03/09/2022
Warning, this is long. Why? Because it is something that too many of us don’t care about, or try to do better. Let’s talk about a fundamental riding skill that gets skipped, all too often. Let’s launch a discussion on the mounting of the horse.
While I know for certain that all of my horses prefer me to use the mounting block, as I am simply lowering my bodyweight sideways and down onto the saddle, I feel that they—and I—also must know how to mount from the ground. This is easier said, than done, the farther up our horses’ withers reach above us!
With super-tall horses, such as so many Warmbloods, it is absolutely correct to lower your 'English' stirrup leather to the max and to teach your horse to wait while you shorten it again, once you are in the saddle. Teach him to stand while you do this with your feet still in the stirrups, your left index finger quickly putting the buckle into the usual hole, while your left foot steps down on the stirrup to run the buckle right back up to the stirrup bar. With some practice, it is neat, safe and fast.
For now, even if this is not in your repertoire, let us imagine that this mounting from the ground is still doable. Once upon a time, junior equitation and horsemanship classes ALL required the judge to see the riders mount and dismount their horses. This is one of the places I feel modern class requirements are lacking and where training for competition can be a healthy thing.
Common sense tells us that being able to regain the saddle, without a mounting block, truck deck or stump, is a safety issue. This, particularly if you venture out of the arena with your horse and if you’ve been following me for any time now, you know that I really wish you would!
While mounting from the ground, you can see by my stirrups that the saddle is pulled somewhat to the side of the horse. But when we use only our set of steps to mount up, our horses are not learning the fundamental safety skill of standing foursquare and counter-balancing us, as we arise.
Learning how to stand, braced but without worry or tension and without moving off, is a mark of the well-schooled saddle horse… whether or not it is in his best interests to be asked to do so every day. I have come to the balance of knowing that I don’t need my horses to be mounted this way but I don’t want to leave any gaping holes in the understanding of their jobs.
Just as it may not be in my body’s best interests to carry a thirty-pound sack of dog food, I do this because I can’t rely on someone else to help. I do endeavour to do so in a manner that uses my body to advantage and lowers the ill effects of poor technique. I feel it is much the same with my horses.
So, the horse stands squarely, or even with the front legs planted fairly wide. On young or smaller horses, I will actually rock the saddle back and forth at the withers until he assumes this stance. He is taught to stand without an undue amount of pressure on his head and I will mount and dismount, repeatedly, until this key concept finally, finally, sinks into his wee brain.
Standing still for mounting, whether under saddle or put to the carriage, is non-negotiable!
I have made it a practice to put my foot, both the left and right—but one at a time!—on my bathroom vanity while I am brushing my teeth. This laughably simple exercise, done for a few moments daily, has changed how easily I can balance while gaining my stirrup, reaching up with my arms and bending at the midriff. I have one of my riding students to thank for this tip and I urge you to try it.
Many of us will have varied and lengthy reasons why we cannot mount a horse correctly. If this is you, please ensure that someone who is able can school your horse to accept and understand how to stand still and be mounted from the ground. Safety demands this. Even if you regularly use mounting steps, as I now do, we still want to ensure that our technique is good because building muscle memory in riding is everything. Fixing our shoddy habits, born no doubt from familiarity and the repetition of years, is so very hard.
Around the world and in various disciplines, we have differing methods as to whether we face the side, or the rear, of the horse. No matter. Just ensure that your foot is in the stirrup in such a way that you will pivot on your left knee enough to keep the toe of your boot out of the horse’s side, or elbow. Ask someone to watch your left boot if you’re not sure.
Next, I am requiring of myself to hold a length of mane hair in with the reins in the left hand, my knuckles dug right into the crest. This stabilizes myself while mounting, dividing my pull equally between my left and right hands. A crest hold also reaches deep within a horse’s inborn reactions—both with the earliest memories with his mother, or when a stallion mounts a mare—for it’s an inherent cue to freeze. That pressure on the top of the neck, just behind the crest, means ‘stay put’. Knowing horse language can help us here.
I will then place my right hand as far to the front and as low on the saddle as is possible, to keep the pull over the girth and not along the back of the cantle. Whenever we grab the rear part of the saddle, English or Western, we are forced to move our right hand to the front part of the saddle at the exact same time as we are swinging our leg over… we have let go our solid mooring at the very moment we are most vulnerable. If our right hand is ahead of our leg when we sit, we will never have to let go and we can lower ourselves with stability.
We know when our technique is good, because we will not need to straighten the saddle much, if at all, when we are on. Some of us, should our saddles fit well and our horses be quiet ones, will actually be able to mount up easily on a dare, without the saddle even being girthed up. It’s a fun way to earn a bet on a quiet horse!
Take a slight hop or two, if necessary, springing upwards while straightening your left knee. It is the pulling with our arms and hanging from the side that pulls the saddle off-centre and the horse off-balance. This dead weight from one side is what wreaks havoc on the horse’s withers, over time. I do try to mount with some regularity from both sides but I’ll admit my off-side technique is by far the weaker and yes, it gets shakier as I age.
Keep your centre of gravity low and as close to the withers as you can, while swinging your leg over the horse’s croup. Too many of us, from children to seniors, stay stiff in the waist and bend the right knee, dragging this leg over the saddle and horse’s backside as we mount and dismount, rather than lifting and swinging it freely from the hip. Again, exercises for our hip flexors, core strength and balance come into play. Just a few, done daily, will make a world of difference.
Most importantly, sink down into the saddle as though you are lowered by a heavy spring, gaining your turned stirrup with your toe in almost the same motion as you sit. This takes arm strength and a fair bit of core. Eggs left on the seat should not be cracked or broken by your descent! In one fluid motion, you will elegantly and respectfully begin each ride with your horse.
Note that when the stirrup is turned, there is no need for you to bend down and place your stirrup on your foot. Good equitation requires us to school our toe to find the stirrup—and pick it up—without looking.
The whole process is one, smooth action… and not a series of pauses and broken steps. I see a lot of otherwise excellent riders who hang unnecessarily from the side of the horse. Mounting and dismounting are vulnerable moments for riders and it is during these moments that we can be gravely hurt. Get it done without pause but do it gently, with mindful muscle resistance as you ‘land’.
Note that when we train our bodies to mount correctly, we are also building the same muscles and flexibility to DISMOUNT safely. I have ridden out in open country with people, only to find they cannot dismount unassisted... and it is a huge risk to all concerned.
I have often delayed the teaching of a riding lessons, until I can see that the student understands how to mount and gently sit, waiting, without moving off. If this is a problem with you, whether mounting from the ground or a set of steps, I urge you to improve your technique and your horse’s compliance, without further putting it off.
So many horses have to endure our flopping down onto their backs. So many riders have to move quickly, before the horse moves off. I wonder, how many of us—man or beast—begin our rides with this feeling of an ordeal? Every one of us knows this and yet…
Learning to mount correctly is a safety issue and a mark of good horsemanship. If it is in us to do better, we must.
📷 Cattle Cait.
