Why do people stand on horses?

Honeysuga, nicely done.

I never really thought of people standing on their horses for more than a short period of time, but constantly doing it over and over again could very well create physical problems for the animal in the long run.

Even if it does not cause sever problems right away,trouble is just one misplaced heel or toe, one slip away. If you lose your balance you can severly injure the horse by putting too much pressure on one of the tendone or on the spines bony processes.
Any chiropractor will tell you to never let a person stand on your back, one wrong nerve hit and you are paralyzed, one disc pushed out of place and you are looking at surgery and severe pain. What makes kids think it is any safer to stand on a horse? Not to mention that the spine has not support, it is suspended between the hips and shoulders by those muscles and tendons that can be severly damaged with just one slip or wobble.

Now with a saddle it is much less dangerous because the saddle is there to provide a rigid support surface to distribute the force of gravity on the person standing, but even that can cause severe problem when done over and over. So I urge anyone who thinks standing on a horse is teh awesom to at least do it on a well fitting saddle for the sake of the horse.

I think the funniest thing I ever saw at an auction was a guy trying to stand on his horse when he was about halfway up, standing but still bent over...the horse started bucking He fell on his butt in front of everyone. The horse was actually a pretty nice horse...unless of course your one of those standing riders .
They do have a lot of those kinds of antics at horse sales though...I've seen the tail pulling thing a lot, too. Kevin is right though, it usually does cause a couple more knuckle heads to start bidding. So does the kid thing. I have seen horses before the sale actually begins acting goofy, rearing and carrying on...they get in the ring with a kid riding them and people think they are kid safe.

I would pay money to see someone stand on my horse...that would be hilarious and tragic all at the same time!! I never did, even on my well trained old horse because if you slip and fall...and fall right on your hoo-hah...thats going to hurt in a way that doesnt stop hurting for a while!

Clearly who ever is trying to sell the horse by standing on its back is showing how laid back, no pun intended, the horse is.....

I only see reason to stand up on a horse if it's for a particular reason..
The only time any one stands on there horses' backs is for that. My friend has stood on his ponies back on occasion out on the trail while we were making trails so the taller horses and riders would be safe from thick objects messing up their heads if they were too low to duck, since all our taller horses seem to spook easily and are rather ansty-so they refuse to stand still without some big fight so that they can break the branches from the saddle. :#
Only good reasons, and even then-I'd never even attempt to stand up on the horse I ride-I'd be on my ass faster than lightening. O.o;;
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I used to be in a vaulting group when I was younger. We did much more than stand - We did arabesques, built multi person pyramids... Great fun!

I would like to do demonstrations on bundy one day. Bridleless riding and whipcracking, mainly. Of course, circus tricks, but fun nonetheless. One of the things I would like to do is stand on his back while cracking two whips, one in each hand. We are a long way away at the moment - lol!

However, I would only ever stand on his back with my saddle on. He has had back issues in the past and no way would I stand on him bareback.

I do think it is a skill that would add to his value as a demonstration horse if sold. However jumping up on the average backyard horses back isn't going to add value unless the buyer is very naive.

Horses with healthy backs are ok to be stood on bareback, IF you are barefoot and IF you know the correct place to place your feet. I do from my vaulting days - Having said that I haven't stood on a horse since then either :]

When I see an ad photo of a person standing up on their horse, I immediately forget about it. People who do that usually fall into the category of the kind of crazies who put their kids up on horses with no boots or helmets, ride horses that are way too small for them, do flips off their horses, crawl and lie down under horses' bellies, etc. They're nothing but a bunch of clowns and I just don't want to do business with people like that (wow, I sound like a snob. Oh, well). I much prefer to be associated with competent, professional horse people. I've never understood the standing up thing, mostly because it seems pointless and I don't see what good it does the horse.

There have been a couple of times when I needed to use my horse as a ladder so I had to stand up but I only ever did it with the saddle on. It may not be a very impressive selling point for people who know better but sellers continue to do it just cause it does work. With someone who doesn't know horses, you can put a priceless champion horse up against a crappy horse that knows a few cheap tricks and the trick pony will get the bids 90% of the time. It's sad but true.

Exactly this. I have stood on a horse with a vaulting pad on, as we were vaulting. I've done tons of things on this horses back that a lot of people would gawk at. Swinging around half on, half off, flipping myself around a ton, to the front of the surcingle, jumping off and back on. It is more of a rider skill than a horse skill, but you need a steady, calm horse to do it on.

I have no idea where the negativity is coming from, to be honest. How is it not a selling point? The horse is laid back enough that a person can stand on them. Sure, the owner may be a bit of a dare devil, but a lunatic horse won't let you do it, period, under any circumstance. And often times, pictures of people standing on their horse will also supply pictures of working with tarps and other scary objects.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I think it's fun and pretty cool. If you are turning down a horse who will tolerate it, you're likely turning down a pretty steady horse.