dangerous habit

Question
QUESTION: Hi!! I have a 14 year old ArabianXQH mare, and a couple months ago she started kicking and trying to bite me when I tried to get in the saddle. It has gotton so bad that someone has to be holding her head for me to get on. Do you have any advice? Thanks, Heather

ANSWER: Hi Heather!

I would like some more information before I recommend any specific training advice.

Was there any specific incident that was the basis for her to start acting our during mounting?  Or was it just a more gradual and slow process of her disrespecting your mounting?  How long have you owned her and what do you do with her?  What is the discipline you ride and how often do you ride her?

Lastly, are you mounting her from the ground or a block?  Are you mounting outside or in an arena?  Do you consider yourself a solid mounter with a quick and easy motion or is there some fumbling about?  Please be honest as I am not critiquing you but, attempting to understand the whole situation.  Some riders mount up more easily and swiftly than others.

Solange

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: She just started gradually getting worse. I have owned her for about 2 1/2 years, and I usually ride her 2 times a week, more in the summer. i ride English, and usually we just ride around in the pasture or on trails, and I do walk trot canter gallop. Sometimes i jump her, but not often.
I mount her from the ground, because when she first started acting up we figured maybe the mounting process was hurting her, so we tried mounting from a block. That didnt work though, she really freaked out. She is a rescue horse so we dont know if something in her past caused a fear of blocks or what.I mount outside, and usually all i do is gather up the reins, and take one little hop then I'm in the saddle, its pretty easy for me. Thank you, Heather

Answer
Hi Heather!

The first thing you have to do in a situation like this is to decide if she is reacting from fear or simple disrespect.

From what you have told me, I would say a little of both.  She has some fear because she has gaps in her training education and does not know how to stand for her rider to mount from a block.  This is a basic skill all well trained horses have.  She also is exhibiting disrespect because she feels safe from punishment when she act out.  

What to do?  Believe it or not, this is a rather simple thing to fix.  A few weeks of solid training and she will catch on  :)

Start with food.  Pick out her very favorite treat and withhold it from her except during her mounting training.  Have a plan for each session and a goal to achieve for that day.  Short, daily, productive sessions are far superior to once a week for an hour.  I would stop riding her for the period of the training so that she is focused on just mounting correctly and calmly.

Begin with something so basic it feels like nothing to you and especially like *nothing* to her.  Pick a spot you want to mount from EVERY SINGLE time.  Put a sturdy and solid mounting block there.  That is now your mounting area and she must recognize it as that.

Do this by yourself because you want to be able to mount with no one holding her.  Your goal is a well trained mare who stands calmly while you mount her with no on else involved.

Take her out of her stall, do a little grooming to relax her and grab yourself a longeline with a stud chain.  You will need the extra line to give her her head while you train her.  All training must be done with the chain over her nose in the beginning.  She must realize this is for keeps and you are not fooling around.  It will not be necessary to shank her with it unless you need to, it's more of a "Pay attention to me!" move.

Have plenty of treats in your pocket and show them to her, let her have one while you are grooming her.  Now, put the chain over her nose and give her a firm pull on it while you say "Pay attention" or whatever you want.  She must know that RIGHT NOW her training starts and things are very different.  Calmly and nonchalantly walk to the area the block is in but, stay about 20 feet from it and walk right past it as if it does not even exist.  Give her a treat and verbal praise.  Make a big circle around and walk closer to it, BUT DO NOT stop by it, just walk on by.  Another treat and more verbal praise.  She will catch on soon that there is a block there but, she will wonder why you aren't forcing her to it.  Get her to walk within a foot of it as you pass it with no stopping or acting out, give her treats and plenty of praise and that's it for the day.

Next day, do the same thing and if she is bored with this, it's too easy for her.....take the next step of stopping her in front of the block and asking her to stand calmly by it, in the correct position for you to mount her from.  So, she must be lined up with the block on her left side, right by where the stirrup would be and close enough to the block for you to mount safely.  Give her a treat for every few seconds she stands well and lots of praise.

Next day, walk her past the block again without stopping because you want to keep her on her toes, she shouldn't get to where in her mind she is freaking out because she thinks she knows whats going to happen next.  No.  YOU decide what is going to happen next.  Not her.

And every day after that add a little to the training.  Next, she does it with the saddle on. Next, she does it and you stand on the block but, no one holds her.  Be consistent but, don't let her anticipate what is coming next.  She may see you walk around to the block and she starts to get nervous...in her mind you are going to step up there and get on her.  Nope.  If you see her start to react to your walking towards the block, ignore the block and walk right past it and back to her head.  Fake her out.....remember, YOU are smarter than her!

If you feel she is acting out because she is being snotty, shank her and say your catch phrase "Pay attention to me!" in a firm and no-nonsense voice.  Then, ask again and reward her immediately with treats if she does it.

All this goes on until you can mount her from the block with no issues.  At the end, remember to do it the same way everytime for months so the training sticks and she feels comfortable.  Then, you can start to change where you mount her from and eventually with this training be able to mount her anywhere, from anything (the ground, a tree stump) anytime.

The good thing about taking your time with this is that you will be spending some quality bonding time with her as well as teaching her something.

Lastly, after you have her doing all the steps well and solid, start to phase out the treats and only give her verbal praise.  Give her a treat every once in a while to keep her focused and happy, but not every time.  This is called Intermittent Reinforcement.  It works very well on animals and even humans....think about why people gamble in Las Vegas.  Because every once in a while they win money.  It's just enough to keep them coming back for more.  That's how your mare will think about treats.

How long will it take?  Only your mare can decide that.  But, Arabs tend to be very clever and if she likes food, she will catch on quickly.

Be firm, be patient and above all be consistent.

Good luck and remember to always wear an ASTM/SEI approved helmet!

Solange