Riding bareback? sounds daft i know

RubysGold

RubysGold

Well-Known Member
Joined
27 December 2006
Messages
6,782
Location
Yorkshire
Visit site
Do people do this or is it something that is frowned upon?
I know lots of children probably do it on their little shetlands but i didnt start riding till i was 16 (2 years ago) and have only just got my own horse, so i've missed out on it.
Do adults ride bareback?
Nickie
 
LOL yes, all our horses are ridden to fields bareback. Liveries and RS by people aged 12-65! and we do have a tendency to canter!! :P I love riding bareback, I ride my 17.1hh to the field bareback in just a headcollar
shocked.gif
tongue.gif


Also ride bareback like this

DSCF1793.jpg
 
It's great for balance but not recommended if your horse has high withers! I rode Charlie Bareback last year for the first time and it was EXTREMELY painful -will never be doing it on him again!
blush.gif
blush.gif
 
I don't know if it is done so much in England, I suspect not; I'd imagine the only riding done bareback is taking horses to their fields.

I do ride bareback - and I mean go for long trails/hacks bareback. It's something I have always done and will keep doing until I'm too old to get my leg over
wink.gif
.
 
My horse is aged and has arthritis in his back, and prefers not to be saddled. So my daughter rides him bareback most of the time, hacking and schooling. It suits them both. If you want to ride bareback, then there is no reason at all why you shouldn't!
smile.gif


yard3223.jpg
 
Hell yes, have a go in a sand school 1st though.
smile.gif
I mainly just ride bareback in the School or round the fields as out hacking we have to go on roads. I did however do a 2hrs hack once when I boxed somewhere just to find I had left my girth at home............it was either ride bareback or not ride!!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
I do occasionally, thanks to JessPickle she made me! Good for the seat and balance!
grin.gif



[/ QUOTE ]

I am so cruel, forcing you to ride bareback first time properly on 17.1hh!
tongue.gif
 
Over the summer I made it my mission to ride bareback more often, it does wonders for your seat.
I always have on my boy as he developed girth galls early on and it took a while to find a suitable solution, so I rode bareback until they heald. I'm lucky because he's a falt backed, low withered cob and is very confy, though quite bouncy, lol. As you can imagine, I do get a few comments about us looking like pikeys (not meant in a nasty way) but he is actually a gypsy pony so I just laugh.
I turned up at my current yard bareback as I packed all my stuff in my car and walked back to my old yard, then hacked over. It was only when I got to my old yard I realised I'd left my saddle in the car so had to go without it - I looked like a right scruff in jeans and a synthetic bridle with no noseband, lol! Plus the people on the yard knew me through hunting so seeing like that was a bit of a shock
grin.gif
 
I'd love to do it but I have a very boney bum
blush.gif
and my horse likes bucking - I suspect a combination of the two is not a good idea
tongue.gif
I used to ride bareback all the time when I was little - I had free access to a pony but he didn't have a saddle!!
grin.gif
 
i love riding bare back its great fun my old loan pony was great to ride bare bk i could do everything even jumping bare bk on her as she was such an armchair ride miss her.... but rosie is so bouncey going into canter and coming out, i did try it on her in the summer hols i can plod round on her walk and trot but i like my saddle wen it comes to cantering lol xxx
 
I used to as a kid but now have a boney pony whose very bouncey and I've not braved it! Maybe I will now you lot have talked it up. I remember being made to canter and jump and do all sorts of gymkhana type things bareback as a kid - it's prob not as common nowadays as everyones worried about insurance and being sued etc - I know it was banned on my old yard - what starts as bareback is then with a headcollar rather than a bridle, then peoples hats go etc....
 
Spent the summer riding my 17hh exracer bare back, hacking schooling the lot. Got loads of funny looks from other riders even found I was being talked about in the local tack shop. Did my seat and balance the world of good, used to ride bareback as a teenager all the time and wondered if the aging body could cope with it but I am still here to tell the tale!
 
I used to ride my gelding bareback loads just 'cause I liked it and it was something a bit different to do.

It was also good because even though he was sharp he was REALLY comfy so he made me look good
wink.gif
 
I used to, but then bent my arm vaulting on bareback and ca't see myself doing it agains
frown.gif
.
I did on my french exchange- They knew I liked horses went to quite a length to arrange for me to be able to ride. Turned up, they gave me a hackamore, and sent me in the direction of a dartmoor pony stallion who was 17, and not been ridden for a few months. After I worked out how to fit a hackamore I realised they wern't about to give me a saddle. The showed me a huge vinyard and said see you in 2 hours. I was petrified!
 
I used to do it when I helped at a riding school when we took the ponies back to the field at the end of the day. Just walking and a bit of trot. I do all my lessons without stirrups for pretty much the whole time which is almost the same thing i guess.
 
I've only ridden Ali bareback once, because he can be quite unpredictable at times! A few piccies (stills from a video, hence the poor quality)...
AliSeptember1900211.jpg

AliSeptember190021.jpg

Aliseptember190011.jpg

AliSeptember1900111.jpg

AliSeptember19003.jpg


Oh, and if you're riding your horse bareback for the first time then I suggest that you don't do it on a concrete yard...
blush.gif
Oh, and use a bridle...
blush.gif
 
I'm in my 50's now and when I was a child we used to ride bareback all the time, sometimes just with head collars. It was long before any thoughts of health and safety and probably really improved our riding without us even realising it. In my teens I used to compete in bareback jumping classes which were quite a regular feature of local shows. Great fun!
 
Bareback can be great fun, depending on how suitable your horse is , regarding high withers and those who like to buck !! Nothing like bareback bucking to improve your seat tho !!
arctic fox , love your tackless jumping pic , great ! x
 
Bloody hell artic fox!! I wouldn't jump that WITH a saddle and bridle on.

To those that do ride bareback, how on earth you get your balance enough to trot/canter/jump (anything more than a walk lol)!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Bloody hell artic fox!! I wouldn't jump that WITH a saddle and bridle on.

To those that do ride bareback, how on earth you get your balance enough to trot/canter/jump (anything more than a walk lol)!

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL!!!
grin.gif


And it's the same as anything really, it just takes practice! I started off just walking with just a tiny, tiny bit of very slow trotting - literally half a length of the school maximum in a straight line. After I was happy doing that, I trotted round corners, started cantring and, eventually, started jumping.

If all else fails though, just grab a handful of mane, shut your eyes, kick and hope for the best
grin.gif
wink.gif
 
One of our boys was never technically broken to ride... he just kind of lets you... Put a saddle on him once and he became a wild mustang!

Theres just nothing like riding bareback for improving you. Word to the wise tho, take a change of johds if your on a black wooly shire on a sunny day... ewww lol
 
Watch your insurance though guys and watch your neds backs coz bareback doesn't give you clearance over the horse's spine like a gullet does. Back and forth to the field won't hurt - I often do - but regular long rides, I dunno.........
 
With Castle I used to hop on his back in the field (no hat
blush.gif
) and go for a canter around the fields with just a headcollar...
blush.gif
Very foolish I know! I also jumped bareback on him every now and then and it was great craic!
grin.gif
 
I used to love riding bareback when I was twlve and used to ride a very well fed cob. I tried it recently on my girl and found it very uncomfortable!
 
Yes, I ride bareback and usually it has been through necessity (a girth gall, not having a saddle that fits etc). If your horse is fit and strong enough and you dont thump around on its back I cant see the problem? I often ride bareback before work because I dont have to take the time to tack up then...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top