Is It My Horse Or Is It Me?
May 29, 2012
Why won’t my horse stand still while I mount?
Suzanne Sheppard and Bob Jeffreys teaching at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Journal photo.
By AQHA Professional Horsemen Bob Jeffreys and Suzanne Sheppard in America’s Horse
Time spent with horses can be inspiring and stress relieving … most of the time. But, like with any relationship, things don’t always go smoothly. When there’s a problem, it’s important to understand why the horse is doing what he’s doing so we can develop a specific, effective solution. Sometimes the cause lies within the horse, other times within the human. Often it’s a combination. Here’s one reader’s dilemma:
Dear Bob & Suz,
I trust my mare completely, and we’ve ridden a lot of trails together over the years. The only problem we have is mounting. About a year ago, she began to fidget and move around when I got on. She’s not trying to be mean, she just keeps moving away. Sometimes I almost fall down. What should I do?
Mary
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Let’s begin by examining some possible causes:
- Pain – A sore back, poor saddle fit, a rib popped out of place, spine issues, etc.
- Hasn’t been taught – Maybe no one ever taught this horse to stand quietly until the rider is securely mounted up.
- “I don’t want to” – If the horse has a poor work ethic or doesn’t enjoy her job, then she may be avoiding being ridden.
- Rider error – the rider might be accidentally poking the horse with her toe when she puts her foot in the stirrup, pulling back on the reins as she gets on, or landing on the horse’s back abruptly and heavily.
- Distraction – The other horses at the barn may have been running around in the paddocks nearby, or perhaps they were all getting fed and this mare was so busy thinking about her grain that she wasn’t paying attention to her rider.
We contacted Mary and invited her to the ranch so we could help. We found that, in this particular case, the rider had unknowingly created the problem. Over the years, Mary had gained about 100 pounds and developed bad arthritis in both knees, so it took a long time and a lot of effort to mount. She’d grab the horn and the cantle and pull herself up, putting a lot of pressure on the withers. The horse wasn’t misbehaving when she moved away; she was trying to let her human buddy know that it hurt.
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Mary needed to find a more efficient, less awkward way to mount. The solution: some training and a three-step mounting block. We desensitized her mare to this new piece of equipment, and then mounted and dismounted repeatedly in a light, efficient manner, until the horse no longer anticipated discomfort. Then we taught Mary how to mount properly without pulling on the horn, but instead holding onto the mane and rein with her left hand (to protect the horse’s back, and so that if the saddle slipped, she still had something steady to hang on to), and the cantle with her right. She learned to land lightly and to ask her horse to wait until she was organized and ready to move. Soon, both Mary and her mare were enjoying their trail rides again.
Comments
8 Comments on “Is It My Horse Or Is It Me?”
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May 29th, 2012 at 6:03 am
Thank you for the info. I had the same problem, I have a really nice gelding, he waits til get on, and the ok to go. I too have gained weight so I have to use a 3 step monting block. But I’ll try the mane and to moun t lighter. When I ride quite often I do mount lighter. H e also stands quietly while I dismount, sometimes I lose my balance and he justs stands and
waits til I regain myself. There can be other horses doing all
sorts of activity and he doesn’t pay any attention to them, he listens to me. So thank you for the info.
May 29th, 2012 at 6:48 am
Thank you for this article. I as others have also gained weight. I have trained 2 of my mares to stand near an item (picnic table or tree stump) to give me extra height to mount and learned many years ago not to use the horn when mounting. I never have a 3 step block available. And as a last resort my husband or daughter have been known to “give me a leg up” when it’s time to ride! Have a great summer everyone!!
May 29th, 2012 at 7:36 am
At the age of 15, my gelding not only started to fidget, he would bolt off right when I started to swing my leg over his back. And the added bonus of doing the same thing at the dismount. After several weeks of trying to figure this out, and having his teeth, bridle, turnout, chiropractic,saddle fit etc.. checked..someone finally admitted to moving my saddle and accidentally dropping it, pommel first, onto the cement floor of the tack room. We took it to the saddler and sure enough.. pommel cracked just enough to shift when mounting and dismounting. Just enough to make my hot jumper nuts. A new saddle and a couple rides later.. no more problem..
May 29th, 2012 at 11:29 am
I am, 59 years old, also overweight, with arthritic knees. My Morgan/cross mare, wll not hold still when I mount. The last time I managed to get on her by myself, I ended behind the cantle! I am working with her to hold still, but I am unable to mount, dismount repeatly. What I do is, if I’m mounting with my husbands help and she moves forward, I get down and he backs her up “with Authority”. We do this several times until she gets the idea that if she holds still, she won’t have to back up. The tale tell sign is when she licks her lips! It seeems to be working!
May 29th, 2012 at 12:52 pm
This is a great an helpful article. My gelding is an AQH, he has high withers due to alot of racing blood. But even tho he has that he is pretty docil, and even tempered. If I tell him to easy does it, he does, he is just super when I dismount. First horse I’ve ever had that loved me and does and understands what I tell him or ask of him. I’m 69 going on 70. So happy trails all, I sure am, thanks to all the encourageable horse news articles.
May 29th, 2012 at 3:06 pm
My horse too has started to move recently when I get on. I do use a mounting block but hold onto the horn. Now I know that I should just reach a bit more and use his mane. I didn’t realise I was causing the problem until I read your article. Thanks for pointing this out and I will try better next time I ride.
May 30th, 2012 at 6:35 am
I too have a fidgety horse AQH mare but I know it is because I haven’t spent the time when she has fidgeted to get off and correct her. This article reminds me I need to go to the barn and do some mounting/dismounting work with my wonderful mare. We all get in too much of a hurry to ‘enjoy the ride’ when sometimes we need to stop and work on those little problems that can become big problems if we don’t work on them. Today is my day to work on my little problem…thanks for the reminder that I need to do this TODAY.
June 4th, 2012 at 7:39 am
Yee Haw – I had to get a broken back to learn my lesson. After the broken back healed, I took my gelding back to my trainer who quickly spotted my problem. I too was pulling on the horn to get my obese, arthritic self up. Changes in technique have helped a lot. Great article – needed it two years ago!!!