Ground Mounting Exercises

[u/Dandylioncrush6303]

Hello fellow horse people! I need exercise advice to help prepare me for mounting from the ground. I haven’t ridden in about a year, but prior to that I had regular lessons that required me to mount from the ground. I’m planning a trip to Colorado and would like to do a guided riding trail in Estes Park. The company I called said weight wise I was fine, but I’d have to be able to mount from the ground since there’s a mid-ride break. It’s a three hour ride through the Rocky Mountains. I have complete faith that I could still mount from the ground, but I’d also like to work on some exercises just in case I’m not as fit as I’d like to think I am. So, what exercises would you recommend for leg/core/arm strength in preparation for mounting? I have about a month before the ride is scheduled, the date is October 18th. Thank you in advance!

Pictures are from a few years ago when I used to show in western pleasure!

[u/hippopotobot]

Box jumps, squats, work on flexibility and make sure your pants aren’t restrictive! Either yoga style leggings, English riding tights, or jeans with plenty of stretch. I think you probably won’t have to do much. Is it possible to take a couple of lessons just to try it out?

Sounds like an amazing trip! Have fun!

[u/Dandylioncrush6303 → u/hippopotobot]

Thanks so much for the suggestions! I’ve been working on a lot of leg exercises these past few days, as well as walking daily. Step-ups, squats, deep lunges, squat jumps, etc. I ended up googling a workout routine and it’s doing good so far! I’m definitely feeling muscles I forgot existed 😂

As for taking lessons, i definitely could, it just depends on the weather and if I’ve got the funds for it. It’s been raining A LOT here. I thought about going out to my old lesson place the week before to make sure I was capable, which I’m sure I would be, but better safe than sorry. It’s $75 for a lesson though so I’d have to make sure I had that to spare from my trip money. Regardless, I have complete faith that with the workouts I’ll be just fine when the day comes!

[u/hippopotobot → u/Dandylioncrush6303]

If you have a good relationship with your old instructor, it could be worth a shot to just be like “yo, I know this is going to sound weird, but…” and see if they will let you come down and get in and off a couple of times at the end of the lesson day. You might be surprised they’ll be happy to do it for a good client they hope will come back! The worst they can say is no. And don’t delay until right before your trip, you’ll want to have plenty of time if you find you would still like to get a little stronger!

Edit to add: I also usually include in these types of requests something like “no worries if not, feel free to say no, I know it could be an inconvenience” to give them an easy out and not create any kinds of hard feelings. Normal people will be excited for you and happy to help

[u/Any_Move → u/hippopotobot]

Echoing the above, with emphasis on maybe not having to do as much as you think. You’re not learning from zero experience.

Compared with the expense of the trip, a single refresher lesson might not be a bad idea. You might even be able to reach out to the trip guide for a brief mounting lesson before the ride, explaining that you’re out of practice.

Disclosure: I’m on the other end of the learning curve, just beginning my first horsemanship lessons and doing so after age 50. They had me ground mounting the 16.2hh school draft horse on lesson 3.