Sitting on youngster for first time: bareback or tacked up?

I had my Arab mare from a six months old foal. Sitting on her bareback for the first time was a feeling I'll never forget. Such a feeling of closeness and connection with her...
So I did the basics bareback and in a halter. Then added a bareback pad and later a saddle. Never got around to bitting her, there wasn't any need. I might have done if she hadn't had to retire young.
There was a really big benefit of all the groundwork done, including the "informal" stuff like having a horse yield around me rather than the opposite. That was that as soon as I started to ride her she understood cues for lateral work, leg yields, turn on forehand and hindquarters etc. It was a great foundation for a horse that I wanted to be truly soft in the halter when ridden. :-)
 
really appreciating the coments. Got my lad in May as an unhandled rising 4 colt. gelded in october hes come n beautifully. been bitted twice now and saddled once took it all in his stride. been leaning over him using a mounting stool flapping about and patting him etc... time to bite the bullet and throw my leg over. hes 15.1 at the moment so not the biggest horse i've been on but first time breaking. wish me luck :-p
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I going to back my baby around Aug/Sept time, hopefully, if he's bum has leveled out! but I am planning on doing it with a saddle, coz he's so flippin big, don't fancy trying to get on without a saddle! I've already leant over him, not with weight, just to get him used to be being above and leaning over and he's not batted an eye lid!
 
Bareback, but sounding similar to you loads of leaning over half over stuff from both sides first, sitting 3/4's on but able to slide off. leaning over and sitting up high/tall. Then all this but being led a metre or so. I did this for ages and ages so when we moved forward further than a few metres and around an menage it wasn't really anything new. I'd personally feel safer without the saddle doing this so I slide rather than getting caught on anything.

Also did loads of saddle practice including saddle slipping practice and saddle going under horse slightly so they are used to it incase get into an emergency saddle slip/fall.

Go with instinct and gut feel and in your comfort zones so you are best able to keep calm and confident.
 
kerrieberry2 said:
I going to back my baby around Aug/Sept time, hopefully, if he's bum has leveled out! but I am planning on doing it with a saddle, coz he's so flippin big, don't fancy trying to get on without a saddle! I've already leant over him, not with weight, just to get him used to be being above and leaning over and he's not batted an eye lid!
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Yep, understand the 'big' bit. Not actually sure I could scrabble onto Roo without a very large mounting block! Short fat ponies are much easier: normal mounting block and they're low enough to gently slid of with no fuss.

Like the teaching them about falling off and saddle slipping. Will incorporate that into his training. Last horse would turn himself inside out if you so much as coughed initially (that kind of silly super sharp Welsh :rolleyes: ) and the first time a small child leapt off her nearby pony he levitated 10ft sideways. Thankfully Roo is nowhere near as stupidly sharp but always worth practising.
 
I prefer not to have anyone leading. If it really went wrong they can't do much about it and would be in the way as I tried to slide off.
My Arab mare was 16hh, I taught her to let me on from the fence. I did manage to scoot up from the ground, with a tiny bit of assistance from a helper who put a hand under my foot. this photos are genuinely the very first time I sat on her. Magic feeling. :-))
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Be gentle... after reading another thread I thought I'd show something of what I get up to. Not so much now I've got rubbish knees LOL!

To critique myself - I should have had more of a flex in her neck towards the nearside. I just felt so relaxed and she was too that I didn't get particular about that.
I haven't used clip ropes for some time either.
 
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She's beautiful Tinypony! Arabs as they should be (not too 'extreme')

I don't like them 'held' as I think forcing them to stand make them.feel more 'trapped' but I do like someone on the ground to reassure them if they start to get worried (which they shouldn't but better safe than sorry). I do have them led about initially though: it's what they understand, following someone.

I just need to find a strong person to leg me up, or build a super mounting block.Id fall off a fence!
 
I used to stand on a small mounting block a few times when grooming (and to start with he'd nip at me for that) And then i started just leaning against his side, and then I started to lean onto his back. but I didnt sit on without my saddle
I cant see the whys and logic behind both.
 
Ah, she's my lovely Crystal Fire. By Crystal Silver (trace back to Crystal Magician) out of Someone Special (The Shah bloodlines). So she's 50% Crabbet, 50% Egyptian. Rather large for some Arab people's taste, but she was bred for racing and endurance. She was 4 in those photos, so maybe not quite full-up 16hh, but she is now. Sadly her career was cut short at the age of 6 before she'd even started, and she's been lazily retired in a field ever since. I do like dainty Arabs as well, which is why I have my glamour boy Celebrity Psyche.

Anyway, back to the thread... Why nobody to reassure them on the ground? Because by the time I'm on board I want them to look to me for reassurance. I also want their focus on me, not someone else. I want them to be totally aware of what I'm doing, up for me doing some things a little bit clumsily, like maybe knocking their bum with my foot as I get on, or a bit of scrabbling. I do a lot more scrabbling than I used to these days... my lot have to be patient.

This is what I learnt from the evil, money-grabbing nh'y people. How to give a young horse a really calm start and a strong foundation for ridden work. And to do exactly the same with any horse that has an issue, so that you find out where the "gaps" are and fill them in as you go along. I am so lucky to have had the chance to learn about this stuff, I really feel that - lucky. :-)
 
I have always backed them with out a saddle initially. This makes it easier to detect any tension/nervousness before the horse goes into ''OMG GET OFF'' mode'
I have had it go wrong twice, one with and one without a saddle (different horses) and both times there was no way I was staying on, in both incidents the bucking was a result of the horse been taken by surprise during a ride out, not during the initial backing. Do lots and lots of preparation, wriggling about and such like and get them used to you suddenly tensing up, it's better to do this in a controlled environment than to get caught out later. Long reining I find very useful, it's good if the horse understands rein aids and voice aids before your on board.
I'm sure you'll be fine :)
 
Also, I Agree with TinyPony, I'd be unlikely to have an assistant hold him, it can just create confusion and make the horse unsure who he's meant to focus on.
And of course you could all end up in a big heap if it does go t**s up...
 
NH Fluffy Bunnys do it bareback.

Present company excepted... I think that a lot of even professional horse starters a bit casual enough about the basics? My western friends are particular about the attitude of the horse before they get on, and want them to be pretty robust about flapping stirrups, people all over their legs etc. My horse-starting friends will never get on a horse that won't stand still, and wouldn't have someone else trying to get them to stand still. Much of the foundation for ridden work is already in place on the ground, which makes things a bit more familiar for the horse when you get on. You immediately have cues to use that they will recognise. Just different really, and interesting to see how more than one way works.
 
Apart from the tack/no tack question, everyone I know breaks horses in a similar manner: by quiet and consistent desensitization so the horse is calm and happy for you to sit on their back. The only difference between 'traditional' and 'NH' is the extent of the desensitization. There will always be those idiots who just force the horse to accept a rider but there's idiots in all walks of life sadly. There are plenty of people who don't do enough work beforehand and the horse isn't as settled and calm as it should be but broken bones and bruises teach the riders quickly;)
 
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