Can you mount from the ground?

At the moment i can't even get on the 15'3 lad with a milk crate to stand on without much to-do. It's humiliating, especially with the OH laughing as i wiggle in mid-way as Osc walks off with impatience. I am a dinky 5'1 (and a bit) but it really is shameful. At the moment it is down to my dodgy ligament in my ankle which means i can't bounce and is taking a million years to heal.

But if i'm honest i'm shockingly bad at getting on at the best of times and always feel like i'm hauling myself up. At 21 and 8st i really shouldn't, but for some reason it's just the way it is. Luckily there's usually a wall/fence/block/grooming box to stand on though!

Am getting on the 17.1 tomorrow with only said crate and thank god no one will be there to watch as it will not be pretty! If i can even do it at all. Spare crane/ ladders anyone??

Don't worry about it too much, it's harder than people make out to get so much bounce i think and you can usually improvise with the help of a willing ned.
 
Being a dwarf, I have never been able to mount from the ground and have always mounted from a step etc. Also, its not good on the horses back, so probably better to mount from something taller
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I can't, really. I used to, then I stopped when I bought Rauti as I wanted to protect his back as much as possible and now I'm totally out of practice. There's no way I can get on him from the ground, and I do agree with you that the few times I tried I always had the feeling that I was hauling myself on him! He is 16.2 and I am 5'4.
So I always use a mounting block - and quite a tall one at that. This sounds awful but last time I was at a competition I forgot to pack the big mounting block and only had a tiny folding one...well I also had to let the stirrup down to mount
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Before Rauti I was always mounting from the ground, so I guess that if I started practising maybe I could start again, but then if I do it regularly enough for me to get used to it again it'd hurt his back...it's a vicious circle!
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I can, but I think 15.2hh is my limit - and thats if they are patient with me while I do some sort of wiggling worm impression up their side!!
I used to be able to mount my old boy who is a good 16.1hh (with stirrup held the other side), but now, Iam sure iam far too heavy and clumsy to even attempt it!
I try to avoid mounting from the ground, it really isn't pretty and I think i'd put the horsey scene deep into humiliation if ever I got judged on it!!
 
I can - just! I always use a mounting block though as Dizz is 16.2hh with an iffy pelvis and I weigh a ton. I've only got on a couple of times from the ground just to make sure I could.

I have, in the past, had problems getting on LC who is 13.2hh.

I am 5'8" with long legs
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I am 5'4 (at a push!!) and can mount my 16hh mare from the ground fairly easily.

I have to say, and I know not many agree with this, but it is very important to me that my horse is taught to stand to be mounted from the ground particularly for hunting and obviously general hacking.

I don't want to have to rely on handy banks or gates to mount especially if I am accompanying children or if the rest of the field out hunting have galloped off!

Fortunately my mare is brilliant at gates but there are plenty that have dropped, been tied up with baler twine etc and are impossible to do mounted!
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Yep I can as well, anything to about 17.3hh, but usually use a mounting block if available.... however out on hacks I am an expert at either dropping my whip or my lighter!!! So usually end up trying to find something with a little height to help!
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ETA I'm 5'6 but most of that is legs!
 
I can mount my 11.3hh from the ground, and i can only very just with a struggle mount my 14.2hh from the ground.

I too avoid it like the plague as I broke my pelvis when i was 16yrs old, so this makes it really difficult as it never really healed properly... was told not to ride for 8 weeks (but ignored it!)

So now its aggravated by doing it!
 
No hope of getting on from the ground, but then my back and hips are so stiff I almost qualify for a winch, can't tighten the girth once I am on board, can't touch my toes....but do have a very obliging pony so none of these thigs are big problems
 
I had the most embarrassing scene EVER trying to mount Scooby from the ground yesterday (he was very patient though, god bless him!). After putting the stirrup down to nearly the last hole, attempting a leg-up twice, and generally lots of faffing about, I gave in and got the mounting block.
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This is truly shameful because he's 14.2hh and I'm 5'7"! Then again, I don't think I would want to make a habit of getting on him from the ground anyway. Where he's so fat and has no withers, there is nothing stopping the saddle from sliding off no matter how tight the girth is! I'll stick to my mounting block, thank you very much.
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I can, but I don't. I used to have a horse that reared up and bolted when you mounted so now I;m very cautious about how I mount a horse. Even if I know it;s completely safe it's just one of those memory triggers so I always like to mount very quietly using a block.
 
I can if my life depends on it but it's not pretty!!

As a youngster I used to do it all the time, no problems I could even vault onto a 17.2hh as a bendy teen!

Then I went to college and they insisted all their horses were mounted from a block so it became habbit for me and it hasn't changed ever since.

I think i've only done it a few times in the last couple of years but i do prefer the idea of mounting from a height so that's what I always do now. I'm sure my horses are greatful for it too!
 
ive never had any bounce. i think some people do and others dont and i dont
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but saying that i can still get on from the ground.

i choose to always mount from a block or fence if one available and it is very rare that i need to mount from the ground (did come in handy yesterday tho when my horse slipped over flat on the floor and i fell off and needed to get back on).

if i do mount from the ground i try and stand on a higher piece of ground to the horse even if i put her in a rut on a track and stand on the grass in the middle it just gives you a little extra lift.

if you want to get better at it id do lots of practice and start off using a lower mounting block until its only slighty raised off the ground
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I can if I absolutely have to but for the sake of the horse I prefer to find something, even if it's only a 2" verge, to stand on. In younger days I could happily get on my 16.3 TB from the ground but now I find my 15.3 Arab is my limit!
 
Af 5ft 7 I can just about get on my 15.1hh from the floor but it aint pretty, and choose not to. I couldnt get on my 16.1hh from the ground at all. I do think it does put a big strain on the horses back and saddle if you arent light, quick and agile (which I most defintely am not) and I hate seeing people hauling themselves up even little children where the toes are dug into the elbow, reins are pulled tight, the saddle twisting, the pony/horse staggering......
 
I can but I am 5ft4 and the biggest of my ponies is 14.1hh so it's not like I've got a mountain to climb. However, I do usually get on from a step because that is nicer for their backs.
 
I CAN mount from the ground, but it really isn't pretty. I have all the grace of a walrus riding a bicycle. I normally mount from a wall at home, but mount from the ground out on hacks, just about.

How tall is my massive beast? A whole 12hh. Yes, I know, it's embarrassing. I don't mount from the ground in front of onlookers if I can help it. I would rather walk naked through Covent Garden, I think!
 
Not a chance in hell my 18hh is far to big to get on from the ground and i wouldn’t do it anyway for the reasons already stated.
 
I can if I REALLY REALLY have to, but it involves letting the stirrup down and several attempts. Much prefer to use a block, even if it's a fairly small one.

My excuse is that I'm only 5'2, and have disproportionately short legs. And both legs and feet are knackered, as is my pelvis and back (ok, ok, I'm a wreck!). When I get up from sitting down, it takes me approx 10 strides before I'm "sound", so I really am quite stiff. Maybe I should give up riding and take up knitting instead
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I can but can only remember doing it once this year....cant remember further back than that LOL

A friend can vault on his 18.3hh warmblood- with no run up!!!
 
Hey, I could mount from the ground if I really really had to but my girl is only 15.1hh and I'm 5'4" if she was any bigger or didn't have such a good wither there would be no chance.

I have trained her to stand next to pretty much anything to give me a little more height so I don't have to mount from the ground. As I said she has a strong wither but getting on from the ground puts a lot of pressure on back and saddle that just isn't necessary. I can mount from oil pipe markers (those little tomb stone that stick up in verges, gates, fences, tree stumps, boulders, verges and the list goes on
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I'm 5ft 5, 45 years old and my mare is 14.3.

I always stand on something when mounting in the yard to save the girlie's back, and if I have to get off to open a gate out hacking, I always try to find a bank to get back on.

I have absolutely no spring and am fat so mounting from a flat piece of ground is pretty much impossible for me!
 
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