Floppy - Large Horses Not Standing Still

[London Rider]

Floppy,

Well done for your perseverance in retraining your cousins horse. But I am totally amazed by the (initial) attitude of her 14 year old daughter.

You said it was a big chap for her to ride. Just for purely practical reasons would have thought she would have been doing everything possible to keep the horse placid before riding. I sometimes ride a fiesty little pony who rarly keeps still for mounting, and end up hopping round the yard with my foot up in the stirrup as he circles around before I get up in the saddle.

Not an ideal situation, but not too bad with a short pony. I would hate to have to do this with some 16hh (or over) horse where I was already "at full stretch" to get my foot in the stirrup. When I have to get on a tall horse from the ground it has to stand perfectly still or I'd never get up there.

[floppy]

Thankyou!

I rode my cousins horse again last week actually, and the horse use to stand still when mounting too but now he thinks its more fun to walk around..and when i finally do get him to stand still for two secs and manage to get up as soon as im seated he wonders off...its a new thing that needs to be acomplished because if for some reason i have to dismount whilst out hacking i expect him to stand still so i can remount! (the horse is 16.8hh, im 1.70cm)
But the main problem with my cousisn daughter was how she treated the horse when tacking up or grooming him!
and just to add to your comment of you having to mount a large horse at 'full stretch' i occasionally ride a horse that is 17.1hh i have to drop the stirrups down at least 2 hole to mount otherwise i would never make it up there! :)
but i guess this is now something i cant help so much with because i only ride him once a week or once a fortnight...and my cousins isnt going away for at least another 5months!

[London Rider]

Thanks for replying. Hope you don't mind me saying but there's a mistake in description of the horses height. Hands High (hh) is a quaint ols English measurement where every hand is four inches .
The number after the dot is the number of odd inches, so the highest number you have after the dot is 3, representing 3 inches.
So a horse one inch higher than 16 hands high is 16.1hh.
Moving up in one inch intervals, from 16hh it would be 16.1hh , 16.2hh, 16.3hh.
Four inches more than 16hh is a completer hand taller so it becomes 17hh, not 16.4.
Sounds complicated, but think it is explained better somewhere in this site.

I expect you were thinking of the dot as a decimal point when you said 16.8.


Anyhow, that's almost 17hh whatever system you use, and that's a mighty tall horse.

How do you get up on these 17 handers ? I'm envious, you must be very agile.

I'd need a pushing from behind (from a close friend LOL) if I tried to get up on one of those without a mounting block.

[floppy]

oops sorry..about the mistake with the hands high...i have measure in metres here and never quite got the hang of the hands high bit... :) well i knwo the round hands high..like 16hh 17hh 15hh etc but with points after them..it always got me lost..but now i know..thankyou!!!!

moutning big buggers??? you have to drop the stirrup length down a few holes and then mount, and then re-adjust the stirrup length when up on bored..oh and not to mention in the occasional case you have to get up in the stirrup and then use the power of you little arms to pull you into the seat :D and hope and pray that the horse is going to stand still and not stand wandering around!

[London Rider]

Glad to be of help with the hh measuring - must be really confusing when you workm in metric and have to convert back to a quaint measurement that's even older than feet and inches.

Know what you mean about dropping the stirrups - I've been there. Got to get up on some big beastie and think I'll drop the stirrup plenty low so I can step up real easy. Then when you're standing up on the stirrup feeling real pleased with yourself, you too darn low to swing a leg over the saddle. Got stuck with my leg half over the saddle once and had to yell for someone to give me a push. Boy was that embarassing or what. Usually you can get away with it on an English saddle because of the comparatively low cantle, can sort of wriggle and pull your way across if the horse stands still. But very awkward / difficult with a high backed western saddle I should think.

[floppy]

hmmm with english tis easy..but with western i wouldnt really know because the halfinger i ride with a western sadlde is 14hh so its easy :D
and she is the first hors ei have ridden western..allt he big buggers i ride are all dressage horses!

[palomino22]

Thanks London Rider for confirming the hands high info. I was actually going to post a question about this, but you've answered it for me! I always thought it was inches and went 14.1, up to 3 and then on to 15hh etc. But you would not believe the times I have seen horses advertised as being 14.4, 15.6 etc. I think not everyone is sure about horse measurements!

[floppy]

i think its easier if the hrose is measure in cms! :D

[LindaAd]

I think it's easier in hands, Floppy: because a hand is roughly the width of your hand (yes, that's why we use them), so it's easy to work out.

[floppy]

yeh i guess...but im so use to cms that i can stand next to a hrose and know how...roughly anyway..not to the exact cms...heh ebut tomorrow i think i will go and try out the hands system..i always found it easier in hands because when i look at the hroses for sale sections here in germany it all seems to be in cms!

[FRED]

Hi floppy,normaly I use a mounting block {big cheat} i'm tall and pretty heavy at 14.5 stone,horse much appreciates
the mounting block.I do practise without mounting block, I get some one to support my lower left leg as i gentely get onto the saddle,I get to ride some big horses,its good if you can have someone around to help,bye

[floppy]

mounting block..ahah...i did think of that mainly because they dont have a mounting block at any stable i find myself in riding big horses...

[London Rider]

Also Murphy's Law (sometimes known as Sod's Law) usually applies in these situations, there's never a mounting block or something similar to stand on when you need it most.

Another solution is always to ride out with a friend - but make sure she's on a small horse or pony. Heard of an incident where a girl fell off and they were both on 16-17hh horses. The other rider didn't dare dismount to leg up her friend because then she wouldn't be able to remount hers !

Another light hearted idea put forward was to invest in a boyfriend to follow you around always ready to give a leg up. This idea was based on the Victorian Equestriennes who were always followed a discreet distance by a chaperoning grooms ready to assist the young lsadies into their lofty sidesaddles. I believe it is virtually imposible to mount a sidesaddle from the ground because the saddle is higher off the horse's back and the stirrup considerably higher than with a conventional astride saddle

[floppy]

well thankfully i dont have to ride these big giants out hacking!just to do dressage...and if i bought a horse...i woudlnt have to worry about trying to get up on such a big thing because icelandic horses dont get that big :D
heh ebut try getting on a little icelandic horse when you are use to riding big horses..i did that yesterday ..the horse was tiny...and i mounted it so large i almost went straight over the other side and my trainer was giggling away
:D

[Liz E.]

A horse at the barn I ride at is a retired race horse. She has a hard time standing still for mounters. My instructor trains her with a crop in one hand and a bag of treats in the other. This is one of the oldest, simplest, yet most effective techniques of training.

[floppy]

horses learn quicker when there is food :D
btu you ahve to be careful because the hrose will get greeedy

[Outrider]

It was in either a recent issue of Horse and Rider or Western Horseman that had a fantastic article on clicker training horses with just this same problem. If you go to either magazine's web site, I am sure they can tell you about the article and reprint it for you. Happy Trails!

[floppy]

yeeh i read abotu clicker training...i tried it on my dumb dog but she doesnt respond...she only learns things if you give her a BIG cuddle and kiss afterwards:D

[floppy]

well its called manners :), and also if you got some form of disability you need a horse to stand still to give you the time to mount the horse safely.
If you got someone there to give you a leg up thats fine but what if you havent and what if you dont have a mounting block?and a young child trying to mount a horse/pony that doesnt stand still..or a nervous rider that loves horses so much and wants to get over their nervousness ..they wont appreciate a hrose that keeps walking forwards or roudn in circles when you try and mount..it makes the job more difficult and daunting in some causes.
btu thats my opinion anyway..

[Louise]

Hunter4life, don't understand your comments. I would have thought a horse that won't stand by a mounting block is a real handicap - especially when it's 17hh.

I'd hate always having to rely on other people to get me into the saddle, ie always need a a leg up. What if there's nobody about ? We might as well turn the clock back 100 years when all females rode sidesaddle and had to be accompanied by grooms everywhere they rode because they had to be lifted into the saddle.

[floppy]

you stretch your stirrups leathers whether you mount using them or not

[London Rider]

Hunter4life,

Ah, so your secret is revealed ! The reason why you have a 17hh that won't stand still by the mounting block is so that it is rather tall to mount unaided and then you have a marvellous "excuse" to ask a nice young man to give you a leg up. Wish I'd thought of that .

Just joking - hope you're not offended.

[sacha]

my horse is 17.2hh. I use a portable mounting block to get on. trouble is if i'm by myself he never stands still. Worse still - if i'm not by myself there is never a goodlooking guy about when you need one!

[floppy]

darn...well iguess we'll have to start partiioning for good looking young men to hang around our yards to help us up on big horses...well on any horse really..hehe
all the men i know that ride are all old...well for me anywya...they are inbetween the 30-60 age and all swiss and rich...my trainer said that if im looking for a nice man with loads of money so i can buy my own horse or two then im riding at the right place :D