Howdy Friends! What is the proper way to mount a horse? I received this question regarding mounting your horse from a young woman who read my book, “It’s for the Horses.” ... “Recently, I’ve been riding this horse, Rowdy. Whenever I (and anyone else) try to mount him, he backs up. Yesterday, whenever he backed up, I led him around and started again, still he backed up. Any advice?”
My response was… “Horses that can’t stand still to mount have human induced issues, pain from poor posture or saddle fit or other issues. Or fear of the coming handling, poor riding skills, manners or lack of respect for the horse. Horses only ever “act up” as a sign of underlying issues. It is never their fault.
Also not all that many riders know and practice the correct way to mount. First we should never mount from the ground. We should never put one hand on the front of the saddle, and the other on the rear – This will ALWAYS tweak the spine giving the horse a pinch in the back – and worse.
The only way to mount a horse is one hand grasping the mane, the other on the front of the saddle, and sit lightly do not ‘plop.’ Inability of a horse to stand to mount is never the horse’s fault. All responsibility and blame lies with the human. And discipline is never the answer. Also I NEVER mount without doing the pre-ride exercises I write about, teach and promote. Hope this helps.” ~ Gitty Up, Dutch.
NOTE: I found this picture on the web. It’s a really great illustration of a proper mounting posture and position. I thought it amusing as I searched the web for pictures of, “Mounting a Horse Properly,” how long it took me to find a truly suitable one. A lot of poor mounting seems to be considered acceptable. There was one though, a rodeo cowboy leaping from behind, over the rump, I contemplated using. But was not positive everyone would get my humor.
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