Mounting a young horse

[Horseperson432]

Hope everyone is okay at the moment with everything going on. I’ve recently got a 5 year old and he is my first proper “project”. So far one of the issues I’ve found it mounting. I’m very happy with the progress he’s made so far. He’ll now stand by the block without just walking off for as long as I need. As soon as I move back wards, however to step onto the large bucket thing I’m using he automatically moves forward, my thoughts with this is just to practice practice practice? I do it as slowly as possible and if I do succeed I then move to laying over his back slightly, so very slow steps.

My main issue is that once I have got on, no matter how lightly I do it, he just bolts off. I don’t know if this is out of fear or a habit he’s been allowed to get into. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[be positive]

It is probably just a bad habit because backing was rushed, getting on was a quick leg up or leap of faith and no basics were instilled properly before they moved on, he was probably jumping without having anything established.

I think this is a two person job for several reasons, one the safety aspect, if he runs forward you could be badly hurt, I have had a couple of nasty incidents within moments of getting on neither resulted in serious injury but that was luck as much as anything else, secondly from the learning point of view it will be much quicker and easier to have someone holding him or even just there as a hand if required so you can get it established, reduce the risk and be able to keep him still at all stages so he doesn't end up rushing forward at the moment you are nearly in the saddle.

If you get him used to someone else holding him then break the stages down but with them taking control and holding him still at every stage you will be able to get on, start working on his confidence and manners in general then gradually have the helper less involved, I have had a few that have taken a fair time to be totally trustworthy to mount and wait while the reins are picked up, stirrups adjusted, an aid to walk on is given but they do get there and the one that sounds similar to yours never returned to his previous behaviour even out and about he could be mounted anywhere with no fuss.

You may get there alone but I don't think it a good idea to be doing this totally alone at the moment so would leave it, or at least the actual getting on, and work on other things until a helper is an option as having a fall is something to be avoided at the moment and this sounds as if you may well end up on the floor sooner or later.

 

[Ambers Echo]

Amber was like this. She would be trotting down the road before my bum hit the saddle. I also used 2 people but I did the preparatory work alone so only needed 2 people on one occasion. And the key principle I used was pressure/release. I started off with a saddle and a rope halter. Step 1 was to teach her to stand still while I faffed about with girth, stirrups etc. If she stepped away I'd ask her to circle till she looked like she'd like to stop moving her feet (she'd briefly pause circling) and then I'd drop all pressure for 10/15 seconds. Then start again till I could move around her, adjust tack etc without her moving. Step 2 teach her to stand next to a mounting block. Not getting on it at first.
Step 3 teach her to stand at a mounting block with me briefly on top of it. This step can go wrong because you suddenly appearing above a horse can make that horse step away and most people then get down to re-position them. Which rewards the step away. If they do step away try to reposition them without getting down but there's a knack to that! At the very least move then around a bit from up there then wait till they are stood still and relaxed before stepping down and trying again. Step 4: I spent progressively longer at the block without her moving till I was confident I could stay there as long as I liked. Step 5: stroked her, rubbed her while she stood. Step 6: lean over, weight stirrup do whatever. Step 7 bridle her. Repeat steps 1-6 with bridle on. Step 8 pick up the rein for a split second and drop them again. Lots of horses struggle here too because picking up the reins is often seen as a cue to move. Step 9 progressively extend how long and by how much I can pick up the reins for. Step 10 pick up the reins and prepare to mount. Ie weighgt stirrups etc. Then got a partner. Put rope halter on over bridle. Had partner hold halter near to buckle not putting any pressure on but easily able to keep horse still. Mount without picking up reins. Get off. Mount again. Get off again. Mount. Stroke neck pick up reins. Drop them. Pick them up. Drop them. Pick them up for progressively longer. Essentially here what I was doing was breaking links. So I could pick up reins without her moving and mount without her moving separately at first. Then pick up reins while mounted without her moving. And only when those were all solid, pick up reins before mounting and put everything together. Repeat with helper further away and rope slack. Remove rope halter. Mount! Never had a problem after that and can scramble on her from anywhere. You can obviously break down steps differently but that's just one way that I've done with a few horses which has been effective and pretty rapid. The more solid each step is the quicker you go overall. Good luck. X

 

[TheMule]

You need to go back several steps.
Do it in a stable or small enclosed area and treat him as unbacked- stand and do lots of desensitizing first, then lean over, then walk a few steps leant over, then get on, then walk a few steps. If that's all ok then repeat the whole, process out in the arena. All this should be very gradual and will take a couple of weeks at least

 

[Horseperson432]

It is probably just a bad habit because backing was rushed, getting on was a quick leg up or leap of faith and no basics were instilled properly before they moved on, he was probably jumping without having anything established.

I think this is a two person job for several reasons, one the safety aspect, if he runs forward you could be badly hurt, I have had a couple of nasty incidents within moments of getting on neither resulted in serious injury but that was luck as much as anything else, secondly from the learning point of view it will be much quicker and easier to have someone holding him or even just there as a hand if required so you can get it established, reduce the risk and be able to keep him still at all stages so he doesn't end up rushing forward at the moment you are nearly in the saddle.

If you get him used to someone else holding him then break the stages down but with them taking control and holding him still at every stage you will be able to get on, start working on his confidence and manners in general then gradually have the helper less involved, I have had a few that have taken a fair time to be totally trustworthy to mount and wait while the reins are picked up, stirrups adjusted, an aid to walk on is given but they do get there and the one that sounds similar to yours never returned to his previous behaviour even out and about he could be mounted anywhere with no fuss.

You may get there alone but I don't think it a good idea to be doing this totally alone at the moment so would leave it, or at least the actual getting on, and work on other things until a helper is an option as having a fall is something to be avoided at the moment and this sounds as if you may well end up on the floor sooner or later.

This is so helpful thank you, it’s not a problem to have someone help me so I’ll just start having someone stand with him all the time to start with until we have the who thing nailed. Currently if I get someone to stand with him (which I’ve had for the past however many goes or I can not actually get on!) he’ll stand with no issues but again as soon as I get on he’ll run off. I do think it is likely a habit too to be honest. He hasn’t had much time given to him and as u said likely was the leap of faith scenario!! Other than this he’s so gd so looking forward to sorting it. Thank you!!!

 

[soloequestrian]

When I backed my youngster she was funny about weight on her back initially. She was fine about the saddle but as soon as I tried to put anything else up onto her, she seemed to lose her balance. She would stand perfectly for the thing (initially a 7kg bag of cat litter) to go onto the saddle but as soon as I asked her to step forwards she seemed to think she was being pushed forwards and down, and would get a bit upset and fast (trot off). I solved it by just lifting the bag off her so she stopped, then put it back on and asked her to walk again. Each time she got a bit more used to it. She is clicker trained so every time she stopped, she got a click and a treat. It didn't take long for her to realise that she could stop with the weight on. Once she did, I upped the weight a bit (made some panniers that hung over the saddle and filled them with sand - had to get husband involved because I couldn't lift them on and off!). Repeated the same, though we didn't have to lift them off while moving because she wasn't panicking by that point. I got so I could lunge in trot with the panniers (they were never tied on, just hung over so they could fall off if she did get upset). It seemed to work well for her and she is calm when when I get on now.

 

[Palindrome]

For those who tend to rush off I give a treat once I am in the saddle and they then tend to wait for their treat before they start moving, it works very well.

 

[KEK]

For those who tend to rush off I give a treat once I am in the saddle and they then tend to wait for their treat before they start moving, it works very well.

Yep, my pony came back from the starter moving on mounting and this is what I did too.