Mountain Horse Training 2: Tack/Untack Both Sides

Suppose you are in the high country and need to saddle, or un-saddle your horse near a cliff-side. I don't know about you but I'm not standing between my horse and the edge of the cliff to adjust his tack or work with the saddle. Sometimes that means you have to work with him from his offside

I'm going to assume you can saddle your horse, so now it's time to work from the offside. Start as if the horse has never been saddled before. Get him on a longe line or his lead rope and run him through his routine for moving forward, backward, "Come" and "Whoa" all while standing or walking on his offside. At this point grab a bucket or step stool so you can be slightly above him on his offside. Pat and rub the horse from tail to ears all the while talking, whistling or singing to him. Gently lay across his back and slowly let your weight come to bear on his back.

The next step is to take his saddle blanket and wave it near his face and let him smell it. Using a calm voice give him his "whoa" command and shake the line if he tries to move. Much as you did during ground tying training. Next do the same thing with his saddle pad. At this point throw the saddle over his back. If he bucks, snorts, or acts up give him his "whoa" command and attempt to hold the saddle in place with one hand giving a pull on his line as you give your commands. If necessary, start over and repeat the process. At this juncture the main point of resistance will come when you attempt to cinch him. Do it slowly and carefully all the while talking to him. Start with a light cinch and over time cinch it tighter until it's at the right tension.

At this point the saddle is properly tied and the horse is ready for the next step. Tie a bag filled with cans to the saddle horn and then jiggle it and generally make a nuisance of it for the horse. Always be ready with his line to give him his commands. The goal here is to eliminate a potential source of fear for the horse that's hanging down the wrong side (as he sees it.)

Ready to mount? Put your foot in the stirrup and slowly apply your weight. Step out. Do it again and again until your horse stands perfectly still while you stand in the stirrup. If he stays calm go ahead and throw your leg over. Ride the horse for a short period and then dismount on the offside and untack him. If you should have any problems with the untacking of the horse use your commands and lead line.

You should include this in your ongoing training of your horse. In the photo below you can see two young ladies working on my horses. They are going through saddling from the offside training. Note how the one horse is not completely calm in his stance as the young lady places the saddle pad on him. The horse should be standing on all four hooves completely relaxed. 

How long does this take? That depends on the horse. One of my horses took less than two days to do it while the other took two weeks. Like most training it shouldn't last more than about half an hour at a time. The horse can get a whatever attitude and bide his time if the training time is excessive. The next obvious question, is how do you rig the tack? Get two latigos and attach them on either side, then it's a simple process to cinch/un-cinch the horse from either side.