Making your own mounting block

[WildLittleWren]

Looking for insight from those who have built their own mounting block. It is the next project on my honey do list for my hubby while we are stuck working from home and have more time in the evenings because we are no longer commuting to the office.

I am trying to determine whether to make a mobile wood one (light enough I can carry it around to different locations), or a large, stationary, platform one. We already have a built platform from another project (long story!), so all we would need to do is finish it. However, I am not so sure I like it being stationary…I have a very smart horse (not yet broken so I’m looking towards the future), and she is super smart. I am afraid I may have issues once she is going under saddle if I have a stationary place I mount. However, I wouldn’t get OFF at the mounting block. I always get off in random areas so that the horse doesn’t become accustomed to one place the ride is “over”.

Does anyone have any pictures or plans they used in building theirs? Thank you!!

[Scribbler]

Why not a solid wood platform and then use one of the many available step stool things if you need portable? If you need a full scale platform for people with reduced mobility I don’t think that can safely also be mobile. Too potentially unstable.

[SonnysMom]

DH and ![]( made this one for my trainer. Not portable. Her requirements were to build it for middle aged women that are all bundled up for the winter to mount from. The treads and risers are from Lowe’s. The original idea was that the steps hook onto the box with a diagonally cut board on the steps to a diagonally cut board on the box. Once the trainer decided where at the farm to place it she would screw them together. You may be able to see the diagonal cut board in the picture. They decided to not attach them as they are pretty solid without being screwed together. They have moved it a few times and having the steps not attached makes it easier to move.
Same picture on FB. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200130985423492&set=a.10200130984103459&type=3&theater
I know sometime pictures on COTH are pretty small but I know not everyone uses FB.

I made a slightly smaller one a few years later for a friend. My friend unmounts onto a mounting block all the time as she has bad knees. On my friend’s I spaced the side boards a little bit more so it weighed less. When I stained it I rubbed sand into the top and the stairs while the stain was wet to provide a little traction. We never attached the steps to the box on that one either.

We don’t have plans. DH is really good at throwing things together. If memory serves me the corners are all 4x4 under the deck wood. We glue and screw everything together. IMO glueing really makes a huge difference on longevity for stuff like jumps and mounting blocks.

[IMG]https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/315331_10200130985423492_621885718_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_sid=e007fa&_nc_oc=AQlweX2XihRtF3o-r5OGwgHf_MYpGoOqeEvjaHwm6qrxw8GE0AQLZ2v3Ok0J-pKQ6ko&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=16b5e51fb41ae7ea1acfb2d3fcc4cf92&oe=5ED0CDF1)

[Guilherme]

I need to use a mounting block due to complications of aging. My instructor’s barn has two permanent blocks and half dozen or so plastic two step blocks, and maybe one three step. My tenant uses plastic two and three steppers exclusively. I have a Giddy-Up, portable, fold-able one step aid that I can carry on my saddle. In mounting aids, “diversity” is a Good Thing!

A good horse should be quiet for mounting no matter whether the aid is a step, a platform, a log, a fence rail, or anything else. This is a primary job for the owner and persons who might assist them in developing this equine trait.

The pictured items look really nice. I don’t have that level of carpentry skills so I’ll stick with the store-bought plastic ones.

Whatever you use, make sure your horse is trained to it.

G.

[walktrot]

@Guilherme

I need to use a mounting block due to complications of aging.

I have the same affliction. I could feel it coming on several years ago when I dismounted one day, landing wrong on the other knee. The first having already suffered through several bungled dismounts.

I ride at a barn that has a therapeutic riding program. We have platforms about the size of a sheet of plywood to accommodate a wheel chair. It’s a porch basically. There is a ramp plus stairs on one end and a wall or railing across the back, depending on if you are inside or outside. Pretty much everybody uses them. Several of us dismount there also.

When I’m ready to mount I ask my 16hh gelding for one or two steps back using a soft right rein towards his withers. Then ask him to step forward. What he figured out when I wasn’t paying much attention, is to step his butt over so he’s lined up straight. I don’t have to ask him for that very often now. He just does it.

I don’t need the outside leg anymore to get him straight for the dismount. You need to be a bit more careful getting close enough so your foot lands away from the edge. Another symptom of aging that cropped up is getting the right leg over the cantle. It is unpredictable and doesn’t seem to correlate with anything. He also stands and waits until I’m on the ground and run up the other stirrup. I never deliberately trained him for any of this. It was consistency and repetition.

[ElementFarm]

I like the size and stability of the big non-mobile ones. I just built mine with risers from Lowe’s and pressure treated lumber. It took only a few hours to build, and if I need to move it, I can use the tractor. I use it for both mounting and dismounting.

[Arigold]

Well, I just use a small aluminum step ladder. Very small, I think 2 risers plus the top. Portable, and steady. Works well if horse moves a bit as it can also be moved a bit with one hand. I find the wooden ones to be overkill. And yes, all my horses are trained to stand still - but well they are horses…

[candyappy]

I am using a small black tub that I can just step up on since I am unsure about mounting from the ground just yet after my shoulder surgery in Dec. I hope it is just temporary! If not I will look at getting a proper mounting block.

[Scribbler]

I found a treat on mounting and dismounting worked wonders with my mare. I started dismounting when j could on one particular larger block at my home barn. Otherwise I try to dismount somewhere soft, at our current “vacation” barn it’s a patch of sand.

Once maresy realized I was regularly dismounting at the block and she’d get a treat when I was on the ground, she added her own flourish. She actually gets her belly over the corner of the block so I am totally safe to dismount with no gaps. You can’t really teach them stuff like that. I think she prefers me getting off on the block a little less torque on saddle.

”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹

”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹