The mount.........

Well this is not my favorite subject, but what the heck it's got to be discussed sooner or later right.

Going back in time many many years ago this was actually a fun thing.......I remember doing the old stand facing the back end of your horse then catapult your toned young body right up on the big ol boy.......yup that was one way, then there was running up behind and leaping on to his back via the rump........and those were just two cute little examples of what we could do just for fun.
Now, that didn't include proper mounting for the show ring or during a lesson.....those were also done with ease that I now look back on with gut wrenching envy!

OK so that brings me to today.........mounting my horse sounds simple, in my head it is simple........yet when I try to throw my still long but strangely not quite the same looking leg up on my horse, if I'm lucky I would hit him about mid section and have him bolt sideways and look at me with the "why did you kick me for no reason" look....other wise I may hit under the belly which would generally knock me on my ass as the horse bolts forward and I have no doubt wondering "what the HELL did I do".
 So to keep from injuring myself and having my horse look for an opening to escape prior to the mount, I got smart I started using, YOU guessed it, the mounting block!
Now, we all say the same thing when we crawl our ever growing behinds up on one and try to align Trigger up next to it, and I quote "it's so much better for his withers I would never just mount from the ground" yep that's what we say.
We are right when we say this because if we were to get lucky enough to get our foot at the end of our not so toned leg in to the stirrup we would hang on poor old Triggers withers WAY to long, yes those withers may start to lean if we were to attempt this often.....so it is the truth yet a sad truth because if our youth had not escaped us we could still throw that leg right up on the horse with out ever giving his withers the slightest pull.

But that's OK it's our story and we are all sticking to it, at least I am!

One word of advise from one who knows... due to "not wanting to pull on our faithful mounts withers".....scan your area and the trails you ride for those mounting blocks on the go... such as good sized rocks, logs etc... it makes it so much easier to know where they are and plan your dismount if you need one, accordingly.....as walking three miles looking for a "mounting block" can be really tiring not to mention you can only say "I don't want to injure his withers" so many times with out feeling like your horse may be chuckling along with the others in your riding party......especially if some are still at that throw the leg over from a stand still age.

Another word of advise......yes this mounting incident was an actual event......when attempting to mount from a mounting block if you are mounting a bareback horse, such as my nicely rounded young QH...., NEVER and I mean NEVER.... grab the rail on the other side of the horse as it may make a strange squeaky noise which will cause your nicely rounded young mare to bolt back away from the noise, then do a roll back mid air and head off across the arena hell bound for escape.....as you are suspended from her side hanging on to the mane yelling whoa.... and when she does whoa... then out of complete fear of you hanging from her side bolts the other way and you fall on your back in the dirt, you will realize this was a mistake......then when your sweet young mare comes walking over wondering why you are lying on your back in the arena dirt you wont feel like shooting her because she should have known MOUNTING is NOT easy for you and you needed the hoist from the freaking squeaky rails to get on her back!!!!
So remember that.... yes... this was an actual event that only myself and my sweet young mare attended.......it was a learning event.

Another NO NO is mounting your horse in front of a non rider who you are on a date with......yes again this was an actual event............as the non rider may say something like "WOW that was a struggle I thought you would just jump right on"........at which point you are 100% sure you know what you are NOT going to jump right on to... EVER.......in fact this may be your last date with said non rider!

Well this about wraps up mounting, at least I touched on a tiny bit of the struggles I have encountered as a re-rider......it is my hope this may make someones life a little easier, that was my goal, that and making sure "I don't hurt his withers"

Until next time, happy trails!