Standing still for mounting

[clanter]

I do not know how my daughter trained her Morgan but he would not move a foot unless it was approved by her

We had the vet over just doing routine stuff, daughter dropped the lead line went over to pick up something, her horse started to pick up a foot…she just looked at him and he put his foot back where it was… vet was most impressed

[S_mores]

@drafting_dots

Yes, definitely this! My horse is very sensitive to correction. When I got him he had a habit of swinging his hips away from the mounting block. If I attempted to correct it by making him move forward, circling, etc. he would just get flustered and anxious. I tried rewarding when he stood still, but the second I started getting on he would move and there was literally no other effective action except having another person stand at his other hip. I have never used treats as reinforcement but decided to give it a try. He learned so quickly and I only used them for maybe 5 rides. The behavior hasn’t come back, but every once in a while when I get on he turns his head around like “where’s my treat?”. Now he just gets big pats

I think my guy would do well with treats as he is sensitive as well. But I’ll try the difference suggestions here and see what works well with him.

[S_mores]

@beowulf

The only drawback to this method is that if someone is not aware that you do this, they can be taken aback by the horse’s neck being practically in their lap looking for a treat once they get on. I once didn’t tell my friend about it and she hopped on my guy and thought he was about to rear! He was just trying to see where his treat was but the sensation of a horse lifting his shoulders and pulling his neck up is not dissimilar to a rear…

:lol:

[SuzieQNutter]

He could also be cold backed and walking forward when mounted can be a sign of that.

Teach him to stand still for everything. Tacking, washing, grooming, everything. Put saddle on slowly, lunge first and then you can expect him to stand after mounting.

[Simkie]

Try standing in the stirrup for a few seconds before throwing a leg over. When I discovered this was the way my OTTB mare liked to be mounted it was like clouds parting and angels singing.

[S_mores]

@SuzieQNutter

He could also be cold backed and walking forward when mounted can be a sign of that.

Teach him to stand still for everything. Tacking, washing, grooming, everything. Put saddle on slowly, lunge first and then you can expect him to stand after mounting.

I’ve heard of horses being cold backed before but never really understood what it was or what caused it? Is it just they need to get used to the saddle on them for a bit each ride?
Though, not sure if that is the case with him because I usually do a couple of circles before I ride and, unless I lunge him long enough to make him tired, he still wants to walk off during/right after mounting

[S_mores]

@J-Lu

Your horse should learn to wait for your next direction when you mount. Make the right thing easy (he stands there) and the wrong thing hard (he has to back up, do work, or whatever if he takes steps on hos own if you mount).

So do you mean if he wants to walk off right after I mount then I should just put him to work?
​​​​​​I’m just wondering how he will understand this because if he walks off when I mount and then I start trotting circles or making him work won’t be then anticipate that as soon I’m in the saddle he’s going to start moving around a lot right away? I’m just not sure he’ll put 2 and 2 together, it seems it could backfire on me?

[SuzieQNutter]

@Smoke

I’ve heard of horses being cold backed before but never really understood what it was or what caused it? Is it just they need to get used to the saddle on them for a bit each ride?
Though, not sure if that is the case with him because I usually do a couple of circles before I ride and, unless I lunge him long enough to make him tired, he still wants to walk off during/right after mounting

Every horse is different.

Basically a cold backed horse is one who bucks when you first mount and then settles and doesn’t buck again.

But there are many different types.

My fellow when he is out of work will bronco buck when he steps forward with the saddle on and the girth loose. I was recently told to back him first and that worked like a charm. Now ‘in work’ he no longer does it. I still ask him to back as I before walking him forward as I feel this does no harm.

Other horses are fine with the saddle but when you first mount there is that period where they don’t walk normally until after a few steps.

Other horses will want to walk when mounted so as they don’t buck. Others cannot have their hooves picked up to clean them with the saddle and girth done up. By this I mean they will go down. This happened at our riding school. I don’t mean what you think is a loose girth, I mean what the horse thinks is a loose girth. She went down on concrete and managed to pull her shoe off in the mean time and twisted her hoof doing it as well as scared the hell out of the girl tacking. As she went down came up, slipped and went down again when she tried to pick up the hoof.

When tacking always brush where the saddle is and put on the saddle blanket and saddle, put the girth down on the right hand side and do it up loosely. Continue to brush, pick out hooves, comb mane, etc, etc. Do up the girth on both sides as you pass.

By the time you put on the bridle and walk to the mounting block or lunge first the girth is tight and you have taken no extra time. This is much nicer for the horse and there should be no ears back or snapping at you when doing the girth up.

With all that done then standing still at the mounting block is down to your training and not the horse.

[SuzieQNutter]

Lung him to make him tired?

Lunging properly in side reins. 10 minutes is equal to an hour of riding. Lunging is not to make them tired, it is part of training and to build the correct muscles, have correct contact and work the horse and make them fitter. You do not need to lunge for long. Quality not Quantity.

Try lunging a horse to make a horse tired, especially a tb and you will end up with a fit horse that if you are not working, which 20 m circles and jumping are not working, well one day the horse will feel really good and want to play and that does not end up well for the rider.

[Angela_Freda]

@SuzieQNutter

He could also be cold backed and walking forward when mounted can be a sign of that.

Teach him to stand still for everything. Tacking, washing, grooming, everything. Put saddle on slowly, lunge first and then you can expect him to stand after mounting.

And I taught Yo the word ‘stand’ also. Worked for mounting at the block as well as ground tying.

Horses can learn a decent vocabulary if you pick a word and use it every time, with consistency in what it means.

[Xanthoria]

@Posting Trot

Clicker training is very useful for this skill. It’s a variant of the treat-training but with the addition of the conditioning sound of the clicker that makes it a bit easier to indicate more precisely to the horse the exact behavior that you are rewarding.

This. I clicker trained my baby to stand for mounting when he was very wiggly. Now he marches up to the block and stands like a rock with his head turned to the right and mouth open PLACE TREAT HERE PLS! until I am on and adjusted and ready to go

[WPeg]

@Smoke

Ok treats it is! So you just hold them still while you mount and then ask them to stand & treat?

If he’s not standing while you mount I’d treat in two phases. You’re going to use anticipation to get him to stand. And you’ll use the fact that most horses will stay put while they eat a treat.

So, get him ready and line him up for mounting. As SOON as he is standing, give him a treat and tell him Good Boy! Most likely, he will stand while he’s eating the treat, so use that moment get on while he’s still chewing. Be patient - don’t try to hold him in place while you get on. Wait 'til he’s standing - then treat and mount.

If he’s still standing once you’re mounted, give him another treat and Good Boy! Wait a few seconds while he chews, then ask him to move on. Don’t try to make him stand around too long at first. You want to ask him to move off before he tries to.

If he walks off while you’re mounted, stop him and rein back to the mounting area if needed. As soon as he’s stopped, give him the treat, let him chew a couple of seconds, then ask him to move off.

Keep doing this each ride. He should connect the dots pretty fast. He will anticipate that a treat is coming before mounting, and after mounting, and start offering to stand to get his payout without you having to make him stand.

Once he’s got this new routine down nicely, phase out the pre-mount treat. Treat only after you’re on.
Continue treating after mounting for a good long time (a month? 20 rides?). Treat from a different side each time so he doesn’t know which direction to reach around for his treat.

Then, you’ve built a habit. Now act like a human slot machine. Treat every other time for awhile, then randomly.

Honestly, this worked like a charm, and fast, with my horse.

But don’t forget to give him a scratch or a Good Boy! if it’s not a treat day. Keep telling him he’s good when he gets it right. It sounds complicated because it takes a lot of words to describe it, but it is actually very simple.

[Palm_Beach]

@Smoke

I think my guy would do well with treats as he is sensitive as well. But I’ll try the difference suggestions here and see what works well with him.

It’s good that you’ve identified that your horse has an anxiety issue - most horses do, and working on that is one of your first steps. He is clearly telling you that he is anxious enough that he can’t control himself when you mount, so he’s flunked mounting and you need to go back and address the root of the problem so you can get on with riding him. If your horse flunks mounting, you should not proceed to riding until you’ve fixed the problem.

Bribery is not a training technique. It’s begging.

Your horse needs to be thoroughly desensitized so he learns how to handle whatever stimulus shows up while you are in the process of mounting and riding. Don’t tiptoe around him and worry about bumping him in the side or touching his neck or whatever. You will find that this overall decreases his general anxiety level. You’d then go through a groundwork program to teach him the correct cues and responses, so when you get on him, you already have him bending to a stop, left, right, move the shoulders, move the hips and the beginning of lateral movement. You’ve already established a way to get him to stop and think and relax if something happens during a ride that upsets him.

[Angela_Freda]

I would also recommend standing at the block once mounted for varying amounts of time.

Initially, while he’s learning to stand, sit longer… quietly… until YOU ask him to go.
Once he stands and waits to be told to move off, vary the amount of time between you mounting up and when you ask him to walk off so that he doesn’t come to also anticipate how long he is to stand there.

I would also make sure you are aware of how you mount… are you slowly lowering yourself into the seat, gently?
Having completely control of your body means fewer miscues to the horse… and fewer misunderstandings.

[Posting_Trot]

I’ll point out that clicker training with treats (operant conditioning) is not bribery. It’s a structured training method that establishes a mutual language between the horse and rider. It helps the trainer slice up the task that is being taught into small, trainable pieces. This then has the effect of lessening frustration and anxiety.

The clicker and the treat serve to mark (emphatically) the exact behavior that is being rewarded.

It’s an extraordinarily well-established technique, and there are reams of scientific evidence to support its efficacy as a training method for multiple species, including horses.

[quietann]

Well, we can have the treat vs. no treat battle again… or not.

I used treats to get my mare to stand at the mounting block when I started riding her after surgery. She had been out of work for 8 months and being ridden was exhausting, and she started oozing away from the block as I prepared to get on her. (Note: I also cut back on the length of the sessions at first; 10 minutes at the walk was too much for her when we started, so I went to 7.) I introduced treats, and she decided to stick around Over time, I cut back until she was getting no treats at all, and she was back to her pre-surgery well-behaved self. Every once in a while (less than once a month), I do give her a treat when she stands still at the mounting block, and should she start to get antsy on a regular basis, I’d do the process all over again. I can get on her from anything.

[RedHorses]

I’m surprised that no one else has mentioned the technique I use. If the horse walks off before I ask, I dismount and take him right back to the block and remount. Rinse, repeat. It works best if I can just back him up into position before remounting. I move the horse to the block, not the block to the horse.

We are most vulnerable in the moment we swing a leg over a horse and I feel that it is a critical safety concern to have the horse stand still for mounting.

[SuzieQNutter]

I have never done it that way redhorses. I haven’t heard of that method before either. One of the great things of being on a forum.

I keep in halt and tap with the whip along the neck, shoulder, ribs and rump , first on one side and the other, before moving off.

The longer you keep them halted, the more time you have at a show to mount safely when they are upset.

[gymangel812]

@RedHorses

I’m surprised that no one else has mentioned the technique I use. If the horse walks off before I ask, I dismount and take him right back to the block and remount. Rinse, repeat. It works best if I can just back him up into position before remounting. I move the horse to the block, not the block to the horse.

We are most vulnerable in the moment we swing a leg over a horse and I feel that it is a critical safety concern to have the horse stand still for mounting.

i do mostly this to get the horse i ride to stand still. if he moves at all when mounting i immediately get off and make him work, backing up, disengaging hindquarters or just a brisk walk, etc. if i am fully on and he starts to move i make him halt. when he is good about mounting i do lots of patting. it took a few tries the first few times but he caught on pretty quick. sometimes he still moves and needs a refresher. generally i can easily get on after the second time if a refresher is needed. also, do not keep moving the block around. keep it in one place and move the horse back each time.

[Come_Shine]

Wow. A few times with treats and this morning my young fellow lined up to the mounting block and stood like a champ. The dressage instructor suggested this 2 lessons ago and now the problem is fixed.

If I had known how well treats worked and how easy it was, I would have done this a year ago.