Bareback tips?

Question

my instructor told me a little while ago that in one of my next lessons, probably this week or the week after ill get too ride bareback. ive never done this and im really excited so i was wondering if anyone had any tips?

Answer 1

your inner thys will KILL but you develop a much better seat.

Bareback is cool, i can gallop and jump a small fence bareback and its so cool (yehhh)

just sit really deep and dont worry about your seat, the hardes thing she will do is tell you to do sitting trot bareback but dont worry, she doesnt mean rise up out of the saddle 4 feet (your not supposed to do that with a saddle :S) but just do your best to rise with the movement. it is quite hard at first because you expect it is impossible but its not and its great fun.

goo luck and have fun!

Answer 2

do not pinch with your knees! let your legs hang low and loose on the horses side, and follow the motion with your seat and your hips. if you feel like you are bouncing around a lot, grab a chunk of mane to help you balance a little bit.

Answer 3

just stay relaxed!! bareback is SO fun! congrats and good luck!!

Answer 4

When riding bareback you want to find your horses center it will keep you balanced while riding. since your going to be cantering with no saddle just keep your legs were they would be if there was a saddle under you. knees tight. also If you circle with you butt and be on the same rhythm of the horse, you can stay in your seat better. Good luck and have fun!

Answer 5

sit deap. never grip with your calves or lower legs. when cantering, lean slightly back to be sure you go with the rocking motion of the canter.

Answer 6

make sure u strech before u ride ha. u will be very sore the day after. Plus since its ur first time u will probably be wobbly on the horses back. Make sure u sit deep in ur seat. Once u get the feel of the horses rythum its really fun i ride bareback alot n i love it!

good luck!

Answer 7

sit up keep your legs in the middle of the horse ost inportant have fun!! and keep calm

Answer 8

I'm going to add an answer I just wrote about bareback and then add onto it.

Bareback is great, but only if you have a solid understanding of the basics of riding before you do it.

My experience varied depending on which horse I was riding, high withers make it uncomfortable, but a horse that is too round doesn't give you much to hold on to.

It actually is pretty difficult, because you can't really grip with your legs, you need a really, really steady seat and calm hands. If you grip with your legs your horse will most likely misunderstand you and go faster, you in turn will grip tighter ... You see where I'm going with this.

Most horses also won't enjoy it if you're bouncing all over.

Depending on your seat and the shape of the horse, bareback can be a wonderful opportunity to learn from, the movements of the horses are much more exaggerated and therefore much easier to experience, like the swaying walk, the diagonals of the trot, and the leads of the canter and gallop. Jumping bareback is also tons of fun =].

Just make sure that you have a good seat and quiet hands before you try bareback, it can be great, but it can also be difficult and painful if you don't know what you're doing. And if your horse ever seems unhappy with the situation, be aware of that and go back to your saddle, or get a bareback pad.

Bareback is great, and it can be more comfortable than riding with a saddle, but you have to be careful of the horses back. Trotting bareback is challenging because you have to lift yourself up with your upper legs without encouraging the horse faster. I would suggest you sit where you feel comfortable, not too high on the withers so your leg falls just about where it does when you have a saddle, allow your legs to move freely, and please try and NOT to wrap your legs around the horses barrel to hold on, this will most likely not end well. You need to ride with a stead, and deep seat, and if you have to grab onto the horses mane to hold on. Don't balance by yanking the horses reins, this won't end well either. Use your seat to steer the horse, look where you want to go, and sit really deep (lean back and basically feel like your using your spine and pushing it into the horses back to slow down). Stop your movements, stop the horse.

Good luck and have fun! Bareback is so much fun, I hope you have a great experience.

Answer 9

on some horses its more comfortable to bring your knees up and scoot back but don't do that. It makes it harder to balance, try to keep the shoulder, hips, heels line up going. I'm sure your instructor will remind you though.