Bareback...Is it hard?

Wildforestpony18

Wildforestpony18

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I was thinking about playing about with my mare in the menage today and thought "I know! I'll ride her bareback!" And now i'm thinking well, is it hard to stay on? She has quite a short trot stride and is normally very lazy in canter. But i've never done it before, and we are having a photographer out in July to take pictures of me and Foxy, and i'd like some of me riding her bareback x

Thanks guys! x
 
I find it very easy to ride bareback and often do. I have fallen off once or twice when I have tensed up for one reason or another in the past riding different horses. You really have to relax into it and trot is hard unless you have an established sitting trot already ;)

Relax and enjoy! Stay supple and follow the movement in the back :)
 
Only way to find out is to hop on and have a try :)

How hard it is depends a lot on the horse, you ideally want one that is well padded without too much wither but not too round. You don't want a shiny slippery coat either!

Just ride as though you are doing no stirrups work. Sit well back on your bum and relax your leg down. Use a neckstrap or a handful of mane too.
 
I used to ride bareback half the time as a kid - I was that buddy keen I'd take on ponies with no tack! I never thought about it, never weighed up whether it was easy or hard, it was just riding.

Fast forward 15 yrs or so of riding 5 horses a day in a big yard I decided (like you) to have a go again on my own mare. Turned out there's a magic sprinkling I'd lost! I was gutted, really gutted. It wasn't the place nor were they the horses that I could scratch my itch to turn the clock back so while I started riding at least once a week no stirrups (no problem at all) I pretty much had to leave bareback riding.

I now work with the elderly and the scurge of old folk with cash is the 3 wheeled trollies before they're needed. The brain is a living thing, remove something and the associated part dies, trollies kill balance bits in brains. Maybe saddles do something similar?
 
Ruth, that is because you have let the security of a saddle become your three wheeled trolley.

May I suggest something? I hope you don't mind. Go out and ride in your saddle but taketh away your stirrups. Keep doing this until you feel you have control. Then, remove saddle and just go on a gentle hack. It will all come back.
 
tallyho! said:
Ruth, that is because you have let the security of a saddle become your three wheeled trolley.

May I suggest something? I hope you don't mind. Go out and ride in your saddle but taketh away your stirrups. Keep doing this until you feel you have control. Then, remove saddle and just go on a gentle hack. It will all come back.
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Hehehehe... That's what I said! I did remove stirrups and felt 100% secure from the start and I kept that up as part of routine schooling. In fact we had the army guy vet the yard (+ riding) re homing a horse, I happened to be stirrupless while he watched - chance not design and it was my boss who in the end pointed out there were no stirrups cos he hadn't even noticed while I worked my horse. But I was working in a large yard and it was neither time nor place to scratch my own itches. My own horse was a youngster and for sale. The notion of hacking someone else's 4yr old out with no saddle for my own benefits would have been unthinkable - and I didn't think it.

If someone has the opportunity with their own horse and in the right place without putting the horse at risk (they can risk themeslves as much as they want!) then I reckon it's all good.
 
tallyho! said:
You really have to relax into it and trot is hard unless you have an established sitting trot already ;)

Relax and enjoy! Stay supple and follow the movement in the back :)
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This /\
I used to ride bareback alot growing up, I simply would not now as my back is too bad, the jarring would be very bad for my already damaged back. I did enjoy bareback though, it is a lovely way to ride. But relaxing and keeping supple is the key
 
How hard it is depends a lot on the horse, you ideally want one that is well padded without too much wither but not too round. You don't want a shiny slippery coat either!
abs
 
depends how pronounced your horses back bone is and don't use any coat shine before getting on ;) I rode my ponio to the field bare back after a show (field was a far distance from the yard) we decided to have a bit of a razz up a bridle path (like you do when your young and insane) and I ended up slipping backwards (don't know how I stayed on) :D
 
Really depends in the horse, I used to ride bareback a lot but my current one seems to think he's a rodeo horse when you don't have a saddle and has a wail of the time bucking you off. :p

Would definitely recommend doing no stirrups first :)
 
Kokopelli said:
Really depends in the horse, I used to ride bareback a lot but my current one seems to think he's a rodeo horse when you don't have a saddle and has a wail of the time bucking you off. :p

Would definitely recommend doing no stirrups first :)
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Hehe, I don't have that problem as Foxy is generally very well behaved. I have done lots of no stirrup work before, walk, trot and canter, not attempted jumping yet though :o
 
It's how I learnt to ride and at the end of every lesson i taught the kids had 10 minutes bareback.

You do need a decent broad back and cantering is much easier than trotting.
 
I used to ride bareback years ago wouldn't dream of doing it now as body has started stiffenD up. It is quite easy when you're younger as you have no fear of falling off.we all used to ride horses out of field bareback.if you have a safe horse it's easy to do.:)
 
Bareback is great to force yourself to get a feel for the horse's movement with your hips! I learnt to do a proper sitting trot (which I could maintain for 30 - 45mins) by riding bareback - and now it's a breeze in the dressage tests. Broader horses are easier to sit but definitely not something that is direly important. I have quite a few friends who bareback on their TBs who are leaner and smoother than my Welshie x TB is
 
Haha, I cantered bareback around the menage the other day - for the first time in 25 years!!!!!! I' had a 23 year break from riding and have been back in the saddle 2 years. I entrusted a friend to video it, but soooooooo not brave enough to put video up here!

Ok, I ended up on his neck as the reflex is to grip with the knees, which you shouldn't, but it was great being a kid again, when I used to ride all the time like that with ...... shock/horror - no hat, hi viz, and just a headcollar!
 
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