Ideas for exercise without a saddle please!

[Surbie]

My loan horse's ancient saddle has been unexpectedly retired by my saddler, and there is another 2-week wait before he can come back out with some replacements.

Horse is probably deliriously happy to go from 1-2 hours work a day to mostly loafting about in the field with his mate. We have lots of grass, it's having a rather rapid impact on his waistline, and he wasn't exactly lean to begin with. Hard feed has been removed.

So far I lunge 2x week, and have been doing some in-hand work - including cones and poles - which is making me huff and puff a lot more than him. The road to the hacking can be fast and he has an easily triggered flight response so I'm a bit wary of taking him out in hand on my own. The rest of the horses are on full livery, and hacking nannies are in a bit of short supply.

Any tips on anything I could consider?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Bareback riding?

Not on the fast road though!

 

[{108361}]

Yep - ride bareback. I rode my horse without a saddle for 6 weeks when I got her as I had no saddle. Silicone grip jods help a bit. It will improve your riding no end.

 

[AJHORSE]

You could try a bareback pad- most come with a girth and sometimes stirrups! Wouldn’t do bareback to often because I’ve heard it can hurt the horses spine but if you get a bareback pad that may help!

 

[AJHORSE]

bareback is great for balance- for the rider!

 

[Surbie]

I will give it a go - never done it before and riding without full tack was a notice to quit offence at the last yard.

 

[HashRouge]

I will give it a go - never done it before and riding without full tack was a notice to quit offence at the last yard.

What are silly rule! Bareback riding is great fun and very good for rider balance and corse strength.

 

[Kaylum]

We learnt to ride bareback and when teaching the pupils loved taking the tack off at the end and having 10 minutes riding.

Also you can do loose schooling instead of lunging will really help you bond and use voice commands.

 

[poiuytrewq]

What are silly rule! Bareback riding is great fun and very good for rider balance and corse strength.

Health and safety gone a bit crazy I’d imagine 😂

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Health and safety gone a bit crazy I’d imagine 😂

I was taught to ride by one of the most safety conscious women ever, she was very aware to she had other people's children in her care but a group of us regularly rode and led bareback horses to the field, along the road through the village. Admittedly this was in the late 60s when litigation wasn't really a thing but if she risked it, it wasn't really risky.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Long reining!

 

[JFTDWS]

Ride bareback. If you have a field or an arena to play about it, everyone should - it's great for balance and developing your riding

I will give it a go - never done it before and riding without full tack was a notice to quit offence at the last yard.

I looked around a yard once, a few years back. It was a fairly nice DIY yard, decent surface on the arena, reasonable turnout, YO a bit intense but didn't seem too insane... Right at the end I asked if they had any unusual rules other than the standard "keep the place clean" type stuff. She said "oh not really, just the usual, don't leave jumps out, wear hats, oh and you'll never believe it but I've had people on here doing such stupid things, like riding without tack - I was a professional, y'know, so I've seen such accidents happen, so obviously that's not allowed". I presumed she meant daft teenagers riding around tackless with no control so I said something to that effect and she clarified she meant people riding bareback, or in bitless bridles. I politely said it was a nice yard, and ran away as fast as I (metaphorically) could

 

[poiuytrewq]

I was taught to ride by one of the most safety conscious women ever, she was very aware to she had other people's children in her care but a group of us regularly rode and led bareback horses to the field, along the road through the village. Admittedly this was in the late 60s when litigation wasn't really a thing but if she risked it, it wasn't really risky.

Hats and bridles? Im not the most safety conscious but I wouldn’t do that now!

 

[Surbie]

On the 'no riding without complete tack' rule from my previous yard, there had been an awful accident before I arrived there. Rider terribly injured. The yard owners made that rule as a result, the yard manager simply reinforced their wishes. They were up front about it and you accepted it or walked away. It didn't bother me.

Thanks for all the replies suggesting bareback though - I AM however quite excited to try, given there's no such constraint at the new yard. I can't loose school there, that isn't allowed.

 

[JFTDWS]

Thing is, accidents happen all the time with horses - and some of them are avoidable, but a lot of them aren't. It's a risk every time you get on a horse, and in many cases, getting on bareback is no more of a risk than getting on tacked up. It's a shame when people don't understand that and try to enforce rules which don't really keep anyone safer, but dramatically limit what people can do with a horse.

 

[Surbie]

First ever bareback ride in walk today at the end of his lunge session. It was AWESOME!!! Can't wait to do it again, and to go faster.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Hats and bridles? Im not the most safety conscious but I wouldn’t do that now!

Yes, of course in hats and bridles! Not that the hats would have been much use if anyone had landed on their head! They were the cork with an elastic strap under the chin type. The roads were much quieter in those days but we did have to go along a bus route, although most of the ponies were good in traffic and not bothered about buses which they saw regularly. Only the better riders actually led a 2nd horse but we were taking about 12 back to the field, there was usually a car going to bring riders back/to the bus stop/wherever, so if there had been an accident (there never was that I know of), there would have been an adult around.

 

[Surbie]

My gorgeous bear of a horse and my lovely friend who walked alongside in case I felt wobbly.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Your horse is gorgeous and look how well you're sitting on him!

 

[Pippity]

Riding in a bareback pad (one of the lush Christ Lammfelle ones) was what made me finally fall into the position that instructors have been trying to explain to me for years. It's just a shame my horse doesn't like being ridden bareback! (I still make her endure it a couple of days a month, just in walk, to remind myself what the correct position feels like.)

 

[Cortez]

Riding in a bareback pad (one of the lush Christ Lammfelle ones) was what made me finally fall into the position that instructors have been trying to explain to me for years. It's just a shame my horse doesn't like being ridden bareback! (I still make her endure it a couple of days a month, just in walk, to remind myself what the correct position feels like.)

Sounds like you need a better saddle........

 

[Pippity]

Sounds like you need a better saddle........

Oh, I do. I've never found a saddle that's really right for me. But the current one fits her, and she's changing shape so rapidly that she'll be in a new one soon enough. When her shape has stabilised, I'll put more effort into finding something that's right for both of us.