In response to a question on a horse forum I participate in, I posted a short instructional on the proper and safe way to mount a horse in a western saddle.  It occurred to me that it would make a good post here on my blog, as well. Several months ago I made a short video on it, so I will link that at the end.

The mounting technique I am going to explain was developed more than a century and a half ago, and has been practiced since, by cowboys who, often as not, rode half-broke broncs every day as part of their job.  They broke horses by roping them, saddling them, then hopping in the saddle and riding them until they stopped bucking.  Many of those horses never really got fully broke, and many mornings the cowboys enjoyed a short rodeo session to warm up on before heading out for a day of punching cows.

Because of that, they developed a method of mounting a horse that allowed them to maintain full control of the animal from the ground until they were fully seated in the saddle. Even if the horse bolted or launched into the sky in a full-bore bucking fit as the cowboy started to mount, he could safely continue into the saddle while maintaining full control of the horse’s head with a free hand on the reins.  This technique has been largely lost nowadays, and I have seen reputable instructors and trainers who mount improperly, at least not the way the cowboys “back in the day” did it.

Before we start the tutorial, just a few basic tidbits of information.  Cowboys always mounted from the left side of a horse.  There is a reason for this.  It is because most folks are right-handed. That means the cowboy wanted his reins in the left hand. Why that? Mostly tradition. That’s the way it’s been done throughout history. Soldiers, warriors, and folks in general have always been mostly right-handed. They had to have their right hand free to handle their weapon. The cowboy had to have his right hand free to palm his trusty revolver in case something needed killing, or to pull out his lariat and rope a steer.  His right hand was for working, while the left was for handling the horse. Most trail riders will also train a horse to allow one to mount and dismount on the right side, since you never know when that might be necessary on a mountain trail. You never want to mount or dismount on the downhill side. You might pull the horse over on top of you.

Now for a little nomenclature on the western saddle.  You have a horn.  It is to hold onto, and to dally a rope to, or to hang stuff on.  It sits up front on top of the pommel. The pommel is the big thing between your legs that the horn sits on, sometimes known as the fork, or the swells. Many saddles from the late 1800s to 1950s have large swells, which allow you to hang on with your knees while your horse sows his “wild seeds”. See?  Then there is the seat, which, obviously, is the part your tush sits on. Behind the seat you have the cantle, which is like a mini-backrest. It rises up to sort of cradle your bottom and helps you stay in the saddle.  English saddles don’t really have a cantle,

nor a horn for that matter (which is why English riders wear helmets rather than cowboy hats!).  Then you have the stirrups.  They hold your feet, so your boots don’t fall off while riding. They are suspended from the saddle by leather straps called, surprisingly, “stirrup leathers”.  Stirrup leathers normally have a sweat flap attached, which protects your leg from the sweat of the horse. The whole shebang is held on the horse by a cinch, sometimes known by the original Spanish term “cincha”.  The cinch is normally a belt woven of mohair or cotton strings, that wraps under the horse’s belly and ties on either side to the “rigging” of the saddle by leather straps called a “latigo” (left side) and a “billet” (right side). Some modern cinches are made of neoprene or felt, for those high-speed, low-drag folks leaping into the 20th century on horseback…wait, what century is this, anyway?

Now for the bridle.  You have a headstall. It hangs over the horse’s head, held in place by the horse’s ears.  It hangs down and generally holds a metal bit in place in the horse’s mouth. Connected to the bit is a chin strap (self-explanatory) and a set of reins.

In today’s world, many people prefer bitless bridles, but that’s another discussion for another post. For our purposes here, just assume a bit.

First, we’ll assume the horse is properly saddled and bridled.

Take the reins in the left hand above the horse’s neck, just forward of the saddle. Now snug the reins up until you feel contact with the horse’s mouth, through the bit. This keeps the horse from wandering off while you’re trying to mount. Some experienced horse trainers, on a greenbroke (barely broke, barely trained) horse, will shorten the left rein and pull the horse’s head around to the left as they mount. This helps the rider maintain control of the horse while mounting, by not allowing the horse to lower his head and engage his rear end to buck.

So, there you are with the reins snugged up. Stand right by the horse’s front left leg and face the rear of the horse. That way the horse can’t reach you if he decides to kick you. A horse can kick out forward and sideways with his rear hoof, in what we call a “cowkick”.  If you mount a horse that is prone to cowkicking in the way most folks mount, you are liable to get a surprise right in the back pockets.

Now, without letting go of the reins, take a big ole handful of mane, about a foot in front of the saddle, with your left hand.  I mean a big ole handful! It’s not like pulling hair on your head. It doesn’t bother the horse at all.  So, now you are standing facing the rear, with your reins and a big handful of mane in your left hand. With your right hand, grab the stirrup and turn it, so you can put your left foot into it. Now put your foot into it.

Now, reach up with your right hand and grab the horn.  Again, grab the horn…not the cantle.  So, there you are, with your left hand holding the reins and a big handful of mane, your left foot in the stirrup, and your right hand on the horn…again…on the horn. Novices, and some smart folks who don’t know better, will grab the horn with their left hand and the cantle with their right.  I’ll explain in a minute why that can get you hurt.

Now, using your left hand and right hand to pull your weight until you can use the strength in your leg, stand up in the left stirrup.  Stand straight up, not bent over the saddle. You may need to give a little “hop” to get up.  That’s fine.  Just don’t hop up and over.  Keep your balance and stand straight up.  That’s important.  Now just swing your right leg over the cantle and sit into the seat. Find the stirrup with your right foot, poke it in, and there you are. Properly mounted in a western saddle.

Now, why am I so anal-retentive about this technique? Let me “splain”. Let’s say you are mounting a horse you don’t know, in the way your buddy at the boarding stable showed you.  You take up the reins with your left hand, grab the horn with it, stick your left foot in the stirrup, then grab the cantle with your right hand.

Now you hike yourself up with a mighty heave…but while you are on your way up the horse gets spooked by your snot-nosed little brother, who thought it would be fun to see what happens when he shoots the horse in the rump with a rubber-band gun.  So, there you are, hanging on for dear life as your horse charges through the stable area. You can’t pull the reins, because your left hand is holding onto the horn.  If you let go of the horn, you will lose your balance, because your other hand is way back behind, holding the cantle.  You can’t continue to mount and get up into the saddle, because your right hand is blocking you…it’s holding the cantle.  You can’t let go of the cantle, because you’ll lose your balance, because your other hand is way up front holding the horn…and the reins.  So, you hang onto the saddle, hanging off the side of the horse, with your left foot dangerously stuck in the stirrup, with absolutely no way to control the animal, until either the saddle finally slides off to the side, dumping you on the ground (hopefully your foot slips out of the stirrup), or the horse rubs you off on a gatepost or barn door. Don’t ask me how I know all this.

Now, let’s look at the same scenario while using the proper technique I just outlined above.  You confidently grasp the reins, snugging them up until you feel the contact with the bit. You use that same hand to grab a big handful of mane. Now you use your right hand to help your left foot into the stirrup.  You reach up and grab the horn with your right hand, and with a nice, controlled lift, you begin to stand up into the stirrup – when suddenly!…well, you remember.

So, the horse leaps into action with you only half-way up into position.  Not to worry! You’re holding on firmly to the horn with your strong right hand. You quickly release the mane with your left hand and give a strong pull on the reins, quickly bringing the terrified animal back into subjection, while at the same time, calmly swinging your right leg over the cantle, bringing you into the saddle under full control. No sweat at all! Now to go see about that brat little brother of yours!

Now do you see?  There really is a proper and safe way to mount a horse in a western saddle.  It was developed by the old cow hands for a reason. That reason remains today and better horsemen continue to use it.

If you want to see how it’s done with a little better entertainment value, watch Kevin Kline mount a horse in Silverado, or John Wayne in all his movies, or Tom Selleck in Quigley Down Under or Monty Walsh. Picture perfect mounting technique. These named fellows are actually excellent horsemen, besides being movie stars.

Now, I’m not trying to say that you can’t safely mount a particular horse in other ways. There are people with handicaps, people who may be vertically challenged (as they say), and even folks in their “golden years” who may find it difficult to mount in the way I have described. You make adjustments as necessary and “you do whatcha gotta do”. Most of our horses nowadays are solid broke and mounting up is pretty much anticlimactic, so it’s not as important as it was in days past. However, if you are able, the technique I have described actually is the correct way and the safest way to mount a horse in a western saddle. It could save your hide in that once-in-a-million circumstance in which a horse bolts on you while mounting.

Hope that helps. Here’s the video link I promised. It could be better and I’ll eventually re-do it, but it’s sufficient for this post.

How to Properly and Safely Mount a Horse in a Western Saddle

You can subscribe to my Youtube video channel, where I’ll be posting more videos over time. I intend to create a series of instructional videos for beginners on horse care, handling, and horsemanship, directed mostly to those who are just starting out with horses and those contemplating getting a horse for the first time.

Happy trails!