Horse Shoeing

A few centuries ago, kids used to do bareback riding, i.e, riding without a saddle. They hopped on to any old pony in the field and sped off.

Today’s riders are mostly lost without a saddle, unless they are Indigenous Americans. There isn’t any question saddles help with function and appearance to a level. But there is, a lot worth saying for bareback riding, which can greatly benefit confidence and posture.

Because riding bareback allows a really close feeling between horse and rider, you are more able to take in the horse’s movement without any obstacles. Through this, you also grow as a profesional rider.

When it comes to English saddles, they have very little leather between horse and rider, specifically dressage saddles, which have thin flexible flaps.

Any rider of any discipline, at any level of expertise can benefit from bareback riding. For years now, I have been riding bareback once a week, as I find that it magically improves the performance of both rider and horse. The pony also benefits because he achieves superior sensitivity to rider cues, with no leather in between to act as an inhibiting factor.

Bareback riding is fantastic for improvement of balance, posture, strength and adaptability. All this adds up to improved confidence. You are tuned in fine on your horse’s movements and you can feel individual muscle in motion; you also gain awakened sensitivity to the horse’s feet placements for each movement, which is certain to help enormously with your horsemanship. Free flow of touch communication is a fundamental element of good horsemanship. A lot of the best riders will make it clear that they become one with their horses when out on rides, sort of like they were centaurs.

An amount of athleticism is also required by all riders. As a rider, you want powerful muscles, whether or not you are a part-time pleasure rider or a much more serious professional. Powerful muscles function better when stretched. When you are doing bareback riding, you get more freedom of movement and an improved sense of balance. Your body and legs are not supposed to be restricted by saddles and stirrups. You should feel less tension and more balance.

Lunging

Lunging is an excellent starting point, but don’t forget to lunge with a particularly safe horse. Where there are riders who like using the reins, I personally find it is much better to ignore using all equipment and simply concentrate. If your horse gives any signs of discomfort, you need to dismount. I have seen accidents occur because the rider ignored signals and stayed on the pony. Work inside a round pen or other enclosed area with soft soil. If the horse is less than suitable, choose another. Never work with a horse that isn’t completely fit for lunging. Also, always remember to wear a helmet. Frequently, riders fall in reach of their horses’s feet.

Practicing dismounting is a superb exercise that prepares you to face emergencies well. It improves your sense of coordination. From a walk, get your hands on your horse’s neck, thrust up, swing a leg over and then jump down. Attempt to make this an automatic habit. You are able if you practice it frequently enough. It is going to be of serious help if you ever have to dismount in a crisis. Reward your horse if he comes to a stop when you dismount. This is just what you want him to do.

The fat content of the horse’s body mass has a role to play, too. You’re able to communicate better with thin horses, and you’re able to sit more comfortably on fat ones. You get the best results from horses that are of medium build, but you need to try to get experience on all builds of horses just to boost your knowledge base. Horses that are fat are incline be rather ungainly and not in perfect coordination when throwing their legs out and this means you lose the finer edges of your sense of balance. Moreover, avoid riding fat horses constantly.

As you begin walking on the line at a walk, focus on your balance. Are you tilting one way or the other? Try and get your weight precisely centered. This will also teach you the best ways to make seat bone contact. Try to find rhythm with the horse’s movements, don’t just sit there rigidly. Do some stop and walk again transitions, while continuing to feel the legs and muscles beneath you.

If your horse is of a quiet disposition, shut your eyes and try to connect with it. Doing this will fast-track info fed to your brain. When done regularly, you’ll improve much faster.

The trot and canter

Go through the gaits in a relaxed fashion. Dont let anyone hustle you into a speed you’re not happy with. This may result in your losing confidence badly enough to give up pony riding forever.

It happens often enough that at the start of a trot, you get thrown to the front and jerked back again, thus sending confusing signals to your pony. Work on that problem habitually, and try to sort it out satisfactorily before your horse becomes totally lost. Never forget that whatever you do with your pony represents coaching, even riding him bareback. Perfect riding comes from perfect practice.

Speeding up

You might find that your horse runs slow with you on a saddle but runs fast when you ride bareback. This is probably because when you are bareback, you grip and move your legs around. If this happens with you, return to a walk and try and get balance back with some more stretching exercises. Remember: when you come across a problem, return to slower gaits to work on them.

Avoid using reins for balance

A common but erroneous bent is for bareback riders to use their reins to balance. If you should feel yourself losing balance, grab onto the horse’s mane instead of the mouth. Treat your horse’s mouth as a fragile area to be protected and never abused. Furthermore reaching for the reins continually is definitely a form of abuse.

Jumping Bareback

Of all activities possible bareback, jumping is certainly one of the most captivating. Don’t start on jumping unless you are totally confident about your horse’s capability to take the smaller poles and fences to begin with. Use ground poles to begin with. Start with a single pole and keep adding as you get experience and confidence. Sometime in the future, you may even try out gymnastics on a lunge line.

Confidence

One of the most important assets you gain from bareback riding is confidence. Bareback riding necessitates the type of trust between rider and horse cavalry that can’t be achieved as well with riding on saddles. Rider and horse share a feeling of freedom, of exhilarating oneness, the kind that is not matched in other sports. As time passes, you may start to balance instinctively, without conscious thought and clearly, that is the very best way to ride.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her
extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about farrier tools