WHY RIDE BAREBACK?
Riding bareback can be fun and a great learning experience! Since there is no saddle,
riding bareback will help you learn to
balance better on your horse without the aid of stirrups. It can also help you improve
your sitting trot! Most of all, riding bareback can be a fun challenge!
Always make sure that there is someone with you when you are riding bareback. If you
have never ridden bareback before, make sure your instructor assists you by lunging or walking
with you!
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Before attempting to ride bareback, you should be able to ride balanced at a walk, trot
and canter in a saddle without using stirrups. For your first bareback ride, you may
want to ask a friend or instructor to lunge you, this will allow you to concentrate more
on keeping your balance and less on controlling the horse.
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GETTING STARTED:
One of the most important things to remember when riding bareback is NEVER clench your
heels or calves into the horse's side to keep your balance...if you haven't experienced
this, then you probably will! If you start to lose your balance and use your legs to
'hang on', that is the cue to tell your horse to pick up the pace...which may make you
lose your balance even worse!
Always keep a solid, soft contact on the horse's back from your seat down to your knee. Your
lower leg (calf, heel) should rest very lightly (if at all) on your horse's side.
The best way to help you gain this type of contact is to ride with NO calf contact for
your first several bareback rides, which will teach you to use your seat and body balance to
keep your weight equal on both sides - without clenching with your lower legs!
First, you can try riding bareback using a **bareback pad with stirrups.
This will eliminate the more familiar feeling of a saddle, but will still give you the
support of stirrups to help you keep your balance.
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If you decide to use a bareback pad that has stirrups, be very careful when choosing one.
I have tried several types of bareback pads, and they all
make the stirrups and girth too far forward. It's like riding in a chair,
and it makes it extremely difficult to keep your leg under you. In addition, there's an on-going debate
on whether bareback pads that have stirrups are safe or not. In my opinion, nothing is completely safe
when you're working with horses, but it does help to have the safest equipment available. So, if
you plan to use a bareback pad that has stirrups, be sure to use ONLY quick-release or peacock stirrups.
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I have included a picture (above) of a bareback pad that was poorly designed. It
places the rider in a position that is not desirable. You should be able to draw a straight
vertical line from the rider's ear through her hip to her heel...but you can't!
An extremely helpful tool to use when riding bareback is the stirrup leather: use a plain
english stirrup leather (without the stirrup attached!) and strap it around the base of
your horse's neck. Should you ever feel like you are about to lose it, you can
take hold of this strap to help regain your balance.
If there is no stirrup leather available, the horse's mane will do just fine. Don't worry,
you won't hurt him by holding onto his mane! It is very, very common for riders to grab
a hold of their horse's mane to regain their balance. For the most part, though, you should
try your hardest to hold onto nothing but the reins...but don't use them to get your balance!
Using the reins to gain balance may upset your horse and/or teach him bad habits such as running
away, pulling on the bit or head shaking.
FUN EXERCISES TO GAIN SECURITY:
(All exercises should be practiced at the walk, trot and canter in both directions, and preferably
on a lunge line if you have trouble keeping your balance)
1. If you have a tendency to grip with your lower leg when loosing balance:
Keep a solid contact from your seat down to your knee on your horse's
back (Come on! No clenching with your knees here!). Hold your calves and heels away from the
horse's side, about 6 inches. This will help you gain balance by teaching you to keep your weight
evenly distributed across the horse's back without the awful habit of gripping with your calves.
2. If you have a tendency to grip with your knees:
Keep a soft, relaxed seat while holding your knees away from the horse's side - remember
not to clench with your lower leg while doing this. It may even be helpful to hold your entire lower
limb out away from the horse's side. This exercise will help you to gain stability without the aid
of gripping with your knees. This is also an excellent exercise to tone your outer thigh and
buttocks!
3. If all else fails, try this:
Keeping a soft, relaxed seat, lift your legs slightly away from the horse's side and up towards his
withers for a couple of strides, then release them down, relaxed and long. Repeat several times
in each gait. You will find that bringing your legs up toward your chest creates a dependency on your
seat and upper body for balance. Releasing them down toward the ground will teach you to recover
from an unbalanced or un-natural position.
4. And, of course you should always:
Practice circles and figure-eights, large and small! This helps you learn to keep your body weight directly over the
horse's back (no leaning!) at all gaits through circles and turns. Practice a posting trot (only if you
do not have trouble clenching with your knees - many riders will use their knees slightly to help
them post). Always sit up tall and don't slouch! (This is a very bad mistake some riders make while
riding bareback - slouching is not good riding posture, and it could hurt your back!)
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