Teach Your Horse to Stand Still While Mounting

Just because many horses move off when their riders try to mount it doesnt mean that the issue isnt a serious one. It can range from inconvenient to downright dangerous if your horse takes off when youre halfway on. For safetys sake instead of just getting by and trying to keep the problem from getting worse dedicate a little time to teach your horse to stand still while mounting. Heres how.
Before Teaching to Stand Still While Mounting
Its tricky to teach a horse to stand for mounting if he has so much energy that he wont stand still period. To make the following exercises easier its a good idea to longe your horse or work him in a round pen before starting the lesson to get rid of any excess energy that makes the lessons harder.
Your goal shouldnt be to hold your horse still he must learn to stand still on his own without relying on you to hold him there. The more you try to hold your horse still the more most horses will want to start moving. If nothing else youll accidentally teach your horse that when youre not holding him thats his cue to start moving.
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To begin the lesson have your horse tacked up and stand beside him on his left side assuming you usually mount from the left side. Note If you normally use a mounting block dont use it in the beginning as this will make this stage easier plus youre not actually mounting at this point.
Hold both reins in your left hand. Have the left rein run directly to your hand and have the right rein run behind the horn or the pommel of your saddle and then to your hand. Using your right hand start creating a stimulus to trick your horse

into thinking that youre in the process of mounting up.
You can pull the horn swing the fender put pressure on the stirrup et cetera. Start small and gradually increase what youre doing until your horse takes the bait and walks off. When he does immediately take hold of the right rein with your right hand. Now holding a rein in each hand put pressure on the reins and ask your horse to back up. Dont go too fast or put too much pressure on the reins but use enough that he realizes he wasnt supposed to move forward.
Now let your