Training Tip: Are you teaching your horse to have fidgety feet when mounting?

A horse that constantly moves around when you go to slip your foot in the stirrup is not only frustrating, but potentially dangerous. A respectful horse stands quietly while you mount and waits for your cue to move off once you’re situated in the saddle. When most people come to me with mounting troubles, they all share a similar habit – they get on their horses and instantly go somewhere. Pretty soon, the horse figures why wait for the rider to tell me to move? I’ll just move when she gets on me. Then he says to himself, why wait for her to get on me? I’ll just start going when she brings me next to the mounting block. Before long you have a horse that won’t stand still next to the mounting block because horses know what we’re going to do before we actually do it.

Whenever I get on my horses, I do nothing but lateral flexing for the first three to four minutes. I bend their heads from side to side before I ask them to move off. Not only does this get them really soft, but they start to anticipate it every ride. If you have a horse that constantly walks off when you mount, you’ll be amazed at the end of one week how quietly he’ll stand if you do lateral flexing every time you get on. Teach your horse that when you get on, he needs to stand there and wait. That way, the last thing he will expect you to do is to walk off straightaway.