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In the mounting process, I really want a mechanism whereby I can ask a horse to present himself for mounting. When the horse fully understands the implications of this command, then I can be reasonably assured that if he obeys, he probably has no objections to being mounted. To this end, I teach the horse to bring his hindquarters over to a fence so that I can be very comfortably above the horse before I attempt to mount. This also give the horse a safe way to become accustomed to a human above him.
Under normal circumstances, mounting a green horse for the first time can be an awkward undertaking. Either the rider is trying to hop onto the horse from the ground with one foot in the stirrup, or the rider is being boosted by an assistant. During that process, there are many precarious moments when the horse may fidget, move, dance, or even kick and buck. At that moment, the rider is usually in the most perilous position with one foot in the stirrup and half a leg over the horse. The obvious tensions associated with these positions tend to exacerbate the situation.
By teaching the horse to come to the fence and to move closer on command, I can sit comfortably on the fence and carefully and easily mount the horse. If the horse startles or moves, I can hang on to the fence instead of the horse, and I can also call the horse back into position. Furthermore, when the horse is ridden regularly, it will be a convenient method of mounting as the horse will be trained to swing by the fence, or the mounting block to pick up the rider.
In this series of videos, I show that Max is willing to present himself for mounting for both myself and an assistant. I also show what it looks like from the rider's perspective.
This entry was posted
on June 16, 2009
at 6/16/2009
and is filed under
horse,
Mounting,
rider
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