Going backwards

[Clava]

Hi, my new horse Belle has started messing about when I get on, in particular going backwards. At first it was nerves / excitement. As she is 16hh this is proving a bit difficult as I need a mounting block to avoid pulling on her back. I generally get on on my own (hubby is usually minding the children) and wondered if anyone had any techniques I could use to stop this before it becomes a naughty habit.

[Yann]

The first question to ask is whether you're sure the saddle and back are OK, as that is a common cause of mounting problems. Do you have a mounting block or something else you can use to reduce the pressure when you get on?
Has the horse stood still to be mounted without problems in the past?

[Clava]

Yes I also thought it could be back problems, so I've changed the saddle and I think this one is a much better fit - so you are probably right, but now I have to get her to stand again.

[old_woman]

You seem a little unsure about the saddle's fit, to be honest.

I don't think this is likely to be a naughty habit if she is good in every other way and otherwise quiet. Like Yann, I believe discomfort or pain is highly likely to be the source of the problem.

For how long had you been using the saddle that wasn't too good a fit? For it is likely to take about the same length of time, or more, to get her back right again ... and just using a saddle that you think fits better is unlikely to solve any problems or soreness caused by an ill-fitting previous saddle, unfortunately. At the very least a period of rest is needed so that sore, tense muscles can have a chance to relax or bruised skin and flesh to heal.

More should be made of the analogy between shoes and saddles, IMO.

If you have been made to wear an ill-fitting pair of shoes, you are miserable, in pain, and rightly protest. You can develop a blister or a callous or a corn in a short time, which takes days or weeks to resolve completely.

If you are then given a better-fitting pair of shoes, they initially feel so much better that you give a sigh of relief - but once they've been on your feet for ten minutes, you realise that the blister caused by the ill-fitting shoes is still there, and still hurts like hell. The next day, even though the ill-fitting shoes have been thrown in the bin and the blister superficially dry, you dread putting on your new shoes because of the tenderness of the blister and the areas around it once the shoe is fastened. Even when you have put a special blister dressing on it, you slide your feet into those shoes very gingerly and take a lot of care with your socks and fastening the shoes so the pressure is off the sore area...

And you are a human who is aware that the new shoes fit you well, that they don't hurt your feet like the old ones and that in any case you are free to take them off at any time if your foot gets sore again or the blister gets worse.

Your horse, with its saddle, is unaware of any of the precautions you have taken to minimise her comfort and is, in any case, has no way of telling you whether these precautions are effective or not. All she can do is either accept it dumbly, or protest by physical means.

Sure, it may be possible to teach her to accept discomfort dumbly , and to stand still while you mount - to so desensitise her that she ignores discomfort, just as some people ignore their ill-fitting shoes to the extent of developing foot deformities - but that is not what you really want to do, I am sure.

So you must use your human brain to discover exactly why she is protesting when you mount, and then use your human brain to find a solution to the problem which is satisfactory to both you and your horse.

[Clava]

I think you are both absolutely right. The old saddle was used 4 or 5 times, but she only objected to me getting on the last time. I am sure the new saddle fits and possibly more rest is necessary, but if she has quite rightly developed a fear of anticipated pain how do I encourage her to trust me again?

[Yann]

Breaking the mounting process down into smaller steps and repeating each one until she shows no sign of moving before going onto the next might help. So you'd just get on and off the mounting block, approach the saddle and then step away, lift and drop the reins on her neck, put a foot in the stirrup and take it out again and so on, continually until there's no reaction, training by boredom in effect.

If she moves just patiently walk her round and reposition her, some general ground work will help here too as you're effectively asking for control of her feet. Using poles or something similar to reduce the options for movement in the short term might also help. Using positive reinforcement / clicker training can be really good for this sort of issue although a horse looking for a reward when you're stood alongside is going to swing away from you if you're not careful :)

This stuff will only help if the saddle or back aren't a problem.

[Clava]

Good suggestions - many thanks!

[Drifted]

When I got my boy, he came from a riding school where the horses shared saddles:eek: his top line wasn't good with big hollows behind his withers. I got out the saddle fitter and we did the best we could to fit to his back as it was, with the proviso that if he filled out he would need another saddle. He would NEVER stand still to be mounted. Anyway because of other issues he wasn;t ridden for 4 months and during that time his hollows disappeared, I knew in my bones that his saddle wouldn't be right but tried for a couple of weeks - he still wasn't standing to be mounted. He is now in a treeless, which we both love and I'm sure out of habit wouldn't lead up to the mounting block, spent 2 days just messing about with him near the block, getting on when he would let me but getting off straight away. The upshot is he now leads up and stands every time, I am so proud of him, I think they need to forget previous pain and trust you to not cause anymore. I could cry when I think of how he must have suffered, I suffered with my feet and knees for years and it took a visit to a podiatrist and lots of follow ups to get me right. I think your horse just needs a bit of time, and please do make sure that your new saddle is fitting well.

[AengusOg]

Mary Wanless' book 'For The Sake Of The Horse' has an excellent chapter on saddle fitting, and looks at cases where horses are compromised by ill-fitting saddles, and how some of them recover when properly fitted for a saddle.