Training your horse to come to the mounting block for me is an essential technique. To train them to come on either side is not only a good technique but also fun and helps them, and us, to be more symmetrical. I taught Bella to sidle on the left when we started to back her last September. Coming over on the right I started a couple of weeks ago I think and now it’s fun to try either…or both…
This video hopefully shows two of the things I always strive to get over time to make mounting better. The first is asking the horse to square his feet up so that he’s balanced and ready for me to be on his back, the second is asking the horse to learn to sidle up to the mounting block and later whatever I am standing on to mount (ie. gate, large stone, quad bike, another horse!). These two things get better with practise so I will film us again doing these after our first 7 practise sessions to show how we’re getting on with it.
And here is a short update on ‘squaring up’ with Spirit…
This ‘game’ is one I use often to help teach horses (and myself) to become straighter when riding. If your horse is used to a contact then you may find going to a loose rein difficult, try using a slightly loose rein and get the rein longer and longer as you work at it, often a horse can become ‘lost’ if it’s used to a contact so don’t upset it, just try to get on a loose rein as you go 🙂