Bareback riding Productive or counter productive to rider position?

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dressagecrazy

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This morning got all my tack together to ride T only to find he had a fly bite right where the girth goes. So i decided i would do some 2 line lunging & some in-hand work.

Lunging didnt happen as i couldnt find my lines & i just did a bit of In Hand working towards doing some in hand Piaffe & though sod it i want to get on. :)

I hopped on once bareback last year & tbh i found the Trot horrible so only did a few trot strides. Plus i was wary of T, he is a horse that came to me un-ridable so i think everyone can understand why i was wary.

Today was very different, his Trot has changed so much it was easy to sit to Bareback :), i found it easier to sit than when saddled if im honest.
Put him into to Canter & found this the hardest to sit :0, find it easy in a saddle!! But i got the hang of it & brought him into collected canter by just sitting taller, he reacted much faster to this small change then he does under saddle.

Had a play with all Lateral work which was good as it really made me think much more about where i was sat & then i had ago at a couple of steps of Piaffe :0 This Was actually better without saddle as i felt the communication was 10x's better & i could really feel even the slightest try.

So then decided to go for some Passage WOW it was good & i got it but tbh i did feel at points like i was about to take a flying lesson lol :0 :) So didnt press the Passage lol "what a wimp i hear you all saying!!"

So it got me thinking is riding bareback a good thing to do to gain a better seat & position??

I really did feel that my contact on the reins was better much softer & i felt i was really absorbing the movement better (had no choice to lol) so surely it cant be a bad thing??

T also seemed softer i only had his Drop done up ont 1st hole as i was doing Clicker training with Treats, normally he clocks things like this & will put his tongue over the bit when ridden, but today he didnt. Maybe it was because my contact was softer? It felt it.

I always rode bareback as a kid it was fun, & im thinking i may do more now T's a 100% genuine lovely person. Would never of tried bareback on him a few years ago i would of ended up in a full length body cast :0
 
Personally I find it very good for my position as it makes me sit straight whilst also making me 10x more aware of what I'm doing.

Before I moved yard I was regularly through the winter riding at least once a week bareback (and often in only a head collar although admittedly a type of pressure halter with two ropes as reins!) and the improvement in her was unbelivable. A lot of the improvement was me being able to sit correctly as only had/have jumping saddle which fits which is a struggle to sit correctly in for more advanced work even if working without stirrups. I have only ridden bareback once at new yard mainly as have to do it outside as no indoors and given its on top of a hill and normally very windy weather conditions haven't exactly been ideal this winter! I plan to do more over the summer though.

I think it can be really good for the horse as well as long as you can sit without bouncing around. I can see horses easily developing bruised backs if their riders are bouncing all over the place but that is understandable. If you can sit and absorb the movement through your back you are going to be more naturally balanced as you are finding your own balance rather than being 'placed' by the saddle, and because of that your balance point is going to be dictated by your horse to a higher degree so you will be working more in tune with horse and therefore they should find things better and easier, but as said this is dependant on your being balanced and soft through your back. But from above it sounds like you are!
 
There was an article in HH recently about some of the top riders (think it was eventers.. might have been dressage) who ride bareback occasionally, ooh, definitely an eventer featured, one of the young riders, might have been laura collett, because I remember it saying she jumped bareback
 
My dr trainer wanted me to try it with Adrian. I hadn't done it since I was about 10, & was, WFT...??? The first time was *very* strange, & Adrian was quite puzzled too. It really surprised me how much I rely on my huge great knee blocks on my dr saddle for 'leverage'. Bareback, you have no leverage, so have to use seat & back & weight correctly.

I found it quite a revelation, & while Adrian was in work, I rode bareback once a week, using a nuumed square to sit on...makes them less slippery & more cushioned, & protects his back from my boney butt.

I learned to stop him using my seat & not the rein, & did trot & canter work. However, I don't think I'll be doing it on Trevor / Tiger until we know each other a bit better.
 
A lady on our yard has been having problems with the fit of her saddle, so has ridden bareback on and off for a few months. She now actually prefers it, her horse is alot more responsive, she can sit much straighter, and now really dislikes riding in a saddle.

Two years ago I rode our 17 hh ex racer for 3 weeks without a saddle, due to fly bites, hacked out regularly as well as school work, found it improved my position alot, but was apparently the talk of the local saddlery, for being brave enough to do it. As a child used to think nothing of riding bareback with only a head collar, disclaimer it was many moons ago!
 
Dont ride bareback but used to ride newly broken baby racehorses in half tree exercise saddles and loved the fact that you could feel exactly how the horse was moving and especially when using its back muscles - the differance is incredible compared to a normal saddle and must be much nicer for the horses too.
 
I used to ride bareback as a child as I cba to bike 7 miles to the field with a saddle on the handlebars. Now I'm an old lady I prefer the security of a bareback pad. Every time I ride without a "proper" saddle I'm amazed at the amount of effort put in to developing dressage saddles which remove the rider more and more from how the horse is working.

If you want to develop topline faster get rid of your saddle for a few weeks. The difference is amazing!
 
Fascinating thread, something I'd not thought about at all. I haven't ridden bareback for years though I remember bareback jumping lessons as a kid, and I got the riding school pony that was hogged!

I'd be interested in the bareback pad you mention jemima_too as I think if I try it I'd like a little bit of help given that I don't bounce as well as I used to!
 
I will second the benefits of riding bare back! Will do wonders for your position and thigh muscles!

As well as the benefits mentioned above:
- it helps you realise how you can refine your seat aids, what seat movements are actually counter productive.
- develop a better feel for the horses back and when they are really working
- BRILLIANT for balance and developing a good 'deep' seat (ie stretching calfs down, use of thighs not calfs for grip) especially if you are hacking and doing fast work (like mustering cattle).
- jumping it shows if you are really balanced and able to ride with an independant seat and legs - ie not hanging on by the reins

A bareback pad is a good investment if you plan on doing it regularly (basically a sddlepad with a webbing girth. If doing fast work/hacking becareful of riding in just a saddle pad as I once parted company with a horse as the western pad I was sitting on slipped straight off and took me with it.... :o
 
MysteryGirl said:
I'd be interested in the bareback pad you mention jemima_too as I think if I try it I'd like a little bit of help given that I don't bounce as well as I used to!
Click to expand...

The one I have is something called the Total Contact saddle which causes a furore on here each time it's mentioned as it appears to have no pressure relief for the spine. I use it with a gel pad underneath and an elasticated girth which I use as loose as is sensible and no horse I've tried it on has had a problem with it. It did cause consternation at a PC rally when my daughter turned up with one. She did an hour's rally, finishing with jumping 3' to the horror of the PC mums and the surprise of the instructor.

The other "problem" that people have with it is that it is pricey, being made of leather. I originally bought one as we had a horse who we were trying to start doing dressage but who was built upside down, as he was an older horse he was finding it really tough and we wanted to help him to find it easier. There was an immediate and noticeable improvement using the TC saddle when we trialled it and I used to hack him out in it and let him stretch to build his topline and remodel his muscles.

normal_GianPiero_Carta_Italian_Nat_Champs_2005.jpg


Company website

They are happy to bring out a saddle for you to try and they have some interesting tips.


It's also excellent if you have multiple horses to ride as it is a one-size fits all solution - apart from the girth of course:)
 
Done my 2nd day of dressage bareback lol & im loving it tbh. However i now have a lot more concerns about my saddle. Luckily fitter already booked so no doubt it will be another case of new panels again it's WOW & has done us proud for 5 years.

However if im still not happy im sure i will be out saddle shopping, not that i can afford it but i quite fancy trying a Semiflex.

jemima_too - intresting Bareback pad i looked on the website & unfortunately the gallery pics really put me off it.
Every picture & im focusing on the flatwork shots the rider legs are to far forward taking the rider completely out of alighnment which isnt good as your sat in completely the wrong place.
Being Classically trained position is everything to me so it would put me off.
 
I rode bareback on Thursday evening. This is the second time I have recently done this. I wanted to see if I sat straight and also I wanted the direct contact with my horse. I rode down the farm drive on Thursday, which is a mile each way. I walked down and did some leg yeild and halting transitions just using my body. Then I trotted back, and I must say my horse was so much more responsive.


My aim now is to ride once a week BB and build up to a full schooling session.
 
ooh, I'm a big bareback fan

Whenever I want to teach my horse a new lateral move, I always teach it bareback, as I think you can feel so much better what's going on underneath you.

I also always sit on a youngster first bareback, rather than with a saddle, so that if there are any issues presented by the horse, I can isolate whether they are saddle related or rider related.

I used to jump bareback lots too - tho don't so much nowadays as I've found it gives you a bit of a dodgy jumping habbit - you end up gripping with your knees (how else do you stay on bareback jumping ?!?) - but that then means that when you jump with a saddle, your lower leg goes all over the place as you've forgotten that it needs to be doing anything as your knee grips to keep you on instead!! (... still trying to get myself out of that habbit!!)
 
If i've done this right, here's a pic I can't help but share of a bit of bareback jumping with my now dear departed mare (Kelpie)

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