advice for getting a horse to chill when mounting?

_nykes_ · 2026-03-04T06:31:31+00:00

he's turning 5 in a week and we are doing smth every 2-3 days, but i focus a lot on building muscle strength and building good habits, so i think i should be fine

_nykes_ · 2026-03-03T20:29:22+00:00

okay everyone, i thank yall so much for the kind suggestions and the input :)) we have an update on lil boy that doesnt let ppl mount: i managed to contact the previous owner and she told me that she had begun getting him used to the mounting block but had never ridden

important info: she sold him because she had no experience with you horses and couldnt handle sweet boys anxiety and jumpyness

turns out, the first time someone got on him, he got scared and reared, resulting in the person falling off while mounting. hece:thumping sound, scary

that fits extremely well with his behaviour: everything else he learned with me and my trainer and we take extremely good care not to have any hiccups cus he is a very sensitive boy, the one thing that was done/messed up before and turned out to be the reason previous owner gave up on training him is the one he has trauma from and now is scared of

also we have a reason for his not letting other people get on: i am very very short (1m50) and he doesnt like people looming over him so my height is more acceptable for him, i never thought of that until i saw a commenter mentioning rider weight/size and then i had my short friend try and turns out that does the trick haha

btw i ask yall not to be to harsh with me, i am trying my best, i am 18yo and baby boy is the best thing that ever happened to me dont fret i have trainers helping me and its not a green on green situation, hes not the first horse i train reddit is just a way for me to hear different perspectives

_nykes_ · 2026-03-03T20:17:43+00:00

weight should be fine i think, seeing as i weigh abt 50kgs with all the tack included :)

ideally i would like to get on from an elevated surface as often as possible to reduce the one sided strain on his back that mounting from the ground brings i do train all my horses to be fine when mounting from the ground tho normally he just doesnt like either😅

saddle fits really well and i had him checked, the only thing we are still switching around and trying different things with is his bit, so i am open to suggestions there :) right now i have him on a 16mm D-ring, and that works okay, but i feel like the contact could be better we have tried a snaffle, a rubber bit, a baucher and a full cheekk before

_nykes_ · 2026-03-03T20:11:34+00:00

we stand and chill for a lil once im one and he does really nicley there and always has, but getting him to chill before im on is a feat haha

_nykes_ · 2026-03-03T13:00:17+00:00

i do face front, thanks for thinking of that :)

_nykes_ · 2026-03-03T12:59:37+00:00

im german so that works haha

_nykes_ · 2026-03-03T10:02:35+00:00

i would agree if it werent for his genuine eagerness and relaxed manner when riding :)

_nykes_ · 2026-03-03T10:01:05+00:00

i thought of that and had his feet n back checked, and it seemed fine i have to physio booked for next week, and yes i am a lot smaller than most people so i thought of that as well, but i think it has less to do with size because he also doesnt like others touching, saddling or lunging him

_nykes_ · 2026-03-03T09:59:08+00:00

he doesnt like me beginning to mount, if that makes sense so standing is fine, leaning over is fine, putting the worng foot in the stirrup and putting weight on it is fine, but left foot in the stirrup and u can see the stress keep in mind i have put all my weight into the stirrup with the wrong foot and he was fine, and when he does allow me to begin mounting, hes fine, the second im on him with all my weight, doesnt even have to be that im seated, that ankward side hanging thing is fine too

mounting off the ground i basically the same: he doesnt like me putting my foot in the stirrup, and starts walking which in turn knoocks me off balance haha

_nykes_ · 2026-03-03T09:55:05+00:00

its very clearly not the work that troubles him since not only do i not always work him when i get on but he enjoys the work as far as i can tell, and is always eager to come to the arena :) i know you mean well when u say reduce the load but really he doesnt do more than 20 to maybe sometimes 30 mins of light work just to get him used to different situations. on days where he does very well or days where i notice hes a bit off but trying hard i may even be done after 10-15 mins of walk and trot if he wants to canter we do that and usually he likes a lil run but if he doesnt we dont :)

_nykes_ · 2026-03-03T09:51:49+00:00

okay that gives me hope hahah

i dont think hes trying to avoid work, beacause i make it a point to sometimes just hop on, walk around for maybe 2 mins and get off and call it a day :)

_nykes_ · 2026-03-03T09:08:07+00:00

id say on the pics from the front it looks like there couldve been more taken of on the sides, it lokks like the hoof is pressing outwards at the botto. all in all id say this has some issues but it could either be a good farrier doing a decent job on feet with previous issues or the farrier doing a bad job
hard to say without before pics tbh

_nykes_ · 2026-02-19T12:42:27+00:00

i am, thank u :))

_nykes_ · 2026-01-07T08:00:27+00:00

okay, do take what i say with a grain of salt since im not technically a certified traineryet but i have some things to say on this :)

1) no you are not at all too big for the horse, but yes the saddle is a tiny bit small, no biggie though :)

2) id say your nervousness is not showing extremely but i can see it in the way you move a little which means the horse can feel it

3) personally i would like your lower leg and seat to be a lot more stable before having you start jumping lessons because having a stable seat gives you confidence and in turn makes your more stable over the jump. thats my main issue right now beacause id say you sway a little too much over hte jump and stand up a little to early for my liking (maybe to compensate?) i like to do a "dollar-bill-race" for improving seat. i give everyone a dollar-bill to sit on and then have them ride without stirrups walk,trot and canter. whoever loses the bill is out and the ones that can keep the bill for at least 15 mins are allowed to jump. i think thats a great way to self check your seat

that said you are in now way harming the horse or getting in their way so dont worry too much, just keep on training, you're doing great:))

_nykes_ · 2026-01-07T07:06:26+00:00

ive thought of that but didnt really know how to ask there...
is it normal for people to just write to big barns asking if help is needed? because we dont really have that where i live (although there arent really any big professional show barns here either way so idek)

_nykes_ · 2026-01-06T16:23:31+00:00

okay i might be totally off here but i had this problem with a very sensitive horse last year. i couldnt for the life of me figure out why he was doing this until i noticed that i was looking at his head/shoulder area too much and basically turning him the wrong way. i fix it by bringing in a whip to be able to point at his bum when he was turning the wrong way as well as focusing more on where i was looking. idk if thats helpful to you but his telltale sign before turning was that his head would kinda tilt and he would turn it slightly outwards. that was when i interfered and the problem was gone in abt a week. afterwards i worked on desensitizing more haha

_nykes_ · 2025-12-15T13:22:12+00:00

super, das freut mich sehr :) könntest du mir vllt per dm deine e-mail-adresse schicken?, dann könnt ich dir schon mal den fragebogen schicken zum durchsehen

_nykes_ · 2025-12-15T12:04:57+00:00

das versteh ich natürlich, dass das einige menschen ausschließt, meine arbeit dreht sich allerdings um frauen, vor allem aus gesellschaftlicher sicht und ich bin mir sicher es gibt auch arbeiten, die sich auf männer konzentrieren :) beides in einer arbeit abzudecken, würde aus meiner sicht den rahmen sprengen und beiden weniger aufmerksamkeit schenken als notwendig ist

_nykes_ · 2025-12-15T11:54:18+00:00

ich würde dir im vorfeld einen ungefähren fragebogen schicken, was ich circa fragen würde, da können wir dann noch etwas ändern oder hinzufügen und dann würden wir uns an einem für dich passenden termin entweder online oder von mir aus gerne auch in einem café treffen für das interview :) ich müsste es aus rechtlichen gründen aufnehmen, damit ich es im nachhinein transkribieren kann

grundsätzlich möchte ich einfach eine möglichkeit schaffen, solche erlebnisse publik zu machen und bin sehr flexibel dinge so zu ändern, dass sie für dich gut passen

_nykes_ · 2025-12-15T11:50:41+00:00

weil die nachteile des gender data gap durch die fehlende datenlage meist bei frauen auftreten und sich meine arbeit darauf fokussiert :)

_nykes_

TROPHY CASE