When you add a horse to your family, remember that you need to work with your horse on a daily basis and build a relationship built on trust and respect. If your horse doesn't trust and respect you; your training will go nowhere.

The more connected your horse feels to you, the easier it will be to train him. You don't want a 1200 LB animal challenging your every command. Horses are wired to be herd animals and depending on the individual personality of your horse, his pecking order in the herd will also show how likely he is to challenge your authority on a regular basis. If he is a more aggressive horse, he will likely be spirited, mischievous and full of energy. These type of horses are very intelligent and also will challenge you on occasion for the position of "top horse" through subtle behaviors such as ignoring your commands or refusal to do a routine movement such as standing still for grooming or walking on a lead. Gentle reassertion of yourself as top horse will put a damper on those episodes and make them few and far between. A horse that is more docile and not looking to be top horse will make a great horse for a first time owner or younger person.

You must be consistent when you train a horse. Often early in training, a horse will repeat undesirable behaviors simply to see if he gets the same reaction from you every time, don't waver. Failure to address one incident of bad behavior will show your horse that "sometimes" he can get away with it. Remember you're dealing with a very intelligent animal with a great memory. Consistency is one of the main keys to a well-trained horse.

A great way to bond with your horse is through bathing. Most horses really enjoy a bath, especially in the summer months and the touching and washing makes them not only feel wonderful but it increases their trust in you.

Be consistent in your training and always use love and respect when training your horse and you'll have an amazing companion for years to come.

A horse that has been trained through gentle and positive techniques will normally allow a rider to mount him without incident. However your horse may become shy about letting you get on his back and there are usually two main reasons why:

Improper Mounting
All horses need consistency in training. Horses only need one bad incident to undo a lot of good training. If an inexperienced rider mounts a horse and makes it a painful or unpleasant experience, the horse won't forget that and may become skittish about any rider mounting him.

Pain
If an otherwise amiable horse suddenly becomes shy about being mounted, he may be feeling pain. Check him for saddle sores; a too tight cinch or other areas that may be making him feel discomfort. If he still seems uncomfortable, have him examined by his vet.

Solutions
Retrain your horse. Be consistent and show your horse that being mounted will not harm him. This will take some time to build his trust in you back up but it is the easiest technique to allow your horse to be ridden again. Give him the command to stand and slowly mount him. If he becomes upset, skittish or attempts to bolt, talk to him softly and soothingly and assure him he is okay and see if he will calm down. If he will, attempt to mount him, if he won't walk him around his pen and talk to him so he can calm down.

Use of a saddling block might help things too. This allows the rider to step up to the horse and if you rub your horse all the while so he knows where you are, you can stand on the block then gently transfer your weight to your horse and most horses generally allow this method when straight mounting fails.