Standing Still to Mount

     Every horse MUST stand still for mounting.  Some horses move around when the rider starts to mount and other horses wait until the very moment the rider swings his leg over, before he starts waking off.  Either way, the behavior is unsafe and left unchecked, gets worse and worse.  There is a very simple technique that you can use to teach your horse to stand still while you mount him.  When you move to the side of the horse and begin to do something with the stirrup, as if you are going to mount, and the horse begins to move, pick up on the rein and make the horse back five or six steps.  Make him move his front end to his right and back to the left, then have the horse step towards you one or two steps.  The step towards you is very important.  The psychology behind making him step toward you is that your horse is coming TO you to be ridden.  You are not chasing him around asking him to let you get on.  The horse thinks if he steps towards you he is asking you to get on.  You may have to repeat this several times but your horse will quickly realize that he has to work harder to move back and his shoulders to the side.  That option is not as easy as standing patiently for you to mount.  Remember, horses would always rather do the least amount of work.