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Monty Roberts Equus Online University
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University Suggestion Box

Very Troublesome Mounting

Hello!
Hi! I watched the mounting block videos and they're useless for the problems I face. Please make new lessons that address how to effectively handle walking away/stepping out from the block before getting into the saddle. Thank you.
JoHewittVINTA
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Hi Cocogoldsmith. Welcome to the Uni. I found Monty Roberts more than a decade & a half ago but long after I had started to question the accepted levels of violence in horsemanship. By 2001, when Bella came to me as a six month old foal & her breeder handed me 4.5ft of plastic pipe saying "you'll need this" I was well on my way to nonviolence. That pipe went straight in the bin! I was way past using that sort of tool. Monty advocates the concept of Willing Partners, for human & horse to build a trusting relationship so their joint performances are enhanced. Yes, the human has to be in charge but even when I started to learn to ride it was always emphasised that after work the needs of the horse came before mine - it wasn't acceptable to leave the horse sweaty & thirsty whilst I bunked off for a cup of coffee somewhere comfortable. I surmise you have possibly only watched the mounting lessons & may even have dismissed them without even trying the process, out of context. Training doesn't work like that. You can't drive a manual car if you don't understand the clutch & if you only drive on roads you'll get into trouble across country, even in a modern 4x4. You've paid your subscription for at least 6 months so have an open, intelligent mind & study the training of Join up, develope your horses trust & once that is established you can address the mounting issues. I cannot describe the feelings I experienced when my young, homebred gelding watched me sitting on his sire, totally unrestrained whilst lying in the field. He came over, looked me in the eye most purposely & laid down. Even I doubted that was truly the invitation it seemed but we all trust our horses to some degree on a daily basis & Kirk is a kind but mischievous soul. I approached him slowly & quietly. I rubbed his neck and withers with my hands, put my leg over his back and rubbed his ribs with my heel. He was totally accepting so I slid on his back, not once, not twice but three times. He made no attempt to get up or object in any way, a fantastic reaction from an animal that had never been trained for riding as yet. That was not a one off event with Humphrey or Kirk and his little sister who has also volunteered for this more than once. Training animals takes time and patience. There is no quick fix. But if the trainer is lucky enough to use the right concepts the results can be almost miraculous. Cheers, Jo
Vee
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed
I found the lessons in mounting quite beneficial with my horse who was difficult to mount.  When I first purchased her, I actually got bitten on my leg when trying to mount.  I took from the lessons that I needed to make the mounting block a sweet place for her initially.  So with my horse, I spent days gaining her trust that the mounting block didn't equate having a rider on her back but scratches and rubs and nothing else.  After grooming her, I would try standing beside the block, then incrementally, getting up on a step, petting her, then down again.   Soon the flattening of the ears whenever the block was near lessened and I could begin trying out saddling her near it but not with the view of riding, just introducting her to the idea of it still being a sweet spot.  Then tried putting a foot in the stirrup and got down again.  It took time but she was very mistrustful of me, can still be at times but the videos, not just the mounting ones can be very helpful to gaining her trust. 
Have you watched some of the demonstration videos?  Getting a horse to stand still is addressed in a good few, not just for mounting problems but washing or for picking up feet.