I have a damaged green horse. He has joined up well but is very spooky and untrusting.
I have just purchased a dually halter and I have watched the lessons on using the dually make the horse stand.
If anyone has any other tips that have worked for them I would like to hear them.
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Horse Behavior and Training
Horse won't stand to mount
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HI Becky , what tips are you after, teaching your horse to stand? Claire
well i have been riding this pony who had a hard time standing still while mounting. I had to have someone hold him while i used a mounting block. Be sure that the horse experiences no back pain, make sure your saddle fits, and if pain is ruled out, what i did was always rein back the pony a few steps after mounting him and just stand for 30 sec or so. After 20 mounts this way, soon i did not have to have anyone hold the pony for me. Eventually, i made lots of noise on the mounting block, and he was standing still for me. This problem reqires patience and never lose your cool. Never be emabarrased that you may have to back up your horse many times to the mounting position - stay calm, and laugh at how your horse is being forever a 2 year old - as my mom says.
EvyG is on the right track. The problem of not standing to mount (at least from what I've seen) is one of anticipation. The horse associates "let's get going!" with weight in the saddle. He/She is jumping ahead to the next step. You just have to make the next step be "we stand for a while" by doing the rein backs many times. Then the horse will stand still, because he anticipates having to back up, and they seem to prefer standing still to backing up.
Of course, FIRST you must rule out pain or discomfort.
I "accidently" trained my horse to stand quietly at busy intersections until I told her to go in a similar way. I say accidently because I actually didn't think she would ever stand quietly and wait for my cue at an intersection! I would pull hard to make her stop when we got there, cars whizzing by, and she just didn't get why we weren't just walking over to the other side.
This was too dangerous, so I just started a practice of dismounting and holding her til the right time presented itself to cross. One day, we approached the intersection and she stopped at our usual place, and stood there quietly. I thought, "hmm, maybe she'll wait as long as it takes for my cue to go?" and to my surprise, she did! After that, I never had to dismount at an intersection.
I had someone help me 'school' the horse as I was pretending to get on and off, gathering up the reins, standing on the mounting block etc - these were the times my horse was stepping away from me. As the schooling to stand still lessons on the ground, I just converted it to when I was getting on. Once I had her standing to get on we did it a few times from both sides and then put her away, repeating the next day. We didn't actually go for a ride! she now stands very well to get on!
Here is an article on training a horse to mount.
http://www.examiner.com/x-17117-Philadelphia-Horse-Training-Examiner~y2009m8d6-Mounting-an-exracehorse
you're best to teach the horse to stand before you even get on, not so much teach it to stand and stop walking off once you get on! if it stands well while you get on, he's less likely to walk off once you're in the saddle!
Dear people,
I would like to leave a little comment! I have a nine year old ex-race horse, mare, my first horse ever...! She is now for 3 months with me.
She was nervous when I got her, unable to mount, etc etc. I just tought her yesterday to stand still while mounting. watched the video's from Monty over and over again concerning standing still and broke to lead( did I say this correct?? I am from the Netherlands, sorry for mistakes!)
Let me tell you this: first a join up,Put the Dually halter on then the standing still procedure, then she had to follow me while I run away from her ( first resistance , but she got the message very quickly!) and then the standing still procedure again. She stood there like a mouse! Like a rock! Stood there jumping and hanging over her back, but she didn't move a muscle! Jippie ! So, I could mount her with no problem even from the mounting block, while before she blasted away, was dangerous, thats for sure.
Thanks Monty Roberts!! And maybe it is of any help for Bec.
Bye, bye, Jessica from Holland
Have you tried mounting your horse with no saddle?? Also have you tried mounting from the wrong side? See if there is improvement. It may help you pinpoint the problem. My gelding did the same thing, and after mounting from the wrong side a few times and bareback, as well as sitting after mounting for about 5 or so minutes, he has improved mounting from the correct side.