Struggling to Swing Your Leg Over When Mounting? Here’s How to Fix It!

Mounting your horse should feel effortless—but for many riders, swinging a leg over the saddle can feel like an awkward struggle.

If you find yourself twisting, kicking, or using momentum just to get into the saddle, your hip mobility might be the real issue. The good news is you can fix this no matter your age and make mounting becomes much easier each and every ride.

Why Is It Hard to Swing Your Leg Over?

Mounting requires a combination of key movement patterns in your hips and legs:

• Hip Extension – Bringing your leg back behind you
• Hip Abduction – Moving your leg out to the side
• External Rotation – Opening your hip outward

When these movement patterns are restricted, you might compensate by twisting your torso, leaning to one side, or even straining your lower back to lift your leg high enough. Over time, these compensations can lead to discomfort, instability, and an ineffective seat in the saddle.

Common Mobility Limitations That Affect Mounting

Several tight muscle groups can restrict your ability to mount smoothly:

• Tight Hip Flexors – These muscles at the front of your hips can limit hip extension, making it difficult to bring your leg back and over the saddle.
• Restricted Adductors (Inner Thighs) – If your adductors are tight, they can prevent your leg from moving freely out to the side, forcing you to twist to compensate.
• Stiff Hamstrings – Limited hamstring flexibility can make it hard to lift your leg smoothly, especially if your lower back is tight as well.
• Weak Glutes & Core – Without proper stability, you may find yourself relying on momentum instead of controlled movement when swinging your leg over.

The good news? You can improve your ability to mount your horse with targeted hip suppleness and strengthening exercises.

3 Key Exercises to Improve Your Mounting Mobility

Try these exercises to loosen tight muscles and improve the movement patterns needed for mounting:

1. Standing Hip Openers (Improves hip abduction & external rotation)

Stand tall and balance on one leg.
Lift the opposite knee up in front of you, then open it out to the side in a circular motion.
Lower your foot back to the ground and repeat 8-10 times per side.
If you feel unsteady doing this movement, hold onto something for support.

This exercise mimics the movement of swinging your leg over the saddle and helps improve control and range of motion.

2. Hip Flexor & Quad Stretch (Loosens tight hip flexors)

Kneel on one knee with the other foot forward in a lunge position.
Tuck your pelvis under slightly and gently push your hips forward until you feel a stretch at the front of your hip.
Hold for 30 seconds, then switch sides.

By releasing tight hip flexors, this stretch allows for better hip extension, making it easier to lift your leg over your horse without strain.

3. Side-Lying Leg Raises (Strengthens abductors & glutes)

Lie on your side with your bottom leg bent for stability.
Lift your top leg up as high as comfortable, keeping your toes pointing forward.
Slowly lower and repeat 10-12 times per side.

Stronger glutes and abductors make lifting your leg easier and improve overall balance and stability.

Additional Mobility Drills for Easier Mounting

If you want to go deeper into improving your hip mobility, try adding these movements into your routine:

4. 90/90 Hip Switches (Enhances internal & external hip rotation)

Sit on the floor with both knees bent at 90-degree angles.
Rotate your knees from side to side, keeping your chest tall.
Perform 10 reps per side.

This drill helps unlock stiff hips and improves rotation, which is crucial for mounting smoothly.

5. Hamstring Scoops (Loosens tight hamstrings)

Stand with one foot slightly forward and flex the toes up.
Keeping your back flat, hinge forward at the hips and “scoop” down toward your foot.
Perform 8-10 reps per leg.

Better hamstring flexibility allows for smoother leg movement when mounting.

6. Single-Leg Step-Ups (Improves strength & control in mounting leg)

Step onto a raised surface, like a mounting block, using one leg.
Push through your heel to rise up, keeping your balance.
Lower slowly and repeat 10 times per side.

This builds leg strength and stability for effortless mounting.

7. Side to side adductor stretch (Loosen adductors and improve strength

Step onto wide side split stance
Push from one side to the other while staying as low and as wide as you can to feel a stretch through your inner thighs.
Repeat 10 times per side.

This builds length and strength through your adductors for more range of motion.

Here you will see a video demonstration of each of these exercises to help you through them.  The more often you do these, the easier they will become. If you find there are some you can’t do, just focus on the ones you can and over time as your strength and range of motion improves you will find you can add more into your routine.

Aim to do these 2-3 times per week. Even small, consistent improvements can lead to huge gains in how effortless mounting and riding feel.

How Improving Hip Suppleness Helps Your Riding

Better hip mobility doesn’t just make mounting easier—it transforms your entire riding experience. When your hips move freely, you’ll find:

• A deeper, softer seat without gripping
• Better shock absorption in sitting trot and canter
• Improved balance and coordination in the saddle
• Less tension and tightness, leading to a more harmonious ride

Restricted hips don’t just make mounting more difficult—they affect how well you communicate with your horse. A stiff rider leads to a stiff horse, so when you work on your mobility, you’re also helping your horse move more freely beneath you.

How Often Should You Work on Hip Mobility?

Improving hip mobility doesn’t require hours of stretching daily. Instead, focus on consistency and working on the full variety of movement patterns your hips can do.

Mounting your horse smoothly and effortlessly isn’t just about strength—it’s about mobility, balance, and coordination. By addressing tightness in the hip flexors, adductors, and hamstrings, while also strengthening the glutes and core, you’ll find that lifting your leg over the saddle becomes easier and more controlled.

A few minutes of targeted hip mobility work each day can make a world of difference in your riding experience.

So, if you’ve been struggling with mounting, start incorporating these exercises into your routine and feel the difference in your seat, balance, and connection with your horse!

If you want more help with hip suppleness, we have created a 21-day program for riders.

Here is a snippet from the program. You can find all the information about it here.

Over 42 different stretches targeting your hip suppleness and improving your seat in the saddle.

Dressage Rider Training System

Dressage is all about you, the rider and the horse. It is a team sport, so we developed a training system for you as a rider.

It is designed to help you work on symmetry, balance, coordination and suppleness while OFF the horse.

The aim is that when you are riding, you can sit in good posture and control and focus on your horse.

To get started on your journey, download our FREE Rider Fitness guide and discover our training system.

Learn the four elements that go into you as a dressage rider and how you can begin to develop them today.

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