Mounting Block Woes

A couple of things to start.  I am not young.  I am short.  I am also...round. 

I had a groom once ask me if I liked riding the little horses, since you know, pony.  My response was I like them like me, short and round.  And maybe a little sassy, but that's besides the point.

The point is, I am long past the days of mounting from the ground.   I am no longer concerned about testing for equitation classes which might involve getting on and off without assistance.  I would not put my poor horse's back through that.  I'm also a bit past asking for a leg up.  That would certainly result in back injuries for the person(s) attempting to hoist me onto said pony.

That leaves mounting blocks.

Funny story.  Before I went back to riding as an adult, a friend rode his horses through the neighborhood to the house and asked if I would like to ride.  Sure!  Um...how do I get on again?  Yes, step-ladder should work!

So I get out the ladder and then for some reason do not remember that, even if I have a ladder, I still have to put my foot in the stirrup to get on.  I swear, the things we forget in 20 years.  I never did get on that day because I could not get myself from the ladder to the horse's back.  In Western tack, mind you.

When traveling, we have to go small.  We have a small step stool that we call the stool of death.  There is no picture that does it justice.  I am grateful I have a fairly patient pony that Marcy has spent a lot of time teaching to stand still when being mounted.  Depending on whose trailer we are in, we also have a small plastic one available at times.  This creates great hilarity and usually requires someone to stand on the off side and hold my stirrup as I clamber up the side of the pony, in hopes that I don't pull the saddle all the way over.  And of course, you could always use an overturned muck bucket.  If you don't cave it in (see roundness referred to above).

When I went back to my childhood trainer, she had the premium mounting block set-up.  It was basically a set of house trailer stairs.  I could get on bareback with no effort, forget the stirrups!  Not only could I get on, but I could get off as well.  Handy when I was riding the 17.2 hand ex-3* horse in my weekly lessons, or when I wanted to go for a bareback ride.

Imagine this without the railing.

I have had some variation of this set-up for half of the barns I've been at.  The last two, not so much. We use the standard two step mounting block.  It is all of 19" tall, which does not offer much for short legs that are not as limber as they used to be.  And yes, I understand I am on the shortest horse.  Doesn't matter, it's still problematic for me.  I have taken to turning it up on end in order to gain an extra 2 inches.  It makes a difference.  It has also landed me underneath my very patient pony when I fell off of it (resulting in much laughter, since there was no injury).  I dream of the day when I have a little extra money to buy the team a three step block.  So much joy would be had.

Standard

In the meantime, does anyone out there have some willing participants to make up a portable mounting block like the one below?