Mounting Block issues

asommerville

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13 May 2010
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Me again!

My 5 year old has gone from standing next the mounting block or standing for you to get on from the ground perfectly - to being a right pain in the bottom.

He got a fright one day when i was halfway on from the, ran away down the school and i (funninly enough) came off.

Now he will not stand next to it unless there is someone there with a treat for him, which tbh does not help me at all as most of the time i am there myself. Anyone have any tips to get him standing.

Also in case anyone asks, saddle just been checked and back is fine he jst got a fright and is using it to his advantage now!

Thanks as usual :-)
Ash
 
Set aside time to make him stand next to it every single day until he is stood, don't get on until he is relaxed and standing, repeat, repeat, repeat. People make the mistake of getting on as quickly as possible in case they move, but I invite them to move so I can correct them.

I had one who was really tricky and I'd just feed them a treat/carrot as I got on, so their head/neck was flexed right round towards me, it can be done if you need to but I wouldn't bother with a youngster just trying it on, this was a horse with serious issues and even then I didn't like doing it, it was more a quick fix as it wasn't my horse I was just riding it.
 
Set aside time to make him stand next to it every single day until he is stood, don't get on until he is relaxed and standing, repeat, repeat, repeat. People make the mistake of getting on as quickly as possible in case they move, but I invite them to move so I can correct them.

Would agree - this is what I did with mine and he will now stand for me to get on off hedges, banks or higher ground after having to get off to open gates.

I personally would say that having no problems mounting is worth the time you put into it - who knows when you might have to get off and you certainly don't want to be out with the horse mucking about.

You could also try getting on in a different place - off a bank and see if it is where the actual mounting block is located that is causing the problem, or whether he has an issue with you getting on per se.
 
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