Your experiences of riding bareback

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Lunchbox legend

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Does anyone here ride bareback?

I've ridden bareback once and loved it. 'My' horse's owner gave me the go ahead to do it but not for long and not every day. I just wondered how many people here ride bareback, what your experiences are, what tips you'd give, what warnings you'd give etc. I won't be doing it out on a hack (highway code/use stirrups at all times) but it would be fun to make a change now and then when we stay on the yard.
 
I school bareback sometimes, mainly when I CBa toget my tack out lol.

Depends on th horse but watch your lady bits especially when getting off! Don't leav forward with too much enthusiasm.

It's a great way of teaching and perfecting your seat aids :)
 
I used to jump on my pony bareback in a headcollar all the time and jump the jumps out in the field (rode her in the field she was turned out in), and used to gallop her up and down there, all in just this headcollar.

One of the reasons why I am pretty hard to dislodge once I'm in the saddle! :D
 
We do it all the time. :D When my kids go and bring their horses or pony up from the fields they are always jumping on them and riding them up to the house bareback. The two older ones used to have races. (Cringe at the thought now). Its good fun, and fun should be what owning/riding horses is all about. My daughter went from a typical thellwell pony to a wb she didnt like the boney spine as it hurt. My eldest lad had a tb and a few tears in his eyes when he trotted and got caught the wrong way! :eek: It helps with your balance and core strength too. One good exercise is to try and do rising trott bareback. This really helps with your core and position.
 
I used to when I was younger with my ponies and then this summer with my horse, it's fun when you once get the hang of it and it really teaches you to balance because you fall off if you don't. Also learnt that although leaning forwards seems like a good idea its better to sit back and grip with calves, had many falls before realising this:D My friends horse would buck anyone off if he's ridden bareback although he's great undersaddle whereas mine doesn't really care, so not all of them react nicely to it but good luck hope you have fun with it:)
 
I used to ride bareback quite a bit when i was younger - i used to walk to the stables on a summers day and ride in just a headcoller. Those were the days where fun shows had bareback jumping classes :D since having children i've become a lot more risk aware and doubt i'd do it now
 
I haven't done it for a long time due to only having youngsters, but I used to ride my older boy bareback all the time as he was saint. You need a good seat to stay on board especially in trot. Try and sit up, if you're leaning forward and the horse does something unexpected you'll be straight out the side door. There are some great videos on youtube of a girl who 'free rides', she must have some serious guts... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jBjg717TJc
 
I ride bareback quite a lot as I'm a bit crooked due to a back operation so trying to straighten up. I put a numnah and surcingle on though ad pony is round and slippery! Best time was when I hacked out and a couple of riders cantered off in front of me (they did ask first!), pony decided he was going too and we had a flat out gallop up the track - I was laughing my head off, how I didn't fall off I don't know!
 
I have a horse who seems not to be a good shape for saddles, so after going through about 5 different shapes and types of saddle, we got one that saddle fitter felt was "OK" - but I was never entirely happy with it, so I just gave up and started riding bareback. Although horse is clearly not saddle shaped :D he is very comfy bareback - not totally round, but with a broad flat back and withers that aren't too scary at all. So we mosey around bareback, school bareback, and after I realised that I was riding more often bareback than with a saddle, I saved up and bought a lovely sheepskin bareback pad to keep my bum clean and put a little more padding between his back and my seat bones. I do hack out in it, but not on roads.

Horse has quite a nice smooth trot - I spent a lot of time training that ;), but ideally I need to post even bareback, and feel this has actually improved my balance when riding with a saddle. And you can't beat bareback when it's -5 - shared body heat keeps both of us warm!
 
It must be one of the things that is really only possible these days if you keep at home (I did).

One girl at my yard sometimes rides her horse in bareback with no hat, YO would murder her if she ever saw!
 
Some point in time (well.. long ago...)I prefered riding bareback as it gives you unforgettable feeling of a half a ton muscle machine beneath which you are holding control of.
And a good lesson in balance and toughening your backside :D(once I have ridden a draught horse with really... really high withers...ouch...)
 
My old boy prefers being schooled bareback, and is much softer and easier to ride. I assume he isn't quite as comfortable in a saddle, although I have tried many fitters and had quite a lot of different saddles, all of which have fitted him well according to the fitters. He hacks and jumps with a saddle and doesn't appear uncomfortable but there must be some difference. He's on loan now but I always used to school bareback.

Agree with the previous comments - if in doubt lean back a little rather than forward. Not sure about actually gripping with the calves - I would describe it as stretching your leg as long as possible, a little back and round the horse, pressing to his sides but not actually gripping. In trot I found that it was a great stomach muscle workout and in canter more a thigh / leg exercise. Always have a neck strap both for safety and to stop you grabbing the reins in panic. Sticky bum jodhpurs are good. If you panic at all in trot or canter concentrate on pushing your feet down and keeping your legs either side of the horse and not letting your knees come up at all.
 
I've done LOADS bareback! As others have said we used to just jump on with headcollars and belt around!

When I returned to riding a couple of years ago, my uncle let me ride his fell pony. The saddles were ancient and I didn't think they fitted very well, so I'd just ride him bareback in a bridle. Never one to let a lack of practice stop me, I was cantering and jumping him all over the shop bareback! Only fell off once, when trying to carry a mate's saddle, and pony got spooked and ran off. I only had one hand on the reins and the weight of the saddle messed up my balance that time.

One proviso - yes, it is great for your balance but I'm not too sure it's great for your position with a saddle if you ride bareback for a long period of time. You do alter your position to absorb the movement IMO. I was very sticky as a result of barebacking everywhere, but as I never rode in a saddle my position was off when I got back on one. Don't let that put you off though, it's wonderful fun.
 
Thanks folks. Sounds like everyone has positive things to say about riding bareback and I could certainly do with improving the core muscles :) .

nix123 said:
One good exercise is to try and do rising trott bareback. This really helps with your core and position.
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:eek: :confused: How do you do a rising trot bareback? I'd love to know cos it ain't too comfortable in a sitting trot :D .
 
Whenever we encounter a problem when schooling I whip off the saddle and go bareback until I've sorted it out. 9 times out of 10 it's me that is causing the problem lol so without the saddle I can properly focus on the horses movements underneath me and what my position is doing and there is no saddle getting in the way. I find bareback riding a lot easier if I'm honest, as it's too easy to depend on the saddle.

Getting a new saddle soon, one that fits both me and the horse, so hopefully that will help a lot, but I'll never give up bareback, it's way too much fun!
 
I used to ride my old mare bareback all the time I used to hack in a bridle bareback on the roads, id hack in a headcoller & lead rope bareback on the tracks & canter, we also jumped in headcoller & leadrope a decent height, trusted her with my life though!

My current mare I rode bareback for a few months last year as her saddle didn't fit properly, only schooled her though as she was only 4 & it wasnt safe to hack her
 
I've tried it once with Alf, and he bucked me off! He has strong opinions about what is and isn't correct, and bareback was clearly incorrect!
 
I rode bareback a lot as a child.

I have ridden bareback recently, once on a two hour hack when I forgot to take my saddle to the yard and couldn't be bothered to drive back home to fetch it. I did ride in the arena bareback occasionally. My boy was very easy and nice and round!
 
Used to do it a lot when I was a child ............ back in the last century!! Only ever done it a couple of times on my horse, I found it really uncomfortable and felt really unsafe. Might have something to do with my complete lack of balance these days :(:(
 
I have a very broad welsh cob who is difficult to find a saddle for and often rode bareback in between saddles. I love schooling bareback as yo ucan feel every movement. I've also hacked out and jumped bareback and I think my horse enjoys it as much as I do.

I now have a Solution treeless saddle which fits perfectly and feels a bit like riding bareback.
 
Basically spent my entire childhood riding bareback. To begin with on the same pony as my best friend (she was in front, me behind) and we went off riding for hours and hours. Then I got my own pony and again we'd go off from first thing to last thing at night and go miles and miles jumping absolutely everything we could (we did cheat and use a numnah and surcingle to protect our bums a lot). She is now a 3* eventer and there are some photos I've seen of her where, by rights, she should have fallen off but her hunting and bareback background have given her the most amazing seat ever. Me, however, am still just as rubbish a rider who can't even ride a circle (think a 3 year old's attempt at drawing a circle and that's what mine look like when I try and ride them). I live for hunting though and am sure my years bareback have left me in good stead and I seem to be able to stay in the plate most of the time.

I got my last hunter fit bareback as her saddle no longer fitted. 11 weeks bareback did my post baby muscles the best workout. I would ride my current horse bareback but he would have me off within about 2 seconds so not worth it!!

Funnily enough it is my measure of how much I trust a horse… would I ride it bareback back from the field or to the village and back? If not then its not the horse for me.
 
I used to as a kid, helping at the local stables, turning out and bringing in from the fields. Then about 15 years ago my mare had a skin infection so I rode bareback for around 6 weeks, it did so much good to my seat and balance (they needed a lot of help!) Mini loves it too, she's ridden bareback whenever possible (or too lazy to tack up completely!) from her 12h sec A when she was 8 upto her young 15h mare today. Including Heidi who uses it as a great excuse to exercise her sense of humour....:D

 
I think it's a great tool for improving balance and stickability :) Ride all my horses bareback from time to time, on my gelding I even jump him with no tack :D (trying to get pics but my mother is useless with a camera!)
 
PHP: 
it gives you unforgettable feeling of a half a ton muscle machine beneath which you are holding control of.
And a good lesson in balance and toughening your backside

That is why our RI teaches bareback lessons. Such a treat. You can be lucky - even in old age.
 
Lunchbox legend said:
:eek: :confused: How do you do a rising trot bareback? I'd love to know cos it ain't too comfortable in a sitting trot :D .
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I think it actually improved my rising trot when using a saddle :D When I was a kid and accompanying my dad on a business trip to Yorkshire, he sent me off to a very posh riding school for the day while he was off doing worky stuff. I had a lunge lesson, and was taught to rise without stirrups. Must be nearly 40 years ago now, but it has stuck with me as one of the most memorable riding lessons I ever had :D

Rising to the trot while riding bareback is a much smaller rise than most folk do when riding with a saddle. You just rock forward with the horse's movement and gently back - there is no need for stirrups or gripping with your legs, it's a very subtle movement that's more like a pilates "abdominal crunch". You can change diagonals just as you would riding with a saddle. And IIRC, there are some instructors who suggest that we'd all be better rising to the trot this way, and that many people "over rise" when using saddle/stirrups.

It's much more comfortable in a faster bareback trot. Slower trots, it's quite comfortable to sit.
 
Brightbay said:
Rising to the trot while riding bareback is a much smaller rise than most folk do when riding with a saddle. You just rock forward with the horse's movement and gently back - there is no need for stirrups or gripping with your legs, it's a very subtle movement that's more like a pilates "abdominal crunch". You can change diagonals just as you would riding with a saddle. And IIRC, there are some instructors who suggest that we'd all be better rising to the trot this way, and that many people "over rise" when using saddle/stirrups.
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I was taught early on to rise to the trot without stirrups and was told that I should rise exactly the same with stirrups.

If you ride in a fairly balanced position and press on the stirrups to rise, it encourages your lower leg to swing forward a little and back again as you sit, making it almost impossible to keep a totally stable lower leg position.

Novices who press on the stirrups to rise tend to end up in a chair seat, with the legs either permanently pressed forwards and off the horses sides, or constantly losing their balance backwards and landing with a bump on the 'sit'.

To rise bareback, the horses movement automatically throws you up off their back, your "stomach crunch" steers your pelvis in the right direction and you sort of catch yourself very gently with your inner thigh to prevent being thrown up too high/too far forward. Then you use your core muscles to control the decent so you don't sit down with a bump. Apply a little more pressure with your inner thigh on the rise and the horse will step forwards into walk as you sit - useful on a very bouncy horse to avoid sitting trot!
 
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