mounting when riding

[lillythorne_]

Hi I am currently seeking advice or any tips for getting on my horse. He lets me get on by grooming box on the yard and stands still perfectly fine for me to get on and doesn't move, but as soon as I try to mount by a mounting block in the arena he completely objects to it and would mostly swings his hind end round the other way or move backwards, he has a correctly fitted saddle but I'm out of options! Any advice please comment!

 

[cundlegreen]

Repetition, I'm afraid. I have a very big young horse whom I broke my ankle last year when stepping off him onto a stool. He was quite worried after that, so I built a higher mounting block, and practised walking him up to it with me on the ground, giving the command to stand, and making sure he kept completely still before getting on the block. I don't find it works staying on the block and trying to circle them round you. Its annoying, but with time, he now stands stock still without any reins until I've clambered on.

 

[PaddyMonty]

Take a sightly shorter contact with the right rein curving the head away from you. This makes the horse to move in to the mounting block. Doing what a lot do of shortening the left rein actually creates the problem they are trying to avoid.

 

[Sukistokes2]

I trained my new horse to stand by the mounting block in about twenty minutes. As Cundlegreen has said its about repetition. My horse is 17hh so I needed to be able to get on from a block (a high one!) and I needed him to stand still while I did it, I am not as nimble as i once was. Armed with carrots (little bits cut up) I lead him to the block and stood him next to it, carrot, I then led him away and then back to the block, stood him still and fed carrot. I slowly increased the time he stood before the carrot arrived. If he moved then i led off and around, no carrot. Once he was standing i stepped towards mounting block, if he held firm carrot, if not we would walk a circle. I slowly progressed up the block and back down. Once up I did not and never, do just walk off i sit there and wait a bit before moving off, so he does not associate me sitting down with walking off. As i said the whole process took about 20-30 minutes. I do the same routine every time and he gets a treat at the block. If he moves , which rarely happens, then I walk him off in a circle and represent him to the block.( By this I mean I stick to the same mounting routine not that it takes me 30 minutes to mount each time ) He usually stands like a rock and waits for me to fiddle about munching on his treat. over time i may remove the treat ( usually a small bit of carrot or apple) but at this point I do not see it as an issue. He has been hard used and it is a way of rewarding him. Just to note I never hold reins when getting up either, I am on a secure drive way and I am pretty confident he will hole still now. Although my friend who rides him is more traditional about mounting does and she gets the same results. Now to teach him to do the whole process on the "wrong" side.