Horseback Riding 101

Lesson 3: Leading, Mounting and Dismounting, and Basic Position

Mounting

Go around to the off side of the horse, and be sure the stirrup iron is pulled down. Keep a hand on the reins as you go. Then come back around to the near side, mount the steps of the mounting block. Facing the horse, grasp the reins so that there is an almost straight line from the horse’s mouth to your hand when you also grab a hank of mane in that same hand right in front of the withers. There will be a loop of rein left over. Just let it hang down. Grasp the cantle with your right hand. Put your left foot into the stirrup iron at your foot’s widest point, in other words, the ball of your foot (this will appear again shortly.) Count to three, bouncing on your right foot with a little give in your knee. On three, bounce off your right foot, straighten your left knee until you are high enough to swing your right leg over the horse’s back between the saddle and his tail (this area is called his croup) without dragging your foot across it. Twist your hips as you go so that when your right leg is at the other side of the horse, you will be facing front. Then, using your knee joint, gently lower yourself into the deepest part of the saddle. When you are there, breathe deeply, and find the other stirrup iron with your right toe. You may have to glance down to do it the first dozen times or so, but try it without glancing, as long as you are not poking the horse’s side much.

ABOUT GRABBING MANE: Most beginners think they will hurt the horse if they take a handful of mane and tug on it. It won’t. And it doesn’t come out that way, either. (It does come out if you take just a couple of hairs at a time. But like human hair, which, in circus acts, supports people on flying trapezes, horse manes are built to take it. Indeed, they are there for your support when you begin jumping. And in some ways, they take the place of the western saddle horn for helping with balance. In fact, they are better than a saddle horn, because mane won’t poke you in the stomach if you inadvertently fall forward. And the mane is always there to use, even when you’re riding bareback.

If you are mounting from the ground, the procedure is exactly the same, except that you will need more bounce and more muscle to get yourself up….and you’ve got to be very, very sure the girth is tight enough because it will be taking all your weight; the mounting block mitigates this somewhat.

NOTES ON MOUNTING: Some instructors insist on not ever using a mounting block; others insist on always using it. Here’s the rationale for each belief:

Those who don’t want students ever to use a mounting block do not want the student to be unable to mount without one. But there are times—for instance, with a very short rider and a very tall horse---that even the various tricks of the trade will not work, however. One of those tricks is to let the stirrup leather on the near side down a good way until the rider can reach it with the left foot. Sometimes, that is so far—depending on the disparity in rider and horse sizes—that the rider almost has to go hand over hand to mount. That is both ridiculous, except under necessity such as having to remount for one reason or another out in the field, and cruel to the horse. Remember, when you mount, you are thrusting your entire weight up onto the horse’s spine, and you’re doing it by pulling quite hard against his spine and all the muscles running under the girth. The more easily you can accomplish mounting, the better for both of you in the long run.

Those who want students always to use a mounting block are protecting their school horses’ spines, a very excellent idea. Still, students must know how to accomplish mounting under extreme circumstances, so, occasionally, mounting should be practiced without a mounting block.

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