Training a horse to mount/dismount

When I was a kid and learning how to ride a horse, we were always told to mount on the left side. My first horse was Coco, and she usually started lumbering off before I was ready.  

Trainer Frank Bell is known as the "Horse Whisperer". He says you're vulnerable when mounting a horse, so it's important that you have control. Bell's method for teaching the horse to stand still is called the one-rein stop.

"When you pull their head to the side, it means stop. And once you've got that well-established, then when you go to mount, you have a little bit of mane and rein on the left side if you're mounting on that side," says Bell. "Then you tilt the head just a little bit, and so that says to the horse stand still. When you're mounting and dismounting, in any situation, you want to have that head tilted a little bit into you. You want to have direct contact of the rein to the horse's mouth."

If the horse hasn't been ridden before, it has to slowly get the feel for what's coming. 

"I just put a little weight in the stirrup with my hand, get him used to that, then it'll go to my foot, get him used to that. And then I get on about half-way," he says. "You know, just get up where I'm leaning over, my center of gravity is over the middle so they don't feel such a twist in the girth area. If they can handle all that just fine and stand still, then I'll swing a leg on, stay on for a few seconds, and then get off so the horse knows that when I get on it's not going to be forever!"

Use mounting blocks, a fence, or something like that to get up in the saddle. It's easier for the rider and is less stressful on the horse's body. Bell also advises teaching the horse to mount on both sides. There may be a situation where you can only get on or off on the right. 

Should you become caught in the stirrup and the horse takes off dragging you, Bell says to roll toward the horse onto your belly, and your foot will come out.