bareback/bridleless/bitless etc

[SarahRicoh]

Well i used to love to ride my pony bareback and in a headc especially in the summer but it amazes me that soooo many people have never ridden bareback!

It gave me brilliant balance and it does make you feel closer to your pony!

However my current horse has some issues suh as bolting and is highly sensitive. I have sat on.him.bareback and he is calming down a bit but i wonder wether il ever be able to take him.out bareback...

I just wondered how many of you do it? And if you think any horse can be ridden like it or some are simply too sharp/unpredictable?

 

[SarahRicoh]

Also do many people ride in a bitless bridle? Do they have a good effect?

 

[LouS]

Depends on the rider. Yes I ride bareback, bridleless etc. As for how well it goes that depends on the amount of schooling/training I've put into the horse, I can usually manage a canter round the arena.

 

[SarahRicoh]

At least u can do that
Anyone else?

 

[Sparkles]

I ride my TB lad more without a saddle than with. I can hack him out bareback anywhere [all gaits/pop a log/etc] and schooling wise, can do a full schooling session like it same with jumping - in fact we're better without a saddle than with lol. I tend to interfere jumping - so when bareback it just lets me leave it down to him and just 'sit' there. We both like it

I can ride him in a headcollar just the same, he'll work in an outline asking the same aids etc. Not hacked him out in a headcollar however, other than round the fields.

Rode him bitless too, didn't make any difference, he still went the same - but he's more ride with your mind, voice and seat anyway and I know him inside out so it's nothing to brag about! I'd never do it on some of the other horses - I've had a few that were far too of a nightmare when ridden bareback.

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...0184217181753_708806752_8211732_5021246_n.jpg

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...0116162156753_708806752_7318437_7794652_a.jpg

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...0128044126753_708806752_7542260_4559443_n.jpg

And the cobs...all the time!

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/26684_404828125867_690990867_4859261_6978427_a.jpg

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...0330958051753_708806752_9345133_3823605_n.jpg

 

[Capriole]

No, Ive never ridden any of the horses Ive got now bareback and wont be doing it any time soon
Ive got a very nice saddle I like very much, and my horses are of the sharp withered variety
I used to sometimes when I had a cob x, he had a nice padded back.

 

[Tickles]

Bareback: depends on the horse, some like it and some don't, some I know better than others... some have sharp whithers and some don't!

Bridleless: rarely (and then with head collar and in arena only... although if I had my own that might change... this is with share horses I don't necessarily know that well)

Bitless: whenever I get the chance (as in owner agrees and I believe it is safe/sensible) which includes all my regular activities: hacking (on roads and in open fields), schooling & super-low-level jumping. Usually a side-pull English, have ridden Western in a hackamore... again depends on horse & owner etc. I like sidepulls though!

 

[Capriole]

Oh, and Ive got a bony bum, not very comfy for the horse OR me

 

[SarahRicoh]

My boy is pretty round and doesnt have major withers so thats not the issue lol...

Christmassparkles-whats your tb like to ride?

 

[Orangehorse]

I entered a class called "Bareback Dollar" where you have to canter round with a dollar note under your leg, placed there by the Judge, and the last one to loose it is the winner.

After I had entered I realised that I had never ridden my horse bareback, so I thought I should practice. I would say that he was a bit surprised, but what puzzled me even more that he proceeded to work very well when I did a bit of trot. "Better than with a saddle" I thought.

On the day of the show he luckily had a long day and gone in many classes, thank goodness because he was a prat during some of them, so was a little tired at the end of the day. We actually won the class, but I then decided to retire when at the top and leave the competitions to the teenagers in future years.

I don't think I have ridden him bareback since, but it was no big deal as far as he was concerned.

 

[Sparkles]

He's extremely laid back to ride - anyone's ride

 

[SarahRicoh]

Thats the thing i could happily canter/jump my old pony bareback as she was laid back but new boys so tense/stressy/sensitive it feels near impossible but he seemed slightly calmer when.i walked him round bareback without thexrestriction of saddle/bridle/martingale

 

[emmaln]

My brothers favourite subject, when he first got his horse he decided that he wanted to ride bareback the majority of the time (he's a bit of a hippy at heart) his riding has come on so far and he will happily gallop across the Salisbury plains with his girly waving good morning to all he meets!! This is him on his girly...

And to show how much it has improved his riding bearing in mind he only came back to it seriously a year and a half ago this is him having a lesson on my 5yr old...

I also love bareback and it is very special bonding time for me and my tb who is a bit of a fruit loop so I wouldn't take her out galloping bareback, although I have ridden her bitless a lot! (please excuse no hat, I have mended my ways now!!)

 

[emmaln]

Ps christmassparkles your tb is to die for you obviously have a very strong bond!

 

[HashRouge]

I've spent a lot of time riding bareback due to saddle issues
I've owned my mare for 10 years so I trust her 100% and we happily walk, trot, canter and gallop without a saddle. The longest I ever hacked out without one was 3 1/2 hrs

 

[JenHunt]

OH and I ride my lad bareback a lot. it's helped with his schooling and his understanding of our aids. OH is planning on a day's hunting bareback for charity- see link in my signature!!

have ridden in bitless bridle when Ron's mouth is sore but he doesn't really like it!

 

[SarahRicoh]

Thanks guys

 

[StormyMoments]

been riding for the last 9 months bareback as i dont have a saddle on my 17.2hh, i have jumped him, i school him and i hack him regularly like that quite often taking him for a gallop although not in company as hes a rodeo horse cantering in company

i have jumped him bareback and bridleless too hes so forgiving

but i must admit, going for so long out of the saddle i have picked up some nasty habits like i slouch, i sit on him like an arm chair and i drop my inside shoulder

im going to have some lessons in a riding school just to get used to riding in a saddle again as it feels so strange and then i will hopefully be able to ride him like i have been riding him all of my life rather then like a fumbling idiot

one off riding bareback is good, i have very good balance now but you can pick up more bad habits then you loose over a long period of time

 

[sakura]

I used to ride my previous horse without a saddle and in a bitless, nice round cob - very comfy and far too wide to fall off, he also had no withers

I've ridden my mare without a saddle twice (not including out to the field) and I won't again, her withers are far too high and she's way too uphill I do ride her out to the field in a head collar sometimes, no tack at all, but that's just at walk lol

 

[JFTDWS]

I'm a lazy bugger about tacking up so I regularly ride both my ridden horses bareback. I school, hack, gallop, jump and do anything I would do with a saddle pretty much. I also ride in a headcollar, with a neck rein or completely loose in the field sometimes (I could hack like that but I think it might invalidate my 3rd party insurance ). There's nothing quite like it, especially in summer

 

[SarahRicoh]

its nice to hear so many people do it

 

[CatStew]

I want to have a go at bareback with my little welshie.

I used to ride my old cob bareback fairly often - with a bit and bridle though - he had a habit of planting and then running off in the opposite direction if he saw something he didn't like. His field was quarter of a mile away from the yard, I rode him bareback with a headcollar to the yard once and he bolted - it was a really fantastic canter, but not for the middle of a road with cars coming past us and no control!!

I don't think I've got enough balance to school my boy bareback any more to be honest, I sat on my Arab x mare once bareback.. never again, I felt like I was going to slide off her side at any given moment! Think I may need to do a bit of work without stirrups first if I want to have a go at bareback!!

 

[SarahRicoh]

Its not so much the riding...

Its more that i wonder if any horse can be ridden bareback safely and effectively

 

[Blaise]

I try to ride bareback on a fairly regular basis, I find it does wonders for my seat and balance and my mare listens to my seat far more without a saddle. Shes a 5yr old TBx, can be fizzy at times but generally pretty laid back. It probably helps that I backed her without a saddle so bareback has been normal for her from day one. I've rode her in a headcollar back up to the fields before but thats about all.

 

[LauraWheeler]

I love riding bareback.
I used to ride Lucy bareback all the time.

(Mainly because I was to lazy to put a saddle on ) we used to hack for miles. Along roads, across field for many happy hours. I could also ride her in the school bareback and bridleless. In walk, trot, canter and jump.
Our party piece at shows was in family pony classes. The judge would ask us to do something to show how safe the pony was. I used to take Lucys saddle off while still sat on her. Then do our indervidule show (sometimes including a jump) bareback.
I ride Herbie in the school bareback and have even ridden him round the block. We're not upto bridleless yet but one day I hope we will.

 

[debsey1]

I an another one who loves to ride bareback purely because I am to dam lazy to bother with a saddle. He's a cob so very comfortable. I love the warmth that comes up through him it's like seating on a heated pad.....lovely, especially when it's cold and I am sure it helps with you sticking on.

Always ride bareback with a bridle on especially if we hack out on roads. I have ridden without just in a headcollar usually from the stable to the paddock.

I am sure he loves it too, no bulky saddle and tight girth, just me and him

 

[stargirl88]

I'd LOVE to ride bareback & bitless! I don't know why I haven't really.
Terribly jealous of those who have

 

[Sparkles]

Ps christmassparkles your tb is to die for you obviously have a very strong bond!

Thankyou! Had him a while now and he's quite a simple lad bless him - we're both as blonde as each other haha so get on quite well!

 

[unbalanced]

I ride bridleless much more than I ride bareback - my pony has quite pronounced withers for a Welshie and it's not very comfortable for either of us. As for bridleless - we did a showjumping competition without our bridle last summer and got a double clear

 

[SarahRicoh]

Well after reading this i tried it on.my boy today.. In his normal bridle but bareback and managed a trot which is amazing if youd saw what he was like when i first got him!
Proud mummy