Post by Elaine on Dec 4, 2007 12:22:56 GMT
Having a horse who moves when you are trying to get up isn’t the most appealing behaviour in the world… here are some ideas on how to get around it / retrain your horse. If you've any more, just shout! ;D
1. Back to the start – is your horse comfortable for you to stand beside him, and walk near his hindquarters? Will he stand still for all of this on a loose rope? Some horses are not comfortable with people walking nearer to their hindq than their head, and will try to move. If this is the case, you’d want to work on general handling first.
2. Back to the start again – if your horse will stand still while you move around him on LOOSE rein, will he also stand still before you put on girth & numnah? If not, then you need to work on here too.
3. Make your idea your horses idea….. i.e. train your horse to like when you get into the saddle. For example, bring you horse over to mounting block, Spend some time making a fuss of horses, scratching horse there, etc. Do that for a while without any attempts to mount, and horse will twig that standing beside the mounting block is quite a nice place to be. Then progress to putting foot in the stirrup before horse got her scratches, then stand up in the stirrup... then swing your leg over etc.... Each time giving horse scratches and rubs before then getting off again. So horse is a willing participant in the whole operation.
4. Could also be pain – if saddle is hurting horse (doesn’t fit right), or he associated riding with pain (sore teeth, mouth being pulled a lot, sore somewhere) he could move around when you try to get up. If this is the case, you need to take away the source of the pain.
5. Does rider dig toes into horses side when getting up, or kick horse on HQ when swinging leg over? Then horse might also be inclined to move. Don't dig or kick.
6. Move more than the horses intended too. Horses that move about when being mounted, you can also move them some more and give them the opportunity to stand still in the right place. That one works every time, as long as you are prepared to "take the time it takes". So if they decide to move one step away as you try to get up, get off and ask them to backup maybe 5 steps, or do a few small circles, then try again. It might take 10 times on day one (foot in stirrup, horse moves, foot out, horse asked to backup/do small circles, foot in stirrup again, horses moves… etc) until you get to the ‘foot in.. horses stands still’. THEN!! The most important part, don’t try to get up!! Take your foot out, and reward the horses for standing still by giving him a nice rest and rub. Even end the lesson if you like if this was a big achievement for your horse.
7. Useful tip: Before getting up on horse, shorten one rein to ask your horse to turn his head to the side you are getting up on. Then if horse walks off as your are getting up, continue to get up, but your horse will have to walk around in a small circle. Make him walk in a few small circles, then let him stop. The idea is horse moves a step of two as you get up, and the consequence in that he ends up walking a good few small circles. Horse should get fed up of doing all those small circles after a while, and just stand still. But if horses moves AT ALL, do ask for small circles. If you’re not consistent and only call horse on this sometimes (not all the time) it wont work.
8. When you get up, always ask your horse to stand still for a few seconds before you move off. If you always ask horse to walk off the second you’re ass touches the saddle, you’re training horse to move.
9. If a horses does tend to rush the second you get on, maybe get on and then from now on always ask for a step or two of backwards first, then rest, then move off.
10. Lots of small steps. Write down what you want to do. Then write down all the small steps which you need to do to get you there. Then start at the first step, and work on each one separately, only moving onto the nest step when the previous step is perfect.
1. Back to the start – is your horse comfortable for you to stand beside him, and walk near his hindquarters? Will he stand still for all of this on a loose rope? Some horses are not comfortable with people walking nearer to their hindq than their head, and will try to move. If this is the case, you’d want to work on general handling first.
2. Back to the start again – if your horse will stand still while you move around him on LOOSE rein, will he also stand still before you put on girth & numnah? If not, then you need to work on here too.
3. Make your idea your horses idea….. i.e. train your horse to like when you get into the saddle. For example, bring you horse over to mounting block, Spend some time making a fuss of horses, scratching horse there, etc. Do that for a while without any attempts to mount, and horse will twig that standing beside the mounting block is quite a nice place to be. Then progress to putting foot in the stirrup before horse got her scratches, then stand up in the stirrup... then swing your leg over etc.... Each time giving horse scratches and rubs before then getting off again. So horse is a willing participant in the whole operation.
4. Could also be pain – if saddle is hurting horse (doesn’t fit right), or he associated riding with pain (sore teeth, mouth being pulled a lot, sore somewhere) he could move around when you try to get up. If this is the case, you need to take away the source of the pain.
5. Does rider dig toes into horses side when getting up, or kick horse on HQ when swinging leg over? Then horse might also be inclined to move. Don't dig or kick.
6. Move more than the horses intended too. Horses that move about when being mounted, you can also move them some more and give them the opportunity to stand still in the right place. That one works every time, as long as you are prepared to "take the time it takes". So if they decide to move one step away as you try to get up, get off and ask them to backup maybe 5 steps, or do a few small circles, then try again. It might take 10 times on day one (foot in stirrup, horse moves, foot out, horse asked to backup/do small circles, foot in stirrup again, horses moves… etc) until you get to the ‘foot in.. horses stands still’. THEN!! The most important part, don’t try to get up!! Take your foot out, and reward the horses for standing still by giving him a nice rest and rub. Even end the lesson if you like if this was a big achievement for your horse.
7. Useful tip: Before getting up on horse, shorten one rein to ask your horse to turn his head to the side you are getting up on. Then if horse walks off as your are getting up, continue to get up, but your horse will have to walk around in a small circle. Make him walk in a few small circles, then let him stop. The idea is horse moves a step of two as you get up, and the consequence in that he ends up walking a good few small circles. Horse should get fed up of doing all those small circles after a while, and just stand still. But if horses moves AT ALL, do ask for small circles. If you’re not consistent and only call horse on this sometimes (not all the time) it wont work.
8. When you get up, always ask your horse to stand still for a few seconds before you move off. If you always ask horse to walk off the second you’re ass touches the saddle, you’re training horse to move.
9. If a horses does tend to rush the second you get on, maybe get on and then from now on always ask for a step or two of backwards first, then rest, then move off.
10. Lots of small steps. Write down what you want to do. Then write down all the small steps which you need to do to get you there. Then start at the first step, and work on each one separately, only moving onto the nest step when the previous step is perfect.