# Mount tall horse/short rider



## Endiku

I feel you! I'm 4"11 and ride a 17.3hh TB gelding. Fortunately, I'm flexible,though xP

If you can't get in the saddle easily, I'd say the next best thing would be making sure your horse will STAND STILL and lead right up to fallen logs, rocks, inclines, etc. A horse that skitters all over the place is nearly impossible to mount, no matter _how_ flexible you are.

I generally lengthen my stirrup as much as I can, get my foot up into it, step up, then use my upper body to vault over the middle of the saddle, and re-shorten my stirrup once I'm up. This still requires some agility though, so I'd advise in working on stretching your legs several times a day, holding your foot as high as you can and flexing...maybe some lunges, that sort of thing.

Good luck and lets hope you never do fall off of that horse and never even need this advice!


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## BlackCricket

lots of stretching helps. 
also, putting the horse in a ditch or downhill from you helps tremendously as well if you have access to either a ditch or hill.


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## Appyt

I have seen "help" stirrups that hang from the stirrup or from the horn that can give you those extra few inches when you don't have a stump, log or ditch etc. My friend and I have the same problem(we are old and don't bend/pull up easily) Usually we can find a bit of a ditch or rise in the terrain that helps us enough. The ones I've seen that I would use are a stirrupish piece that hangs from the horn with a strong length of nylon(like heavy nylon cinch straps). I'd think a person could just about make your own.. Maybe an english stirrup would work as it wouldn't be so bulky to pack around. Just a thought.


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## Darrin

There are devices like this: E-ZUP Stirrup Extender

Work on your flexibility and teach your horse to sidle over to a rock or stump then stand still so you can mount.


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## Golden Horse

Or teach him to kneel down so you can mount easily:wink:






That is a truly lovely little video BTW :lol:


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## bsms

I practiced using our pipe corral panels. Figured out which height I needed to get to, and practiced on the lower pipes and worked my way up.

I still find that with my mare (15.3?), I need to face the rear, steady myself with the horn or withers, and jump to get my toe into the stirrup. Then hop to 90 deg, bounce a few times, and mount with left hand on the far side of her withers, and the other on the far side of the cantle.

A poor man's helping stirrup might be an old stirrup hung on a length of baling twine. Use your right foot in the old stirrup to help you get your left foot into the real stirrup. But truth in advertising - I tried the store-bought product, and wasn't coordinated enough to make it work.

I suspect the best answer is to practice on a fence to develop the stretch and strength to make it work. Another thing one could try - just thought of it so it might stink - is a length of 4x4 cut about 8-12 inches you could take in your saddle bag. If needed, put one end on the ground, hold the horn, and step on it with your right foot to boost you up high enough. Then leave the piece of wood behind...might work, if your coordination is better than mine.


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## Courtney

I'm 5'4 and my mare is just a bit of 16.1hh. I just lead her up to a fence, climb it and hop on. I'm seriously debating teaching her to kneel because there's no way I can get my foot up to her stirrup, even with stretches.


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## Darrin

bsms said:


> I suspect the best answer is to practice on a fence to develop the stretch and strength to make it work. Another thing one could try - just thought of it so it might stink - is a length of 4x4 cut about 8-12 inches you could take in your saddle bag. If needed, put one end on the ground, hold the horn, and step on it with your right foot to boost you up high enough. Then leave the piece of wood behind...might work, if your coordination is better than mine.


I've actually seen a short, three legged collapsible stool that hangs from your horn. Has a rope attached to it so once in the saddle you just pull it up. Beats hauling several pieces of wood around in your saddle bags for multiple mounts.


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## diggerchick

buy a plastic step stool. lol


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## Radiowaves

The little folding 3-leg stool is a good deal. I bought my wife one and it works fine. Folds up small and comes with a thin piece of rope that you pull it up with after mounting.

I'm thankful that my trusty Quarter horse is only 15.1 hh!  

Radiowaves




Darrin said:


> I've actually seen a short, three legged collapsible stool that hangs from your horn. Has a rope attached to it so once in the saddle you just pull it up. Beats hauling several pieces of wood around in your saddle bags for multiple mounts.


_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Celeste

Just getting into better shape sounds nice, but I know that it is easier said than done. Here are several possible products.

Cashel Step-Up Stirrup - Statelinetack.com

Economy Leg-up Mounting Assistant - Statelinetack.com


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## xxBarry Godden

A tall horse (anything over 16hands!) and a short rider don't mix - which is exactly why we old timers did not go in for tall horses. 


Nowadays for those owning tall warmbloods and riding English there is a special stirrup set which drops down and allows the rider to get the foot into the stirrup iron. Then it is merely a question of hauling oneself up.

Elsewhere on the Forum there is a thread which points out that there is a degree of strain on the horse when a human mounts up off the ground from the side - indeed some of the contributors say horse MUST only be mounted from a mounting block. Oh My! what would my long dead Auntie Mary have said - she insisted that all of her pupils learn to mount off the ground from both sides. As she would often say: "you never know when out on the trail when a call of nature calls."


No, folks, tall horses present a lot of problems - from fitting a bridle, to mounting up and to dropping off . Not to be forgotten are low branches.

My present mare is 15 hands to the wither - and that's tall enough.

Mind you she was born with a big broad Irish butt - so that carrying the Old Man's broad beam is no problem - she doesn't need long legs to do that.


PS I can envisage a future where '_ye olde knights mounting crane'_ comes back into vogue.


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## Celeste

I think that your mare is going to be really mad if she knows that you not only said that she had a big butt, but then you posted a pic on the net.................

lol


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## xxBarry Godden

Celeste 
- I chose her for her pretty face and foal bearing hips. 
One day I'll introduce her to a Lusitano Lothario.


PS. I'm safe, She can't work the computor - yet.


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## Celeste

If she learns how to work that computer, you are going to get kicked...........


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## Allison Finch

Swim onto him











Look for ANYTHING!


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## xxBarry Godden

_“Riding a horse is not a gentle hobby, to be picked up and laid down like a game of solitaire. It is a grand passion. It seizes a person whole and once it has done so, he will have to accept that his life will be radically changed.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson 

amendment:_

Riding a horse is not a GENTILE hobby to be picked up and laid down like a game of solitaire. It is a TRES grande passion SHARED BY TWO ANIMAL SPECIES. It seizes HUMAN & EQUINE whole and once it has done so, he OR SHE AND IT will have to accept that life has been radically and IRREVERSIBLY changed. PERHAPS FOR THE BETTER.

Magnificent!

But it is a two way process - human with horse, horse with human - to the benefit of both creatures.


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## Celeste

When I was in first grade, Chattanooga local kid's show host "Bob Brandy" came to our school. He brought his beautiful palamino horse with him. We lined up. They had cameras. Fortunately it was not a live broadcast. They put each kid on the horse for about a second and then pulled them off. When my turn came, it took two people to pull me off. I think that they were glad it was not being broadcast live because I created quite a scene. I wasn't getting off.

I was immediately addicted. I liked the feel, the smell, the looks, everything about the horse. I started thinking about horses then and I have never quit. I wonder if that TV program host knows that he started an addiction......


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## xxBarry Godden

DiDi and I have been doing long reining. That means I have to follow her around the arena hoping that she is going to be a lady and walk. The idea is that we do obstacles together. So there are poles through which she must pass and barrels between which she must go. All in all she goes first and I must follow. My contact with her mouth must be light but positive.

All I know is that I get to follow for half and hour or so her big butt. And if I get to tug on that long rein just a little too hard, then she lifts her tail and shows her displeasure. 

Oh My, she has me where she wants me,ie meekly following in her footsteps.
I have to ask myself: "who is in charge of whom?"


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## mom2pride

I teach all my horses to step up to what ever I wish to use as a mounting 'block'. Barrels, blocks, stairs, etc... I am not extremely short, nor is my horse extremely tall, but I have back and other joint problems that make mounting a horse, especially, somedays really kind of painful, so making sure my horses know how to step up to something helps a TON.


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## Golden Horse

Barry Godden said:


> Elsewhere on the Forum there is a thread which points out that there is a degree of strain on the horse when a human mounts up off the ground from the side - indeed some of the contributors say horse MUST only be mounted from a mounting block.


I think you will find that most of will advocate being ABLE to mount from the ground, but out of respect to the horses back, your own limbs and your tack, to use a block, tree stump or other booster when available.

Just because Auntie Mary always mounted from the ground doesn't mean we have to, Gramma Jess hand washed her clothes and put them through a wringer, I'm **** sure I'm not.


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## its lbs not miles

Allison Finch said:


>


 
I've seen horses that were trained to do this (none were mine :-() and always thought to be a great solution. You can't always count on having something near by to mount from or a ditch to put your horse in. In some cases it could be miles before there's something you could use. This technique of the horse lower their shoulder can be done anywhere.

Of course lacking a horse that can do this (like mine) you have to rely on extenders, lower/higher ground, anything you can find to stand on. Or, as when I was 12 learning to ride on a wonderfully patient Percheron, jumping up to grab the saddle and pull yourself up enough to get the foot in the stirrup.


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