for those that ride bareback

[coss]

firstly- i really admire you!

i had a quick ride bareback on dawn today (couldn't be bothered getting the tack out :eek: ) and i am so pleased i'm female- she has got high withers. but i had no grip :eek: i tend to use weight aids before anything else when i ride so when asking to turn i will push weight to one side- in a saddle i stay put and the aid is given, without... i start to slide off :eek: so i quickly scramble back upright before i slide too far. if i use my leg to get back on we go faster so i had to be careful. i was on a narrow track so to turn around and go back the way i had come we normally do a turn about the forehand but it was so difficult as i naturally move my seat to allow her back to move so that she can nicely cross her hind legs to make the turn. nearly slipped off but managed to wiggle back in place.
so question is: if you are bareback do you do any lateral work and if so what do you do? what would you do if you had to open and close a gate from on board?

[horse__obsessed]

if i ride bareback its normally a whiz rouind the field and a tiny jump and lots of work on walk, or a ride up to the field in a headcollar

re the gate prob, i would get off as i can vault back on, or i would do it the same way as normal in which case i just need to concentrate more on my balance

[capalldubh]

I cheat and use a bareback pad for extra stickiness :) I've never ridden out though - I don't know if I'd be insured - so the gate opening hasn't cropped up. On my old share mare I was just starting to do lateral work when I got my new horse (we could do 3 paces and small jumps bareback) and I wasn't using a saddle because I felt her own didn't fit. She was barrel shaped, so rather comfortable to ride bareback.

Jackson, OTOH, has the razor withers :eek: and so far everything has been kept to a walk (and often with no bareback pad either). I'm really not too keen to try anything faster until I see just how owwy it is likely to be... I have done turns on the forehand bareback on him, but at a very very slow walk.

[coss]

not a great pic but does give you an idea of the withers i have to contend with
http://file033a.bebo.com/7/large/2007/06/21/21/1359860817a4752843338l.jpg
dawn doesn't do slow unless i'm falling and then its 50:50. i have worked on turn abouts so much that she now does a big movement and i have to adjust my position to allow her to do the cross over which involved dipping a hip... cue sliding!
i don't have to open any gates to do the short bit of bareback i wanted to do but just wandered as i was considering doing some bareback when i had her at my RI's and i would have had to open a gate if i had done.
i can't vault to save my life :o

[MajorityRules]

Haha, That wither is nothing compared to my old horse duke!

Painful aint it?

When I do bareback I do w/t/c, a couple jumps, and once upon a time a spin :)

[coss]

i don't think its the withers thats the problem.... but the spine.

[MajorityRules]

Wait 'til she stops quick and you get pushed into it! :eek:!

[Painting Horses]

I owe a lot to breaback riding, When I got my first horse I couldn't affored a saddle so I had 5 months of bareback riding only when I had lessons I had a saddle so I have REALLY good balance and it's hard for horses to get me off lol. Which helps with training :P. I agree with what others have been saying, also the more your ride bareback the better you will become :)

[Skib]

May be this is a case where it is not helpful to know so much?
My teacher gives lessons bareback.
Though most bareback lessons (trotting) are on the lunge I've been off the lunge too, bareback, on her quiet beginners' horse and in the days when I knew rather little about weight and seat.
No distinction was ever made between aids riding bareback and riding with a saddle.
And for lateral work e.g. shoulder in, it might even help not to have one's leg confined to a stirrup?
I dont do turns on the forehand in my lessons - we concentrate on keeping the horse off the forehand. But I havent had any problem turning a horse when riding bareback. It never crossed my mind it was different. The aids I am taught are, generally speaking, those described in Centred Riding by Sally Swift. So that might be a help to you.

There is though a difference to the way one's legs hang when riding bare back - this is described in the book Horse Follow Closely by Gwana Pony Boy - they hang further forward in the hollow behind the foreleg which is why (I was told) some dressage teachers dont like their students riding bare back. But my own RI says that once back in a saddle one reverts to normal position.

[eventerbabe]

i cheat too, i have a best friends bareback pad. Spent a whole summer riding in it whilst waiting for a saddle. Really helped me feel a bit more secure. We used to go hacking for miles and never had any probs.

[Mehitabel]

yes, i do anything bareback i would with a saddle. for gates i cling on like a limpet and use a lot of voice.

you need to be subtler with your weight aids if they are enough to physically push you out of place - you're not having to give them through the bulk of a saddle, just through your jods, so you can be much quieter with them.

[Roofio]

i use a polypad and surcingle... J has high withers and a prominent spine, fortunately he's quite wide because of his size so this does help a bit. I can only just reach gates off him (although im quite good at doing them with my feet now as theyre at the perfect height!). Thats probably not the safest thing in the world to do though :o

[coss]

its not something i do regularly i was just curious. turn on the hauches would be easier i think. i definately can't just cling on to dawn though- have tried that in the past, lovely canter transition, then bouncy trot- slide again, lovely canter transitions etc... i ended up throwing myself on the ground :o (this was years ago) I am quite content riding without stirrups as my saddle has a bit of grip but any sideways movement and i was just sliding yesterday.
I think i really would have to get used to being subtler- i did a much subtler aid the second time i got her to turn round but she is very quick/sharp which doesn't make things easy. i think i'll go back to riding with a saddle :o
as i said previously- i admire anyone who can ride bareback.

[Daffy Dilly]

You get used to it. You should see the hill I rode down bareback, and the hill I was tanked down bareback. :eek:

Perhaps put a stirrup leather around the neck for grip?

[Skib]

My RI says to hang onto the mane in emergency rather than a neck strap.
I do wonder if it hurts the horse, but she says not and if you get used to grabbing the mane, that is a help in big spooks out hacking as I find I reach instinctively for the mane, i.e. for the centre of the horse.
Riding bare back is nice for the same reason: you can see a sort of parting down the centre of the back, so it's a guide line to keep you in the centre of the horse? Whereas on a saddle, the saddle can slip sideways and you can be off centre of the saddle.

[coyote]

today was the first time in at least 7mnths i rode with a saddle!!!! i always ride nelly bareback,a thick numnah and roller ,a bridle ,hat and bodyprotector and away we go!!! yippeee. today was weird i thought my stirrups were too short and kept shuffling in the saddle,he didnt listen to me as much either,we love going bareback,it helps him being a heavy hairy cob and me having a very fat ars* !!!:D:D

[coss]

i grab the mane if i start to slide ;) was back in the saddle today, felt soo good :o