Getting Horse to Stand at Mounting Block

[Tory]

I have taught all my horses to “stand”. And not just at a mounting block. Stand means stand. Some catch on quickly, others take a little longer. For me this is a very black and white issue and it is either correct or it’s not. If my horse walks away when I get on, I get off and do it again. For the slow learner this may be the entire ride (getting on and off).

But when they truly know stand it can save someone from getting hurt. Many years ago SO got on my mare bareback at a show. I was packing up to leave and he was hand walking her around. To get on her I told him to use the running boards of the trailer. As he attempted to get on, he slipped on the running board and fell directly under her. She didn’t move a muscle, she just looked at him like he was an idiot. But she knew to stand still no matter what:yes:

[mellsmom]

I succomed to bribery. Mine would walk off… so I would give her a treat after I swung a leg over… she now stands,waites and turns her head back for the treat. There were a few exciting moments when she pretzeled when I was attempting to mount… but now she’s a good girl. I have a hip issue so I need her to stand quietly.

[sascha]

@mellsmom

I succomed to bribery. Mine would walk off… so I would give her a treat after I swung a leg over… she now stands,waites and turns her head back for the treat. There were a few exciting moments when she pretzeled when I was attempting to mount… but now she’s a good girl. I have a hip issue so I need her to stand quietly.

You didn’t succumb to bribery. You used operant conditioning. Bribery would be explaining to the horse that if it stood still for X seconds it would get a treat and if it didn’t it would get nothing.

Judging by you saying there were a few exciting moments when she twisted for the treat but now she stands well, you have used it well and as intended - to increase the duration of the desired behaviour.

[sascha]

@Lord Helpus

I have a horse that backs up as soon as I am poised to get on Any suggestions for that?

Teach your horse to stand, back, and move one foot at a time forwards. Do this from the ground with very quiet voice aids. Move to the mounting block and repeat the commands. If the forwards and stand become uninstalled, use a dressage whip to tickle its butt while you ask for a forward step out of the undesired back up. If you play with it long enough, you will even find you can use reins and whip and eventually just the reins and your posture to ask the horse to step sideways towards the mounting block.

I will never in a million years understand why so many trainers don’t spend the time to teach this properly. Once it’s truly installed, it’s hard to permanently screw it up. Ok, wait, I do know, because time = money, sadly.

[mellsmom]

sacha- psychology major here :-). We are also learning that if we stand appropriately for the farrier we get a treat after each foot. Sure beats her picking him up multiple times… ugh…smart mares

[SuzieQNutter]

When teaching them to stand you put them back here and then praise. It doesn’t have to be a food reward, but you do have to praise. Praise when they are doing what you want. UH UH when they don’t.

[sascha]

Yep, praise, petting, food, whatever, it doesn’t matter. It just irks me that some folks put a big blanket of guilt all over the perfectly acceptable use of food rewards for horses that are food motivated and then call it “bribery.” Jeez, if I could bribe my horse, I’d be broke … oh hey wait

[SuzieQNutter]

What I meant that in all the posts it says put them back. Move them back. But they don’t say praise when they do it and that is the most important part. Praise and you have a horse who tries their heart out for you. Praise can be Good boy or Girl and a stroke on the neck. Not a pat.

[sorrelfilly721]

@sascha

Yep, praise, petting, food, whatever, it doesn’t matter. It just irks me that some folks put a big blanket of guilt all over the perfectly acceptable use of food rewards for horses that are food motivated and then call it “bribery.” Jeez, if I could bribe my horse, I’d be broke … oh hey wait

I was flat against food bribery until I got my most recent young horse. NOTHING motivates her except food. Not pressure, not praise, not nothing. Hold a treat in front of her face and she will stand on her head and recite Shakespeare. I use food to teach her and then stop using it once she learns. Otherwise, she is fleecing me for treats.

[SuzieQNutter]

I had to do the same ith my mare for putting her head down. It wasn’t that praise didn’t work, it was that she had never been trained with praise before. I used a carrot to teach her praise was a good thing and praise has worked ever since then.

If you are praising by patting on the neck. Then the thumps are reverberating around their brain and that is not praise to them.

[sascha]

@SuzieQNutter

I had to do the same ith my mare for putting her head down. It wasn’t that praise didn’t work, it was that she had never been trained with praise before. I used a carrot to teach her praise was a good thing and praise has worked ever since then.

If you are praising by patting on the neck. Then the thumps are reverberating around their brain and that is not praise to them.

Patting on the neck doesn’t mean beating them with a baseball bat or smacking them as hard as possible. A pat of appropriate force (lack of force) can be just as reassuring as any other form of praise. The important thing is that the horse understands that it is praise and not a watered down smack. Thankfully, most horses are smart enough to figure that out when they are handled consistently.

[Posting_Trot]

I have been told that scritches on the neck or withers are the way to go; that horses like them better than pats. I think the main thing is to be consistent and to make sure that whatever it is that you’re doing to praise them is something that is strongly associated with pleasure for the horse.

[AppendixQHLover]

Mounting block etiquette is one of my things I work with them on a lot. My TB when I got him we did a LOT of mounting block work because he hated to stand. It got to the point where he is like yup easier to stand there and behave than circle around and tons of round penning.

My mare on the other hand she stands but she leaps away when we walk away from the block. I will be working with her more on it because I would like to have both feet in stirrups before we walk away.

My new gelding - well new to me. He is a saint. I am hoping to not have to refine his mounting block etiquette.

[Simkie]

@Lord Helpus

I have a horse that backs up as soon as I am poised to get on Any suggestions for that?

I had one with this go-to evasion. I put a longe line on him, and every time he would back, he went out on the longe line, smartly. For a few rounds. Then I’d bring him back in and we would try again. It worked quite well to teach that backing up isn’t an option.

He was also a little nervous, so allowing him some space to get out and move really helped him be calm at the block. The back and forth was effective at showing him that right here we stand stall. When you’re over there you get to trot around. But then you have to come back here and stand still. It made sense to him.

[SuzieQNutter]

@sascha

Patting on the neck doesn’t mean beating them with a baseball bat or smacking them as hard as possible. A pat of appropriate force (lack of force) can be just as reassuring as any other form of praise. The important thing is that the horse understands that it is praise and not a watered down smack. Thankfully, most horses are smart enough to figure that out when they are handled consistently.

The hard thing about patting is for the rider as the have done it for so long and it is a habit. Just watch dressage and jumping competitions when the rider comes outs and is sooooo happy that they pat the horse several times with a metre in between each ‘pat’.

You don’t need to pat. You can stroke, you can scritch. You can pat really softly. They prefer it. But mainly it is the good boy or good girl which you can do from a distance without being near them.

You should have seen Andy the day he decided to duck around a cavelletti on the lunge instead of going over it. I said uh uh. I wouldn’t have gotten a more reaction if I had hit him as hard as I could with a lunge whip!

[sascha]

@SuzieQNutter

You can pat really softly.

That was my point. They like it.

Saying don’t pat a horse is way too vague. There is a difference between patting and smacking. I agree most horses prefer a pat to a smack. Assuming that people saying to pat a horse is the same as saying to smack a horse is silly. It’s not and most people here know the difference. You are preaching to the choir.

[SuzieQNutter]

I have completely cut out patting. As I said it is harder for the rider to do. I catch myself sometimes as a lifetime of patting. They love stroking and scritcing. You can have long strong strokes as well as soft short strokes. Different strokes for different folks!!!

[sascha]

Whatever. If you can’t control your patting, that’s your thing, and it’s good that you’ve eliminated it. Many of us can. Many of our horses appreciate an open handed pat and fully understand what it means. It is also far easier to give a discrete pat while in the show ring than it is a stroke. One need hardly move hand position, and there’s no need to take the reins in one hand in order to give a pat to reassure a young horse or praise a mature horse for something special or difficult that they have tried to do for you.

[Kottbulle]

I had to “resort” to treats with my then 9 yr old OTTB now 11… he just couldn’t get the idea to stand still… It didn’t help that in the UK/Ireland they teach them to circle the jockey before they get a leg up. So he was really trying hard to be good but kept circling the mounting block. The treats got and held his attention so that he could focus on me. IF he moved off we just walked around the mounting block until he stood. I admit sometimes I do move the Mounting block once he is standing quietly to make sure its easiest to mount in there efficient, balanced way. But he has learned to stand and not move after I reposition and climb up the block.
Also something to consider, I would highly recommend you get the tallest mounting block you can find. I bought the # step plastic one. I don’ care if it sets out in the rain and snow, and its so much easier to get on. we had the 2 step and returned it. and mind you I am 5’10" and my horse is 16.3 hds. So you wouldn’t think i would need it but at 45… i can use every little thing to help. I think its alot easier if you aren’t having to pull yourself up into the saddle and can control your descent into it.
Lastly it’s something we continue to work on. Somedays he is perfect and the other day you would think he hadn’t been taught at all. So don’t get discouraged.

[Tigoli]

Mine was perfect at standing still when I bought him a year ago and then, likely through inattention on my part, decided he didn’t feel like it any longer. I’ve found that making him march around the mounting block until he’s bored with it works SUPER well. He likes to test boundaries, so I have to do a reminder lesson every few months, but it works every time.

I didn’t think making him back up or repositioning his haunches worked at all. He just ended up learning to walk backward at the mounting block or swing his butt around. Sometimes he’s a bit smarter than I’d like.