In last month's article, you were told how to correctly saddle your horse using a properly fitting saddle. Now you are ready to lead your horse to the place you will mount up.

Leading

When leading a horse, there are two main items of safety to remember. 1) Never wrap any part of the rope around your hands, fingers, or any other part of your body. If the rope is wrapped and the horse spooks, the rope may instantly tighten up, and you will either be pulled by the horse, or lose part of your hand or arm. Neither is a very pretty picture! An added safety feature is to always wear leather gloves when you are working with a horse. It gives you a greater degree of grip and hand protection.
2) Always hold the tail of your rope in your left hand in a butterfly style, laying it back and forth across the palm of your hand. I know the "cowboys" in movies don't do it this way, but we are never told how many times they get injured either. Hold the horse end of the rope just under the snap area with your right hand to guide the horse. When you begin to lead the horse, push him off to the right, away from you to turn him. This way your foot will not be in the place he takes his first step (ouch!). If a horse does step on your foot, always push him off; never try to pull your foot out from under his foot. You could damage your foot even more by doing that.

Mounting

Several years ago, Equs magazine had an article that showed how a horse's back is stressed and damaged by riders mounting from the ground. It included several pictures of hot areas formed by the extra pressure placed on the horse's back when a rider uses the saddle to lift him or herself from the ground into the saddle. It can be the cause of repeated need for chiropractor help, and eventually permanent damage. So unless you are very tall and experienced at correctly springing into the saddle (which probably isn't the case if you are reading this column), the safest way to mount your horse is to use a mounting block or some type of stand. If you are in the woods, use a log, a stump or even put your horse into a ditch. Horses learn very quickly to accept this training, and certainly prefer to be mounted this way.

Just before mounting, check your cinch or girth for snugness, not too tight, please!! Then lift each of the horse's front feet elbow height to pull excess skin out from under the cinch. Now lead your horse to the mounting block. To mount, pick up the reins with your left hand, holding them in a "whoa" position, then grab some mane with the same hand. This will prevent you from pulling the horse over on top of you if you should loose your balance or if the horse moves. Place your right hand on the pommel, just to the right of the saddle horn. Then place your left foot into the stirrup, and lightly place yourself into the saddle seat. Allowing your body to drop uncontrolled into the saddle is another way a horse's back is damaged.

You are now correctly seated on your horse, and ready to learn to ride. Next month we will discuss how to achieve a balanced, centered position on the horse. So don't ride off into the sunset yet!

Contributed by Darleen Finnigan, CHA & ARIA Certified Instructor, specializing in teaching beginners and intermediate riders for over 10 years at Saddle Soar Ranch, Inc. Puyallup, WA 253 927-6899, or www.saddlesoarranch.com Darleen is also your Washington State Ortho-flex Saddle dealer.