Difficulty Getting On Your Horse
You’re getting ready to put your foot in the stirrup and gracefully (we hope) hoist yourself up on the back of your horse. But as you lift your foot to find the stirrup your horse dodges sideways. You try again. Your horse scoots away from you again! Soon this becomes a kind of dance, he moves sideways, backwards and in circles away from you while you hop around on one foot, chasing the stirrup with your other foot. No amount of yelling, positioning the horse against a wall or yanking on the reins does any good except rile your horse up more and completely diminish the possibility of taking that nice relaxing trail ride you planned on doing.
In desperation, you call to a nearby boarder (or neighbor, friend, child) and with their help holding, bracing and positioning the horse, and you being as nimble and quick as humanly possible, you finally lunge upon your horse, exhausted and worn out before your ride even begins!
If this describes your typical mounting experience, fear not – there is a solution! With reflection on your own riding practices, with some attention to your equipment and with a little handling consistency you can correct this annoying and potentially dangerous problem.
But why does this problem occur in the first place? It’s more than likely because your horse
a) Is testing the waters to see if a change in leadership might be possible
b) Has determined you are not leader material and has decided to take matters into his own hands (hooves)
c) is experiencing pain in some way – either from an ill-fitting saddle or by possibly being hurt due to poor mounting on your part
d) had an unpleasant, frightening, exhausting or painful workout the last time (or times) you rode or handled him
It’s very important to rule out possibilities c) and d). If this behavior has suddenly cropped up, from a horse who has never given you a problem in the past, then thoroughly check your riding equipment for signs of wear or bad fit. Next try to assess your mounting practice (or have a knowledgeable person help you) to make sure you’re not poking the horse with your toe, slamming down hard on his back, using your reins for leverage and yanking on his mouth or any other myriad “bad mounting” practices.
If you’ve determined your tack is fine and fits well and you’re not somehow hurting your horse while mounting, think about what you do each and every time you ride. Is every ride on your horse a grueling work out session? Is he exhausted and sore after every ride? Are you giving him enough variety when you ride him that you keep his interest, enthusiasm and desire to bond with you as a riding partner high? Are you occasionally mixing in riding sessions with nice grooming and care sessions or peaceful trail rides that help you and him relax and forge your partnership? Keep in mind that how you interact with your horse on a daily basis will determine the success of your long-term relationship.
If, after ruling out c) and d) above, you suspect possibly a) or b), then there has been a breakdown in the pecking order between you and your horse. This behavior exhibited while trying to mount can be a harbinger of things to come…in other words “the tip of the iceberg”. Besides dealing with this issue, it would probably be wise to go back to some fundamental round pen, leading, and ground work exercises to instill respect and the pecking order hierarchy with your horse.
So, dealing with the horse that darts away from you while mounting because he is testing you, rebelling against you, hasn’t been taught this isn’t acceptable or is just being bratty involves one basic concept: you show the horse that by going with his choice (scooting off as you lift your foot to the stirrup) he is going to have a lot more work in store for him – plain and simple. We don’t get angry, we don’t try to beat this behavior out of our horses, we don’t try to “make due” and we don’t try to use mean and cruel techniques or equipment to solve this problem. We give our horses a choice, and then – with a pleasant demeanor – show them the consequence of their choice.
The moment a horse moves away from me while I’m mounting, I’m very quick to react. I increase my energy level but I don’t get angry. Using either the long end of a split rein or a crop (carried because I know this horse is going to do this with me), I start “wacking” the saddle with much vigor and gusto! I also start making lots of noise, for effect, to get the horse a bit “amped” up. Your horse will most definitely start moving! So hopefully you’ve held on to the rein at this point and you just start making that horse move in tight circles around you for a few minutes, wacking on the saddle and making noise. Make him really move his feet and sweat a little. I like to mix in some quick back-up steps and some side-stepping work and will even change directions of the tight circle if I feel the horse isn’t huffing and puffing enough. After a couple of minutes, stop and subdue your energy, let the horse stop and then pet him kindly when he has fully stopped and is just standing there. Try mounting again. If the horse moves away from you again as you lift your foot to the stirrup, repeat the above procedure. After a few rounds of this, most horses will quietly stand there as you mount up. Once you’re on his back, praise him and pet him. Keep the workout session pleasant and light. Practice this technique any time your horse tries to dodge your mounting attempt and soon you’ll have a horse that stands patiently while you get on his back.
Now, occasionally this may not work for some horses. There are probably some other issues in the training of this particular horse that need to be addressed. For this type of horse, it’s probably best to get a good trainer (or do it yourself if you have the “know-how”) and start from square one in the round pen. Sometimes, even with a “broke” horse – when misbehavior or dangerous behavior starts cropping up in a bunch of different areas it indicates there is some missing, fundamental training. By going back to the beginning, and treating this horse as if he is a totally un-broke horse, one can hopefully fill in the training gaps and re-educate him.
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