Mounting Issues

[Nerys&Tully]

Hello, I have recently bought myself a tb mare. She was absolutely good as gold when I when to try her about 4/5 weeks ago. She is very low on muscel and weight so I have been doing a lot of lunging with her. But when I do ride her she is a pain when it comes to mounting. She will either back up or swivel away from the block. With my last horse ( he was 14.3) I solved this by mounting from the ground and dismounting on the block but seeing as my new mare is 16hh I can do that. She is an exracer but has done show jumping since then and hated racing. It took me at least 20 minutes to mount up today and it is very disheartening seeing as I have had many accidents on tbs. it is starting to seriously bug me and I am hoping that some of you would be kind enough to help me. I have tried backing her into a corner but as soon as she hits the fence she just comes too close to the block and turns along the fence so she can keep backing up. I had to lunge her 3 times before she would let me get on! Please help me.

 

[kirstyl]

Don't be disheartened. Many ex racers (& other horses come to that!) have issues standing still at the mounting block. It's a training matter and sounds as if you could do with some experienced help - do you have an instructor you can call on? You need to be patient, it will be worth it! I used to put the mounting block in the middle of the arena so that if my horse reversed or moved his quarters away from the block, I could keep him moving around the block with me stood on it until he learned to stand still at the appropriate spot. There isn't a quick fix, you just need to be patient and calm and persistent! Good luck

 

[luckyoldme]

I had this with my gelding when I first got him.
I would make sure I had plenty of time and gave the impression I could stand there all day if I had to.
If he moved off I would make him walk backwards away from the block, then walk him up to it again, all the time staying really calm. In the beginning he would take ages but gradually became bored of the whole game and stood for me.
Im a terrible one for bribing though and I always had something in my pocket for him, and rewarded him when I got on. He stands rock steady now and turns for his treat as soon as im on. My horse is a happy hacker and is with me for life, so although others may hate the bribery idea it works well for me and the added bonus is he is great to mount out and about now, which is essential for a 16.2 horse when you are only 5"3 and you need a pee out on a hack!

 

[JillA]

Teach her to stand still on cue (this is how they teach ground tying to western horses). Do it in a similar way to teaching a dog to stay - place her so that she is well balanced, show her your hand upright with the palm facing her in a blocking action, step back, then step to her. Give her a face or neck rub. Do it again and again, building to two steps, then more, then off to the side etc until you can walk all the way round her without her moving. Start to add the word "wait" or "stand" just before the hand signal so she knows the signal follows the word - soon you won't need the hand signal. If she does move, place her back where she started and begin again. You can reward with food treats as it gets harder and harder for her - but ONLY If she has stood without moving a muscle. She needs to understand that you will bring her a food treat only if she has stood motionles waiting for it. Then teach her the same thing while she is standing by the mounting block - if she moves or swings her quarters away before you leave her, promptly and actively move her backwards then replace her where you want her. My horse learned that moving his quarters meant a swift backwards shuffle and by the third time he thought about it then changed his mind. It was clear to see and quite funny.
As an ex racer she will probably be used to jockeys being legged up while she is on the move, so you will probably have to retrain her to overcome that and stand, so give the cue (the word) put your foot in the stirrup, remove it and reward. Do this over and over until she doesn't move a muscle, then progress through putting your weight in the stirrup and off again until she is stading still for that, then actually mount THEN GET OFF AGAIN so that she doesn't associate mount with go.
This sort of training is really good fun and you can do it in this non riding type weather, so enjoy and good luck with it.

 

[Nerys&Tully]

Thank you all very much for the tips I will have a go at teaching her to stay but the problem is I don't have much time I can spend with her I keep her at the yard I work at and it gets very busy so when I go to ride her I don't have much time. But I will give it a go and see how I do.

 

[luckyoldme]

Thank you all very much for the tips I will have a go at teaching her to stay but the problem is I don't have much time I can spend with her I keep her at the yard I work at and it gets very busy so when I go to ride her I don't have much time. But I will give it a go and see how I do.

The thing is (and I don t want to sound a right cow) you HAVE to make time to sort these things out. Rushing these things just makes them worse!

 

[Nerys&Tully]

I have an hour in the school to myself so we can practice but that's only because the yard manager is away for the day meaning no lessons. I have started practicing in the stable but for it to be practical we need to do it in the school

 

[kirstyl]

My thoughts too luckyoldme - this is a training session ( and probably lots required) in itself. Mounting safely is very important, just as important as all your other ridden work if not more so

 

[luckyoldme]

I gave up riding for a while with mine and spent the time smoothing out all the tacking up issues we had and then gradually worked on riding issues!
My horse was a pain in the bum to do most things with when I first got him!

 

[viceversa]

My horse went through a phase of being a fidget to get on, I soon got fed up of it and one day spent ages lining him up, when he eventually stood, getting on and giving him a treat straight away. If you struggle to get him to step back when you're on the mounting block, you could get a helper to begin with to encourage him. Do this quite a few times - you may not even get to ride but just continually getting on and off till he gets the idea! My horse now lines himself up and is already turning his head for a treat before I'm even on! He can also be a bit cold backed/tense when I first get on and this seems to take his mind off that too

 

[Nerys&Tully]

I have no problem getting her to go back that is the problem she will back up as soon as I get on the block or touch the saddle. When she doesn't do that she will swing her quarters away.