Age or Ability or Fitness?

newforest

newforest

Well-Known Member
Mar 15, 2008
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Just reading the mounting thread got me thinking.

I only have a little 14.1hh cob and I struggle to get on from the ground, mostly I use a block/gate. I usually mount very un bhs by "helping" my left left get up and in the stirrup. This does require said mount to stand and stay stock still since I don't have my reins. Think RDA mount and you have the idea.

I wonder if its a my age-you get to a certain milestone and your body just starts to give up. :giggle:
Or my ability-my health issues start to shout that little bit louder than they used to, things ache more than they used to and mucking out a stable is tiring!
Or fitness the more you ride the easier it gets, or a combo of all of them. My health prevents full fitness in the first place.
 
I have a 14.1 haflinger and I struggle to get on from the ground too.

I would consider myself quite fit and healthy but I've never been good at getting on from the ground, just one of those things, not very flexible I guess
 
I have been "helping" my left foot up since I began when I was 34 - so I don't think it's an age thing! 44 now and still the same fitness - if anything a little more bendy through all the horse chores etc!
 
For me I'd say it's weight and size of boobs. It all gets in the way. I'm quite strong and flexible but I defy gravity. Kinder to my mount to get on from a block. Probably kinder still not to ride him at all.
 
Flipo's Mum said:
For me I'd say it's weight and size of boobs. It all gets in the way. I'm quite strong and flexible but I defy gravity. Kinder to my mount to get on from a block. Probably kinder still not to ride him at all.
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Tsk tsk now we will have none of this kinder not to ride him at all!!!!:yellowcarded:
 
I struggle to get on my 13.3 if no one to hold stirrup When I have to throw myself on. Im 22 ... but put it down to my bad back and general unfitness
 
i can get on my 12hh with a stirrup from the ground (but cannot vault on for the life of me!), but always use a mounting block as it's really not fair on her back to be hauling myself up by the stirrup at her size.
 
Flipo's Mum said:
For me I'd say it's weight and size of boobs. It all gets in the way. I'm quite strong and flexible but I defy gravity. Kinder to my mount to get on from a block. Probably kinder still not to ride him at all.
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my boobs are nuisance..Today they are really getting on my nerves :banghead:

With regards to the thread there is not a chance i would ever be able to mount from the ground - pony or horse :redface:. Its safer & easier to mount from a block. I also think it comes down to both age & fitness - i know people who can just get on from the ground who are my age but they are very fit & taller than i am.
 
I am glad I am not the only one who struggles. Being on a yard with those twenty years my junior and I think god I used to do that!
I do use a block where possible or a gate. I can get on from other side, so maybe I am just put together wrong. I can also bend in half to do up the dressage girth, oddly as my instructor giggles. There are ways of doing, then there are my ways because I have to do it that way.
 
I'm 58 and have to try to get onto a tall 16hh... at the moment my foot is about 4 inches from the stirrup - I have a tall mounting block which is wonderful, but I do have to find a way to get on from the ground. still investigating!
 
I used to get on a 16.2 with no problem at all from the ground. That was probably six years ago now!

I can get on Tobes - 15.3 from the ground if I have to. Having said that, there is usually a bank, or a mound or a hill that I can stand him down to, and at the yard I always get on off the block or a wall!

So, I do think as you get older, you get less supple and less springy. Super annoying though, although I console myself with the fact that it is far better for their backs to get on off a block!
 
I can get on from the ground easily enough still - I'm quite flexible despite my advancing years!
 
I can just about get on 13.2 from the ground, but its more helpful to look for a bank or even better a gate or stile. I normally use a block at the yard.

Usually if I am getting on from the ground it means I have fallen off, probably the combination of embarassment and adrenaline help to give me a bit of a spring up.
 
Strangely I still remember doing my exam when you had to mount using the block. Myself and one other were on a pony and we had been told of a different way based on the height of the mounting block in relation to our mounts.
We could not find any info about this apart from the course blurb, but there are two ways of mounting a horse/pony dependant on the size of your mounting block and equine.
I have yet to find any mention of this since either! I wanted to swap to a horse because failing at the start of the exam for getting in wrong would be awful. :giggle:

We all passed but two of us were worried we were wrong.
 
I could still mount Solly from the ground about 10 years ago, he was about 16.2 and I was about 54.

Since then my back has crumbled and my spinal nerve impulses decided to do their own thing and my hips are sort of finished too, and I was very forcefully advised to give up riding about eight years ago. I have ignored that, because (a) the medic didnt have a clue about horse riding and (b) I have very little problems once I am on board.

So I have a lovely custom made mounting block that my lovely OH made for me, and I have to say I would probably still need it to get on a 13.2!:redface: Actually that isn't strictly true..I did mount one of my brother's driving ponies (13.2) from the ground about two years ago.....so I am not entirely knackered!
 
Now what is my excuse then..... I am very fit at 37 train in the gym or out running everyday and before I broke my ankle taught spinning and kettlebell I, struggle to get out of breath unless doing sprint work and can I get on from the ground on with either boys.... I can but it is not pretty and I hate to put them through it.

I use a block when at the yard and if I have to get off I will use a stump or hill in fact anything to give me that extra inch and I drop the stirrups. :giggle:
 
I very rarely get on from the ground, OH will always leg me up or I will find something to mount from.
I find it really hard despite my ponies only being 13.1h :giggle: My right hip is a bit dodgy so I find it can be quite painful mounting from the ground :redface: I am only 23 so age is not my excuse LOL, think its just my body lets me down....

On a slightly different tangent I have very bad asthma, so even though my body is physically very fit my breathing/lungs just cannot keep up....after running for half a minute I am gasping for air :frown: Riding I don't tend to have an issue, unless im jumping 15+ jumps....by the end I am on the brink of having an asthma attack !! :redface: Maybe this is just fitness, but no matter how much exercise It never seems to improve!
 
Vicki100 said:
I very rarely get on from the ground, OH will always leg me up or I will find something to mount from.
I find it really hard despite my ponies only being 13.1h :giggle: My right hip is a bit dodgy so I find it can be quite painful mounting from the ground :redface: I am only 23 so age is not my excuse LOL, think its just my body lets me down....

On a slightly different tangent I have very bad asthma, so even though my body is physically very fit my breathing/lungs just cannot keep up....after running for half a minute I am gasping for air :frown: Riding I don't tend to have an issue, unless im jumping 15+ jumps....by the end I am on the brink of having an asthma attack !! :redface: Maybe this is just fitness, but no matter how much exercise It never seems to improve!
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Vicki swimming is amazing for asthma as it forces you to control your breathing. I was made to join a swimming club when I was told I had asthma at the age of 14. When the weather is cold I have to concernate to control it but I manage really well now.
 
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