If you are wondering about the safest techniques of mounting your pony, you have two choices, you can risk a lot of issues with your pony and to yourself by imitating Zorro or the Lone Ranger, or you can go the safe, normal way.

Hopefully, you have settled on the second plan of action. You’ll find this article of lots of help. Correct mounting of a horse is a critical part of horse riding. Even though you do want to try out some tricky mounting methods at a later stage, you can lay the right foundation with control over the traditional method.

Mounting a pony is not as simple as it looks, particularly if you have a skittish pony. You’ll find this out the difficult way when you try and mount the horse for the 1st time. Mounting is much more difficult than you’ll believe. You do it best when you have established a robust bond of trust and respect with your horse.

Mounting your pony

– Test the girth before you try and mount. It should be tight and snug. You should be able to slide in 2 fingers between the horse’s side and the girth. You don’t wish to cause severe distress to your pony by trying to cut him in 2 with the girth. At the least, girths that are too tight could cause some painful skin abrasions. Try and maintain balance and equilibrium when you mount. You can displace the saddle, especially if it’s been fitted on a bit loose, so be very appreciative of your movements.

– Make it a habit to get on from the horse’s left side, This is standard practice. At the outset, you might consider using a mounting stool so that you can get used to the shifts in balance that happens when you mount a horse.

– Take a grip on the reins and a little bit of your horse’s mane with your left hand.

– Your horse may move toward you to help you take control while mounting.

– With your right hand, grab the saddle at the rear. NEVER grab the horn. Grabbing the horn exerts an unpleasant pull on the horse. You can try for more leverage on the cantle by shifting you hand further toward the back of the saddle. Remember this, though: you’ll need to move your hand out of the way of your right leg as you mount and your leg swings over.

– You can now step into the stirrup with your left foot. If necessary, bounce on your right foot a couple of times to gain enough momentum to swing all the way up, over and across. Stick close to your horse to help you maintain your balance.

– Use the momentum you generate to swing your right leg over. Raise your leg sufficiently high to clear the horse and the saddle on it. When you succeed in learning the knack of how to do this, you’ll find yourself in the saddle with minimum discomfort and maximum comfort. Make no abrupt moves, and don’t impact hard against the pony to prevent him getting startled. Learn how to be graceful.

– When you’ve swung over, get your right foot into the stirrup immediately. Try to not poke your toes into your horse’s side as you try to get it into the stirrup.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers read more