Does Your Horse Walk Off?
Does your horse walk off when you are trying to mount? Does he move ahead as soon as your seat touches the saddle? I see this on many group rides and have experienced it myself on many horses that come in for training.
Bill Dorrance said that a horse that will not stand still for mounting is just a few steps from a runaway. Often the root of a dangerous behavior can be found in the smallest of details. Standing still during the mounting process is no small detail. Sometimes the problem lies with the rider, sometimes with the horse. Let's take a look at the responsibilities of both.
The rider's responsibility is to mount the horse causing the least discomfort or stress to the horse as possible. This means not gripping the reins to cause tension in the horse's neck, not poking him in the side with your boot as you insert your foot in the stirrup, not gripping the saddle horn as you pull yourself up, thereby using the maximum amount of leverage to jam the bars of the saddle into his withers. It also means sitting down lightly in the saddle instead of plopping yourself down like you're hitting the couch.
The horse's responsibilities include: finding a way to place his feet for maximum stability before you give him the cue that you are going to mount, standing still even though there is a lot happening up on his back as you prepare to ride off - focusing on you, the rider, and not on the herd that may be moving away or being left behind in the paddock. He should be waiting for your cue to walk off before moving a step.
So, most of us know what we don't want to do. How do we learn to mount correctly and teach our horse to stand still? That depends on the rider and the horse. If we concentrate on the rider's responsibilities first we can make faster progress and avoid correcting a horse when the problem could be with the rider.
When helping a rider learn how to mount correctly I often use a sturdy fence. Many riders have trouble climbing over a fence and then get angry when their horse will not stand still. If you can not gracefully climb over a three rail fence, then you will not have as much success at smooth mounting. For these riders, teaching a horse to side pass up to a mounting block is essential. That way, their horse can be mounted with a minimum amount of stress and strain to both horse and rider. Teaching the horse to do this is a topic for another article. (It's not all that difficult.)
What is the big secret to teaching your horse to stand still for mounting? GET OFF!
That is right - get off. Let me elaborate. When a horse stops walking away at any point in the mounting process the way to reinforce that behavior is to get off, rub on your horse, and start over.
I alluded to the mounting process. At any time in the training of a horse that you get frustrated, there is the need to break the task into steps. The more steps you can break it into, the better chance you have at succeeding in one or more of those steps.
- Approach the left (near) side of the horse.
- Check your cinch to be sure it is snug.
- Grasp the reins and the mane in your left hand.
- Facing the rear of the horse, use your right hand to turn the stirrup to insert your left foot.
- Lift your left foot and place it in the stirrup.
- Turning your body to face the front of the horse, bounce on your right foot a couple of times.
- Gripping the reins and pulling on the mane, bounce up to standing with your left foot in the stirrup.
- Reach over and pet the horse on his right shoulder with your right hand, which tells him your leg is coming over next.
- Swing your right leg over and gently rest your seat in the saddle.
- Release your whole body and allow the horse to stand there without moving.
If at any point in this process the horse moves his feet, go back to the previous step, perform that step and get off the horse. Getting off is the release that rewards the horse for a job well done.
Sit still and allow the horse to stand still. Then get off and reward him. With each repetition sit a little longer before dismounting. If he steps forward back him up and let him stand, then dismount again. Soon he will realize standing still is what earns him the release.
All this can take a fair amount of time. It can also take quite a lot of physical agility to stand on your right leg with your left foot in the stirrup waiting for the horse to quit walking in circles so that you can finally reward him by removing your foot. For a horse that has been walking off for years expect to spend several hours over the course of a month before he learns to stand still.
This is a great training project for the winter months. You do not need much space and your horse will not break a sweat. You might, but that will keep you warm! Contact me if you need a little more help with your horse.
HAPPY TRAILS!
