Has anyone else got a horse that puts their head down as soon as you go to dismount. As soon as I place my hand on the whithers down goes the head and i have to shuffle myself back or end up sliding down her neck!
Horse not helping while dismounting
- Thread starter Welshgirl
- Start date
no but Sofi quite often forgets why she is standing and will attempt to walk off usually when I'm halfway off. Fell to the floor in a heap when she did this the other day and she looked at me as if to say 'oh were you still up there,sorry'
Yes! She's a nightmare! She also has the habit of then wandering off with her nose on the floor with me hanging off her neck! Annoying isn't it! x
The Mark Rashid approach would be to assume that the horse thinks you want the head to go down.
For instance some action of yours like the hand on the withers is being interpreted by the horse as a signal to put the head down.
The first step in such an approach is to look at what exactly triggers the unwanted movement. Many horses learn that at the end of work, going on a long rein is the cue for them to stretch their neck forward and down. So possibly it is a relaxing of the rein contact, rather than the actual getting off?
Or taking your feet from the stirrups may have been in the past associated with the loose rein and so become a substitute cue.
Or the horse is assuming that its work is done for the time being? Whereas the horse is still working (or should be) during the period of dismount.
If you can isolate the misunderstood cue you can then either reteach the horse and get the horse to understand that the behaviour he is offering is not the one required? Or you can remove the unintentional cue from your own behaviour.
It is not possible without watching both you and the horse to give a diagnosis which will then lead to cure. But as a riding school rider I find that this approach to many problems works well.
But with both mounting and dismounting problems you really need to allow time - and take half an hour to teach the new behaviour. And rrepeat it every time you ride.
If you always need to get off in a hurry because your allotted time is over, the horse will continue to lower its head.
The horse may even think that lowering its head cues you to dismount? So you are actually rewarding the unwanted behaviour every time you dismount with the head lowered.
For instance some action of yours like the hand on the withers is being interpreted by the horse as a signal to put the head down.
The first step in such an approach is to look at what exactly triggers the unwanted movement. Many horses learn that at the end of work, going on a long rein is the cue for them to stretch their neck forward and down. So possibly it is a relaxing of the rein contact, rather than the actual getting off?
Or taking your feet from the stirrups may have been in the past associated with the loose rein and so become a substitute cue.
Or the horse is assuming that its work is done for the time being? Whereas the horse is still working (or should be) during the period of dismount.
If you can isolate the misunderstood cue you can then either reteach the horse and get the horse to understand that the behaviour he is offering is not the one required? Or you can remove the unintentional cue from your own behaviour.
It is not possible without watching both you and the horse to give a diagnosis which will then lead to cure. But as a riding school rider I find that this approach to many problems works well.
But with both mounting and dismounting problems you really need to allow time - and take half an hour to teach the new behaviour. And rrepeat it every time you ride.
If you always need to get off in a hurry because your allotted time is over, the horse will continue to lower its head.
The horse may even think that lowering its head cues you to dismount? So you are actually rewarding the unwanted behaviour every time you dismount with the head lowered.
Nim's the opposite, does everthing he can to help you get off and makes it difficult to get back on
My friend rode him the other day and somehow he got his grackle off, we stopped (i was on her horse) and she got off, watching her trying to get back on was hysterical. He just kept doing little circles round her in a "do it faster!" kind of way. Never known a horse not want you off as easily as poss
My friend rode him the other day and somehow he got his grackle off, we stopped (i was on her horse) and she got off, watching her trying to get back on was hysterical. He just kept doing little circles round her in a "do it faster!" kind of way. Never known a horse not want you off as easily as poss
I dismount quickly so even Joy wouldn't get a chance to move
Anyway I'm lucky with her, I set my boundaries and won't complete what I'm doing and will wait until she understands what I want before I do with loads of fuss for her being such a clever girl.
Anyway I'm lucky with her, I set my boundaries and won't complete what I'm doing and will wait until she understands what I want before I do with loads of fuss for her being such a clever girl.
To be honest by the time i go to dismount i am not holding my reins all that tightly at all so if my horse put his head down they would just slip through my fingers and not really cause too many problems.
Generally my horse is so good at the dismount part and stands dead still that i don't really need to be holding onto him when i am getting off- anyone would think i worked him to death- any time i ask him to stop he stands dead still and square and has this "thank god for that" look all over his face! Handy to be able to stop him so still and in an instant but when you are trotting and then ask for halt you do get quite a jolt that is a nightmare to sit to!
Generally my horse is so good at the dismount part and stands dead still that i don't really need to be holding onto him when i am getting off- anyone would think i worked him to death- any time i ask him to stop he stands dead still and square and has this "thank god for that" look all over his face! Handy to be able to stop him so still and in an instant but when you are trotting and then ask for halt you do get quite a jolt that is a nightmare to sit to!
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