Mounting issues

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Compasses

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Hi all,

I’ve had a large horse for a year now (16.3hh) and obviously use a mounting block to get on him. He is great to stand if someone holds him, but if I try get on unaided, he is a real fidgit. I have been trying to do some work on this with parking him at the block and leaning over him, telling him he’s good etc but still seem to have the same issue.

His main thing is he either backs up so he’s no longer stood at the block, or he spins his bum out so I can’t reach. If I ask him to walk forward he walks past the block. I can get him to stand but as soon as I grab my stirrup he goes again. As soon as I’m on, he’ll stand literally stock still. I know his whole history and he’s unlikely to have ever had a bad experience. He also doesn’t seem stressed at all while he does it. At the moment I’m trying to teach him to bring his bottom in to me when I touch the whip on his offside but it’s work in progress.

Saddle was checked literally days ago, he receives regular physio, NO other symptoms of having a bad back in any way shape or form. Treated for ulcers around 3 months ago but this was due to an external stress.

Any advice welcomed as I wonder if there’s anything I haven’t thought of.
 
Cowpony said:
Can you move your block out so you sandwich him between the block and the fence? This worked for mine and she now stands nicely even without being sandwiched.
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This is funny as I do this 😂😂 I sandwich him in a corner but he has gotten better at reversing around a corner lately!!
 
I had exactly the same problem with a new purchase back in 2012. When I tried the horse it was held at the block for me. Got it home and found it was proper canny over being mounted.

I moved my block so the horse was stood between the block and two walls, one behind her and one to the side. I then reversed her in and went up the steps onto the block. She instantly knew she had been trumped and as I put my foot in the iron she swung her head round and bit my backside. I had bought her knowing she was a bit special and the mounting was just one of a box of tricks she produced in the first year of ownership.

I persevered with the method of standing at the block and rewarded her with a click and pony nut each time she stood to be mounted, then I moved the block again and opened the space up. Again using clicker and treat. She soon realised she must stand still and today is rock steady everywhere. i can park her in a ditch, by a gate etc and I get off onto the block now too. I don't use the clicker anymore but she always has a nut at the get on and get off stage. She now won't move from the block until she has had her treat.
 
Barton Bounty said:
Reward with treats, its easy peasy, they cotton on really quickly that if they stand nice they get a treat, ive done it with every horse I have ever broken or had myself 🥰
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Ditto this, I’ve fixed many a bad mounter using treats (I’ve retrained a few off the track and they’re never taught to stand at a mounting block so generally very confused!). Including one tricky one that bolted as soon as you went to swing your leg over.

Start with a helper on the ground, line horse up at mounting block and give him a treat. Get helper to hold horse and give another treat as soon as you’re on. Then pat, reward and give him a treat yourself from the saddle. After a lot of consistency and repetition you’ll just need to give the treat stood at the mounting block and then he’ll stand and wait for his second treat once you’re in the saddle.

All mine will now stand patiently at the mounting block without me holding them while I walk around, adjust stirrups and faff around etc, waiting for their sweetie once I’m on!

It’s a very handy skill to teach them as even if we’re somewhere very exciting like a show ground or hunt meet mine are almost brainwashed into standing at a block and waiting for a treat 😁
 
Barton Bounty said:
Reward with treats, its easy peasy, they cotton on really quickly that if they stand nice they get a treat, ive done it with every horse I have ever broken or had myself 🥰
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This. Works like a dream. I had a neurotic Welsh section D in for schooling and he had bucked his owner off onto concrete when mounting as he fidgeted and she leapt on him. It took him 20 mins to cotton onto it and he was a lamb.
Still pretty much useless at everything else though 😂
 
frankieduck said:
Ditto this, I’ve fixed many a bad mounter using treats (I’ve retrained a few off the track and they’re never taught to stand at a mounting block so generally very confused!). Including one tricky one that bolted as soon as you went to swing your leg over.

Start with a helper on the ground, line horse up at mounting block and give him a treat. Get helper to hold horse and give another treat as soon as you’re on. Then pat, reward and give him a treat yourself from the saddle. After a lot of consistency and repetition you’ll just need to give the treat stood at the mounting block and then he’ll stand and wait for his second treat once you’re in the saddle.

All mine will now stand patiently at the mounting block without me holding them while I walk around, adjust stirrups and faff around etc, waiting for their sweetie once I’m on!

It’s a very handy skill to teach them as even if we’re somewhere very exciting like a show ground or hunt meet mine are almost brainwashed into standing at a block and waiting for a treat 😁
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Exactly 🥰

I didnt have a helper, but I used a bucket for the first couple of times, it didnt take long, possibly 6 or 7 times getting on and off 🤣
 
I've used treats with my last 3 horses with great success. I always give the treats on the off side so that the horse doesn't swing into me to get the treat. I started the most difficult one by taking him in the school in just his head collar, lining him up next to the mounting block, leaning over and giving him a treat on the off side when he eventually stood still! It only took a couple of sessions to get him to stand tackless. Then I put saddle on and repeated. Again only a few sessions later and he stood stock still and he was terrible to get on. I've done with another 2 that weren't too bad to get on but they both stood stock still until they had had their treat!
 
My worse problem is discounting! I have to get off on to the block and when I get back my knees are seized so it is very difficult. I have ordered a much bigger mounting block which is double ended in the hope it will help.
 
I have always taught my horses to stand at the mounting block at the end of exercise. They tend to be happier to stand. I get on and really praise them when they stand, then get off and do it multiple times. I didn’t use treats just lots of praise.
 
I haven’t used treats, but what I’ve been doing is:

If he moves off and tries to then rush away from the block, I halt ASAP and, if necessary, turn him back towards the block, dismount and walk him back to the block. And repeat.

If he tries to take a step forward once I’ve placed him at the block, e.g. when I go around his shoulder to mount, I back him up. Or we walk a circle and take him back. If he wants to move — OK fine, we can move, but this way! He quickly realises it’s easier to not fidget.

I also firmly say “Stand”, as I go to mount and also spent (still do!) some time saying this while halting when riding, while hand walking, going to and from the field... just helping to connect the dots up. I can now ask him to stand in the centre of the school and walk away from him.

It’s something we’ve been working on for a couple months (he’s about to be 5 and was broken at 3, not by me, with lots of essentials missed so we’ve taken it back to basics with the help of my instructor). I have spent up to half an hour getting on and off and that being our schooling for the day. 9/10 he is now perfect, stands like a statue until both my feet are in and I ask him to walk on. I think we are nearly there with it and he’s doing great. Obviously lots and lots of vocal praise, scratches and pats when he does as he’s been asked.

Another thing is — I also try to be as light and gentle as possible while mounting and sitting down into the saddle. Just taking a breath and doing things slowly can help the whole process. It should be a dealbreaker though, from a safety point of view!
 
KatieDM said:
I haven’t used treats, but what I’ve been doing is:

If he moves off and tries to then rush away from the block, I halt ASAP and, if necessary, turn him back towards the block, dismount and walk him back to the block. And repeat.

If he tries to take a step forward once I’ve placed him at the block, e.g. when I go around his shoulder to mount, I back him up. Or we walk a circle and take him back. If he wants to move — OK fine, we can move, but this way! He quickly realises it’s easier to not fidget.

I also firmly say “Stand”, as I go to mount and also spent (still do!) some time saying this while halting when riding, while hand walking, going to and from the field... just helping to connect the dots up. I can now ask him to stand in the centre of the school and walk away from him.

It’s something we’ve been working on for a couple months (he’s about to be 5 and was broken at 3, not by me, with lots of essentials missed so we’ve taken it back to basics with the help of my instructor). I have spent up to half an hour getting on and off and that being our schooling for the day. 9/10 he is now perfect, stands like a statue until both my feet are in and I ask him to walk on. I think we are nearly there with it and he’s doing great. Obviously lots and lots of vocal praise, scratches and pats when he does as he’s been asked.

Another thing is — I also try to be as light and gentle as possible while mounting and sitting down into the saddle. Just taking a breath and doing things slowly can help the whole process. It should be a dealbreaker though, from a safety point of view!
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This!

I'm guilty of letting the horses I ride get fidgety and will mount from un-ideal angles etc sometimes... but if it gets bad, or they start doing anything deliberately, I make sure to make the time to play The Perfect Mounting Game every time I ride for a while. Every time there's the slightest mis-step, we go back to the beginning and start again.

The other thing I find very helpful is spending time doing very basic groundwork - leading with subtle and/or sudden turns, starting and stopping, taking just one step forward, taking just two steps forward, etc. If that's solid in general, then it's a lot easier to ask the horse to adjust just one step forward at the mounting block.

(I keep meaning to learn how to teach them to park themselves at the block, but had very limited success with the first method I tried, and haven't gotten around to trying again.)
 
My OH built me a huge block when I had a 17hh2 warmblood then I got a much smaller cob who was a terror at the block, probably never seen one before. I put mine in the middle of the arena so every time he moved, I could just move with him and lead him round to a feasible position. Not helpful if they swing their bum out like my TB used to 😱 unless you’ve got ridiculous long legs!
 
So glad it's not just me with this problem😉

One of mine is adept at the bum swing just as I put my foot in the stirrup! Been going exactly what some of you have done, sandwiching him between fence and block and lots of treats. He's much better now and it's gets easier every time.

The other is perfection personified! Will stand stock still next to anything. I guess the difference is one was taught at a young age, the other an ex driving horse was never taught. I should have been suspicious really when trying him out they gave me a leg up while he was walking 🤣
 
Taught my first fidget with persistence and practice and repositioning, we got there in the end.
I taught my youngster last year by treating her once I was on, having her stay standing still at the block, giving a second treat, and only then asking her to move off, and not always forwards. Sometimes backwards, or sideways, or with a turn on the haunches or quarters. It worked within one session and she's been rock solid since. I have a doggy treat bag clipped to my right front D.
 
Compasses said:
Hi all,

I’ve had a large horse for a year now (16.3hh) and obviously use a mounting block to get on him. He is great to stand if someone holds him, but if I try get on unaided, he is a real fidgit. I have been trying to do some work on this with parking him at the block and leaning over him, telling him he’s good etc but still seem to have the same issue.

His main thing is he either backs up so he’s no longer stood at the block, or he spins his bum out so I can’t reach. If I ask him to walk forward he walks past the block. I can get him to stand but as soon as I grab my stirrup he goes again. As soon as I’m on, he’ll stand literally stock still. I know his whole history and he’s unlikely to have ever had a bad experience. He also doesn’t seem stressed at all while he does it. At the moment I’m trying to teach him to bring his bottom in to me when I touch the whip on his offside but it’s work in progress.

Saddle was checked literally days ago, he receives regular physio, NO other symptoms of having a bad back in any way shape or form. Treated for ulcers around 3 months ago but this was due to an external stress.

Any advice welcomed as I wonder if there’s anything I haven’t thought of.
Click to expand...
My mare was like this when I got her, walk off or sideways every time I went to get off so.... We walked round and lined up again and again and again and again. She gave up in the end and stood still
 
There are ways of training them.

However Never ever ever try and “trap” your horse to make it stay still.

I thought this was a good idea… until the horse panicked and threw me off. I was incredibly lucky I wasn’t seriously injured.
 
There's an old-fashioned, but rather lovely and useful technique of training the horse to 'present the saddle' to you at the block. You stand there and the horse shuffles over closer to you. I think its usually trained at first with a whip tap on the outside haunch to bring it over. Tristan Tucker does it. I think its interesting because the horse signals its readiness, its awareness, and you've already started a dialogue before you get on.
 
I am another that uses treats. My older horse wouldn’t stand to get on when I first got him. Now I can get on him anywhere. If I forget to give him a treat he won’t move until he’s had it. (Well he will just very reluctantly 🤣)

With my younger horse who we are restarting after a long period off I’ve been teaching him to line up at the mounting block and I lean over him and treat him so he turns his neck to eat the treat. He’s an over achiever and can get too close to the block if he gets too enthusiastic 🤩 I’ve now mounted him using this method.
 
fredflop said:
There are ways of training them.

However Never ever ever try and “trap” your horse to make it stay still.

I thought this was a good idea… until the horse panicked and threw me off. I was incredibly lucky I wasn’t seriously injured.
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he can go forward when i put the mounting block in the corner, just not backwards so he is not trapped. Strangely he never goes forward to fidgit just backwards.
 
ThreeFurs said:
There's an old-fashioned, but rather lovely and useful technique of training the horse to 'present the saddle' to you at the block. You stand there and the horse shuffles over closer to you. I think its usually trained at first with a whip tap on the outside haunch to bring it over. Tristan Tucker does it. I think its interesting because the horse signals its readiness, its awareness, and you've already started a dialogue before you get on.
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I’m working on this on the groundwork but not there yet. He is just struggling to understand me tapping the outside haunch means go toward me.
 
ILuvCowparsely said:
My mare was like this when I got her, walk off or sideways every time I went to get off so.... We walked round and lined up again and again and again and again. She gave up in the end and stood still
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Tried this, and the other comments about perfect mounting, but I’ve been at it for easily 20+ minutes. Unfortunately I work full time and don’t have forever to get on, it also doesn’t seem to make him any better, he just starts to get very frustrated.
 
I used to recommend block placement into a corner etc but I 've changed my thinking hugely - reducing the horse's choice isn't teaching them that what you want them to do is SAFE for them and in fact can make them less safe, or alternatively shut them down.

Flowerofthefen said:
I've used treats with my last 3 horses with great success. I always give the treats on the off side so that the horse doesn't swing into me to get the treat. I started the most difficult one by taking him in the school in just his head collar, lining him up next to the mounting block, leaning over and giving him a treat on the off side when he eventually stood still! It only took a couple of sessions to get him to stand tackless. Then I put saddle on and repeated. Again only a few sessions later and he stood stock still and he was terrible to get on. I've done with another 2 that weren't too bad to get on but they both stood stock still until they had had their treat!
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This 100%. Treats fed once you're on from the off side to fix this particular issue. But also use your limited time to work on one tiny stage of the process at a time, and avoid "putting the horse to work" if they don't do what you want by walking them round and round, the horse doesn't learn this way (see Equitation Science International and behaviourists for how horses learn). Do work on groundwork (I recommend the free Slow Walk Work group on FB to nearly everyone but you'd also find more, paid for, focused work with Warwick Schiller and Amy Skinner, there will be others) generally and keep the lesson tiny and achievable. Horses do things like this from confusion, or of course pain - work on the confusion, and if you're still getting nowhere then it's almost impossible to rule out pain, so always keep an open mind.
 
Cowpony said:
Can you move your block out so you sandwich him between the block and the fence? This worked for mine and she now stands nicely even without being sandwiched.
Click to expand...

Barton Bounty said:
Reward with treats, its easy peasy, they cotton on really quickly that if they stand nice they get a treat, ive done it with every horse I have ever broken or had myself 🥰
Click to expand...

This is how I fixed my fidgety mounter. (ETA - she was a nightmare to mount, even with someone holding her! Shooting forward, stepping sideways or backwards and even trotting off when a foot went into the stirrup...)

I committed to long-reining only for a few weeks, so I wasn't mounting her and then working her on top. We did mounting practice after we'd come back from long-reining, so it wasn't associated with starting work.

I started by moving the block so it faced the barn door, where she wanted to go, but closed the door so she couldn't run into it. I then placed the block so there was a wall five feet away on the other side and she couldn't swing her butt too far. The only way she would want to go was forward, but she wasn't trapped in and could move forward or back, and could move several steps sideways (just couldn’t swing wide).

Then, I led her up to the block, and just stopped and stood in front of her. She got a clicker and a biscuit (to the off side) when she stood still and didn't fuss.

When she nailed that after a day or so, i stepped up next to her on the block (without picking up reins short), and she got a treat and click from there. If she moved forward, I stepped down, made her step backwards, ensured she was standing nicely, then stepped up again.

When she nailed this, I started picking up the reins. And when she nailed that, i started faffing with the stirrups and pulling on them. When she nailed that, I leaned over.

The last thing was mounting, and I made sure she got a treat from the off side when i was on her, and if she moved forward, I asked her to stop and fed her the treat then. And really importantly, I then got off.

After a week or so of this, she was standing like a rock to mount and waiting expectantly for her biscuit.

I then added back in having no wall to stop swinging quarters, and mounting facing away from the barn. I started including a mount and unmount before long reining, and the last thing we did was start just hacking out again.

She's a total pro now, and I wouldn't need to give her a biscuit to mount anymore, but I do anyway - because I want to keep that expectation of a biscuit at mounting so I can keep her attention if I ever need to dismount and remount out hacking, where it is much more exciting and I know she'll be dying to rush off home.

Removing the association between mounting and immediately moving off as well as between mounting and riding was important, and the steady stepwise nature of it removed any anxiety from me as well as her - I wasn't trying to catch a vaguely still moment to jump any more, I expected complete stillness and calmness and importantly wasn't expecting to ride or do anything afterwards.
 
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