I technically mount “wrong” - instead of directly facing the horse or angled towards their head, I tend to face the far hip bone. It allows me to bring my leg more forward and over the cantle, pivoting in the stirrup as my leg comes over the top to face forward. I’m not sure when or where I started doing it that way, but had a bad back for a while that might have contributed to my modified method. I now find it very awkward to get on any other way. 
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Sometimes I had to mount from the off side, which really, really did my head in after 6 decades of mounting from the near side. Currently, McTimoney chiropractor, Thai Chi stretches, walking and swimming keep me sound.
You should find it gets easier as your hips adapt so the shortened stirrup is probably only a temporary measure. On the other hand, give yourself a massive and deserved pat on your own back for getting back into the saddle, however inelegantly, after double hip surgeries!
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years of muscle memory to unlearn. everything about using a high mounting block goes against what your body wants to do automatically. Now your older body has issues. Your minds eye may have different expectation, it could be you are totally fine. I agree, have you asked your trainer to take a look. Keeping the right leg unlocked might help as MsM says
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I realized how bad things were when I went to Equine Affaire. There was a saddle company with some demo saddles. I wandered over after watching a clinic and the person suggested I sit in one. Unfortunately, the buck it was on was quite high, they didn’t have a step stool, and I knew I was stiff from sitting. I didn’t want to struggle in public or ask for a leg up, so I passed! (Wasn’t really a saddle I was likely to buy)
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My mind’s eye definitely does not have the undignified scramble and “oof” that accompanies it 
But you’re right - the years of muscle memory are definitely a battle. Now I get up there and go…hmmm…how do I do this?
It’s definitely the swinging of the leg bit. I hit the top of the cantle and then kind of have to wedge myself over, which my horses are kindly tolerating but gives me anxiety since a. one day they might not be so tolerant, and b. It leaves me in a vulnerable position for longer than I’d like.
I do have the same issue getting off. The longer stirrup means I can’t really lift my leg over the way I’m used to, so I’m half hanging off trying to wedge my leg back over the cantle for much much longer than I feel comfortable. Again, my horses have been super awesome in accommodating me, but all it takes is a spook when half hanging off and I could seriously injure myself. Here I may not be standing up in the stirrup (rather, using it as a brace), and that could be the problem.
I can vault off with short stirrups like it’s going out of style!
Aging bodies are difficult! I should be grateful I can ride at all, but I’m rather type A and I used to be good at this mounting thing LOL so this is just frustrating.
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If this is wrong, call me wrong. I learned to mount a horse facing the rear and that’s how I still mount. @Alterration which way are you facing when you begin to mount?
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You mention that, in mounting with your jumping saddle, you were depending a lot on momentum. And that does mean that you’re probably depending a lot on muscle memory.
So, try just going slowly and breaking down the process into steps. First put your left foot in the stirrup, then balance on that foot on the horse’s side, even putting some of your weight (belly side down) into the saddle, as you would if you were just starting a horse and helping him learn to accept a rider. Then try to straighten up a bit, and then step down. Take a breather. Praise your horse like crazy. Then repeat.
Basically, you want to be able to stand upright in one stirrup on the side of the horse and be balanced before you send your right leg over the cantle. You don’t want to have to do that fast because that’s when your right leg is going to swat into the cantle and throw you even more off balance.
If you’re having trouble just lifting the right leg over the cantle, you should try doing some stretching exercises off the horse to open up your tight leg muscles. But that is a longer term project.
The main thing is to take the process slowly rather than trying to vault into the saddle or scramble madly.
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You will not be able to do the hover and get the other stirrup maneuver in a dressage saddle. I mean, I guess maybe if you’re a monkey but otherwise, the whole idea is that your seat is plugged in so the other stirrup is not going to be in a place where you can get it while having your butt inches off the saddle.
Keep your knee bent as most people’s hips are more flexible with the knee bent and slightly in front of you versus straight out to the side. Place your hand on the withers and PUSH your upper body up as opposed to trying to use your quad strength to pull yourself up.
Think the motion you’d use to lift yourself out of a swimming pool, two hands on the wall, push up to lift your upper body and take your right leg along with it, then swing over when your left leg is straight by closing your hip and leaning forward, bringing the right leg over the cantle.
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The best thing is to get a taller mounting block that’s tall enough you don’t have to do the hop-hop-jump thing to get high enough to swing your leg over. And many horse are perfectly happy lining up to a block for you to dismount too - I’ll do that when my back is really bad.
Also, try leaning further forward both mounting and dismounting.
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I do not know if this will help you.
One day I was riding an 18.2 hand half draft horse in a Wintec Wide saddle. I went to dismount. I had big difficulties, I could dismount fine in a jumping saddle by putting my stiffened left arm on the front of the jumping flap and leaning on it. Without the jumping flap I was there, 6 feet above the ground, totally unable to get my seat enough out of the saddle so I could swing my right leg over the cantle.
I finally figured out that my left knee and its gripping muscles were no longer strong enough for me to get out of the saddle without leaning on somewhere forward on the saddle. I solved my problem by getting someone to press my left knee into the saddle flap, then I had no problems dismounting. Now the ladies who help me ride automatically come up and press my left knee into the saddle even in jumping saddles, by the end of my ride I am often too tired to get up off the seat of the saddle by myself.
Another time I got my right leg hung up on the right side of the cantle the last time I tried to vault off the saddle. There I was, hanging off the left side of the horse, trapped. The horse just stood there, sort of tense, while my riding teacher ran to help me. I never tried to vault off again, my body lost its ability to do so.
IF you have someone around could you ask them to press your left knee into the saddle flap before you try and swing your right leg over the cantle? It would make your knee feel more secure and help it work better.
Nowadays I will refuse to try to get into or ride in a saddle with a high cantle.
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It’s really embarrassing when you can’t swing your right leg over the saddle… to dismount.
Ask me how I know
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When I bought my current saddle, I ordered it with the lowest possible cantle. It helps a lot.
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Not a big fan of the dressage video. My main problem is putting the right hand on the cantle of the saddle. This causes most people to pull the saddle towards them as they mount, and or smash the cantle down into the horses back because they’re not using their leg strength to step up. Also, if you’re getting on a lot of green horses or Horses who move when you mount, in order to swing your leg around into place you have to move your right hand. So now for a moment you have only her left hand on your left foot touching the horse. Don’t like that at all, you can’t step off gracefully at that moment.
This is a great video, guy getting on Western Horse with no girth. It’s the same process with an English saddle. The key is to stay close, face forward, and get the right hand way over on the right side of the horse on the front of the saddle down where the fork of the saddle is. This way you already have your hand on the other side of the horse, and you step up quickly as she suggests and lean across the horse. You should be able to do this without pulling on the saddle at all.
My suggestion for mounting with a longer stirrups is that you have to really lay down on your tummy and get your head low in order to kick your right leg up over the cantle.
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And I almost killed myself getting OUT of one last year. Who knew it could be so hard, LOL!
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Right! This getting on and off business is tricky
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English saddle, NO problem! Stick a horn on it, and uh oh!!!
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Taller than 4 steps? My left stirrup would be below the mounting block…
Ah HA! I do put my hand on the pommel but I have never put any weight there, assuming that it might potentially put unwanted pressure on the withers. This could definitely affect it.
I’m sure I have my knee bent as I’m pathetic with my leg out to the side (even when putting weight on it, I can’t really have my legs that far apart unless my knees are bent - seems to be a function of not being able to rotate my hips.
When you get off, are you saying that you keep your left foot in the stirrup? I was always taught (and I started off in a jumping saddle) that you kick out both stirrups and get off. Super important on greenies to master that technique. Maybe that will help with the get off…or not at all, LOL! I might make another suggestion, since you talk about needing to “open your hips”, that maybe shorten both stirrups a bit for now. Perhaps you’re struggling because you’ve gone from super short to super (too) long. ??? Just a thought…
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This is another one of those weird ones. In a jumping saddle, I can do the pinch with the knee and swing my leg off without the stirrup. Or, I simply sort of prop with my left foot, and it’s enough to pop my right leg over before quickly kicking free - takes a half second or less.
With my dressage saddle, in order to have my leg behind the TINY block that I have (Passier GG…very small block), my stirrups have to be a tad longer. They are not long enough for me to not have my heel down, but they ARE long enough that standing up in the tack only gets me about an inch out of the saddle which is not enough to swing my leg over - BUT it could be that I’m not pushing up enough, but instead relying on my stirrup to do it (see my reply to @lazaret) for details.
Not having my stirrup in my dressage saddle means that my thigh isn’t forward enough (can’t go over the small block) to really get the purchase to use my knee to lift me enough to get my right leg over.
Man, this is hard to describe!
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