mounting from the ground!:(

I;m 42 years old, so my mummy isn't generally around to help me get on, and I can't remember the last time I had a lesson, so I don't have an instructor on hand either. Sadly, most people would take one look at my generous proportions and laugh if I asked for a leg up.
Thankfully, my horse is perfectly happy for me to mount from the mounting block/gate/boot of my car!
 
I always mount from a mounting block. This is because of the following reasons:

A) I am heavy and haven't the strength to haul myself off the ground :(
B) Am wary about how it can pull your saddle out of shape
C) Wary of how it can affect the horses back :(
D) Use a mounting block as I have a slipped disc so couldn't lift leg high enough.
E) Have an air jacket and getting off on a mounting block helps to see you are still connected by the lanyard and allows it to stretch - it also stops unnecessary inflation of the jacket which would happen if you jumped off onto the ground. :)
 
Sadly, out hunting when you need to dismount/fall off there is rarely a lorry ramp/gate/wall/fence/willing assistant to do the honours, and I have no intention of doing the six legged race across country. Thankfully I'm still quite athletic and I'd like to think I don't severely damage any of my horses by getting on from the ground.
 
I always use a block or handy bank to mount my welsh cob but I am very crocked! Daughter mostly gets on her 13.2 pony from the ground but she is a tiny slip of a thing and very agile. :) I do insist on giving her a leg up if I'm there though.
 
I always use a mounting block - I just don't have the 'spring' anymore to mount from the ground.
If I fall off or get off during a hack, I can usually find a gate or fence or log to help me get back on - I've even gotten a random dog walker to leg me up on one occasion :D
 
Personally I vault on from the back, a la Kirk Douglas in 'Crimson Pirate' ;)

We teach the children how to mount from the ground without putting any sideways pressure on the saddle by using a very very wide Dartmoor pony, whose saddle slips around his belly if they don't mount like a Russian gymnast. :D
 
twinkleandtommy1999 said:
yes hacking you can, I was talking about schooling in the school. but yes in those circumstances its fine.
Click to expand...


What's the difference though?

My horse has had negative experiences being ridden & unsurprisingly, being mounted was something he struggled with - we are working on being able to mount from a block (he'll stand by one now, but still can't quite cope with a foot in the stirrup next to a block) but he genuinely finds it a big deal. It was safer for me to retrain from the ground - he'll now stand on no rein contact quite happily whilst I hop about, put my foot in the stirrup & get up from the ground. A leg up is still a no-no as he's worried about two people around him when tacked up & in a mounting scenario. I've no idea what happened to him previously, but it's obviously traumatic for him :(

So, I'll hop on from the ground on all occasions. I'd love to use a mounting block, it's just not very feasible - it doesn't mean I don't care about his back!
 
twinkleandtommy1999 said:
:mad:
people should not mount from the ground it really pulls on the horses back, and even only doing it once can severally damage your horse/ponies back. Getting on from a mounting block is still not ideal but should get someone to hold the stirrup down the other side, Or get a leg up. Post your thoughts and comments below: ;):):thumbup:
Click to expand...

OP, I think you're being a bit over dramatic here and a total pernickety perfectionist. In an ideal world mounting blocks of the right height would have to pop up from the ground at will along with a willing helper who knows what they are doing in order for what you propose to be feasible!!!!!!!

As others have said mounting from the ground is fine, depending on technique; I was taught to face the tail, one hand on the neck the other over the waist of the saddle, toe into the stirrup, three bounces and on the third jump and swing your leg over and sit softly into the saddle. Not land like a sack of potatoes or haul yourself up causing the saddle to twist towards you. Mind you if do the latter you soon find out whether you've done the girth up enough. And those last two I've seen people do when they are using a block so it doesn't make much of a difference to their horses, the backs are still taking one hell of a pounding.
 
I used to be able to vault on - a very long time ago when I was young and fit, and rode smaller horses. With two 17hh+ horses, a dodgy back, collapsible knee and wobbly ankles, plus much ballast, if I tried it now, I'd knock my teeth out on the stirrup!
 
Is t&t1999 the mounting police? If out hacking with no mounting block, I park the horse downhill or stand on the kerb with horse in the road. I'm not going walkabout to find a suitable mounting block and don't need to be 3 ft in the air to get on my horse.
 
I avoid mounting from the ground as I'm concerned what it might do to the saddle. In the arena, I mount from a high mounting block, and, when out hacking - my horse is well trained to line up to anything I could use as a mounting block: a fence, a fallen tree, a ditch, a rock, etc... It's a valuable skill and I highly suggest everyone teaching this to their horses. :)
 
Sleipnir said:
It's a valuable skill and I highly suggest everyone teaching this to their horses. :)
Click to expand...

My boy gets a pat and a sweet if he stands still - he doesn't stand still to mount very often I must admit I need to put more work in!

Last week I went for a long hack (hour and a quarter) and there's a steep hill to go down on this lovely bridlepath so I got off him onto a bench and walked him down the hill (is injured and in rehab so have to be careful with hills) and when I got to the bottom had to get on but its incredibly difficult trying to climb onto a five bar gate and then get high enough up to launch yourself off that onto your horses back. For a start a gate is completely vertical and so its really hard to get a grip with your legs and then turn round!

Dad has made be a wooden block that is able to be attached to my normal stepladders to give me extra height as I really struggle to lift my leg up and when I'm at shows I leave it outside my trailer so I can mount and dismount from it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
9tails said:
Is t&t1999 the mounting police? If out hacking with no mounting block, I park the horse downhill or stand on the kerb with horse in the road. I'm not going walkabout to find a suitable mounting block and don't need to be 3 ft in the air to get on my horse.
Click to expand...

No, I think she may just be a little young and therefore hasn't experienced the practacalities of only ever riding alone yet.

Interesting article MP - shame they didn't include vaulting in the study too. I can still vault onto a horse but since that's only because I spent all my teenage years being crash test dummy when backing horses and am in fairly good nick physically I wouldn't expect it to be common place. Also, if the horse in question is anything over about 14hh then I have to rest my stomach over the pommel on the way up, which I'm not convinced would be any better than springing up in one movement from the ground using the stirrup...

Obviously when vaulting to get on a backer for the first time there's someone holding the head and stroking etc. When backing alone I would never dream of vaulting on.
 
When my oldie was a youngster he would stand still for nothing and nobody, which was interesting at times. As soon as the noseband was fastened he would be off, sometimes at a trot, such was his eagerness to get out on his hack. I would run alongside him until we reached the wall, leap onto the wall still running and from there throw myself into the saddle before he cantered out the gate. I suppose I could have put more effort into teaching him to stand to be mounted but as a teenager I was more interested in hacking. Maybe everyone should mount this way :p
 
DabDab said:
Interesting article MP - shame they didn't include vaulting in the study too.
Click to expand...

yes, agreed. there is so much more they could have looked at but even so, it's food for thought IMO :) I think it's great having those pliance pads around these days, I thought some of the results were surprising. Some less so, but I just hadn't thought about it much -e.g. the location pressure points where the saddle is pulled across.

I USED to be able to vault on as was in the mounted games team in the pony club... these days vaulting off is more my speciality ;) I blame the blocky deep seat, high cantle saddles I have now :p .. my games saddle was flat as a pancake!
 
Sorry, missed the one where OP said they were 11. Wouldn't have been so narky otherwise. Still we all live and learn and hopefully he/she will learn from this thread and begin to realise that while there is always the ideal it is not always achievable.
 
You have go to post a video of you doing this!
pennyturner said:
Personally I vault on from the back, a la Kirk Douglas in 'Crimson Pirate' ;)

We teach the children how to mount from the ground without putting any sideways pressure on the saddle by using a very very wide Dartmoor pony, whose saddle slips around his belly if they don't mount like a Russian gymnast. :D
Click to expand...
 
I mean, we all know this is the ideal, and how I mount personally -

tumblr_myolzvCIxu1sq0a3ho1_500.gif
 
twinkleandtommy1999 said:
Webble, yes I do agree. I was trying to say that its not ideal to get on from the mounting block, but yes I do mount from a block most of the time if I'm mounting when alone . and its not as bad. And yes now how do you get on! ;) Just a quick tip if someone is in the school IE: Your riding teacher, your mum or anyone you know get them to hold the stirrup down the other side and mount from the mounting block, or give you a leg up. :) sorry for the confusion.
Click to expand...

This only really works in theory or if you're a child. I'm not sure my mum would appreciate me dragging her down the yard as I want to school at 8pm as I can't leave the office any earlier. Likewise, I tend to make sure H is warmed up before our trainer arrives so we can make the most of our session. I always mount from a block when I can. I alternate sides when doing polework or jumping, mainly because H likes to be an awkward so and so and pretend not to understand what's being asked of him if I don't move the block out to the track. But if I'm out hacking then I'd sooner hop on from the ground than half to walk home.
 
milliepops said:
yes, agreed. there is so much more they could have looked at but even so, it's food for thought IMO :) I think it's great having those pliance pads around these days, I thought some of the results were surprising. Some less so, but I just hadn't thought about it much -e.g. the location pressure points where the saddle is pulled across.

I USED to be able to vault on as was in the mounted games team in the pony club... these days vaulting off is more my speciality ;) I blame the blocky deep seat, high cantle saddles I have now :p .. my games saddle was flat as a pancake!
Click to expand...

Well if you will go poncing around playing dressage looking all elegant and stuff :p
 
twiggy2 said:
do you all mount from both sides in equal measures?
Click to expand...

I don't but only because the horse I ride isn't used to both sides and always presents the near side, I tried the other side and he didn't understand what was going on at all! Before him I used be a both sides person sometimes, cos I'm a bit ambidextrous and forget which is which. I even turned the wrong way on a driving test, the examiner said turn right and I went left, which caused him to say something like 'well that's ruined my favourite test route we'll have to do something different now' - oops
 
The older ones i stand near a block......or rather a bench, but on the youngster its easier to hop on from the ground until they have learnt to stand still.
 
Hmmm depends on a lot of things - if you're a a 7 stone teenager who can spring on board, I don't see a problem with mounting from the ground. Not being that weight since the age of around 8, I always use a mounting block. If I need to get back on during a hack, I usually look out for tree stump/fence or similar to use. I think it's kinder to the horse.
 
ribbons said:
, but there is no reason to 'never' mount from the ground, providing you do it correctly.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but there is :p

I have 1 completely knackered ankle, an opposing knackered knee. Neither stops me from riding, inc jumping etc.
I use a breezeblock stepped mounting block at home, the step on the horsebox when out - and sundry gates/banks/walls etc if I had to ever get off when out.

There is absolutely no way that I can mount from the ground any more, not from either side.
I did try only a month ago but it wasn't fair to me or CF. I howled, he staggered, we left it alone.

3yrs ago, I would mount from the floor & spring up, now i have no spring, and standing on 1 leg to even get a foot in the stirrup from the ground is excruciating.

So, there are a few of us that for some reason or another cannot mount from the floor any more.

TFF, ex-PPC rider at Zone finals for 4 years (a little while ago) :)
 
As an "older" rider with a big horse...I am the absolute expert at finding things to scramble up on if I have to get off on a hack!
 
twiggy2 said:
do you all mount from both sides in equal measures?
Click to expand...

I mounted from the ground on the off-side at the weekend (horse was standing on a slope, so decided it would be quicker than turning him around, and good experience, since he is young). I was surprised just how awkward I found it. Glad he was only 14hh.
 
twinkleandtommy1999 said:
:mad:
people should not mount from the ground it really pulls on the horses back, and even only doing it once can severally damage your horse/ponies back. Getting on from a mounting block is still not ideal but should get someone to hold the stirrup down the other side, Or get a leg up. Post your thoughts and comments below: ;):):thumbup:
Click to expand...

In training we had to mount from the ground and also vault on. But now I will always use a mountain block - fence - tree to get on so no pressure on the horses back.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top