Hiya! has anyone out there galloped bareback?

I used to take out trail rides for 10 hours a day bareback and we used to gallop down the beach, it was awesome. My favorite lead horse was Cadillac he was a pacer and beautiful. I used to have a hat on his bridle and we would be cruising down the beach at a full out pace passing people who were galloping. I would hardly move it was so smooth. No the trotter that they had was another story. I wouldn't have ridden it with a saddle.

I have ridden Hunter bareback lots but haven't got the courage yet to go faster than a few steps of trotting. I should practice and get my balance back again.

Yesss!! Its so much mroe fun than being stuck in a saddle. Feels more free. When Irun I usually run in a open field bareback. Makes me feel like an indian :)

You could try tying a lead rope around the neck at first. It's easier to hold onto than a mane, just in case you need it. My mom suggested this during a bareback game at a show. O.O Saved my @$$ when Selena decided she'd had enough and started jumping around.

I am a beginner rider.....so, definitely couldn't do it....My only bit of knowledge (and some may disagree) about this question is that it's good to keep in mind that riding bareback is actually harder on the horse. A saddle serves to distribute the weight off of the horse's spine...when bareback, obviously then, you've got your dead weight right there on the spine.....from what I've read, it's best to ride bareback for only short periods of time.

I sort of half agree with this. I think that there are some horses that can only take bb in short periods no matter what. But I think there are also horses that can do fine either way, some start out that way and others need to get their topline built up a little (like my girl :)) but if you think about it, an english saddle is pretty much the same as bb, weight placement wise, yea? And you also use your legs to lift yourself up. Its not so much butt as it is legs and thighs. Occasionally i'll relax and be on my butt as a standstill, but my girl knows when we're about to get moving because she can feel me switch to my legs. Especially when we're about to canter. Half the time I don't have to ask, just get set up for it and she know.
As long as you sit in the right place and in the right position the horse should be fine. I actually notice my horses move more free when I ride bb.
I think its always going to be a matter of opinion and a debate among horse people :) but keep in mind too that horses aren't all the same, and some can do while others can't. And maybe those that think bb hurts the horse have mostly been around horses that can't really take bb. Or not. It could just be their belief and opinions

Thought i'd put my two cents in i'm currently working on building one of my mare's topline because she can take long bb rides.... but I can't take her withers whereas my other mare has a nice flat back and low withers. Smooth as butter that girl!....... unless she's bucking..... but hey.... I can still stay on so that counts for something
Stupid things on a horse. Its what makes us different from people that can walk without limping

My horse actually does better riding bareback; he gets grumpy when we put a saddle on him. Yes, the saddle fits him just fine, perfectly even sweat marks, etc, but he just prefers to be ridden without one, and his movement is a lot more free and relaxed too. It really depends on the horse. :)

Galloping bareback is amazing and fun!
My advice - wear a helmet! :P
And only gallop bareback if you feel like you are ready for it. Don't just do it because you feel pressured to. If it doesn't feel like you're ready that ride, then so be it. There will always be another ride! (:
And just have fun!

Just looking at the forces involved would imply that you are correct.

For the sake of discussion, say the rider weighs 150 and the saddle weighs 30. OK, when you remove the saddle, you do cut the weight a total of 16.6%, but you are cutting the surface area over which the load is distributed a lot more than that (assuming that the rider is of average build) and since the rider's "bearing surface" is a mix of soft tissue and embedded structure (bone), the evenness of load distribution has also been significantly reduced.

My main concern would be that if the rider didn't conciously keep using the thigh muscles to keep the thighs significantly in play as load bearing structures (taking a good bit of load off the hip joint/pelvic structure), that quite a lot of the load would be concentrated at the pelvic/hip bone structure which has a LOT less surface area than a saddle.

The long and short of it is that the rider's weight could be concentrated in a pretty small area. That would seem to be potentially a lot less comfortable to a horse than a saddle, strictly from a load-bearing point of view...

All that being said: when I was young, I rode bareback a lot and never saw any problems from it, at least none that I could detect...

The engineering analysis of it does bother me though, because I can't explain it away.

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Be sure to wear a helmet!
I love to gallop bareback when I have the chance, but only when I know I have control over my horse.
There's nothing scarier than riding a horse that you can't stop; especially bareback!

My horse too, she definitely prefers being ridden bareback. Since I only got her this spring, we've yet to do anything more than a fast walk but I have high hopes for going for long rides bareback.

About the issue of bareback being possibly harder on the horse - I'd say it probably depends on the horse (and the rider). I think I'm going to invest in a bareback pad as my girl can be a little bony after a while. Not sure if it will help her at all, but I think it will help my own comfort level.

***the following story is an example of extreme stupidity and I know that! Just thought I'd share anyway***

The very first time I rode bareback, I was about 12 or 13 and hanging out with the horses in the pasture. For some stupid reason, I thought it would be fun to try jumping on 'just to see if I could.' No halter, no nothing. I did... and for about 10 seconds, it was relaxing and fun. But then the other horse ran up, nipped my horse on the shoulder and took off into the bush. Naturally my horse took off after her. She dead galloped through thick forest for about half a mile, until we reached the end of the pasture (and caught up with the other horse).

It was incredibly stupid, but I'll say this for it - after that, there was nothing that horse could do that would scare me/unseat me!

Not that I'm recommending the OP (or anybody!!!) try this method of learning to ride bareback...