to where you want him, drop the contact and say 'stand' if he doesn't - do it again and again - keep doing the same thing at every footstep that you don't want, they will stand still within a few circles (go both ways if you get dizzy!)

Do the same when you are on board as well, if the horse takes one step without you asking - start the small circles - head turned in - pushing the back end around with you leg - keep it up with even the smallest un-asked for step - small circles then back to the original position - drop the contact/reins - then say 'stand' - be prepared for lots of circles! don't let them get away with anything - you must keep him moving in the circles, it really does work! Good luck :)
 
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