bareback riding and native american training techniques.. ?

I am really interested in learning about the methods native americans used for training their horses. I have searched the web, but have yet to find a good source of information.

If anyone could point me in the right direction I would really appreciate it.

Any good source of info about bareback riding/training would be good too.

One question I have about bareback riding is.. Would it be good to use a saddle for training purposes? Then when the horse does well under the saddle, work bareback. Or would it be best to skip the saddle and get strait to the bareback?

I'm half Native American :)

From what I can see in the pictures from my Native American side they use just a hackamore type deal, and alot of them used bridles when they were brought over from the west. No I wouldn't ride bareback until the horse responds good with your leg cues and you develop trust. If the horse is young you will want something to hold onto incase of a buck.

http://www.ponyboy.com/

I agree with White Foot, I love riding bareback but only start once the horse is going well under saddle. I make sure the horse goes well off the leg, neck reins, has a good whoa, and doesn't show signs of bucking or anything like that.

It is safer to start in a saddle as there is more to hold you on the horse then without a saddle. If you have a good seat then you can handle a lot bareback but it takes a while to get there, and you have to know your horse really well to be able to sit a spook bareback.

I've started horses both ways, and I actually prefer starting horses bareback.

Here are some links... They might help a bit.

Indian Riding & Horsemanship

http://www.indianstunts.com/Training.html

http://www.kickingbearmustangs.com/index.html

Native American Horse Training? - Yahoo! Answers

Indian Horse Trainer


Youtube has some short videos


A lot of times if you email trainers and ask them training questions they are extremely helpful and willing share their knowledge. Doesn't hurt to ask!

If you are looking for a really good native american horsemanship I would seriously consider looking at a guy name GaWaNi Pony Boy, He's really good, Check out his books at your local library, He has some videos you can check out too, the book is called "Horse, Follow Closely" google him and I'm sure you'll find a lot about him and his other stuff. His website is www.ponyboy.com like white foot said. He was about All I could find when I started looking at native american horsemanship.

Check out Robert D. At http://denstarfarm.us/Denstar%20Web/Trash/Horse/Clicker_Sec_1.html.

No, Robert isn't Native American but he spent 20 odd years trading horse information with Navajo and Shoshone friends. I have seen Robert work with untouched BLM mustangs and horses deemed "too dangerous" to live. I have seen Gawani Pony Boy work at one of his clinics. This one-quarter Navajo and owner of two gentled mustangs takes Robert and his baseball cap over Pony Boy and his $30 DVDs any day; Robert's the real deal.