riding bareback

I've been riding my lesson mare bareback for 4 years. She is more comfortable with ME on her bareback at 120ish pounds than little kids with a blanket, pad, theraputic pad, and saddle.


Bareback riding doesn't harm a horse if you know how to actually sit down and ride- it's just that a large amount of riders actually can't do either. I think it's time for people to learn how to really ride- not just stabalize with the stirrups. Even top showjumpers do it- usually after jumps. Bareback jumpers sit down and shut up (seat wise).

An english set of saddle panels mimics the shape of the human underside- what does that tell you?
Plus, a rider will always fit, a saddle will not adjust to any changes in a horse, even minor. A body is forgiving of movement, a saddle is not.


You can effectively ride a horse without a saddle for the horses whole life. A mare at my barn has been ridden bareback almost entirely by her owner, who has owned her for probably the last.... 6 years or so?

There's going to be poeple here saying ti does damage. So can a saddle. But a bareback rider is not restricting, and is at least minimally lighter to carry.
 
bareback riding is good for a horse, when you think of the weight of a saddle, does them good and they enjoy it.

i have just started bareback riding on a pad, i do my lessons stirrupless now with an aim to be good enough by winter to do all my lessons bareback as well (we have hard lessons :) ) i ride drummer at least once a week bareback if i get chance
 
As a note, I'm not even planning to buy a saddle for my new horse- unless I start showing or start english, bareback it is- even then, I'll probably play around with jumping bareback.
 
I thought that saddles were invented by men because they used to dare eachother to do silly things and jump bareback on high withered horses. This hurt too much down below, so they invented saddles and couls still do stupid things while preparing to go into battle and stuff.

I ride bareback quite a lot, but mum doesn't let us go on most hacks because they have too many people on the path and if anything happened to those people it would be even more our fault. So the longest hack Ive been on bareback is only about 1 hr
 
Not too often, riding bareback can be a strain on the horse's back. That's partly the reason why saddles were invented, to distribute the rider's weight.

Jenny
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Somehow, I'm thinking like most old inventions, men invented them to cover up for poor riding. Native americans rode bareback before the explorers came over with their silly contraptions- I'm willing to bet that saddles were made to do what they still do- help strap someone up there. While western saddles can have a prupose (horns for hooking things and pulling/dragging), english saddles, to me, are just there to hold you on.

Realistically, if you are riding 'correctly' and don't have very much weight in your stirrups, a treeless saddle isn't going to distribute any more than riding bareback- no firm tree, so no pulling the whole tree down with your weight. Otherwise, I could lay a blanket over my horse and claim that it was helping to spread my weight =P
Sweat marks on saddles do show that the whole treed saddle weighs down- but take a look at them. Just how much smaller is your rear end? :rolleyes:


Realistically, an invention as old as the saddle is not as thoughtful in origin as you're thinking. Only in the last century have we stopped being complete idiots around horses and started learning things about them- pictures of the sports they did way back when are.. cringe worthy.


and, as I said, if you know HOW to ride bareback, it can be safer for the horse than a saddle ;)
I pride myself on being able to ride bareback well. In my mind, if a saddle has the potential to have to be strapped down from front to back (breastplates, back sinches), it's not correct. A rider alone should never have to be strapped down or held on.

It's just my way of looking at things- natural is better. But, I'm also the one who wants to ride tackless with no tricks like ropes or sticks, so I'm on the extreme end of things. I've learnt to adapt to uncomfortable withers :)
 
Here is a picture of one of our horses jumping bareback at home. I think that the rider has to learn to be much more balanced with the horse barebacked. You have to get your balance right (or you fall off). I can remember back to my pony club days - we all had to ride bareback (not allowed now!). The horse can move more freely without a saddle imho.
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It depends on the horse to some extent. My TBx has a prominent spine unless she's fat. I can't ride her bareback much as I'd be sitting on her spine. However, my pony has a completely flat back and she's fine. Although if she loses more than a certain amount of weight she doesn't want to trot much, as I guess she can feel my seatbones more as they go 'left right' on her back. I've been riding her bareback for 30mins+ each day since Feb and she's fine. Much prefers it to saddles. My balance is improving loads as well!
 
lol, i just dont like to ride my horse bareback as she has a bony TB back and it isnt very comfy! Although it might just be my, er, 'under' established seat :p
My last pony felt like an armchair.

Sorry guys, i just read out of a book once that it puts a strain on the horse's back, im not sure really!

Jenny
 
Oh, I don't disagree that it can strain a back- but so can a saddle.

The big difference is that a spectacular saddle using rider can still hurt a horses back with an unknown saddle fit issue, whereas a regular everyday bareback rider with a good seat may never hurt a horses back ever.

You can open your legs and ride accordingly (aka, well) to adjust to a new horse shape. A saddle cannot, even with adjustable gullets- that tree isn't going anywhere.
 
Well bareback jumping is a bit different in the respect that you have to be ultra balanced. Its not hard to lose balance and if you land heavily on your horses back from a big jump you are going to damage it - in that scenario with a saddle at least the weight would be distributed better (and it would be slightly harder for you to lose your balance in the first place!)

You can put up a jump thats well within your ability to jump bareback - but whose to say your horse isn't going to overjump it. I ride my horse bareback quite a bit but I don't jump her for this reason, she overjumps everything. I was advised not to by her physio.

My friend however has a very reliable mare who she is now practicing on for the bareback puisance - this horse jumps perfect off any stride and usually the right one!
 
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