09/06/2026
The “Pick Me Up” Cue — It’s a Tool, Not a Fashion Statement
Over the next week, I'm going to post several videos of horses I've trained to perform what I call the “pick me up” cue—bringing themselves over and positioning their body so the rider can mount from a mounting block, fence, rock, log, trailer fender, or whatever might be available.
There are three different methods or techniques I commonly use or have used to teach this.
One is teaching the horse through the lead rope, directing and positioning the horse until he understands where his body needs to be.
Another—and probably the method most people have seen—is using a training stick on the off side of the horse to encourage the horse to move toward you.
The third is teaching the horse to come into pressure from the training stick. Instead of moving away from the pressure, the horse learns that a particular touch means to bring his body toward you.
All three methods have their merits, and there isn't anything wrong with using any of them. Personally, I commonly teach the horse to come into pressure from the training stick.
Why?
Because I'm thinking about what happens after the training session.
Six months or a year from now, that horse may be rusty because the owner hasn't used the cue in a while. If I've taught him to come into pressure, the rider can often refresh the cue with a tap from a hand, boot, or whatever is available.
That's a whole lot easier than trying to lean across a horse's back with a training stick to reach the off side while you're sitting on a rock somewhere in the middle of the Arizona desert.
And that brings me to something I've noticed lately.
I've watched clinicians demonstrate this cue in Colorado Springs and recently here in Arizona, and sometimes it seems like the “pick me up” cue has become a “LOOK AT ME” moment.
Look what I can make this horse do.
Look how good of a trainer I am.
I've never really looked at it that way.
I've taught this to horses in a matter of minutes during regular lessons because I saw a client struggling at the mounting block. We fixed the problem, showed the owner how to maintain it, and moved on with the lesson.
It wasn't a cool-guy moment. It was horsemanship solving a problem.
That's what this cue is supposed to be.
Maybe you've had a hip replacement, bad knees, a bad back, or another injury that makes mounting difficult.
Maybe your horse stepped away from the mounting block.
Maybe you're 10 miles down a trail, had to get off, and the only thing available to remount from is a big rock.
Maybe you're working with your farrier and the horse keeps drifting away. Instead of walking completely around the horse to push him back toward you, you can simply ask him to bring his body back.
Maybe someday you're in an actual emergency where being able to position your horse next to something isn't just convenient—it matters.
That's why I teach it.
Good horsemanship should make a horse safer, more useful, and easier for the owner to communicate with.
The “pick me up” cue isn't magic. It isn't particularly difficult to teach, either. I've taught it numerous times during a single lesson when a client needed help mounting. Once the horse understands the pressure and release and figures out where you want his feet and body, many horses catch on remarkably quickly.
The important part isn't whether you can stand on a fence and make your horse side-pass 20 feet across an arena while everybody watches.
The important question is:
Can the owner do it after the trainer goes home?
That's where I think we sometimes lose sight of what horse training is supposed to accomplish.
My job isn't to make somebody say, “Wow, look what Travis can do with that horse.”
I'd much rather hear somebody say:
“Look what I can do with my horse now.”
That's the difference between demonstrating a trick and teaching useful horsemanship.
So throughout this week I'll share videos of different horses I've trained to perform the pick-me-up cue. Different horses, different situations, and possibly different ways of getting there.
Not because it's the newest fashion statement in horse training.
Not because it's some amazing secret.
And certainly not because I invented it.
I'm sharing it because it's another useful tool to put in your horsemanship kit bag.
And when you're standing on a rock somewhere in the middle of nowhere and your horse walks over, lines himself up, and quietly waits for you to climb aboard, you'll understand exactly why we taught it in the first place.
Elliston Equine Solutions | E/9 Ranch
Horsemanship should be useful to the horse and the person who owns him. Everything else is just showing off.
In this video for demonstrations is Cinders who is a young horse in the Hackamore phase of training.
