Mounting Block Hacks
Are you a rider who needs a mounting block to get on your horse, but you are struggling to get your horse to line up to the block for you to get on?
If your horse is evasive, moves around when you are trying to get on, or just refuses to stand quietly in position for you to mount, here are a couple of easy tips that will help instill good mounting block habits in your horse!
Instead of moving the block to the horse, stand on the block and teach the horse how to position himself in relation to you and the block.
The reasoning behind this is that you may need to use an immobile object to get on your horse in the future - maybe a tree stump, or a rock, or a fence. You’re not always going to have a perfect mounting block on hand, and if you teach your horse proper positioning, it will allow you to safely and successfully get on your horse from any object, in any situation.
2. Use your mounting block to get off, not just to get on!
If your horse only associates the mounting block with you getting on and then him going to work, it’s not going to take long before he attempts to be evasive and tries to avoid the whole ride altogether. However, if you consistently dismount at your mounting block, he will start to associate it with rest, relaxation and the end of his work session. Balancing out his associations with the block will help maintain a willing and positive attitude about the whole endeavor.
3. Avoid tightening your cinch at the mounting block.
This is a common habit that we tend to do right before we get on our horses - checking and tightening our cinch. However, it is not really a positive action that is going to make your horse want to go to the block - you are essentially putting pressure on/around their body and it is just one additional thing that could make going to the mounting block more negative in your horse’s eyes.
4. After you mount your horse, do not immediately walk off.
Spend 30 seconds to a couple of minutes just hanging out at a standstill or, back your horse up a couple of steps and then stand still for a moment before asking him to go forward.
Here’s why:
Your horse will anticipate your habits and start to behave accordingly on his own. So if your habit is to kick him in the belly right away and walk off, he is going to start to anticipate that and move/walk off when you are getting on. But if you always have him stand still and do nothing every time you mount, he will eventually anticipate....standing still and doing nothing - thus eliminating his urge to walk off by himself.
Although there are some horses that need extra correction to get them better behaved at the mounting block, you would be amazed at how much these 4 hacks can transform a horse’s behavior over a couple of weeks.
REMEMBER: Anytime that you can give your horse reasons to WANT to do the SAME things that you want to do, the more he will CHOOSE to do them BY HIMSELF.