# Pain When Mounting



## CynthiaAborn (Dec 21, 2013)

My mom has for a while now been having bad pain in her hip/upper thigh area when she goes to mount her horse. The mare is about 14.3 and is a Tennessee Walker that takes a wide tree saddle. She has trouble mounting from the ground and from a block. She can get her foot in the saddle but when she goes to swing her leg over she says it feels like the muscles are pulling and then she is in discomfort for a little while after she gets her leg over before the muscles loosen up and then she's fine. If she goes to ride another horse a little later in the day however the pain is right back. She also recently has gotten a second horse that's a Missouri Fox Trotter that's about 14.1 and a half and also takes a wide saddle and has the same issues with him, as well as when she rides my half Arab quarter cross who is 15 hands and takes a wide saddle as well. I don't know if the wider horses are her problem as we've never had horses this wide before, we're more used to horses that used semi quarter horse bar saddles or narrower and maybe that has something to do with it? She rides in a western saddle btw. Any thoughts on what could be bothering her or anyone with a similar problem. She's in her early fifties and has been riding almost her whole life and never had a problem before.


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## Dehda01 (Jul 25, 2013)

It sounds like she needs to work on stretching muscles.... Particularly the piriformis. There are many stretches that can be helpful.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Does she stretch before she rides?

If not, she needs to start doing that. Age does funny things to the human body, even if she 'never had a problem before'


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## Equistar202 (Jul 5, 2013)

I usually stretch before I ride because if I don't I have pain in my legs and hips. I know the feeling if I don't stretch it's just painful.


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## janinecruz321 (Dec 18, 2013)

CynthiaAborn said:


> My mom has for a while now been having bad pain in her hip/upper thigh area when she goes to mount her horse. The mare is about 14.3 and is a Tennessee Walker that takes a wide tree saddle. She has trouble mounting from the ground and from a block. She can get her foot in the saddle but when she goes to swing her leg over she says it feels like the muscles are pulling and then she is in discomfort for a little while after she gets her leg over before the muscles loosen up and then she's fine. If she goes to ride another horse a little later in the day however the pain is right back. She also recently has gotten a second horse that's a Missouri Fox Trotter that's about 14.1 and a half and also takes a wide saddle and has the same issues with him, as well as when she rides my half Arab quarter cross who is 15 hands and takes a wide saddle as well. I don't know if the wider horses are her problem as we've never had horses this wide before, we're more used to horses that used semi quarter horse bar saddles or narrower and maybe that has something to do with it? She rides in a western saddle btw. Any thoughts on what could be bothering her or anyone with a similar problem. She's in her early fifties and has been riding almost her whole life and never had a problem before.


Maybe it's about her age, she might want to consider therapy for what she feels in her body. Anyway, here's a tip for dismounting - The Fallen Rider: Tips for Graceful Dismounting from Your Horse | Abler.com | Horse Care Tips, News & Updates by Abler |


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