getting on whilst out hacking

[mums the groom]

Has anyone got any suggestions for portable mounting aids for short women with stiff legs ( they don't stretch like they used too). I exited side door the other week after a rather excited horse decided that the edge of the field was actually Aintree. needless to say when I got back up I couldn't get back on and had to walk half way home before I found a garden wall to stand on.

 

[ester]

you can get stirrup extenders - which I suspect are fine as long as you are still up high enough to get your leg over.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Equestri...rnational-English-Stirrup-Mounting/B000HHJE6C

 

[BOWS28]

Unfortunately, if there is not ditch, log or grassy verge i'm not sure i have any helpful suggestions.... Will watch this thread with great interest though!!

 

[ihatework]

Practise getting on from fences/gates!

 

[Antw23uk]

I can push both of my two up against anything I can climb to enable me to clamber on from either side/ front/ bum (very undignified climbing over your horses ar*e to get back in the saddle, lol!)

At a push i just put my stirrup down really long and get on that way and then shorten said stirrup once back in the saddle!

 

[JFTDWS]

as long as you are still up high enough to get your leg over.

*sniggers*

I don't know, I just shove mine up against something high enough to scramble up off - and, shamefully, despite being fairly tall and having fairly small horses, I can only get on the smallest one from the ground these days

 

[Goldenstar]

I teach my horses to stand while I use a gate .
I have to use them to balance myself as I climb up the gate I then sit on the top and get on from there it’s not elegant but it works .

 

[Pippity]

I have extremely stiff and wonky hips so, combined with a very round horse and a saddle that slips if it takes me too long to get balanced, I've pretty much given up and just plan to never fall off!

I did have to get off the other day because both horses were playing up and needed a lead. The path I was on used to have benches every few hundred yards, but I hadn't noticed they've apparently been ripped out at some point. I was resigned to walking home when a passing walker offered to give me a leg up. Frankly, it was such an embarrassing experience for both of us that I think I should have stuck with my original plan of walking!

He was used to catapulting teeny-tiny jockeys on board; I'm used to carefully stepping down into the saddle from a nice, big mounting block. Thankfully, my horse is (usually) an angel, and stood like a rock while I clambered astride her, even when the walker's companion let out a jubilant cheer right in her face.

 

[JFTDWS]

I teach my horses to stand while I use a gate .
I have to use them to balance myself as I climb up the gate I then sit on the top and get on from there it’s not elegant but it works .

Gates are few and far between in my hacking. I use the gate, or the fence, or the back of my landy at home. I get on at shows by squeezing them in so I can get on from the back of the car, which is a special skill with the trailer in the way

 

[ester]

Wiltshire always had a distinct lack of gates/fences as all arable. The woods did have some helpful log piles though!

 

[Fransurrey]

Smart rider escape safety stirrups. They can be unclipped to form a lower stirrup, then clipped back into place once mounted. They're VERY comfortable to ride in. I wouldn't have bought them as I thought they were a bit ugly, but I won a pair for coming up with their slogan and love them!!

https://www.smartriderukstirrups.com/

 

[Peregrine Falcon]

There's a thread called adults riding ponies running at present. We probably don't suffer as much! 😉

I always mount from a gate, fence, block anyway even though my mare is only 14.1hh. All my animals are used to being pushed alongside something. Failing that a hill can be useful too.

 

[DD]

lobby the local council to provide mounting blocks every 100 yards along country lanes. I wish ours would. However in their absence grit piles can work rather well.

 

[The Trooper]

I teach my horses to stand while I use a gate .
I have to use them to balance myself as I climb up the gate I then sit on the top and get on from there it’s not elegant but it works .

This is exactly what I did, it was one of the first things I taught Bonnie under saddle after I started hacking following breaking her.

 

[humblepie]

Years ago a friend and I were out hacking and I got off for some reason, and then had to get back on. Totally flat track, no banks, gates, etc around but there were some random stones/bricks, so yes made myself a leaning tower of Pisa mounting block out of them. Wonder if anyone ever wondered who or what had put those stones there - perhaps some strange ancient ritual!

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I'm not averse to getting off and walking my youngster if needs be, such as if we meet a shate-wagon in a narrow bit of road like we did today, BUT the problem is, as others have stated, hopping back up again!

My little'un is only 13.2, but she's chubby with it, and as soon as you put your foot in the stirrup the blimmin saddle slides around, so I need to be able to place myself more-or-less at the same height as our mounting block at home!

Tisn't easy! Tho' we do have some Devon banks around here, you can't guarantee there will be one when you need it!!

Feeling everyone's pain; hate the "walk of shame" if you can't find anywhere to get back up again

 

[Auslander]

I make damn sure I don't get off out hacking - I've never found anything tall enough to get back on Alf from. I have been decanted twice, jumped ship for my own safety once, we both fell once, and I had to get off to retrieve a dropped phone once - I've just walked home each time!

 

[DabDab]

There's a reason my big horse has a long thick mane . He's very tolerant of me hauling myself back on board. The other one is a midget.

 

[PapaverFollis]

I amazed myself the other week by being able to get back on The Beast (16.2hh, quite round with a treeless saddle! Lol). I found a bit at the edge of the road that gave me about 15cm of height at best. Could just get my toe in the stirrup but somehow got on without the saddle moving! I was quite impressed! I need to teach her about standing next to gates really.

 

[Meredith]

I teach my horses to stand while I use a gate .
I have to use them to balance myself as I climb up the gate I then sit on the top and get on from there it’s not elegant but it works .

I climb 1/2 way up the gate and then get on.

Smart rider escape safety stirrups. They can be unclipped to form a lower stirrup, then clipped back into place once mounted. They're VERY comfortable to ride in. I wouldn't have bought them as I thought they were a bit ugly, but I won a pair for coming up with their slogan and love them!!

https://www.smartriderukstirrups.com/

I bought something like this but found when I made it low enough to get my foot into the stirrup I was then too low to swing my leg up and over.

 

[marmalade88]

Can you lengthen your stirrup on the left side, get on, then shorten it up again?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

you can get stirrup extenders - which I suspect are fine as long as you are still up high enough to get your leg over.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Equestri...rnational-English-Stirrup-Mounting/B000HHJE6C

I had some, I could never got on with them! I ride with my stirrups too long to be able to spring up with my foot in the extender. My horse was 17hh and I just had to find something to stand on, garden wall, grassy bank etc. The best thing is just to stay on top

 

[Celtic Fringe]

When I could still ride I used to get off fairly frequently and walk a bit to ease my hip ans knee. Fortunately rural Berkshire has quite a few gates, log piles, tree stumps and banks. The only problem was that my younger cob was so used to following me that if I tried to get on from a bank he often just climbed onto it with me!
I also limp so badly that passers by assumed that I'd had a crashing fall and needed help - good to know that most people are really quite kind

 

[tankgirl1]

I just walk until I find something to clamber on from

 

[Suechoccy]

Stirrup extenders are excellent and stow away in your pocket or saddlebag easily. (See 2nd post on this thread)

 

[scruffyponies]

lobby the local council to provide mounting blocks every 100 yards along country lanes. I wish ours would. However in their absence grit piles can work rather well.

Our local council have thought of everything. They helpfully provide pot-holes in which to stand your horse to make mounting from the ground much easier.

 

[Griffin]

In the long-term, teach your horse to stand still next to odd objects while you clamber on. Stirrup extenders can work if you are able to swing your leg over! However, my top tip is to never get off!

In the past, I have used gates, concrete bollards, the back of a pick up, pub steps, a small bank and various stone walls. I find as long as you can get an extra 12 inches up, you can usually get back on without adjusting your stirrups. A small incline with your horse lower than you (obviously) can be a saviour.

 

[Skib]

I bought a stirrup extender but they are bulky to carry with you. Mine is still unused in the drawer. But I think one is supposed to use it like a rope ladder. Put your right foot in the extender and then your left foot in the stirrup.
I was scared of using it due to no practice. I shared for 2 years and only had to dismount once- and remounted from a wood pile. I have fallen off regularly hacking over the years and never once been unable to find something to stand on.
However, I did "waste" lesson time on my own teaching the said mare to stand at the block or fence to be mounted.
Plus I have watched Michael Peace both at demos and on line, mount a horse by jumping up and lying across its back. I am not sure I could do that at my elderly age but I would be prepared to try.

 

[DD]

Our local council have thought of everything. They helpfully provide pot-holes in which to stand your horse to make mounting from the ground much easier.

Ha -ha !

 

[Antw23uk]

I bought a stirrup extender but they are bulky to carry with you. Mine is still unused in the drawer. But I think one is supposed to use it like a rope ladder. Put your right foot in the extender and then your left foot in the stirrup.

Oh god is that how you use them? I'd sooner walk home that put that kind of pressure on my horses back!