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Bareback Adventures Once Again

2K views 10 replies 9 participants last post by  DressageCowgirl 
#1 ·
Okay so when Ray was about 4 (2011-ish) I had like a full year of NO saddle... I went bareback EVERYWHERE. I was thinking about doing it again, only not as extreme.. I know Rayray is fine with it, and drift tolerates it, but they both get kind of annoyed with me.

Why? Oh, because my seat absolutely sucks.

Don't get me wrong, I can walk all day and go up and down even the steepest hills without sliding in the least, but my trot is way too bouncy. It's like my butt is trying to become superman and fly away. That doesn't make sense because both my guys have pretty smooth trots (drift goes through all the gaits and you feel like you're still walking, ray is choppy till he loosens up) but both of them slow down and shift their weight to keep me on if I slide.. Which sucks for trying to get better at a trot. Am I doing it wrong or something? Can someone show/tell me like where to sit and grip and absorb shock? I am NOT trying to canter bareback till I master trotting...

Thanks guys! :D
 
#3 ·
If you tense your body while riding bareback at the trot, you'll bounce all over.

Keep your heels down and your calves free and your upper body relaxed. If you need to grip, do so with your thighs only. You can use the lower half of your legs for balance, by moving them out in the air, if you get off balance.

I might not be the perfect example (these were during a dollar race at a gaming show) but see how my heels are DOWN and my calves are free?

Loping



Even when my barrel horse tried to pick up the pace :lol: (and I said no please don't!!!) and we got all funky looking .... my lower leg position has not changed too much. Squeezing with thighs to stay on (and keep my dollar).




Here we are trotting. I actually have my calves out in the air a bit to balance myself.




My heels could be down more in this picture, but my lower leg is still relaxed and free.



Yes I was holding on the entire time. :wink: I was doing whatever it takes to keep my dollar! I think we ended up taking 3rd that day. No shame in hanging onto the mane if it helps you keep your balance better.
 
#4 ·
I'm not sure where I read it, but this has helped me get the feel of the bareback trot.

Stand on your tippy toes, drop one heel to the ground, keep the other foot on tippy toes, then switch. Feel the way your hips move, remember that feel and don't brace while trotting.

As for cantering, only done it once, up a shot hill, so other then keep loose, relaxed and heels down I can't help you there.
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#5 ·
The biggest thing I always tell myself and anyone who rides my horses bareback or saddled is to loosen your hips and use your core. You need to feel your horse through your hips/seat and go with them. I have a rough time translating this to a canter in saddle for some reason, I can canter and even gallop bareback no issue, but for some reason in a saddle I have to FORCE my hips to relax and go with the flow so to speak.

Keep your calves off your horse too, that should be reserved for signalling. The only time my calves are intentionally on mine are when I am cuing OR I'm working on desensitizing them to beginner and children motion.
 
#6 ·
I say forget about keeping your heels down and calves relaxed!
Yes, it is what you want but at the moment it sounds like when they do trot you are fighting the bounce.
So, for the moment when trotting or cantering bareback push your feet well forward so they are beyond his shoulders and lean back so you can feel your seat bones. Better still if he is patient then lift your legs so your knees are over his shoulders. This is just so that you have nothing to rode with but balance,

One exercise a particularly tough trainer would have us all do was to rode around the arena without stirrups. Reins in one hand we had to make a fist with the free hand and put it into the small of our backs and lean into it. At the same time we had to raise our legs up and away from the saddle, nothing but balance keeping us in the plate. It is a very hard exercise. We did this down the long side, relaxed along the short and then up again.
 
#8 ·
My mare is kinda high withered. I end up running into those withers whenever I ride bareback. Usually I can't take more than 20 minutes of bareback on her. But I can throw any saddle (including a flat seat or close contact) on her, take away my stirrups, and canter the day away. It's just running into those withers, ouch!
 
#9 ·
In your picture you are tilting forward, sit more on your butt.

Rather than holding the mane, put a stirrup leather around your horse's neck and pull back on that.

Sit on a swing, feel how, when you push the swing forward, the muscles you use in you butt and back, copy that when riding.
 
#10 ·
I learned to ride bareback. I was a kid...who needs saddles? I don't think I OWNED a saddle for a few years. Trotting is just not a comfortable gait. Jogging is where it's at, if your horse knows the jog. If not, well, sit deep, loosen your hips, rock back a bit, and relax. Legs loose, or you risk driving the horse into a faster gait. Do walk/ trot transitions until you are bored silly and have no trouble riding the trot. Then do concentric circles, then figure eights. Increase trotting time as you gain confidence. One day, you'll wake up, go to ride, and realize you've been trotting for a half hour without slipping or feeling unbalanced. The key is loose hips, rocking back a bit, SITTING UP, and relaxing your butt muscles. And DO hang on to the mane.
 
#11 ·
I would have to disagree with what some of the people above, but only because there are different ways to ride bareback. I ride bareback exactly the same way I ride in my dressage saddle. I do not allow my legs to relax and hang down, but rotate my hips in, put my heels down, and let the whole inside of my leg drape around the horse like wet pasta--no gripping with any part of the leg except when giving aids, but touching the side gently with my whole leg. This keeps me very secure, as a greater amount of my body is touching the horse. I do not grip with my thighs or calves, but hold my core VERY tight and keep myself properly balanced, with a line from my head to hip to heel. You could Photoshop a saddle in beneath me and I would look the same.

When I trot, I use the same method I use when sitting the trot in the saddle, just exaggerated. You have to realize that it is not just side to side or back and forth: it is both. You should be moving the hips like you are hula hooping.

I call bareback riding the ultimate truth-teller because it will reveal the reality of your balance and the indepedence of your seat. It doesn't let you rely on stirrups or a saddle to hold you in place, and you are forced to rely only on proper riding and good balance points. I always discover things I need to work on when riding bareback, and it makes my saddle riding better.

The core is VERY important: In a saddle you can let it slip and still look okay, but if you do not keep it tight when riding bareback then it is IMPOSSIBLE to trot properly (moving your hips in time with the horse) AND sit up perfectly straight at the same time.

I don't know if this helps, as it's just one of many ways of bareback riding, but I feel that doing it this way, while perhaps a bit more difficult at first than gripping with the thighs and swinging the calves for balance, will have a bigger payout, since those pinching thighs can actually hurt your balance in some situations, keeping you from properly moving with the motion of the horse, say in an extended trot or a good canter.
 
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