Wont Stand Still

[cassiejane]

Does anyone have any ideas on how to persuade a horse to stand still when being mounted.  

He is generally quite well mannered but he simply will not stand to be mounted and leads me a right dance. :(

Once you are on he will not stand still either - he wants to be off.

After a few minutes you can get him to halt and stand but he has to settle first.  
He is 17 years old so it might be too late to persuade him at this age and he is a really big lad so it might be that he has been allowed to behave like a bit of a bully in the past (he has been on my yard for just 1 week and came from a dealer so no idea of his background) but if anyone has any tips I would be grateful.

[Funky MeerKAT]

Are you mounting from the ground? If you are I suggest that you should always mount from a mounting block, much better for the horses back and your saddle.

Start by teaching him to stand still next to the mounting block, stand next to it yourself, if he tries to move just keep calmly putting him back into place and leave him alone when he stands. Then do the same with you standing on the mounting block, finally when he is standing still you can get on.

When you do get on insist that he stands still, same thing as on the ground, if he tries to move, straight away stop him, put him back into place and relax, he should stand on a loose rein. To start with he will most likely keep trying to move, so you may just have a milli second of 'give' when he is still, but it is very important that they are there. If you are consistant and get the timing right the still times with gradually get longer.

Always insist that he stand still for you to get on and for a certain amount of time once you have mounted. Maybe for the first few times this will just be 10 secs of complete stillness, and then you can increase the length as he gets better.

May also help to mount in an inclosed area for a while if you can.

[cassiejane]

Thanks I will try this approach - he does get fed up eventually so if I perservere perhaps the messing about will get shorter and shorter each time.

I always use a mounting block or a handy wall - he is 17hh so I doubt I could get on from the ground even if I wanted to

When I am on he wants to walk off and if I try to stop him he goes backwards and gets quite upset.  Once allowed to move off he is fine.  



 

[LoopyLou]

Cassiejane,

I had a very similiar problem with Holly she is also 17.1hh, I did it with Clicker training after 3 days she was cured so to speak.


Louise

[cassiejane]

Hi LoopyLou
I dont know anything about clicker training - can you explain more about how you did it?
 

[LoopyLou]

Hi Cassie Jane,

OK, This is what I did with Becky Holden ( who is the trainer who works with Heather) you will probably need someone to help you with this initially
Day 1.
Introduced her to the clicker, using a target object we used a fly spray, when Holly touched it with her nose click and reward, kept doing it making her touch it twice and things.

You may not need to do the next step but I stood on the offside and asked Holly to move over touching her on the hip, when she did even the slightest movement click and reward, then stood on the nearside and reached over with a school whip touched her on the offside hip and said over click and reward when she moved.

A the mounting block walked her up to it made her stand still click and reward, repeated this a couple of times, if she didnt do it them no reward and we would walk round and start again.

Day 2.
Practised the above things and then at the mounting block, took up the reins made her stand still click and reward if she went to move away from me I would touch her with whip on the opposite side and say over click and reward.
Then put my foot in the stirrup holding the reins but did not mount click and reward, if he doesnt do it and starts to move away take him around again and start again.

Day 3.
Practised the above again before attempting to mount if she stood still and let me get on click and reward if not go around and start again.
Then I had to do it alone, I wear my clicker around my wrist on a band, led her to the block myself made her stand up, click and reward, then mount click and reward I know it's a bit of a stretch to reach to reward from your back but he will reach round for it once he understands.

After that each day when I went to the block I followed the routine, I only have to say over now and she will step sideways if she isnt near enough to the block, and she stands now without having to use anything.

Also I had problems having to get on of for whatever reason I needed to get back on , on a hack so I tried the same methods on different things around the yard, jump wings, gates, buckets so that it I was out I could get on off anything.

Sorry this is a bit long winded, and it may not work for you so quickly or so well, as Holly is only 6, I am not sure if age comes into it, but worth a try.

I hope I have explained myself clearly enough.

Louise

[cassiejane]

Thanks so much - that is a really clear explanation.

What i think sounds hard though is all the coordination required - holding the horse, the whip, the clicker, the rewards and rewarding and clicking at the right moment - so I think you are right I might need some help to get the idea of it.

I dont want to confuse him.

[LoopyLou]

Cassie Jane,

It is tricky at first but you will get used to it, I have my clicker on a curly elastic wire around my wrist so that I dont have to hold it but it is at hand when I need it, also I hate to put this but a bumbag is great for holding the treats.

There is also a tongue click noise you can make, but I just couldnt get to grips with it.

Good Luck its a great tool to use if you can , I also used to get Holly loading with really good success there too, and also the trimmer.

Louise

 

[ros]

These are purely anecdotes and aren't meant to suggest anything at all  

The YO where I am has had a succession of horses.  Strange - most of them from what I can gather have had the appalling bad manners to try to move away from the mounting block when she gets on (current horse included).  He's never ever done it with me.  He stands like a rock for me.  But then, she's a great big fat lump and the saddle she used to have fitted where it touched.  She's ungainly and heaves the saddle over to one side when she gets on.  If I were Noddy I wouldn't let her get on at all.  

Merly used to stand quite well when I first bought him, and when he began to try to move as I mounted I suspected there was something wrong.  The saddle wasn't any good - that was when he first started to object to it, and it was also when I did my saddle-fitting course and learned what I'd been inflicting on him  :(  After I got his saddle sorted I had to get him out of the habit of moving off before I wanted him to, and treats worked wonders.  He's been brilliant ever since, and stands like a rock wherever we are so I can scramble on.  Except when he's impatient to get home, of course  :P  

[Appy2quarter]

Hi there

Loads of good advice on this thread already but if it helps, a little anecdote from me.

My friend has an ex-racehorse who always was bad to be mounted - she literally had to be thrown on as the horse momentarily slowed up past the mounting block!

We went back many stages and essentially re-backed her.  First thing was to sort out her back and saddle (now treeless) and do a LOT of groundwork.  She would always push into pressure when upset and would just trample over you.  One thing we had to practice was her understanding that she could stand still with a rider on as she'd never done it - not when racing and also not with the badly fitting saddle as it hurt.

We then went through the stages described by Loopylou until the horse would stand by the block and would move towards it with a  gentle tap on her hindquarters.  At this point we started practicing mounting.

She is now much much better but we have added a couple of things to the equation-

Firstly I help her by holding the stirrup as she's had a knee operation and cannot mount really smoothly.  We want to avoid any bumping or additional stress.

Secondly, if she walks off when her owner mounts, we just start again.   She gets off and asks again - SO often this is enough for her horse to realise that we'll quietly keep practicing if necessary    

I also do this with my horses if they think it might be a good idea to walk off.  Or I walk them round and back to the mounting block and ask them to stand until I ask, rather than when they want, to move off.  This works very well.

I was so glad I'd done all this work recently when we had to go 'off piste' as it were on a hack.  The path was all dug up and we had to get off and crash our way through the undergrowth after which I needed my horse to line up against a tree whilst I scrambled up it to get on. Bless her, she moved over to me, stood still and let me get on.  


All the best

Appy
 

[cassiejane]

she's a great big fat lump and the saddle she used to have fitted where it touched. She's ungainly and heaves the saddle over to one side when she gets on. If I were Noddy I wouldn't let her get on at all

:lol:    :lol:  Hmmm.....I do hope its not the size of my bum thats to blame :lol:
Dont think so - I'm a size 12!

The saddle is something to check though - thanks for all the advice guys.

[twindy]

Be careful as big horses who have been allowed to go right off when mounted can get "antsy" and result in dangerous rearing when made to be still.

I agree with Funky MeerKAT, be consistant and ask for longer stand still each time, accepting seconds to begin.  

Important lessons:  Before approaching the mounting block, do a little "in hand" work.  Make him stand, move off the whip from both sides, turns on the forehand, side pass, halt and stand, etc.  Offer lots of praise when he relaxes.  

Ask for same thing from mounting block as part of in-hand work.   Important to get off the mounting block and walk a circle before getting back up to mount.   All this will throw him off his old way of thinking and give hime something new to think about.

I hope you see a fast improvement.  

[cassiejane]

big horses who have been allowed to go right off when mounted can get "antsy" and result in dangerous rearing when made to be still.

I have felt as though he might go up sometimes.

I have now realised that he also refuses to stand still whilst out hacking.  I have started to ask him to do so and reward when he does (even if only for a few seconds)  and even during a 1 hour hack this week i saw improvement by the end.

It really needs sorting because there are times when you need to stand still to let cars past and it is dangerous to have him fidgeting and walking backwards all over the place getting upset.

I am starting to wonder if it is the saddle now - because when asked to stand he will often start to walk backwards and get quite upset so I was wondering if the saddle was hurting him and he wanted to keep moving to avoid it.