Riding bareback on the road

[grandmaweloveyou]

Just been told by my sharer that she rode my horse out bareback today. She said "he seemed a little surprised at the start but was very good & they had a lovely long hack".

Whilst laughing at what I can imagine of his expression, trying to tell her she had forgotten something quite important, I have asked her not to do it again, bareback riding is for in school or field only.

Am I right or am I being mean?

I cannot handle the thought of him spooking or something with her bareback? Does it make her any more unsafe?

What do you think? Relax & let it go or stick to my guns?

 

[grandmaweloveyou]

also would they be insured if out bareback?

 

[Shysmum]

stick to your guns ! Safety has to come first

 

[posie_honey]

difficult one - i ride bare back - did for 3 months when i was having a saddle made - and still do now when i cant be bothered to tack up i do ride on roads but always have high viz on and use a neck strap - i'm not sure however if id be happy having someone else ride a horse of mine bareback on the roads unless i trusted their ability 110%.... yes accidents can happen but i think you can be just as safe without a saddle as with IF you are used to it (i used to groom in polo and we never bothered to put saddles on to exersise the 60 ponies to save time - so i've done a LOT of bareback riding )

ETA - a saddle should not be there to keep you on - your balance should do that - so IF you are as good with as without saddle then it is not a safety issue

 

[rhino]

also would they be insured if out bareback?

You'd need to check with your insurance company.

Highway code states that

52
Before you take a horse on to a road, you should
ensure all tack fits well and is in good condition
make sure you can control the horse
Always ride with other, less nervous horses if you think that your horse will be nervous of traffic. Never ride a horse without both a saddle and bridle.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_069853

which a lot of people don't seem to realise. It is very likely in the event of an accident her ability to control the horse without a saddle would be considered. At the end of the day though, it is YOUR horse and YOUR rules!

 

[Sparkles]

Highway code states tack should be worn.

However....I am not one to talk as the majority of my riding consists of a headcollar....so for me, I have no issue with bareback.

 

[Foxhunter49]

Your horse and your rules but more people need to learn how to ride bareback and not just in the arena. Uphill and down hill at all paces.

 

[ladyt25]

As posie-honey said, I think it depends on the ability of the rider and what your horse is like. At the end of the day though if it's your horse I would say you are within your rights to say what is and what isn't acceptable. I would also check your insurance in case there is anything in the small print about tack as there may well be (personally I don't think insurance can dictate what tack you wear if any as it's not a legal requirement). However, check it!

I rode out on my pony bareback before i remember - back in the days mum used to drop us down at our stables and pick us up later (or when we called using the 10p we always carried for the phonebox!), we once only had one bridle and saddle between me and my sister (of course no mobiles to ring home then). Therefore, as my pony was a bit strong I think I used the bridle and my sister used the saddel, I rode bareback and she had a heacollar on hers as a 'bridle'! Ah, those were the days!! I also on occasion forgot my hat and I used to ride without it. Very silly when I think back now!!

 

[ladyt25]

Your horse and your rules but more people need to learn how to ride bareback and not just in the arena. Uphill and down hill at all paces.

I definitely need to! We used to catch our ponies, jump on and gallop back to the stables bareback. I also used to compete in bareback showjumping classes on my pony.

However, rode my horse back across the field the other week (used to do this often years ago and would trot and canter back), he spooked at some rugs hanging and I almost came off! V embarrassing and I realised how crappy my balance has got as I've got older!

 

[Black_Horse_White]

I used to ride bareback all the time when i was a teenager. No way would I do it now, I would imagine if you had an accident it would be assumed you didn't have proper control over your horse. It even states in the highway code that you should always have your feet in the stirrups, that's a little difficult without a saddle

 

[LittleBlackMule]

When I was a child I rode daily along a main road bareback with just a headcollar.. and no hat ...now the volume and speed of traffic on that same road has trebled at least and I wouldn't dare ride along it without all the gear and a full set of hi-viz too.

Ignorance really was bliss in those days..

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

Given what the Highway code states I think it is very unlikely insurance would pay out in the event of an accident - and the liabilities if a car driver was killed or badly hurt could be millions. Therefore I would not allow anyone to ride my horse bareback on the road. In the field yes, but not on the road.

We used to do it but the number and speed capabilities of cars have increased hugely in the last 30 years, it isnt the same world sadly. People can decide if they want to do it on their own horse but I think it is not reasonable of the sharer to do it on yours without consulting you first.

 

[grandmaweloveyou]

Thanks everyone. All sorted!

 

[ex racer rider]

When my mare needed a new saddle I hacked out on the roads without a saddle. I did however pop her roller on and her breastplate so I had a handy hold in an emergency although one never arose.
beafing in mind she was an ex racer with slightly daft and speedy intentions lol

 

[mandwhy]

Nope it is not allowed on the roads and I think it is pretty irresponsible of her to think it would be OK and not mention it to you first!

 

[chokablok]

At the end of the day strctly legal or not, whether everyone else is doing it or not, if you as the ponies owner arent comfortable with it then go with your instinct - after all if something bad did happen you'd feel terrible for not sticking to your guns.

 

[Dora5]

Doesn't anyone worry about the damage you can do to your horses back by riding bareback regularly? With a saddle you avoid sitting on their spine, without you are sitting all your weight on their spine rather than the muscle, I'm not saying I have never ridden bareback but def not in my adult life

 

[Flame_]

I used to hack my old gelding on quiet lanes bareback with a fluffy numnah quite often. He wasn't spooky though and he was quite an uncomfortable but secure shape so it wasn't likely i'd fall off. I wouldn't do it with my arab though at least until he's more grown up. Great as he is, he's got a pretty nifty spook in him and being a lot rounder than my old horse I'd probably go out the side and lose him.

 

[Littlelegs]

I do have the odd bareback hack through a housing estate bareback. Seen as I pretty much learnt to ride bareback, & I'm on my childhood 14.2 there isn't anything that could happen that would be lessened or prevented if I had a saddle. But I wouldn't give anyone else permission to do so on a horse of mine, even if they were equally competent bareback.

 

[Sarah1]

I used to hack my old pony bareback - at all paces - (I was about 16 years old at the time & a bit of a nutter!), we had to cross a narrow country lane on a very bad bend to get 'off road' - can't quite believe I did it now! I wouldn't do it now, too much traffic about and I don't think my old bones could take it if I fell off!!!!!
I think your horse, your rules

 

[grandmaweloveyou]

Nope it is not allowed on the roads and I think it is pretty irresponsible of her to think it would be OK and not mention it to you first!

This is how I feel to be honest. She said she "is a bit mad. Latin" and I guess did it all the time when she lived abroad.

He is, as she said, "as comfy without the saddle as with"

Anyway...sorted, thanks again.

 

[PandorasJar]

I prefer bareback riding but would never go on road without a saddle (mainly as I hate roads anyway! I have more control and a better seat without a saddle imo, but wouldn't risk insurance.

If I were you I'd phone insurance company and see what they say. If no, would a bareback pad make a difference?

Or if it is simply that you are uncomfortable with it, then say no.

Pan

 

[posie_honey]

Doesn't anyone worry about the damage you can do to your horses back by riding bareback regularly? With a saddle you avoid sitting on their spine, without you are sitting all your weight on their spine rather than the muscle, I'm not saying I have never ridden bareback but def not in my adult life

no i dont worry - my seat bones sit either side of her spine - but anyway - i like classical dressage but would NEVER consider riding in this way bareback - i ride like a gypsey to be honest (ok i know not PC but you'll instantly have an imagin in your mind and thats the only way that's easy to describe it )
i lean far further back and sit more on the squidgy part of my bum
trust me - if my horse was in any pain she'd have me off - it took over a year to find a saddle she didnt bronk me off of due to disliking it - even if i ride in the dr saddle for a few weeks then put the jumping saddle on she has a buck or two to tell me its different - and all hell breaks loose when saddler adjusts the saddles at all as she tells me all about the change

so no - i ride regularily bareback and stay on - so she is def not in pain she also has regular back treatments (altohugh hardly ever needed now unless injury). massage and bowen and all of practitioners would pick up on pain if there was some as shes'd had such a bad back in the past they are very aware to check all aspects of her back/saddle area
i do however try to keep my weight at 10stone - if i put much more on i'd maybe think twice about it

 

[pines of rome]

I used to do it a lot when I was a teenager and fearless, not something I would be doing now though!

 

[Dry Rot]

This thread brings up a picture in my mind of a mob of gypsies riding through the centre of Limerick at the gallop - all bareback and, I think, mostly just in head collars! Sorry, totally OT. That must have been over 30 years ago. Another who rode bare back as a kid with "bridles" made of hay string and no hat of course.

 

[JenHunt]

I would say it's up to you, he's your horse after all.

I regularly hack out bareback (well, with a pad), especially after a day hunting - it's good for my riding, and it seems to help with his responsiveness and softness. And there's not much beats a good gallop up a hill with no saddle on!

Ron is spooky in a silly way - he sort of jumps at things, then walks past. Our roads are very quiet as they're dead ends linked by a bridleways!

I'm not sure how it stands with insurance - best to check your policy.

 

[monkeybum13]

On the roads is silly.

I've hacked out quite a bit bareback with just a headcollar (and neck strap!) on my friends horse but all her hacking is off road on private land. More fun then, much more cantering and going uphill/downhill

 

[lula]

to my shame, i have never been able to ride bareback. i remember years ago working at a stables and we had bareback races around hyde park. i couldnt stay on for more than 5 minutes

i watch with utmost respect riders jumping Puissance classes bareback, heck i respect anyone that can stay on jumping 6 inches!

i never rode bareback as a child where perhaps many learn this skill and would completely agree more riders should know how to do it simply because it improves your balance skills and as one poster pointed out, a saddle shouldnt be there to keep you on board.

I wouldnt worry about riding bareback hurting a horse's back. without wanting to jump back into the past few days heated threads on the subject, as long as you're not hugely overweight and unbalanced bouncing about on the spine you're unlikely to do any damage and a lot of horses move freer in their shoulder without a girth.

 

[RubysGold]

I went round the housing estate a couple of months back without a saddle. But i like to think i know my horse well and we were only walking anyway.
If anyone else did it on her id go mad i think

 

[Brightbay]

It is possible to get insurance that covers you to ride both bareback and bitless - the policy is actually worded to cover this. I have it, as I ride bareback (well, stirrupless - I use a bareback pad) a fair bit and bitless all the time. On the other hand, by perference I tend to hack on a traffic free Sustrans track, and although it's just a short ride along the road from the field, I do tend to lead for this part. I do occasionally ride on the very quiet local lanes (if a car passes us in a half hour on the road, it's unusual, although we do sometimes meet the milk lorry...).

One of the main reasons I ride bareback is because over the 6 years I have had my horse, I seem to have failed, despite a variety of saddlers, to find a saddle that doesn't hurt him - we have been through 6 saddles, 3 saddle fitters and had muscle wastage, white marks, pressure marks, physio. None of this happens when I ride bareback. Seems a no brainer to me - I would love to have a saddle that fitted consistently and without causing damage, but I don't, and the horse clearly says he is happy with bareback (it's no easy job to get on a 17hh horse bareback if he doesn't want you to!).

I think people need to take responsibility for their own safety, for the safety of the public at large and for their horse's wellbeing, by using their best judgement OP, you were right to be put out - it's your horse and she should have asked in advance (the insurance considerations are important regardless of how the horse responds).