We’re back with another awesome topic! We’ve been asked by popular demand: “How do you get your horse to stand still?” They’ve been using our ‘Come Get Me Trick,’ but people are worried about how they get their horses to stand still once they swing their leg over.
Watch The Video Here Or Continue Reading Below!
How Do I Get My Horse To Stand Still?
I’m going to show you guys the method that I use. This is how I got on a lot of the horses in Mongolia when I did The Mongol Derby. I don’t like to pull the horse’s head around because to me that invites movement. So I’ll pull on the inside rein until I almost have contact with the mouth or nose. Then wherever I’m going to grab to mount, whether that be the horn or wherever (I like to grab on the mane); the secret is instead of just leaving that slack in the outside rein, I’m going to find where I grab with my second hand and then I’m going to tighten the rein and find contact there too. That way whenever I step up here he’s easily reminded to stand still.
A Little Reminder Goes A Long Way
It’s all about that little touch, being able to say, “Hey!,” before anything happens. So many of those horses walking off or losing their attention or doing this, that, or the other: it’s all about catching them before they decide to do that. So when you’re walking that horse on a loose rain and they’re thinking about going faster, don’t wait till they’re trotting 10 feet down the trail before you say, “Hey! Walk!.” Whenever they inhale, whenever they puff up, whenever they pick their head up and they’re about to go off, that’s the easiest time to say, “Hey.”
Whenever you’re going through an obstacle, if there’s a moment of insecurity, of indecisiveness if you will, just say “Hey.” You’re getting that attention back on you. Whenever you get on your horse, the moment that you’re getting on here, and they’re thinking about stepping off or doing something, this is the easiest time to touch them. A pro tip to this: whenever you’re getting on your horse don’t let your shoulders collapse to the other side of their spine, keep yourself upright. I’m going to pop my chest out and I’m going to stand directly up in the stirrup. That’s going to allow me to have the balance to say, “Hey don’t walk off.” Then I can swing my leg over. If you can do that and you can touch them before they really walk off, you’ll get that horse standing still.
What Do You Do If Your Horse Just Won’t Stand Still
If you do get on a horse and it’s already moving off, you can just start flexing and disengaging until they’re flat and quiet. If every time he boogers off he doesn’t get into a fight then you don’t get argumentative about it. You just start flexing and disengaging because we know that’s the second thing that we do. The first thing we do is get on and standstill because horses are creatures of habit. If we get on and go, get on and go, before you know it they’re already going before we get on. The next thing that we do is check the steering wheel. If he knows that as soon as he starts moving I will start flexing and softening him, then very quickly he’s not going to be excited to take that first step.
If You Always Get On & Go, You’re Creating A Horse That Will Go Before You Get On
We’re going to create that pattern of every single time that I swing a leg over, we’re going to stand still. Then the next thing I’m going to do is flex him, then the next thing I’m going to do is move his butt. If we do those three things every single time we ride before we go anywhere, which is beneficial to do anyway because you’re checking how your steering wheel is and you’re checking how your control of the butt is, then the horse won’t be excited to walk off. But if we just swing a leg over and we walk off and go do something fun then very quickly they’re excited to go on the trail and they’re excited to go do work. We want them to wait for us and if you do these couple of things you’re going to find success.
Thank you so much for joining us in learning How To Get Your Horse To Stand Still. I’ll see you next week!
Check out more free training resources HERE!
