bare back or saddle to go in the sea???

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keekee

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I took my mare down to the beach on sat it was lovely i rode her bare back as i dont want to ruin her saddle with the salt water there were a few hairy moments but we survived and went really deep at 1 point the waves came up over her back and all over me!!!!! i want to go againg this weekend but woder if the salt would ruin my saddle as i would deffo feel much safer and want to try going a bit deeper if we can so the waves dont break on us!!
 
Defo saddle! Bareback not a good idea as its really easy to come off.

Can you borrow a synthetic saddle for her? If not, then wipe leather one over as soon as you come home, allow to dry naturally and then clean and feed really well.
 
It sounds like a lovely idea, but I don't think I would want to ruin one of my saddles. So I would either go bareback or persuade her to paddle instead of swim ?

A few water splashes might do no harm, but soaking a leather saddle in sea water can't be a good idea.
 
I used to take my pony swimming regularly as a child - never with saddle,or bridle,just headcollar and lead ropes! I've seen what salt water does to leather boots, but i'm sure synthetic would be fine. (didn't have synthetic in those days!) My biggest problem was getting back to the sea wall quickly enough before it rolled - wet sand out of wet nag is a nightmare!
 
i would use a neckstrap but would not risk a leather saddle.
i cannot keep my legs wrapped around the horse,they kind of float up and get left behind.
 
I've got a best friends saddle pad thing - it's like a numnah with a girth (plus 'oh [****]' handle), my pony is better behaved in a headcollar than bridle, but have found this helps me to stay 'on top' rather than floating off at the edges! A good handful of mane high up helps too, but at the end of the day even having stirrups won't help against the pressure of the water! You just have to learn to be pulled along 'on top' and not fall off, so when the reach shallower water you are still sitting on them and not hanging of the side! also a wetsuit is a little more sticky than a bikini!

Have fun!
 
Yes its really hard to stay on bareback. Just watch out, cos swimming is really quite hardwork for horses especially with you on top. I had great fun swimming my pony years ago. But he was lame for ages afterwards having pulled a muscle
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I live near the sea now and tend to just paddle (how boring!!)

However, the very best fun I had was working in Italy we took the racehorses (3 2 year old colts to be presise!) swimming in the sea. It was gorgeously hot & swimming on a very powerful horse wearing shorts & a bikini top was absolutely superb.
 
Had a horse years ago get knocked into the sea by another horse, it went down & was in the sea (shallow) with rider stuck under her.
Was fully tacked up in best hunting tack (hunting had been cancelled so we took them to Bamburgh beach). Everything was drenched & rider did her leg in when horse used it to get it's footing & back on it's feet!

Tack we cleaned when we got back to yard. Was perfectly fine just took ages (month of tack cleaning) to get the sand out of the groves around the pommel!

We had 4 out of 5 horses end up falling or sinking that day due to the sand. I have never ridden on a beach since!
 
If it poses a danger where you might get swept off, I know what I'd rather be on....bare back! as getting your feet stuck or coming off awkwardly could drown you or you get get troddn on from the action of the horses legs in water.

You'll ruin your saddle, ...because you'll just want to keep doing it, sea salt and a leather...big no no so unless your just having a splash, then go bareback.

Lunge roller is a good idea, I used to ride my other other horse during his backing process with a lunge roller on, they give you that added support without adding further risk.

Stay safe
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