On Thu, Apr 26, 2007 at 07:23:08AM -0700, Judy Ryder wrote: > Does your horse stand at the mounting block, on a loose rein, waiting for > you to get on?
stjarni: not very well, though we've worked on this. he will stand like a rock for me to mount from the ground, but if we're near a mounting block, it's clear that he's thinking "she obviously wants to get on, but there's this THING in the way, i need to make room..." and he sidles over. that said, he does stand very solidly a loose rein, and if i take my reins in riding position to mount he gives his head and waits for me. once i'm on he stands quietly while i fiddle with my gloves and such, waiting to be asked for the next thing. i think it's just unfamiliarty with the mounting block as a device. i didn't use one in my first twenty years of riding either, and i suspect he never encountered them before me and some of my tinier students. --vicka
