How big is your horse?

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LankyDoodle

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I have a 15.1hh welsh section d, and our mare was a 14.3hh welsh section d. I am 5'9 or 10" and my husband is 6'. I am round and he is oblong
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I went to Cornwall on holiday fora few weeks, and got back on Sunday. The people we stay with have become friends really, and knowing we had only one horse now, they said we could borrow one of theirs when we wanted - there's the one-eyed throroughbred, they have an eventer which we obviously weren't allowed to use, a little arab and another thoroughbred, plus a 17.2hh warmblood with 11 inches of bone! He is huge. He is for sale and while the arrangement was that my husband would ride the one-eyed TB and I would keep to George, it ended up with us riding the warmblood and George, swapping and changing. He is lovely. His sire is Lenard and dam is Trenawin Aurora. His grandsire is Ladalco and he has Ladykiller on both sides of the pedigree.

It really took some getting used to and, stretching my memory back, I really don't think I have ever ridden anything quite so big! After riding a 15.1 cob for the last 6 years, it really was a tough transition.

My biggest problem was mounting! I can mount from something that is my knee-height, but when I tried to mount on the school mounting step which comes to my mid-calf, I just could not get myself up there. I felt horrified and ended up in tears 'cos our friend, the horse's owner, was there holding him when I got on.

So how big is your horse and have you ever had trouble mounting? At home our mounting block is very tall so you rarely, unless on a massive horse I suppose, have to put your foot in the stirrup to get on. I wonder if I'd get better at mounting as I got more used to it or if my hips would loosen more...
 
well im now 5ft 9and and im 16, but when i was about 12 and considerably shorter i hacked out an 18.2hh clydesdale gelding with some friends. and you can guess the situation i was in, my father had to literally grab one leg and throw it up into the sky for me to jump on, and then when i jumped off i brought both legs to the near side as you do, and climbed down the stirrup leather untill i was close enough to the ground to take a good jump! it was like jumping off an 8 story high building!!!!!!!

currently we have horses and ponies ranching from 10hh to 17.3hh, and we compete and school alot of them. We have 49 horses so thats alot of different sizes lmao!
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One at 16.1, one at 16.2 and one at 16.3. And I'm only 5'5". I very rarely get on from the ground though, there is usually something to climb on to give me a helping hand. If I do have to get on from the ground I can just about manage it, they're all very good!
 
I'm 5ft 3" and my horse is 16.2hh. I also regularly ride 17hh and 18hh horses.

I've never had a problem mounting - just jump up on the mounting block and then on to the horse.

It's also amazing at how savvy you get at finding things to stand on to remount should the need arise when out hacking.
 
I'm starting to think about the practilities of openning gates, going under trees etc when Dolly hacks out (17.2hh).

Firstly get your hamstrings loose, otherwise you'll never be able to get your foot in the stirrup. I'm not that bendy, and on a stiff day I have trouble getting on Stan & he's only 16hh.

I imagine I'll have plenty of problems with Dolly, but we are training her so that we can mount from both sides and then practice the climbing on a gate to mount trick.
 
i am 5ft3 (and a half) A is 16.3hh and K is 15.2hh, probs could get on K from the ground if i tried (but wouldn't try!) definitely would not be able to get on A from the ground.!!! i prefer to use a mounting block or whatever bit of fence i can climb on to mount - much less stressful for me and the horse.!!
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PS - i know a man who can vault onto an 18hh shire horse, he is 6ft3 but then i can't even vault onto a 13.2hh pony which is relatively a lot smaller.!!
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i've got one horse of 18hh ish and i always use a very high mounting block. i'm 5'10" but i don't think i could get on him from the ground (well, not without lowering the stirrup 6" and then hauling myself up, which i refuse to do as it's so bad for their backs). i haven't got on from the ground for about 20 years now so i've lost my spring!
big horses are lovely to ride, i much prefer them. more to hold on to!
 
mine is 17hh and I try whenever possible to avoid mounting from the ground, I end up using the wall as a mounting block most of the time, mainly because I don't like putting that much strain on her back.
 
I've never mounted from ground, always used a mountining block as taught it was better for their back. Except there's a little 11.2hh and a 13.2hh on the yard that I ride and I mount both of them from the ground! Unless OH is there for a leg up. My mare is 15.3hh and I use a mounting block but I can get my foot in the stirrup from the ground easily. I have also been riding a friends 17.2hh and I struggled to get my foot in the stirrup even from the 3 breezeblock high mounting block until I'd ridden him a few times, even had to get a box out to stand on when tacking up but thats because I'm only 5'2"!!!!!
 
Im 5"6 and 26, and i ride a 15hh TBx, if using a milk crate i have no problem getting on, but as im very stiff in my knees and hips i can't get on from the ground.
 
Always use something to climb aboard from, ditch, log, tree, whatever is to hand. At home our well is convenient and the horses are all trained to stand there and wait whilst I fanny about retrieving whatever it is I have left in the house or the barn.

I am 5'2" ish, on tip toes, my horses range from 14h - 15.2h, so no giants. I get vertigo on tall horses!
 
I used the earth bank but it started to crumble! But I found (finally!) some great blocks cheaper than the 00s I had looked at before - they are the heavy duty version made by Excelsior (look up excelsior and mounting block on google, I think they sell on eBay too but only the lighter ones, its the heavy/industrial 3 step one I got for the big chap).

I was so impressed I gave them a testimonial for their website.

Im not connected with them but just was so relieved as my hunter is 17 hands and my 14.2 girl is a wriggly monster where mounting is concerned.

good luck with the jolly giant!
 
Hehe. I couldn't even mount my 15.1hh from the ground. My husband reckons it's all about how determined you are: if I fell off out on a ride he says I'd either walk far enough to find something big enough or I'd find the strength to get on. Well, I don't want to ever find out. I've always had a large mounting block or a chair or the lorry ramp to mount from. Where we go on holiday they have part of a tree trunk which is I suppose about 2ft high and that's easy enough to mount from, but not to my liking. This little school step, though, is only about a foot high!!!

My husband said he's going to buy me a foldable trampoline and I can bounce on; he also said that should I fall off I can always mount George and then get on a the bigger one from there!!! Tut!
 
I am 5ft 6in and he is 16.2 and a bit.

I am busy teaching him to stand still when mummy gets on and wait before he moves off. We are doing mounting block now and will progress to 5 bar gate,bumper at back of 4 x 4 and then anything solid.

Current problem is when I say STAND or WAIT he stops dead even if one foot is about to be picked up. Its fun teaching him though.

My old horse Gulliver learnt that his reins looped on one ear was a parking brake.
 
I'm 5' 4" and Penny is 16.2hh and I get on from the ground (not much choice when excitable horse won't stand still) and can do it with jumping length stirrups. Having said that I get myself up there pretty damn quick and am 27 so will probably start losing springiness soon!!
 
Hehe, I am only just about to turn 25 and while I am double jointed I lost my suppleness a few years ago when I was ill. One of my hips (the one you mount with) is quite tight so I reckon some pilates might help.

annie, I am pretty impressed with your old horse's level of intelligence. That is very good!
 
I normally ride 2 horses one is 17hh and the other is 18hh.

I always mount from a block i'm not sure I could mount from the ground because I just don't have enough spring
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I'm 5ft9 btw
 
I used to ride my other friends horse all the time, he was 17.2 and I also ride another at the moment that is also 17.2, never had a problem mounting from the ground, you just get used to it, you can always drop your stirrup down few holes too if it helps, but I'm 5'6'' so I'm not as vertically challanged as perhaps someone that is smaller.
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but my boy is only 16h, when your used to mounting bigger horses then say for example get on on 14.1 ....if feels weird, in fact its more difficult!
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Funny you say that kenzo, because after riding L for about a week I hacked G out and my husband rode L, and even though G is a wideish cob, it felt like I had nothing between my legs and like if I wanted to I could wrap my legs round his belly. I've never noticed that feeling on him before. OK, so at 5'10" I'm not short, but neither am I tall for a wide boy like George! Felt totally bizarre and I also began to find it much easier to mount G from the 2ft block than I had previously found - he is quite wriggly and I think my confidence to mount increased.
 
16.1 and I'm 5'6", and mainly get on from the top of a gate, so that I can just step over and onto him. He will also stand for me when he's wearing a halter so I can ride him bareback back to his field
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I pretty much always get on from something raised whether its a ramp, tree stump etc. I do avoid getting on from the ground. but consider the odd time to be not too damaging to him (ie like when I fall off xc
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