Bareback critique

[Bellathemustang]

Hello,
My wonderful little mustang has been out of commission for a month. She was under worked and out of shape to begin with (I recently got her and didn’t really have a chance to build her up before she got sick). I just hopped on her last night, for the first time in a month. This was my first time riding bareback (I am using a bareback saddle pad because she has no top line and I prefer to pee without crying). She seemed fine with it, and I felt pretty comfortable, though watching the videos I see SO much tension in my shoulders, arms, and wrists. Seriously, what am I doing with my wrists?

My questions are:
*Aside from my upper body tension, do you have any suggestions for things I can work on?
*Do you recommend I have a few lessons on her bareback? If so what would you work on prior to the lesson if you were me?

A little more info/questions:
*She is just starting training, I just got her, she got sick, and now we are picking up where we left off. I want her to do a month with my trainer so I have professional instruction on what to work on with her and what bad habits we might egg on with each other.
*I bought her to use to improve my general riding, all 3 gaits, ideally bareback at some point, and lots of hacking out. She is not a competition prospect, just a good first horse to get a lot of practice rides in on.
[B]*Is there anything you would suggest I ask the trainer to focus on after watching us ride together?

Basically let me know anything you think I should work on, alone or with a trainer, to be the best rider for my sweet girl. [/B]She went 17 years without her own person, and I really want this to be a great last chapter of her life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x96ZdDnm_K0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ_gmTt9cfM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrIdEhk095w

Thank you so much for any recommendations

[candyappy]

I don’t ride bareback anymore and haven’t in a long, long time. The only thing I can think of is that if your balance isn’t what it should be or your seat secure you might be pretty hard on her mouth ( unintentionally of course) .

She is a beautiful mare.

[Bellathemustang]

@candyappy

I don’t ride bareback anymore and haven’t in a long, long time. The only thing I can think of is that if your balance isn’t what it should be or your seat secure you might be pretty hard on her mouth ( unintentionally of course) .

She is a beautiful mare.

Thank you I think she is fabulous <3

It’s funny you say that about being hard on her mouth, I did notice my normally super soft hands were harsher and I did this weird pull the rein out to the side thing. I will have to be extra diligent with keeping my hands under control. Thank you!

[Abbie.S]

I don’t see how lessoning or riding a lot bareback is going to help you improve your riding.

I am not a proponent of hopping on bareback for more than a few minutes at a time, and even then just to take a stroll. The purpose of the saddle is to spread the weight out over a broader surface area on the horse’s back: bareback, even with a pad, puts all the pressure directly under the seatbones, which can become very irritating to the horse’s back musculature after a while. It also, for a rider that doesn’t already have a good seat, causes you to tense up areas that you might not normally tense up to compensate for the increased instability.

The mare looks very sweet, but to be honest she appears annoyed and confused in your videos. She’s moving entirely crooked, waffles between directions and is fussing a lot in general. I realize you said she is out of shape and this is the first jaunt you two have had in a while, but I’m also seeing things in your posture and a lot of tension that are likely giving her mixed signals. Both with a saddle and without, your lower leg always appears to be “on”. You appear stiff in your seat and thus balancing on the reins (moreso in the bareback videos). When you turn her, you don’t allow slack in that outside rein and so she waffles and doesn’t turn fluidly. How educated is this mare with the bit? She doesn’t seem to know much about how to respond to it, and so the constant tension in the reins is confusing to her.

If I were you, or if I were your coach, I’d be encouraging you to ride with appropriate tack and really work on softening your entire leg down so your lower leg rests softly against the horse’s side instead of cocked and on. I’d be telling you to let the mare have her head and only correct or direct her when she drifts or shifts in a way you didn’t ask. When you bend her, you shorten up the one rein and let the other completely slack so there’s no way for her to misunderstand. I’d be having you work on dropping your shoulder blades down and back, relaxing your chest and softening your neck and head so her movement can move up through your body instead of getting stuck part-way up. Once you can appropriately absorb the movement of the horse without hindering her, and once she gets more fluid in her movement and softer and quieter in her neck and mouth, you could toy around bareback, but I would not make it a goal to ride bareback the majority of the time.

[imaginique]

You need to keep a good bend in your elbow. A lot of the time your hands are lower than the bit. There should be a straight line from elbow to bit. If you need to keep her looking straight ahead keep your hands wider apart and just give a gentle reminder on one rein to straighten her neck. You also seem to lean back some of the time, which will affect the rein pressure. Make sure you are always sitting up straight. Does she respond to leg pressure? That would help with straightening her too. Inside rein, outside leg.

[Bellathemustang]

@Abbie.S

I don’t see how lessoning or riding a lot bareback is going to help you improve your riding.

I am not a proponent of hopping on bareback for more than a few minutes at a time, and even then just to take a stroll. The purpose of the saddle is to spread the weight out over a broader surface area on the horse’s back: bareback, even with a pad, puts all the pressure directly under the seatbones, which can become very irritating to the horse’s back musculature after a while. It also, for a rider that doesn’t already have a good seat, causes you to tense up areas that you might not normally tense up to compensate for the increased instability.

The mare looks very sweet, but to be honest she appears annoyed and confused in your videos. She’s moving entirely crooked, waffles between directions and is fussing a lot in general. I realize you said she is out of shape and this is the first jaunt you two have had in a while, but I’m also seeing things in your posture and a lot of tension that are likely giving her mixed signals. Both with a saddle and without, your lower leg always appears to be “on”. You appear stiff in your seat and thus balancing on the reins (moreso in the bareback videos). When you turn her, you don’t allow slack in that outside rein and so she waffles and doesn’t turn fluidly. How educated is this mare with the bit? She doesn’t seem to know much about how to respond to it, and so the constant tension in the reins is confusing to her.

If I were you, or if I were your coach, I’d be encouraging you to ride with appropriate tack and really work on softening your entire leg down so your lower leg rests softly against the horse’s side instead of cocked and on. I’d be telling you to let the mare have her head and only correct or direct her when she drifts or shifts in a way you didn’t ask. When you bend her, you shorten up the one rein and let the other completely slack so there’s no way for her to misunderstand. I’d be having you work on dropping your shoulder blades down and back, relaxing your chest and softening your neck and head so her movement can move up through your body instead of getting stuck part-way up. Once you can appropriately absorb the movement of the horse without hindering her, and once she gets more fluid in her movement and softer and quieter in her neck and mouth, you could toy around bareback, but I would not make it a goal to ride bareback the majority of the time.

Thank you! I was definitely tense, I didn’t feel like it, but watching it back I definitely saw it. I am glad to hear you question her education with the bit. She was a trail horse, one of many, and was the “girlfriend horse”. Her old owner would throw whatever lady he was hosting on her for a trail ride. She neck reins, and I don’t think she is very comfortable with a bit. She threw her head a lot with her former owner, she doesn’t really do that for me, but honestly I think that is just because she is sweet and is being gentle with me. The 2 horses I ride most are a dressage horse and OTTB, both obviously super comfortable with bit contact. So I probably need to be schooled in riding a horse not as comfortable and how I can help her get there. Again, thank you for your confirmation, I am sure my trainer already realized it, but I will talk to her about it next time I see her.

I guess I thought bareback would be more of a challenge for me as we are just walking while she is building back up her strength, but that is selfish and definitely not the kind of horse owner I want to be.

Seriously thank you! I want her to be happy being ridden by me. Some of it may be training her to accept bit contact, but a lot of it was my tension I am sure.

[Bellathemustang]

@imaginique

You need to keep a good bend in your elbow. A lot of the time your hands are lower than the bit. There should be a straight line from elbow to bit. If you need to keep her looking straight ahead keep your hands wider apart and just give a gentle reminder on one rein to straighten her neck. You also seem to lean back some of the time, which will affect the rein pressure. Make sure you are always sitting up straight. Does she respond to leg pressure? That would help with straightening her too. Inside rein, outside leg.

My arms/hands were awful! I think @Abbie.S called it, my seat isn’t good enough so I tensed with my upper body.

She is great with leg pressure, which I didn’t use well this being my first bareback ride. I will definitely be going back to using the saddle, and trying again in a few weeks to gauge our progress. One great thing is it definitely highlights my deficiencies as a rider! If nothing else it will probably be a good thing to do occasionally to check for bad habits.

Thank you so much for taking the time to provide feedback, I didn’t even notice I was leaning back, I was distracted by my awful hands. I definitely do that, especially when cantering. I swear the 2 things I get most during lessons are “relax your upper body” and “extend through your lower back”. That seems to help me more than “sit up” as I also have a tenancy to get stiff. But if I think of extending or stretching through my lower back I normally find the right position. Hey at least I’m consistent

[Sparrowette]

@Bellathemustang

My arms/hands were awful! I think @Abbie.S called it, my seat isn’t good enough so I tensed with my upper body.

She is great with leg pressure, which I didn’t use well this being my first bareback ride. I will definitely be going back to using the saddle, and trying again in a few weeks to gauge our progress. One great thing is it definitely highlights my deficiencies as a rider! If nothing else it will probably be a good thing to do occasionally to check for bad habits.

Thank you so much for taking the time to provide feedback, I didn’t even notice I was leaning back, I was distracted by my awful hands. I definitely do that, especially when cantering. I swear the 2 things I get most during lessons are “relax your upper body” and “extend through your lower back”. That seems to help me more than “sit up” as I also have a tenancy to get stiff. But if I think of extending or stretching through my lower back I normally find the right position. Hey at least I’m consistent

You may take what I suggest with a grain of salt, I’m not one of the great trainers who post here, but …

We are all supposed to ride with good posture, AND, it’s supposed to look “normal” and “natural”, like it’s comfortable. You don’t look comfortable. BB says that you need to look like you belong up there, that you fit with your horse, and in the videos, I didn’t get that impression.

The impression I get is that good posture is not normal to you. That sitting up straight is an effort you are doing, because you are riding. Because it’s an effort, you become tense.

And in the turns, you look - with your head - at where you are going, but your body stays pretty much straight forward. May I suggest that you turn to look at your direction from your waist? This will give the horse more back and leg cues about what you need her to do. When she gets that, the reins will become less important.

Now, back to posture. This will sound strange, but I’m hoping you won’t laugh. Learn to have good, straight posture, with open relaxed shoulders and a straight back in your daily, non-horseback life. When it becomes normal to you on the ground, it won’t be so foreign when riding.

How?

Get a copy of “My Fair Lady”, the one with Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn. Pay attention to the lesson parts on posture (it’s also a fun movie. It came out when I was a kid and all of us playing in our neighborhood were walking around with books on our heads and talking with marbles in our mouths! LOL ).

When you can easily carry the books balanced on your head, you will be in correct position - like when your instructor tells you to imagine a string dangling you from the top of your head. When you can do it in a RELAXED manner, and you look like Audrey at the end of the movie, then you will know the body feeling you should look for when riding.

Also, pretend to Hula. Bend your legs, and swivel your hips, while your top is straight and relaxed AND STILL, like those books are on your head. This can help with the independence of movement between your top and bottom halves. Your horse moves, your bottom moves with her, and your top could still hold the books still.

If I’m full of it, I’m sure someone will say so… That’s okay, but these things have helped me.

Just my 2¢

[betsyk]

You’ve got this. You can totally do this. I’m going to disagree and say that riding her around the yard bareback is going to teach you a LOT about your own riding, her way of going, and how the two of you will communicate with each other. There’s a lot more to riding well than equitation.

Since you asked for advice - I only watched part of the first video. Have you ever learned to paddle a canoe or kayak? it’s hard to go straight at first, until you figure out how to keep your body still and your balance centered. Pick a point and ride straight toward it with as little effort as possible. Ride squares, graduate to making little obstacle courses for yourself with buckets and rails, and just get the feel for keeping your balance and keeping everyone straight. I think you’re trying so hard to keep an arbitrary idea of “good” position that you’re making yourself stiff. Relax and have fun. Watch out for getting perched ahead on the fronts of your thighs. Most of us need to intentionally sit back on our bum a little to keep a neutral pelvis. When you do this, your horse will let you know you’re doing it right. Don’t hesitate to trot a little here and there because you won’t get better at it if you don’t try. Teach her to slow down from your breathing and your seat, rather than immediately going to the reins every time she gets quick or crooked.

Another thought. Decide if you’re going to ride her like an English hrose, or a western horse. If you want her to learn about contact and move more like an English horse, you’ll need to let her go forward and teach her all about contact (and/or learn yourself!). If you’re more likely to ride her in a western state of mind, you might find you relax more when you have the reins in one hand and work from your leg and seat. If you asked me for a bareback lesson I would absolutely say yes, and then I’d have you trotting in straight lines alongside the driveway, and practicing transitions by this tree and that rock, and playing with a turn on the forehand or haunches beside the mailbox, and when we talked about position it would be in a context of accomplishing a task and communicating clearly with your horse.

Have fun with this cute horse!

[Bellathemustang]

@Sparrowette

You may take what I suggest with a grain of salt, I’m not one of the great trainers who post here, but …

We are all supposed to ride with good posture, AND, it’s supposed to look “normal” and “natural”, like it’s comfortable. You don’t look comfortable. BB says that you need to look like you belong up there, that you fit with your horse, and in the videos, I didn’t get that impression.

The impression I get is that good posture is not normal to you. That sitting up straight is an effort you are doing, because you are riding. Because it’s an effort, you become tense.

And in the turns, you look - with your head - at where you are going, but your body stays pretty much straight forward. May I suggest that you turn to look at your direction from your waist? This will give the horse more back and leg cues about what you need her to do. When she gets that, the reins will become less important.

Now, back to posture. This will sound strange, but I’m hoping you won’t laugh. Learn to have good, straight posture, with open relaxed shoulders and a straight back in your daily, non-horseback life. When it becomes normal to you on the ground, it won’t be so foreign when riding.

How?

Get a copy of “My Fair Lady”, the one with Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn. Pay attention to the lesson parts on posture (it’s also a fun movie. It came out when I was a kid and all of us playing in our neighborhood were walking around with books on our heads and talking with marbles in our mouths! LOL ).

When you can easily carry the books balanced on your head, you will be in correct position - like when your instructor tells you to imagine a string dangling you from the top of your head. When you can do it in a RELAXED manner, and you look like Audrey at the end of the movie, then you will know the body feeling you should look for when riding.

Also, pretend to Hula. Bend your legs, and swivel your hips, while your top is straight and relaxed AND STILL, like those books are on your head. This can help with the independence of movement between your top and bottom halves. Your horse moves, your bottom moves with her, and your top could still hold the books still.

If I’m full of it, I’m sure someone will say so… That’s okay, but these things have helped me.

Just my 2¢

You TOTALLY called it! I have the worlds worst posture. I actually used to dance, and had beautiful posture. All held up by the beautiful core muscles I had. Then I stopped, and got an office job, and developed the WORST slouch ever. This is amazing advice, I will definitely rewatch the movie! I love it :). The worst that can come from your advice is I watch a good movie and get better posture, so I think you’re pretty solid Thank you!

Gah how are the simplest things so hard to see on myself?

[Bellathemustang]

@betsyk

You’ve got this. You can totally do this. I’m going to disagree and say that riding her around the yard bareback is going to teach you a LOT about your own riding, her way of going, and how the two of you will communicate with each other. There’s a lot more to riding well than equitation.

Since you asked for advice - I only watched part of the first video. Have you ever learned to paddle a canoe or kayak? it’s hard to go straight at first, until you figure out how to keep your body still and your balance centered. Pick a point and ride straight toward it with as little effort as possible. Ride squares, graduate to making little obstacle courses for yourself with buckets and rails, and just get the feel for keeping your balance and keeping everyone straight. I think you’re trying so hard to keep an arbitrary idea of “good” position that you’re making yourself stiff. Relax and have fun. Watch out for getting perched ahead on the fronts of your thighs. Most of us need to intentionally sit back on our bum a little to keep a neutral pelvis. When you do this, your horse will let you know you’re doing it right. Don’t hesitate to trot a little here and there because you won’t get better at it if you don’t try. Teach her to slow down from your breathing and your seat, rather than immediately going to the reins every time she gets quick or crooked.

Another thought. Decide if you’re going to ride her like an English hrose, or a western horse. If you want her to learn about contact and move more like an English horse, you’ll need to let her go forward and teach her all about contact (and/or learn yourself!). If you’re more likely to ride her in a western state of mind, you might find you relax more when you have the reins in one hand and work from your leg and seat. If you asked me for a bareback lesson I would absolutely say yes, and then I’d have you trotting in straight lines alongside the driveway, and practicing transitions by this tree and that rock, and playing with a turn on the forehand or haunches beside the mailbox, and when we talked about position it would be in a context of accomplishing a task and communicating clearly with your horse.

Have fun with this cute horse!

Thank you so much! I am really drawn to bareback because I like to try to feel the horses movements, which can be hard with a saddle. I have a close contact saddle, too, so I guess that is just a riding preference for me. I think she has such a fun walk and covers a lot of ground for her size. Riding her bareback really lets me feel her movements and makes it that much better. She has a super smooth, easy trot, so I think that will be fun bareback too, though probably not too challenging. I ride an OTTB that I wont even try to trot without stirrups. I would shake my brains loose from the bouncing :lol:

You are so right about me forcing my posture. I am pretty type A, and I do get tense to force a straighter (not necessarily correct) posture. Once I know what it is supposed to feel like I can find it again, so with saddles I normally use on horses I normally ride I can find my posture. But I did feel like I was forcing it here. Sometimes I can find it myself, but I still need my instructor to tell me the issue fairly often. Or in this case you guys did

I need to think “sit deep” instead of “lean back”. I thought I was good with that in a saddle (except sometimes in canter), but this bareback ride really did shine a light on issues that might be more hidden with a saddle! If I still do it in canter in a saddle I probably do it a little all the time.

Thank you so much for your feedback and encouragement!

[Pocket_Pony]

Pretty little mustang!

I agree that she seems sort of uneducated to the bit, although I think that she’s educated enough that when she feels tension in the reins then she stops. You have a lot of tension in your arms and wrists especially. Your wrists look like the are sort of cocked so your hands are out a bit. If you just sit in your chair and look straight ahead of you, let your arms hang naturally at your sides. Then just lift your hands so there’s a bend in your elbow. Your wrists should be soft and relaxed and in a neutral position. That’s how you want it to be when you’re in the saddle.

Your seat should be in the saddle such that you can feel three points of support - pubic bone in front and two seat bones directly underneath you. Your seat also includes your thighs, which have contact but aren’t squeezing.

I think bareback can be fun every once in a while, and it is good for feeling your horse underneath you and understanding how their muscles work through their backs, but you can also develop bad habits riding bareback.

Relax. Your horse will thank you. Sit up straight, but don’t force it. You can practice sitting on an exercise ball or a chair (although your legs will obviously be in front of you so you won’t get the pubic bone contact as you would in a saddle - this is just an exercise, though). Sit on a hard chair and put your hands under your butt and feel your seat bones. Find the spot where you are straight and tall in your upper body without leaning forward or leaning back and where it is easy to just sit there. Then play with the leaning forward and leaning back and notice what happens to your seat bones as your balance changes. Think about how that might affect your riding and how it will change what your horse feels. When you are leaning back, your seat bones are really going to dig into your hands and it will hurt. Think about how that will feel on your horse bareback.

I think it is better to ride in a saddle for now, although that saddle looks like it puts you in a chair seat.

Good for you for taking lessons and seeking advice!

[Bellathemustang]

@Pocket Pony

Pretty little mustang!

I agree that she seems sort of uneducated to the bit, although I think that she’s educated enough that when she feels tension in the reins then she stops. You have a lot of tension in your arms and wrists especially. Your wrists look like the are sort of cocked so your hands are out a bit. If you just sit in your chair and look straight ahead of you, let your arms hang naturally at your sides. Then just lift your hands so there’s a bend in your elbow. Your wrists should be soft and relaxed and in a neutral position. That’s how you want it to be when you’re in the saddle.

Your seat should be in the saddle such that you can feel three points of support - pubic bone in front and two seat bones directly underneath you. Your seat also includes your thighs, which have contact but aren’t squeezing.

I think bareback can be fun every once in a while, and it is good for feeling your horse underneath you and understanding how their muscles work through their backs, but you can also develop bad habits riding bareback.

Relax. Your horse will thank you. Sit up straight, but don’t force it. You can practice sitting on an exercise ball or a chair (although your legs will obviously be in front of you so you won’t get the pubic bone contact as you would in a saddle - this is just an exercise, though). Sit on a hard chair and put your hands under your butt and feel your seat bones. Find the spot where you are straight and tall in your upper body without leaning forward or leaning back and where it is easy to just sit there. Then play with the leaning forward and leaning back and notice what happens to your seat bones as your balance changes. Think about how that might affect your riding and how it will change what your horse feels. When you are leaning back, your seat bones are really going to dig into your hands and it will hurt. Think about how that will feel on your horse bareback.

I think it is better to ride in a saddle for now, although that saddle looks like it puts you in a chair seat.

Good for you for taking lessons and seeking advice!

I love your screen name

Thank you for the exercise ball advice, I have 2 in different sizes, so I will definitely play around with that. I have an extra set of reins and a big mirror too, I can work on my seat and hands!

Don’t worry, the western saddle I rode her in on youtube was the sellers saddle! The stirrups were WAY too long, I barely had any contact with the balls of my feet. So I was super tense in that video too. I ride English in a dressage saddle, all purpose, or close contact. I am actually riding her in one of my English saddles for the first time tomorrow

Long term, I think I will let my trainer focus on working on bit contact with her, then have us take some lessons together to get that down. And once we are going well together I will do what I normally do with the other horses I’ve been riding (lesson horses and a leased horse) and drop my stirrups for the cool down. We can move on to bareback once I am confident and she is happy without stirrups. I might have jumped the gun, new horse owner excitement “ZOMG I get to ride her again! I know, I’ll use this bareback pad even though I’ve never ridden bareback before, haven’t ridden her in a month, and only rode her a couple of times total”. I am SO happy I chose such a forgiving and gentle horse. I need the lessons and advice, she deserves it

[Neverquit]

I disagree about riding bareback. I think it can make you a great rider because you have to have so much more balance and feel.

She is a cute little mare. I think part of the issue is she is small, which makes it harder for you to balance and relax on her, so she is trying to figure out what you’re asking. You can learn a lot from that because she is so reactive, and you’re not going to “get away” with anything. I also do not think you’re hands or arms are terrible. But, you are trying to get her head down by holding your arms down.

I think you have a lot of little things you can do bareback to help her and you.

Practice teaching her to give to the bit contact. You can start on the ground or just standing. Pull on the rein (wiggle maybe) and ask her to give. If she does not give, keep up the pressure and maybe put some leg on until she does. As soon as she gives, you give back to her and praise her. Repeat about ten million times. (This is something everyone at every level does all of the time.) Teach her to give to the pressure of the rein and leg.

Bareback you can really work on her sensitivity and yours. She was really responsive to you, and when your weight went forward, she stopped. Practice slowly and quietly feeling where your weight and seat are and how she reacts to it. The good think is that bareback, you can’t get way off to one side or the other or you will fall off. but play with your weight and weighting one seat bone and another and having her turn in that direction. (Think of a money on your head. If it leans one way, you need to go that way to maintain your balance.) Then play with your shoulders, backs and arms, relaxing each and moving them and see how she reacts. You can play with stiffening and holding your body and notice how she will stiffen and slow in reaction, and then relaxing each part and following, which allows her to move forward.

You can think about doing small things such as tightening one butt muscle and seeing the reaction you get. She will feel it. I can tighten one butt muscle in the saddle to prepare for a canter depart or change and the horse can feel it. so bareback will really magnify it.

Some of the best natural riders I know just whipped around bareback. I don’t necessarily think you need to do it all of the time, but you can sure learn a lot from it.

[Bellathemustang]

@Neverquit

I disagree about riding bareback. I think it can make you a great rider because you have to have so much more balance and feel.

She is a cute little mare. I think part of the issue is she is small, which makes it harder for you to balance and relax on her, so she is trying to figure out what you’re asking. You can learn a lot from that because she is so reactive, and you’re not going to “get away” with anything. I also do not think you’re hands or arms are terrible. But, you are trying to get her head down by holding your arms down.

I think you have a lot of little things you can do bareback to help her and you.

Practice teaching her to give to the bit contact. You can start on the ground or just standing. Pull on the rein (wiggle maybe) and ask her to give. If she does not give, keep up the pressure and maybe put some leg on until she does. As soon as she gives, you give back to her and praise her. Repeat about ten million times. (This is something everyone at every level does all of the time.) Teach her to give to the pressure of the rein and leg.

Bareback you can really work on her sensitivity and yours. She was really responsive to you, and when your weight went forward, she stopped. Practice slowly and quietly feeling where your weight and seat are and how she reacts to it. The good think is that bareback, you can’t get way off to one side or the other or you will fall off. but play with your weight and weighting one seat bone and another and having her turn in that direction. (Think of a money on your head. If it leans one way, you need to go that way to maintain your balance.) Then play with your shoulders, backs and arms, relaxing each and moving them and see how she reacts. You can play with stiffening and holding your body and notice how she will stiffen and slow in reaction, and then relaxing each part and following, which allows her to move forward.

You can think about doing small things such as tightening one butt muscle and seeing the reaction you get. She will feel it. I can tighten one butt muscle in the saddle to prepare for a canter depart or change and the horse can feel it. so bareback will really magnify it.

Some of the best natural riders I know just whipped around bareback. I don’t necessarily think you need to do it all of the time, but you can sure learn a lot from it.

Thank you so much for your feedback! The bit contact and bareback exercise suggestions are great She is going to need work on giving to the bit contact. I love the way you explained it and that will really help me continue her training there.

She is so cute, and definitely the smallest horse I ride. I fell in love with her personality and her movement, it is so FUN to ride her.

[Bluey]

@Bellathemustang

Thank you so much for your feedback! The bit contact and bareback exercise suggestions are great She is going to need work on giving to the bit contact. I love the way you explained it and that will really help me continue her training there.

She is so cute, and definitely the smallest horse I ride. I fell in love with her personality and her movement, it is so FUN to ride her.

Do remember that bareback you have to work harder at your balance, so your hands and all other aids will be less consistent than if you have the help of sitting on a saddle.

Our seat bones poke horses on the same muscles we are asking them to round when we collect them, a bad combination, why so many when riding bareback do more cruising along than real training asking the horse for consistent, serious efforts at collection.

There are trade-offs to all we do, working on your balance for a bit, go bareback.
Training your horse in the more technical parts of how to carry itself, consider best then to use a saddle.

[danceronice]

bestyk said something that articulated what I was seeing, but couldn’t figure out how to express, OP–you seem kind of “perchy” on the horse rather than deep around the horse. Compare with Mao2’s video–she’s around the horse. That happens with or without a saddle, but it’s easier to be aware of without one. You might want to check out Sally Swift’s book “Centered Riding”, which gives some good visualizations for what sitting deep and centered should feel like.

[Foxtrot_s]

A lot of us hung around our horses bareback - taught us to be balanced and relaxed and go with the horse. Nobody telling us what to do or how to do it, and it developed derring-do. I don’t mean poking with the heels, digging in with the bum, leaning on the hands. Relax into the horse and learn to sit deep and go with the motion. Sally Swift would be excellent.

Riding is actually about making it easier on the horse and the horse can learn by your change of weight where to go, following the eyes, shoulders and hips, going or easing up with breath and spine…

I hope your horse is tolerant!

[Bellathemustang]

@danceronice

bestyk said something that articulated what I was seeing, but couldn’t figure out how to express, OP–you seem kind of “perchy” on the horse rather than deep around the horse. Compare with Mao2’s video–she’s around the horse. That happens with or without a saddle, but it’s easier to be aware of without one. You might want to check out Sally Swift’s book “Centered Riding”, which gives some good visualizations for what sitting deep and centered should feel like.

I have that book! I haven’t read it yet, but I will be starting this afternoon, thank you for the recommendation It turns out one of my issues in saddle is having my feet a little too far forward. I have been working on bringing my leg back, oh my god it is a whole new world! My leg cues are so much cleaner now, it is amazing what one little change can do.

[Bellathemustang]

@Foxtrot's

A lot of us hung around our horses bareback - taught us to be balanced and relaxed and go with the horse. Nobody telling us what to do or how to do it, and it developed derring-do. I don’t mean poking with the heels, digging in with the bum, leaning on the hands. Relax into the horse and learn to sit deep and go with the motion. Sally Swift would be excellent.

Riding is actually about making it easier on the horse and the horse can learn by your change of weight where to go, following the eyes, shoulders and hips, going or easing up with breath and spine…

I hope your horse is tolerant!

Am I that bad? :lol:

I have been working a lot on my seat, engaging but not tensing, and relaxing. Tensing is definitely a problem for me. Which is weird because I am not nervous, but I am pretty much always tense (in my every day, non riding life). Even when I am super calm and relaxed, my body is normally tense. So if I can learn to relax in the saddle it will be a fabulous feeling I am sure Total body relaxation…ahhhh…