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Bareback

1K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  Piper182 
#1 ·
Every horse I have ever owned I was able to just jump on bareback and ride on lazy days.

Even my greenbroke Trakehner mare I could ride bareback, and I don't think she ever had it done before. But was never a big deal.

My guy now, I tried the other day, and did it real slow because I wasn't sure. I just stood beside him, then slowly draped myself over his back. He didn't seem to care one ounce. So I slowly brought my leg over him, and just sat there for a few moments. Again, didn't seem to care. But when I asked him to walk forward, he took off and I ended up jumping off of him because he was obviously scared.

So I brought him back, and did this all over again, except this time I only sat on him, not asking him to move, for about 15 minutes. Just so he got used to the feel of me on his back without the saddle.

Now, normally when I ride him it takes about 20 minutes in the beginning of the ride for him to not be "goosed" when I put my leg on him. I can put money on the fact he was ridden with some big spurs before, because that is how he acts. Once we get past the leg issue in that first half of the ride, he is great. He bends to my leg and moves off it wonderfully.

Since bareback it is going to be harder for that 20 minutes of 'leg warm-up', should I wait to work with him on anything bareback until he's completely accepting of my leg under saddle?

I really don't want to freak him out again, I want his training to go as smooth as possible. He is already a spooky horse, so I'm really trying to get him to see that the world isn't such a bad place. I'm trying to get him to mellow out under saddle. (I think it has a lot to do with how he was previously ridden & started as a baby.)
 
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#3 ·
check his back. some horses are perfectly fine with a saddle but something about direct contact with their back hurts them. if he's good standing still, try getting on and letting him go. see if he'll walk on his own. don't put any leg on. if he hates leg to begin with, you might want to voice train him for bareback.
 
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