# Ever have trouble mounting at a block?



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Hi ,

I finally had a friend help me make a video to show a technique that I have used innumerable times to get my horse to line up properlay at a mounting block, without me ever getting off the block. It helps a lot when you are out on the trail and need to get on your horse from a log or such. 

(I am dismayed to see what a spare tire I have, but try to ignore!)


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

bump if you please


----------



## Kaibear (Mar 4, 2011)

Hot dang I'm gonna have to try that now! Although I'm sure the results won't be nearly as good. Thanks for posting that! Nice to see you and Mac in person too


----------



## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

That's brilliant!! 
I can never get Lacey lined up with things when I need to get on her on the trail and such (thank the Lord that she's short! Haha) but now I have a really good idea of what to do to teach her to line up with things! That's just great. Thanks for posting!


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

You don't know how many times I see people lining the mounting block up to the horse all tidy like, then, just as they are about to mount, the horse moves, so they start all over; lining up the block to the horse instead of the horse to the block.

Or, they get on the mounting block, edge the horse up and when the horse goes too far, they hop back off the block, walk the horse around and start again.
Stay on the block, bring the horse to you!

When my trainer first showed me, I couldn't believe it was possible to do all that repositioning with ONE rein, and never change. But, it works.
To teach Mac to siddle over to the block , because you may get him all lined up and he shifts his hiney out, I used a dressage whip and reached over him to just tap tap annoyingly on the outer side of the cantle (as far as I could reach) until he moved in any way toward me. Release. Again, and on and on. I used the command, "over!" and now , all I have to do is stand there and kind ove wave my hand in a circular motion, and say "over!" , and Mac siddles over. He is a smart horse!


----------



## christopher (Feb 11, 2011)

what if your horse puts you on the offside? do you keep a hold of what was the inside, but is now the outside rein?

also, for those who don't have their own successful strategies, can this be transferred directly to riding? in that if you mount from the mounting block successfully, but after that the horse goes unasked, could you keep him going in the same tight little circle around the mounting block that you would be doing from the ground if you held the inside rein?


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

*mounting training from ground vs block*



christopher said:


> what if your horse puts you on the offside? do you keep a hold of what was the inside, but is now the outside rein?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
_*I don't think having the horse circle around the mounting block in the Negative reinforcement strategy that you are talking about would be such a good idea. You mean, the "if you won't stand still I will make you move until you are glad to stand still" thinking, right? That would work better from the ground, but for me, who cannot mount from the ground, I would be using the block, if the horse really wouldn't stand still and kept trying to go forward, I would get off the block and work in the cirlcly strategy your are talking about. I would prefer to have a halter and lead or a mecate for doing that , though. My rope reins are not long enough to allow me to do that very well.*_
_*The long and the short of that is that this "trick" is helpful for horses that know the basics of mounting but tend to avoid the block.*_


----------



## KawaiiCharlie (Nov 17, 2010)

im gonna have to try that with lily, she /will not/ stand next to the mounting block, i lead her up to it and she rushes around it, and if i can get her to stand next to it, she move her butt away from me. soo annoying lol 

would really help to teach her this too, because she was originally bought for her owners mum, as a disability horse because her mum has some problem with her leg so has to use the mounting block to get on, and obviously because lily is a butthead when it comes to using the mounting block, she hasnt been able to ride her.


----------



## KawaiiCharlie (Nov 17, 2010)

oh, and forgot to say. Mac is beautiful


----------



## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

This is exactly what I do with Lenox, who has mounting issues, up until she's lined up and decides to move her middle away when I put my foot in the stirrup. Any tips?


----------



## fess1960 (Jan 25, 2011)

Stop, break it down into small steps. Let her rest at the block without mounting and reward with rest and praise....several times before rushing into the mounting part.


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Absolutely!


----------



## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

I've worked with her with this in 3 sessions so far in the round pen. Each time, I lunge her, do some desensitizing, have her follow me around the pen, back up, shoulder-in, etc. After this I bring the saddle blanket in, lunge her while I hold it, and when she comes in I rub it all over, then put it on. In comes the saddle, at which time she usually backs away, so I send her out along the rail and make her trot for a little while. When she asks to come in, I let her, and put the saddle on gently. Walk her around, slowly girth up. Then I put the bridle on, which she's fine with, and send her out along the rail again. When she asks to come in, again, I let her, and rub my hands all over her and the saddle. Then I stand on the mounting block and if she backs away, I send her out again. When she comes in, I line her up with the block and she's totally fine with that. Then I get down, praise her, get back on the block, and put my hands on her while leaning forward. Gradually, little by little, she will stand with weight from my upper body on her, and will stand when I hold the stirrup up and wiggle the horn a bit. Whenever she backs away, I send her out again until she asks to come in, and we restart. She has never let me get past the point of the foot in the stirrup, though. Once, after an hour and a half in the round pen, I jumped on when she started to back away and she took off running around the pen like a lunatic, which is what she did when I first rode her.

When we tried her out, she jumped forward when I got on, but her old owner was holding her so that's all she did. It's not saddle fit, but I have no idea _what_ it is other than a bad past experience. She loves people and attention, but is very timid and it used to take me forever to catch her because she was so scared. Now she rushes to the gate, hoping to be groomed, whenever she sees me with a halter. She's improved so much, but she hasn't gotten past the point of the foot in the stirrup. Once I got on, all three times I've ridden her, she's been an absolute dream under saddle. It's getting on that's so frustrating. I try to keep it positive, I lunge her without saddling her a lot, and do a lot of trust exercises, but I just can't get past this with her. We're thinking of having a John Lyons-style trainer come out that did miracles with Sunny and having him work with Lenox for a while. He costs $200 to solve any problem, and he will stay as long as it takes to solve the problem. He told us how he worked 6 hours once, well into the night, with one horse a few years back who was a chronic rearer, biter, and kicker. At the end of the session, the horse was as docile as a lamb.


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Equiniphile,
You are such a good round penner that I know this work will all put good stuff into your horse. However, when I read this here's the very first thought that comes into my mind, FWIW.

If you are constantly sending her out to work around the round pen, then maybe she is beginnig to feel that this is thea way it's supposed to be. 
"I do a little something, then she askes me to run around the pen, then I do a little more, then I run around the pen". 

Question: are you having her run around the pen on a line or free? And is this a big run around the pen or (if on a line), is she made to move closely around you.?

Maybe you need to slow the whole mounting block process down. Do just as you explained in all the parts about bringing her up, leaning on her , wiggling things, getting her balanced, (with lots of petting and praise between each step) and THEN . . . . stop. Stop while you are still successful.

After you have done this several times (each time reducing the amount of time you spend on the preperatory steps. I mean, if she is ok with the saddle blanket, don't need to be too cautious. Just walk up to her and put it on.
It's possible that since she is a very sensitive horse, that you have become overly accomidating to her caution. That you are being so careful, walking too lightly, that she reads that there is some reason to be timid herself.

I would start being sloppy around her as much as you can without overfacing her. Start moving around her bruskly when grooming, start putting the blanket on off kilter, then repositioning. Stuff like that.

As for the mounting, the thing I showed there will eventually work, but if she is still at the stage of not being able to tolerate a foot in the stirrup, then that is outside of this video. However, you may find that the one rein method for keeping her AT the mounting block may be of some use.

So, I might stop sending her out every time she has trouble at the mounting block, just bring her around and start again, stop BEFORE she gets overfaced.


----------



## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

Equiniphile-
I agree with tinyliny. 
I also might have a suggestion that could be helpful...maybe, hopefully. Haha

So, Lacey used to have the worst habit of just taking off as soon as my foot got into the stirrup. She'd feel me getting up there and since she knows I have barely any control when I'm in the process of mounting up, she'd start turning/walking etc, basically anything she could think of since she could get away with it. 
I tried putting a halter/leadrope on her under her bridle and getting on in steps and making her run (lunge her on the leadrope, I have an extra long leadrope) if she started moving off when my foot went into the stirrup or as I was bouncing around on the ground next to her before I got on and that never worked. She would still move off and I just figured that that method was not for us.

But! Then I tried that method again at my house now that she's home, and we just so happened to be in my driveway at the time, on gravel. So, she was having to trot on gravel. And you know what? After that happened on a few occasions, she now stands stock still until I ask her to move. I can mount from anywhere now and she's like "oh. Ok!" and doesn't move. 
I think the thing was that running around is a sort of reward for her, or at least it's not aversive enough. But, since gravel and asphalt are not comfy to run on, it helped her realize that she really doesn't want to move when I mount up because running is really not as fun.

I was really surprised with how quick of a turn around it was too. I mean, I've been fighting her walking off while I mount for the entire 3 years I've owned her! It was like the lightbulb finally clicked on.

But this is just a random suggestion that may or may not help with your situation, so use it or not.


----------



## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

Thank you both!

I don't use a line with her when I lunge, just because I find it easier, but occasionally I put her on a longer leadrope and ask her to walk and trot around me on a loose rope, and she's great at that. Actually, I don't _always_ send her away, if she's standing nicely at the block and just backs up a little, I'll turn her around the block so she's on the other side of it, and continue to try to work with her that way. When I put the saddle blanket and lead rope on her, I toss it up on her neck, under her tummy, on her butt, even over her nose, and she stands well for it. I wiggle it around and then pat it when it's in place. I'm very gentle with the saddle, however, because she is very wary about it.

I appreciate the suggestions, but I think this one might be out of my league, so if she makes no more progress this week, I'll ask my mom if I can call up the trainer and see when he can come up. I'm so excited to ride her more this summer, she is a spectacular horse and very willing. I just don't know what caused her to feel like mounting is a painful or bad thing.


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I have seen Lennox and she is one nice horse!


----------



## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

Hi there, nice to 'see' you :lol:

Great video, I'm going to work on this with my babies, the ones that I haven't even started to mount, it would be great to be able to get them set up wherever I need THEN think about actually getting on.


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

That is true! (seeing myself in this video kind of hurts. I am so much fatter than I think of myself. ouch!)


----------



## fess1960 (Jan 25, 2011)

Tiny you are a great horsewoman.
Equiniphile is your horse* totally* relaxed at the block?
How long do you let her rest at the block before you mount? Can you relax her rock her back then quit...next time then relax her rock her back put foot in and back out before she braces then rest.... a long time?


----------



## mvinotime (Mar 5, 2010)

Great video! but what I really want to say is can you please please send your horse my way! WOW! EXACTLY what I have looked and looked for and just cannot find....Beautiful!


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

He is a great guy. He is actually not mine. I lease him. His owner bought him when he was a stud colt at 4, left untrained in a pasture. AS a 14 year old girl, she trained him herself and does all kinds of riding in the mountains, WP showing , dressage and just goosin around. 
The video would be better if I had a horse that doesnt' already know that. But Mac didn't know it originally, either.


----------



## dee (Jul 30, 2009)

I just started riding Dancer, although I've had her for almost two years now. She stands great for mounting, but I'm short, fat and seriously lacking muscle (too much time at a desk in my little cubicle) in my legs, so even a mounting block isn't quite tall enough at the moment - I have to resort to a picnic table. The video has some excellent ideas to get Dancer to line up. She's not resistant at all, she just doesn't know what I'm asking her to do, so - with the tips in the video, I just may be able to get her to line up at the mounting block/table/spot without having to have any help with her. 

Thanks Tiny!

(And - don't be embarassed about size. You've seen the pic of me on Dancer. Now that's bad! And that was after losing 50 pounds!)


----------



## netty83 (Sep 21, 2010)

Tiny lovely to see you in person, I love reading your threads and advice you make so much sense to me. The video was great! Just wanted to say great job. Isn't it hard to teach something when your horse can already do and anticipate what you want. When i am with my instructor doing groundwork with the lesson horse to take home and try on my horse sometimes it's really difficult for her to show me as the lesson horse just does it right off therefore i sometimes don't get the chance to see what could happen with my horse. Would love to see more of that kind of thing from you and oh Mac is gorgeous! You have a lovely soft gentle way with him from what i can see from that vid.


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Thank you Netty!! That is very kind of you. You know, I had some challenges with Mac today on a ride out , trailering, and it made me feel a bit low on confidence and I came home feeling kind of down on myself, like I am not really good enough to be showing anyone anything. But I guess we all have those sort of days, and hearing your kind words makes me smile.


----------



## Puddintat (Jul 24, 2010)

Good video.


----------



## Tennessee (Dec 7, 2008)

I subscribed to you because every video you've posted has helped me. 

Thanks!


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I am very pleased. Yup!


----------



## paintluver (Apr 5, 2007)

Wow I am def. gonna try that with my Romeo! That is amazing. And Mack is gorgeous!


----------



## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

fess1960 said:


> Equiniphile is your horse* totally* relaxed at the block?
> How long do you let her rest at the block before you mount? Can you relax her rock her back then quit...next time then relax her rock her back put foot in and back out before she braces then rest.... a long time?


I have just walked her up to the block and then rubbed her, I groom her standing on the block when I'm in the barn, sh is usually very relaxed at the block. When she braces with my foot in, I usually wait until she stops bracing, and then take my foot back out.


----------



## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

Well I tried this out with Fancy today, with mixed success, but I may have cured my problem by watching the video again.

Got her moving into place nicely, but she was swinging away when asking her to walk up into place. I see that I should of been_ suggesting_, forward movement, Oh well that will be tomorrow. 

I was very pleased with her overall, when she did line up spot on, I just decided to make much of her, and not ride, sometimes you have to just stop at a good point:lol:


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Cool! Mac still swings out sometimes, too. He just didnt' do it for the video. You can always tap her off side lightly with a stick or whip and train her to siddle over to the block. I did that with Mac originally, took like an hour. Now I just circle my hand and say, "over" and he siddles over. He is a winner!


----------



## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

As if you didn't already know this Spots officially ROCK

I tried this with Mr G yesterday and he got it after the 2nd attempt..the worst issue I had with him was him side stepping in to close, he just loves to please


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Glad to hear you are getting something out of the vid.
What happened to your shoulder? Says in your signature that you hurt it.

Currently I have pretty much all "ouwies" in remition and am feeling pretty good (knock on wood!)


----------



## VelvetsAB (Aug 11, 2010)

_Great video tiny! _


----------



## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

tinyliny said:


> Glad to hear you are getting something out of the vid.
> What happened to your shoulder? Says in your signature that you hurt it.
> 
> Currently I have pretty much all "ouwies" in remition and am feeling pretty good (knock on wood!)


Definitely a really useful vid, it's so simple and effective.:lol:

The shoulder, mah, I have a trapped nerve, when I went for the x-rays to see what is going on the arthritis in that shoulder is rapidly getting worse, :twisted:

So the good news is the real OOOW pain is easing off now, and I'm getting proper feeling back in my fingers, which is fantastic, the bad news is this maybe as good as it gets:-(

Oh well it's better than the alternative, I'm going to look into accupuncture and see if that helps.


----------



## Lauren Woodard (Jul 7, 2010)

*Curbside Service*

Hey if any of you would like more on the subject, the book Curbside Service, Change the Way You and Your Horse Think About Each Other, is available on Amazon and there's a short 5 minute video on my website ExceptionalHorsemanship.com


----------



## Hidalgo13 (Dec 24, 2010)

VEry good video! I'll definitely try it!


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I have subscribed, ms Woodard.

My llittle video is not so much to train the horse how to come up to the block, as that would take more foundation, but to help you get a horse lined up to the block who already knows what he should do, but maybe is playing a little bit of a game, and is in a bridle.

I see a lot of people who try to position the block to the horse, or get off the block and try to bring the horse back. This is just one way to do this without the person moving around so much. 
If the horse really wont' line up to a mounting block or fence or whatever, then real training is lacking and this little video wont' fill in the hole.


----------



## Lauren Woodard (Jul 7, 2010)

I think you did a great job in the video. Like you, I see a lot of that positioning too, and I love the chuckle I get after someone gets the horse "positioned" and walks around to the block and the horse moves. And on it goes.
If the horse has some training a lot of them will do what your video shows pretty well. Sometimes it's enlightening, not to mention entertaining, to see just how smart our horses are.


----------

