OPENING REMARKS
Most folks think that starting the day with their horse is when they are mounted and starting to do whatever activities they had planned whether it be work, schooling, relaxation or entertainment. But there is a period of time before all that happens that will set the tone, good or bad, for the day for both the horse and rider. That time begins when you first meet your horse at whatever place is customary and ends when you are mounted on your horse and he takes the first step of the day.
I am going to explain what I do during that period with the horse that seems to solidify our partnership by relaxing both of us and which puts us in a good mood.
FIRST MEETING
I first start to think about my horse when I get up in the morning. I carry those thoughts with me while I am driving to where my horse is stabled. When I arrive at the boarding facility I go to my tack shed and get out all the gear and equipment that I will need for the day. I arrange everything so that it is easy to get to when needed. This includes the grooming equipment, saddle, saddle pad, whatever head apparatus I will be using, rope, etc.
HALTERING
Then, with my halter and lead line (correctly coiled so that it uncoils soothly) in hand I start walking to the pen where my horse is. As I approach I’ll expect my horse to come to the gate, stop about two feet from the gate and face me. I’ll then enter the pen and say ‘hello’ to him, scratch him along the line of his shoulder, do poll flexions to relax him, and give him a piece of a carrot I brought for him because, after all, I am entering his home as a guest and it is just polite to bring something to someone’s home when you arrive. However, I will only do this if I am going to work my horse in a smooth iron snaffle bit or in a hackamore. If I planned to ride him in a high-port leverage bit I would not do this because I don’t want the cannon/cheekpiece area of the bit to get gummed up with the residue from the carrot. Then I’ll open the nose part of my rope halter and offer it to him so that he can put his nose into it as he lowers his head and then put the long part of the rope halter (called the tail) over the top of his head and secure it to the halter loop. As I step out of the pen and start walking to the grooming area I expect my horse to willingly follow me with no drag on the lead line.
GROOMING
Once I am at the grooming area I’ll drop the lead line on the ground and say to him in German Stehen Sie, bitte which means ‘you stand, please’ in English. He is now ground-tied and will stand there until I ask him to move again. If I have to tie my horse to something I will not tie him hard and fast because, if for some reason, he tries to pull back and cannot move his feet he will panic and lose his mind resulting in disastrous results. Instead, I will wrap two or three loops of my lead line over some stationary object to provide some drag to the line so that my horse, if he has to move, can, at least, move his feet and not go into a panic mode.
Then I’ll groom and brush him and while doing that I will softly hum a tune. This will relax him and make the grooming pleasurable. Following that I will then clean his hooves. When I do this I want my horse to give me his foot rather than me taking it.
SADDLING
Then I will lay (not drop) the saddle pad on his back. I will do this from the right side so that my horse gets used to me working on both sides of him which will, in turn, better balance him internally. Then I’ll move to the left side of my horse, take hold of my saddle and swing (not drop) the saddle on his back just a little forward from where it will ultimately end up and then ‘walk’ it back so that it ‘drops’ into the grooves on either side of his withers. Reversing the sides that I put the pad and saddle on helps me to become more dexterous and gets my horse more comfortable with me working on both his left and right sides. Now I’ll reach under his stomach and it stroke his stomach with the back of my hand to let him know that the cinch is coming as I get hold of the cinch. I will smoothly bring the cinch up around his belly and put the latigo through the cinch ring in one smooth motion two times and tighten it up to a point where the saddle will not inadvertently slip under his belly. I will tighten the cinch in rhythm with the horse’s breathing. When he exhales, his ribs will contract slightly and that is when I will tighten the cinch.
Next I’ll approach him with the bridle, place it against his lips and offer it to him. I want my horse to have his head lowered and his nose facing a little toward me (not up and away from me). As he opens his mouth I’ll quietly slip the bit into his mouth. If it is a cold day I’ll hold the iron bit in my hand for a few minutes to warm if up before offering it to my horse. I will not force the bit into his mouth. If he does not immediately offer to take the bit, I will remove it and start over again until he willingly accepts it. This should not be a problem because I will have worked on this as one of the things I do to prepare my horse to accept all the equipment that I will put on him for the rest of the time that we are together. Next I’ll slip the headstall over his head being careful to not twist his ears while doing this. I would have dropped the sides of the headstall one hole before putting it on his head so that it is easier to put on the horse. Once the bridle is securely on the horse’s head I will again adjust the headstall by tightening it one one hole.
At this stage of the proceedings the ground preparation phase is completed.I am almost ready to begin the day. Now all I have to do is get into the saddle.
My horse will follow about two feet behind me as we travel to the work area. After moving a short distance, I will stop and tighten my cinch a second time and then continue on. When I reach the work area, be it an enclosure such as a round pen, square pen, an arena or an open area I will for a third time check and tighten my cinch to ensure that it is securely on the horse. Only then will I be prepared to mount.
GROUND MOUNTING
If I am mounting from the ground I will first make sure that my horse is standing square with equal weight on all four feet. I want my horse to stand like a statue carved in stone. If I don’t ensure that this is done he will not be balanced and could move off when I start to put my foot in the stirrup.
I will stand at the near side of my horse close to his shoulder and face to the rear. I will hold the reins in my left hand with slack in them and place it on the saddle horn. I will not pull on the reins. I want the horse to have his head looking straight forward. If I shortened the left rein (as some folks do) it would cause the horse to move his hindquarters to the right with the result that he would not be lined up correctly for mounting. Next, I will turn my left stirrup so that I can place the toe of my boot in the stirrup. I only want the toe of my boot in the stirrup in case my horse suddenly moves away from me for some unexpected reason and I have to quickly take my foot out of the stirrup. If my whole foot was in the stirrup I could not easily get it out and I would be in danger of being dragged. My right hand can be either on the saddle horn or holding onto the cantle.
I will then hop on my right leg three times while simultaneously turning my body towards the flank of the horse. I will stay close to the horse when doing this. On the third hop I will step up and place my body slightly over the center of the saddle for a moment. As I do this I will turn my left foot so that it is parallel to the horse’s side so that my toe does not inadvertently stick him in the side and possibly cause him to step away from me. As I am doing all this on the horse’s left side I will smoothly swing my right leg cleanly over the croup of the horse and place it into the right stirrup. I will make sure that I do not drag my leg and foot across his croup. I will not pull myself up onto the horse as this action can unbalance him. I will then sit quietly for a few moments as I adjust myself and any equipment that I might have on the saddle. I expect my horse to remain stationary. If he does not, then I will dismount and start the procedure all over again until I get the desired result from my horse.
Only after all this happens quietly will I then sit erect in the saddle (put life in my body so to speak), inhale, look in the direction that I want my horse to go, and put slight tension in my legs. My horse should respond to these internal signals and begin to move forward. I will not adjust my reins until my horse begins to move.
The mounting process can also be accomplished from the right side, although it will be difficult in the beginning because a majority of riders have no practice in doing it this way.
ELEVATED PLATFORM MOUNTING
If I am going to get on my horse from an elevated platform which places me above his head such as a mounting block, fence, boulder, etc., I must first accustom my horse to seeing me standing above him. This can be an issue for some horses, especially sensitive ones. However, I believe that mounting this way preserves the integrity of the horse’s withers because there is no torque on them as there possibly could be when mounting from the ground.
First, I will ensure that my horse is standing square with equal weight on all four feet. Then, standing on a mounting block, I will place my left foot in the left stirrup and turn my foot so that it is parallel to the horse’s side to avoid sticking him in the ribs. I will hold my reins in my left hand with slack in them. Then I will briefly put pressure on the stirrup and then release it to let the horse know that I am about to mount him. Following this preparation I will quietly and smoothly swing my right leg over the croup of my horse and then do what I have just described above when getting on a horse from the ground.
DISMOUNTING
A brief word about dismounting from a horse. When I am about to dismount I will take either my right or left foot out of the stirrup depending on which side I am going to get off on. I do this to alert the horse so that he can adjust his weight accordingly to my shift of weight. I switch to dismounting on the right side every other time I dismount to ensure that the stirrup leathers are equally stretched on both sides of the saddle. I will ,additionally, place the foot that is still in the stirrup so that only the toe of my boot is in the stirrup.
Then I will slightly swing my leg on the side from which I took my foot out of the stirrup back and forth three times and on the third swing I will bring my leg over the croup of the horse (without touching it) and place my foot on the ground and slightly to the rear. Also once I start to swing my leg over the horse and begin to lower myself to the ground I will straighten the knee of my leg that still has my toe in the stirrup and it will slip out of the stirrup. This action will place me in a position so that I will be facing backwards and standing with my shoulders next to the horse’s shoulders. I will not jump out of the saddle nor will I take both feet out of the stirrups and slide my body down the side of the horse.
FINAL WORD
Following this system, if it can be called that, will relax my horse and create in him a willing attitude so that we can both accomplish whatever work we will be doing during the day in harmonious partnership.