Mounting woes (but funny)

F

FeatherPower

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 June 2009
Messages
251
Visit site
So, the new boy is home and settled and being very very good. He loads first time now and stands still to be caught (he had been running away and a nightmare to catch at times) manners very good and I can get him to move individual legs by pointing at them

BUT - can I mount him first time....erm....no. The little begger has worked out that if he stands side ways on to the mounting block until you are just about to get on, and then turns to face you, that you can't possibly get on!

He is getting better i.e. only two attempts before I am on but still not good enough.

Any suggestions?
 
I had this problem with a horse I had last year and he was 17hh! I ended up having to resort to using a portable mounting block which I kept kicking into place as he walked round in circles until I could get on. I always made him stand and he gradually got better until after about 4 - 5 months he would just stand and wait.
It's the only thing that worked for me.
 
Then I'd try mounting block near a gate so he's facing it and object by the side and once on get someone to slide away object or back him out of it
smile.gif
 
well on Saturday (first time ridden him since moving him to new home and only had him a few weeks now) I had a little set of steps that folded out. I got them out and put them near him and he jumped a mile and got very agitated - I am going to deal with the 'steps' fear another day.

there is a concrete mounting block that I have used. I managed to get him almost in position the first time - swung my leg over avoiding the stirrups as he was about a foot away and saddle may have slipped otherwise - but I got one leg over then he walked off with me hanging on with one leg and arms round his neck. I am a grown up for goodness sake and this was not very lady like!!

sigh
 
I mount on the drive way which has a raised lawn edge (if that makes sense). So I lead my boy out, I stand on the wall ready to get on and he turns towards me and steps (from a stand still and it's quite high) up onto the wall and therefore is stood on the lawn. It's very well kept, neat lawn, with great big hoof prints and mouthfuls of grass grabbed out!

I have to really hold onto the outside rein, but ultimately end up either shouting at him or giggling!
 
why do they do this to us?!?!

I have been totally spoilt by my old girl who never put a foot wrong!

Little monkey! It is purely to avoid working though, his saddle fits fine and he has no back issues and is totally fine once I am on him, its just getting there that is the problem. The only way seems to be to bribe him with food/allow him to eat grass but I don't want to 'reward' him for being naughty - its totally the wrong way round of doing things.
 
It’s so frustrating when they figure things like this out! Too clever for their own good, sometimes
wink.gif


Manners like standing are fundamental in my opinion – I hate seeing horses that won’t stand to be mounted. I would play him at his own game – walk him up to the mounting block and the second he goes to move, walk him in a tight circle and make him stand again. Praise him when he stands; walk him around the second he moves. If that doesn’t work, get someone to stand in front of him, someone by the side of him and if he goes to move either way, get them to give him a tap on the bum or the chest and put him back precisely where he was.
 
i just keep at it, put the horse in the right position again and again ( maybe with somebody else helping from the ground) until he realises that you are not going to do anything else until you have got on him. usually they just get bored and end up standing still for you!
 
my horse did this!

everytime he moved his bum around, i got off the block and walked him round in a circle, back to the 'correct' place. even if he only half stepped away. he eventually got bored.
i also placed my whip over his hind quarters to the other side, so i sort of had more control over them.

when he eventually stood still, i made sure i got on very gently, and i leant forward to give him a carrot. i then made him stand still for about 10 seconds before asking him to walk on.

to start with, it took about half an hour to mount, but after about a week he stood as still as a statue. and also stopped running backwards as soon as my bum hit the saddle.

now, i sometimes take a carrot out for the mounting, just as a reminder that he's doing well... and he appreciates it immensely.

xx
 
[ QUOTE ]

Manners like standing are fundamental in my opinion – I hate seeing horses that won’t stand to be mounted. I would play him at his own game – walk him up to the mounting block and the second he goes to move, walk him in a tight circle and make him stand again. Praise him when he stands; walk him around the second he moves.

[/ QUOTE ]

I second this, I took myhorse who was a nightmare to get on to Jason Webb (Australian Horseman) he told me to do the above, you must not let them even get away with one step before you start turning them in a tight circle with their heads turned inwards, takes a few times but it really works, my horse does not take one step now, it works when your on them too if they keep fidgeting.
 
If he's new to you either he hasn't been taught to stand still or he doesn't like being mounted, maybe the last owner 'hung' off him to get on. Doesn't have to show up as a actual back problem. If you can work out which (manners or evasion). If it's manners (like mine because of his love of food!) then treat it like any other manners, correction correction correction! Mine will stand still normally, but has noticed the lawn grass is gooood!

If it's evasion because he thinks it's going to hurt then it's a annoying because the more he moves then harder it is to get on gently, but just take the time tell him he's good when he's standing and it will just take time to work out that it doesn't hurt when you get on.

Also, down get on and go once you're on, keep him standing still, check your girth and all of that rather than him moving because he thinks he's ready to go! But that's more of a manners thing.
 
ok first thing - walking in tight circle - this could work so should I walk down the other side of the block and turn him away from the block and then back round to it?

2nd - I would say evasion, he was previously ridden just by children and I think they had a few problems 'controlling' him (NB nothing to do with MrsElle I might add who had him on loan for a couple of months after I bought him)

if for any reason I dont have much room to manouvre safely in a circle (eg farm equipment in way) would backing him up and putting him back in place have the same effect do you think?
 
[ QUOTE ]
Also, down get on and go once you're on, keep him standing still, check your girth and all of that rather than him moving because he thinks he's ready to go! But that's more of a manners thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

This also. I expect a horse to stand until I ask them to move. If they don't, I make them step back to where they were, stand them move. Having worked with driving horses, I know how important standing and good manners are - if you are consistant and firm, but reward when they get it right, most horses gain good manners fairly quickly.
 
Just keep patient and keep lining them up, pausing (not trying to get on) then praising when they stand as you take the reins.

They soon get bored of it eventually, you see it alot with ex racers.

Key is to stay calm and patient, too many get fustrated after a while and scold them for it, which makes the problem last twice as long or it not worse.
 
well this is the weird thing. Once I am on he is good as gold and I do make him stand but even without my influence he would just stand anyway - that is what I cant understand!!

I always stand to make sure seat is correct, saddle straight, girth tight, stirrups level and then set off - its just getting up there that is the issue!
 
My ex racer was/somtimes is the same.
I just kept on walking and walking and walking around the mounting block and all of the things suggested, but it still didn't work.
We've not got a new system! I bring him into the school and stand him against a wall and use a lower mounting block so i don't end up being really up and over him and hes now 100% better with this method and the smaller mounting block.

Ocasionally i get a leg up and he much prefers this way but its not always practical!
 
[ QUOTE ]
ok first thing - walking in tight circle - this could work so should I walk down the other side of the block and turn him away from the block and then back round to it?

2nd - I would say evasion, he was previously ridden just by children and I think they had a few problems 'controlling' him (NB nothing to do with MrsElle I might add who had him on loan for a couple of months after I bought him)

if for any reason I dont have much room to manouvre safely in a circle (eg farm equipment in way) would backing him up and putting him back in place have the same effect do you think?

[/ QUOTE ]

It sounds like he's just got into the habit of messing around when being mounted as he's good all other times. I would say work with what you have. At first, don't try to mount but just walk him up to the block, not necessarily walking up it yourself as you can't immediately walk him on then, but walk up to it on the ground, then praise if he stands, walk him around if he doesn't. Can you get some sort of block you could mount safely from? Try placing that next to your usual concrete mounting block so you can get down easily & quickly to turn him, then progress to getting on from on top of the block. Progress to walking up the block and see if he stands, again walking down and circling asap if he doesn't stand. If you can't safely get down and around, then back him up.

Just another thought - have you tried mounting him from the other side? You may find he stands if you try to get on from the 'wrong' side as he won't have learnt the behaviour from that side. Try combining this with the circling technique, praising when he does stand.
 
My horse (then a 5 year old) started this a few days after I got him. HHO gave me loads of really sound advice, mostly the same as above involving patience and understanding. He started off stepping sideways away from the block, so my elderly mother stood beside him. He would then walk off forwards, so she stood in front instead - until he barged through her. Sometimes if we completely surrounded him with fence corners and helpers he would stand, but mostly found a way out. Sometimes I would do it on my own, with endless circling away and trying again if he moved. Usually it would take me over an hour to get on him. He couldn't go to any shows, or out on any hacks that involved getting off for gates, because I would never have got back on him!!! Eventually after 4 months I had had enough! I stood him by the block, and when he stepped away from me, I walked round to his off side and gave him a smack on his bum with my dressage whip. The look on his face was a picture, and I am not exaggerating when I say that from that day on (over a year now) he has NEVER moved when I mount him. But you have to be very sure that your horse is just taking the p..s (which mine quite obviously was) before you take this course of action. In the meantime you have my sympathy - it completely undermined my confidence as I felt I didn't even have the most basic control over him. Good luck!
 
My horse is the same. When I went to see him, the girl held him for me to get on, I thought she was just being nice, (I will always hold a horse for someone getting on, out of habit so I thought nothing of it, now I know better!) This is what I did to get him over it and it worked for me, he now stands still to get on unless it's in the middle of a hack when he's too excited, but that means I never have to do gates, so every cloud!

Have a helper hold him with one hand and use her body/other hand to stop him swinging his quarters. Once you're on she can give him a treat, leave it a little longer each time before he gets the treat. Once you've mastered that, have your helper stand next to him but not hold him, again give a treat. Then she needs to stand a few steps away (further away each time) and he needs to wait until she comes to him to have a treat, he must not move to her for it. Next step is to have her hiding round a corner and giving a treat once you're on. Last step is for you to give a treat yourself if you can reach (don't do this too much or he'll know that the treat comes from you and will start going backwards to mug you for it rather than standing still!) or for a friend to do it from her horse so that he doesn't think he's not getting one if there's nobody on the floor with him.
 
My pony did the same thing

Defo get a portable mounting block... treats and keep getting on and off as much as you can... he will soon get the idea he has to stand
smile.gif
 
fabulous - thank you all so much for the advice. I will try that later and see what happens. Quite often it is just me up there so will try the circling and backing up first and see how we get on with that.

Any more advice please do post as willing to try lots of things. I think he will get the idea and he is definitely just taking the Michael!

will update soon.........
 
I park Che between a wall and a portable mounting block, if he moves before i am settled in the saddle I walk him round the block until we are back where we started and try again. Once I am ready to move I lean forward and give him a polo, then ask him to move forward. I also do the polo thing when out hacking and opening and closing gates. Once we have successfully closed the gate, we stand still and he gets a polo before we move away. The aim is to encourage him to stand without fidgeting until I am ready for him to move off. He's a quick learner and it's costing me a small fortune in mints!!
 
Nothing to add to all the good advice
smile.gif
but this has reminded me of Oss, a lovely endurance horse I used to crew for. Not only would he stand still to be mounted but he would actually arrange himself beside you (usually standing on the front bumper of the Landie
laugh.gif
) so that you could get on. You could leave him yards away and he'd still wander over... Now this was donkeys' years ago and I was young and callow then, so it didn't occur to me to ask his owner (who was a proper old-fashioned horsewoman) how she trained him to do it. Any ideas, anyone? It has to be said that he lived to work...
wink.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Nothing to add to all the good advice
smile.gif
but this has reminded me of Oss, a lovely endurance horse I used to crew for. Not only would he stand still to be mounted but he would actually arrange himself beside you (usually standing on the front bumper of the Landie
laugh.gif
) so that you could get on. You could leave him yards away and he'd still wander over... Now this was donkeys' years ago and I was young and callow then, so it didn't occur to me to ask his owner (who was a proper old-fashioned horsewoman) how she trained him to do it. Any ideas, anyone? It has to be said that he lived to work...
wink.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

I always used to mount my old horse off a gate or a fence and he always used to shuffle up against it to let me on. He did this wherever we were, at home and out on hacks. I never taught him to do it, he was just very accommodating!
 
QR

My horse is used to someone being able to spring up on his back and start working straight away, but me being old and shook I have to mount from a block and it can take me a few seconds to get up, unfortunately he thinks he should start walking as soon as I pull the stirrups down, and it can take me up to five minutes to get him to stand still long enough to get up. One time I managed to get my foot in the stirrup and he started to walk away - thank frank my foot slipped out of the stirrup again or I'd have ended up in hospital. Last week he tried to walk as I got on and I wouldn't let him, so he went sideways, walked into the block and completely freaked out! (I ended up on the ground!) I intend to work on him standing still until he learns to stand completely still, it's downright dangerous to have a horse moving when you're trying to get on - I was lucky both times that I wasn't seriously injured!
 
I would highly recommend Jason Webb australianhorsetraining.co.uk. My horse is there at the moment and had a bad mounting problem, there was no way to get on. Now though she just stands there doesn;t move a centimetre and stands right by the block etc it is brilliant!
 
It is poss that he is a bit unsettled though. Frank was like this to start, no he will stand still all day for me to get on, although he is not quite as good at shows.

He was a bit stressy welsh when I got him but it is something I insist on. I was patient, put him in place, told him to stand and if he moved went back to the start again, he soon settled.

It has paid dividends as I am now slightly incapacitated with a dodgy ankle and needing to get on the off side. I need him very still.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top