[Hallie]

I work a lot with young horses, and one of the best ways to keep them from walking off while you're trying to mount is to take all the slack out of the far rein when you're getting on. They usually don't move, and if they do, can only go in a small cirle

[BJ]

But then you are expecting them to move.

[Madeline]

Why dose that matter BJ? If you have a horse that you know will want to walk off you should expect them to. Otherwise you will find yourself on the groud. I think she was just trying to give out a general tip to people who have a problem with horses doing this.

[Dawn]

You should always expect a horse or any animal for that matter to do something. If you aren't expecting it, you won't be prepared when it happens.

[TheNaturalWay]

bj is quite annoying really. actually very annoying!!! I used to have the same problem, but i cured it within 10 minutes. I stood her up infront of my shed, and ther was a wall next to her, and i was on one side, so the only way she could move was back. She did ram into me a couple of times...I juts stood her, titenmed up my reins, and just put 1 fot in the stirrup and kept putting weight onto it. The id swing my leg over, put it back etc. It only took me 10 mins, trust me it will work... wink

[Dawn]

A better way to do it is to hold the inside rein tight. That way, they can only move in a circle, but the circle is around you. That way you can still get on. Most of the time, they will figure out that you're going to get on anyway. They might as well just stand still.

[arabfilly]

I prefer to pull the out side rein while having the rein near me just tight enough to have control on that side. I had a horse spin circles around me while I was getting on what a pain till I started pull her head away from me with the far rein she stopped and stood. If a horse learns to spin around you, you have no control and you could get yourself hurt.

[XmasAngel98]

Shouldn't you keep even pressure on both reins? That's what I have always done. If you tighten one rein, then the horse is naturally going to move that way because that's how they have been trained. I always hold both reins evenly and if my horse starts to move I just say "whoa" and pull back steadily on both reins. If she's being a real monster about standing still, then that's all we do until she stands still for me to mount up. I just get on and off, continuously making her stand still and praise her when she is good. It's not just a matter of being able to get on...most of the time I can do that even if she moves off a bit, but it's just the fact that they're not supposed to move off unless told to. Anyway, that's just the way I do it, so I thought I'd post it on here.

[Skipper]

If your horse starts to walk off when you are trying to mount, and you want him to stand still while you mount, do the following:

remove your foot from the stirrup
from the ground, back your horse 3 or 4 steps
tell him "whoa"
and attempt to mount.

if he moves off again, repeat those 4 steps.

Within 3 or 4 tries at most, most horses will stand stock still for mounting.

Don't back them to where you started from, back them beyond that. Your horse may seem like he'd rather walk off than stand, but he definitely would rather stand still than back up.

Give that a try. You don't want him circling you, you want him standing still.

[Dawn]

I agree that they should stand still, but sometimes you must get on a horse that won't and you aren't in the position to retrain it. If the horse is circling around you or just walking forward, you can get on. However, if you get one foot in the stirrup and the horse takes off at a gallop, you're going to get hurt. It would be better for the horse to circle. Just because you have his nose tipped to the inside or outside does not mean that he'll move that way. It will just keep him from running away from you.