Any tips on how to mount whilst out hacking?
- Thread starter P.Casso
- Start date
Highlands
Well-Known Member
Teach to stand up to gates and banks... So useful
Summer pudding
Well-Known Member
Oh yes, the walk of shame after falling off on a hack. And what about that other public humiliation....sitting in the sand while my tall, willowy instructor effortlessly 'popped on' from the ground after I had eaten dirt. Delighted there are so many of us out there, I was always too embarrassed to own up but now I'm out and proud in my 60's..all 5' of me..happy to tell the world I CAN'T GET BACK ON.
exmoorponyprincess1
Well-Known Member
I am 5' and used to ride a 16.3hh IDx ... didn't have a hope in hell of mounting from the ground despite being reasonably strong and flexible from gymnastics training (to a national level!) as a youngster! Gates, fences, (large) rocks etc were my best friends out hacking to get back on board as I always had to get off to do gates, my arms weren't long enough to reach the gate when I was mounted!! Had the same issue as mentioned above about lengthening the stirrup to reach it...could get myself up but was then waaaaay to short to get my right leg over the poor mares back!!! Now I ride Exmoors who are no bigger than 12.2hh and I still use mounting blocks, gates, fences, (smaller!) rocks and anything else to avoid mounting from the ground as the saddles ALWAYS slip due to round shaped ponies with no withers! Please can I join the club?!!!
Nicnac
Well-Known Member
Gosh - definitely enough of us ladies of a certain age who are vertically challenged; or maybe just our joints are challenged... to start our own support group!
Yes have done walk of shame leading horse for ages until a suitable mounting aid could be found - told ramblers I was giving the horse a rest.....
So definitely Dragons Den opportunity to invent a portable mounting aid - Deborah Meaden is getting on and is a rider so am confident she'd invest!!
Yes have done walk of shame leading horse for ages until a suitable mounting aid could be found - told ramblers I was giving the horse a rest.....
So definitely Dragons Den opportunity to invent a portable mounting aid - Deborah Meaden is getting on and is a rider so am confident she'd invest!!
Mike007
Well-Known Member
During the winter I hacked out with Bob the nota cob festooned with LED torches . Lit up the countryside for miles! Unfortunately he decided to shake his head and dislodge one torch . And naturaly ,being an Irish daft , spooked at said light , so the 20 year old me nimbly dismounted to grab it and vault back on . Only to realise ,like rip van winkle, that 100 years had gone by . The long walk of shame (and pain) with Bob going "sorry dad" every few strides ,and eventualy finding a suitable gate to climb up. Climb up "what you doing up there dad",poke with nose ,cue me falling off gate ! Eventualy got mounted again . Horses have just got too big these days!
Summer pudding
Well-Known Member
Very interested that so many other club members ride ponies! We need a name..any suggestions to bring a smile please...difficulty mounting being the theme I think, and must include the age factor. Hobnobs (for dunking) and hot chocolate to be won...make us laugh!
Gloi
Too little time, too much to read.
We need to be able to teach them to kneel down like they do with camels. 
Mike007
Well-Known Member
I tried prodding bob with a sharp stick and he grabbed me by the throat . I aint no camel he said.
Alyth
Well-Known Member
LOL I'm another 'older' rider of ponies - purebred Arabians of 13.3hh and 14.1hh....and as I 'do' natural horsemanship one of the first things they learned was to sidle up to me while I was standing on a bank or fence or something!!
fallenangel123
Well-Known Member
Hoping I might be able to sneak into the club at 44 and 5ft 5ins, I also have a damaged left hamstring which limits my flexibility, not to mention the damaged discs. Like Greylegs I downsized to a smaller steed and have a 13.2hh fell pony who on a good day I can just about scramble on in an emergency.
Its embarrassing though to have got so old when I used to be able to Indian vault onto 15hh in my youth.
Its embarrassing though to have got so old when I used to be able to Indian vault onto 15hh in my youth.
P.Casso
Member
What a fabulous responses to my post. Thank you all. As expected your have come up with some good ideas. It's lovely to hear from fellow riders who have to cope with not being as agile as we once may have been.♥
Brightbay
Well-Known Member
I am not tall, and am getting older and stiffer now, but somehow I managed to ignore this fact when I went out and bought a giant youngster. So I put in quite a few hours teaching him that when the rider stands up on a stone, a tree stump, a wall, a gate or indeed anything that means they are higher up than horse, that wonderful things happen if said horse stands quietly underneath them. Being a horse who likes his food, wonderful things usually came in the form of carrots, polos, fibre nuts etc. Sometimes, the rider just stands up there and scratches all the itchy bits. Whatever, nice things always happen. He learned that this happened at home a lot, and then over time he came to realise it happened when out as well.
Now all I have to do is climb up the 5 bar gate, wobble around on the top few rungs and shout "Hi Ho Silver!" (his name is actually Jackson but you get the picture...) and he wanders over and positions himself. Well worth the effort
It's also invaluable if you decide you fancy a bareback ride...
So even if your trusty steed has bad memories of gates, you can replace those memories with new associations, where Gate=carrot, then there'll be no holding you back!
ETA this training can have unexpected side effects. I was hacking out with a friend recently, and after a break her horse was refusing to go anywhere near the stone we were using as a mounting block. I had abandoned my horse briefly to go and try to help reposition hers, and after a few minutes of trying to wrangle him near his rider who was standing forlornly on the stone, mine wandered over and inserted himself between the recalcitrant cob and his rider, lined up at the stone and looked expectantly at her. He had clearly got bored waiting and decided to take matters into his own hooves...
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PollyP99
Well-Known Member
I am not tall, and am getting older and stiffer now, but somehow I managed to ignore this fact when I went out and bought a giant youngster. So I put in quite a few hours teaching him that when the rider stands up on a stone, a tree stump, a wall, a gate or indeed anything that means they are higher up than horse, that wonderful things happen if said horse stands quietly underneath them. Being a horse who likes his food, wonderful things usually came in the form of carrots, polos, fibre nuts etc. Sometimes, the rider just stands up there and scratches all the itchy bits. Whatever, nice things always happen. He learned that this happened at home a lot, and then over time he came to realise it happened when out as well.
Now all I have to do is climb up the 5 bar gate, wobble around on the top few rungs and shout "Hi Ho Silver!" (his name is actually Jackson but you get the picture...) and he wanders over and positions himself. Well worth the effort
It's also invaluable if you decide you fancy a bareback ride...
So even if your trusty steed has bad memories of gates, you can replace those memories with new associations, where Gate=carrot, then there'll be no holding you back!
ETA this training can have unexpected side effects. I was hacking out with a friend recently, and after a break her horse was refusing to go anywhere near the stone we were using as a mounting block. I had abandoned my horse briefly to go and try to help reposition hers, and after a few minutes of trying to wrangle him near his rider who was standing forlornly on the stone, mine wandered over and inserted himself between the recalcitrant cob and his rider, lined up at the stone and looked expectantly at her. He had clearly got bored waiting and decided to take matters into his own hooves...
Brilliant!
cobgoblin
Bugrit! Millennium hand and shrimp.
Love this!