I’m curious what the consensus on riding bareback is. I’ve ridden all manner of horses and done all sorts of things bareback. Honestly, I prefer it to riding with a saddle — they’re cumbersome!
From a strictly practical standpoint, I think time spent without a saddle contributes to a sticky seat and naturally correct position. Sure, you can develop bad habits bareback just like you can in a saddle, but they’re much more apparent and the margin for error is much smaller.
I am not sure what your actual question is that you want us to say yes or no to.
Do we personally ride bareback? Do we think it is a good or bad thing?
I very rarely ride bareback, not because I think it is a bad thing, but because I personally lack the coordination and balance to do it well and I do not think it is fair to my horse to put up with me trying to figure it out.
Sorry, to clarify, I know some people are against it because it’s unfair to the horse even if you are coordinated since saddles are meant to disperse weight across their back. That sort of thing. I’m not properly caffeinated and will clarify as I gain consciousness 🫡
I like riding bareback occasionally if I have a horse that I’m not going to die on lol. I rode bareback A LOT as a kid. I do think it helps improve the seat.
As far as weight distribution, like everything with horses, it depends. 30 mins or an hour bareback? Sure NBD if you’re fairly balanced, not hanging on their mouths etc. Would I do a several hour trail ride bareback? No, I don’t think that would be comfy for horse or rider.
I have a mare that’s an absolute saint - pretty much anyone can ride her BUT get on her bareback and she is very clearly uncomfortable and will make attempts to get you off of her.
I used to ride bareback all the time, especially in the summer.
I do think it’s great for your balance and learning if you’re crooked. It’s also great for really learning how the horse’s back moves at various gaits. I used to give my lesson students bareback lessons once they were pretty secure.
Most recently, I would hop on one horse bareback with a halter and pony the other horse when I moved them from one pasture to another. But that’s been some years ago.
I’m old and risk adverse.
As a rule, no I don’t for the reasons you state; however, I spent many rides bareback on my ponies as a kid. I also will confess that many times I’ve thrown a leg over one of my young stack who hasn’t been backed (no saddle, halter, bridle) only to have them stand there totally unscathed and uncaring. I will occasionally get lazy and hop on one of my horses to ride bareback from a field but I don’t really count that as riding per se. I do have a sticky seat and even at 61 my velcro has not worn out; but, my father went to his grave with a perfectly shaped horse shoe scar on his leg just below his knee. As a boy he was riding one of the timber horses back from the mill to the barn. It was one of the horses they used for logging. He slipped off and the horse stepped on and broke his leg. Despite that, my grandfather and father both encouraged me to ride my ponies bareback. Of course one of those ponies was a Welsh Cob x percheron cross who was 14 hands tall and the same wide. I don’t think they were too worried that 45 lb me was going to cause too much pressure on her back.
I haven’t gotten on bareback for a long time - due to age - but fully intend to again.
In my “youth” - late 30s to early 60s - I rode bareback a lot.
My TB on trails, even popping over the odd log.
My ginormous (17h+) TWH, mainly in my indoor. Because: long way down 
Last was an attempt to get on my 17’3 WB.
Had my trainer (who was there for a lesson) hold him while I did my less-than-agile scramble aboard from a stepladder I used as a mounting block.
Hit his withers & bruised a rib or two 
That was 10yrs ago 
I’ve gotten on my current 16h TWH bareback a couple years ago & will again.
Probably only for a W/T ramble in the indoor as I’m Old & he has a teleporting spook.
Generally only when he’s decided he’s worked enough & he telegraphs intent, but…
I was having trouble fitting a saddle to my lease horse last summer and, as I was radically changing the way he carried himself with a rider, opted to ride with a bareback pad until he understood and had some new muscle built up before having the saddle fitter out again. I caved earlier than planned because we got to the point where he was extremely wiggly in every direction as he popped in and out of good carriage, and I was simply not good enough to ride that bareback and still be able to help him.
I rode my first two horses bareback often. My second had a lovely strong, well muscled back and was wonderful to ride bareback. My third horse I had to ride with a saddle blanket cushion as he never developed a really good top line (due to PPID), but I did ride bareback a fair bit.
I love riding bareback. It’s been awhile since I’ve done it, but I spent most of my youth traversing wherever I wanted, bareback. I would like to ride my current mare bareback too, just haven’t gotten around to it.
Not all back conformations are comfortable for the human, and not all humans are comfortable for the back. Just like with a saddle, things still have to fit each other
It’s really easy to learn to grip with your lower legs and lean back on your pockets if you’re just going by feel and working to stay on. So, I don’t agree that it contributes to a naturally correct position. I think you can use it to help with that, if you’re aware of what correct position feels like, or if you aren’t, then have qualified eyes on the ground to tell you when you’re correct. For example, SO many people develop a habit of leaning forward, which helps stabilize them when they’re legs aren’t doing the correct things, and think they’re sitting up. To have someone tell them to sit up makes them feel like they’re leaning back. So, the good exercise is to tell them to actually lean back, so that upright starts to feel like it’s actually upright.
I do agree that lateral issues with the rider can quickly be at least improved without a saddle!
As with ALL things Horse and bareback being suitable for correct riding, It Depends.
Well said!
My horse is now retired but has had many periods in his life where I rode without a saddle more often than with, including when I didn’t have a saddle that fit him (I borrowed one for lessons and shows but did most of our flatwork without one) as well as in the later years of his riding career where why bother tacking up to go trail ride? It gave me a very good feel for his way of going and reinforced good riding mechanics (since it’s a bit difficult to ride a figure eight on the counter lead with a flying change if the rider is being a noodle.) This was all possible because he’s pony-backed.
My sister’s horse had a classic TB A-frame roof back with withers to match and could only go bareback if you needed him to break a path through snow, since in those circumstances he was probably wearing two blankets and that’s the only way that would have been remotely comfortable for either party.
I’ve never been a fan of riding bareback. I’ve probably done it less than 10 times in my 24 years of riding. Most of those were in my beginning riding years as a teenager on ponies at the barn I lessoned at. As an adult, I’ve always had taller horses (16.2hh, 17hh) and I’m definitely not coordinated enough to get on them bareback. I also just find it very uncomfortable.
I like to do it periodically, particularly on days when my horse only needs a light flat ride but I need to torment myself more, lol. My dressage saddle fits him much better than it fits me (something about the seat makes me hollow out my lower back) so bareback is a good reminder that I do know how to sit properly. My horse is actually extremely willing to lift his back and get on the bit with no saddle so I can’t be making him too uncomfortable.
Caveats being that I use a Thinline bareback pad which is much more comfortable for me (his back is actually pretty comfy, I just don’t like the hair poking through my breeches because it makes me extremely itchy) and that my first instructor spent months drilling me on the lunge line with no reins and no stirrups until I could sit all the gaits with my eyes shut, so I don’t usually bounce or go anywhere if he trips/spooks. If it wasn’t for that experience I don’t think I’d be anywhere near as comfortable with it.
I will say that taking my squishy Fjord couch mare out for a bareback ride in the snow is about as good as it gets though 
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The only reason I don’t ride bareback frequently anymore (besides age) is because my main riding horse hates it. She is the sensitive type. I honestly think the gripping/chafing her hair aspect bothers her more than the weight distribution. She is very fussy about that kind of thing.
I used to ride bareback as much or more than in a saddle (ended lots of saddled rides with a bareback jaunt), not so much anymore. My first ride on my baby TB a few years ago was still bareback though. It helps SO much with balance, maybe not so much with position but definitely stickiness. I have an awesome Christ bareback pad now so my only excuse now is that my mare is still off and on sound and I’m not riding my trainer’s 17+ hand behemoth bareback despite him being a very good noodle. It’s something that I know I need to do more of and with the pad (it’s like 3-4 in of sheepskin and I can put foam inserts in it too) I don’t worry about it being too much pressure. Bareback trail rides used to really be my jam but I haven’t been at a place with access to true trails in over a decade now.
I think it was a huge contributor to being complimented on my feel and seat in my colleges riding program despite never being in regular lessons or a formal program prior.
I love riding bareback on my ponies as a kid and on my warmblood Xs as an adult. I haven’t had a horse that was suitable in a while though. My little paint has always been very, very particular about saddle fit, and the one time I tried to ride him with a bareback pad, he did a lovely series of rears until I ended up bailing. I respected his dislike of it and haven’t tried again.
My last TB was had a sharkfin that was not at all comfortable.
I am hoping that current horse will be game. She reared several times the first time I hopped on with bareback pad, but she had undiagnosed PSSM and had rock hard back muscles at the time. I am hoping that as long as she is well managed, she will be accepting of it and she will certainly be a comfy couch!
I enjoy bareback on occasion. I think it helps with balance and is a great indicator of your flaws -
do you lean? coming right off the side.
Do you stand in your stirrups to much when you post? Well that’s why you are bouncing around at the trot like that.
Do you lean forward to much? coming off over the shoulder like some trick rider
I did hop on my mare for first ride back from deployment, planning to just walk around. Well, we were bopping along the trail and I felt good so asked for a trot and she picked up this LOVELY forward trot…that 6 months of not riding was not expecting. I almost bounced right off of her, accidentally grabbed rein to much so she tossed her head and started to pick up the pace, which didn’t help…I managed to grab mane, right myself and ask her to walk again. That was almost a sitcom moment.
I used to ride bareback, especially when I got my horse from the furthest part of the pasture from the gate. I was very fortunate, my horse had a pretty comfortable sitting trot, he was not very bony when young, and at that time my MS had not destroyed much of my central nervous system. I always put my helmet on before I rode bareback.
M. Horace Hayes said in one of his books (Stable Management and Exercise"?) that too frequent bareback rides could lead to callouses on the horse’s back from the rider’s seat bones, and that these callouses could negatively affect the fit of the saddle, even if the saddle had fit the horse previously.
So the summer when I just rode bareback I got up into a Forward Seat as much as possible when riding him (one to two hours a day). He did not get callouses on his back from those 3 months of riding bareback.
That summer was really hot and muggy down here in NC. I found that I had the most security bareback if I rode in a generous wrap around skirt (thin cotton from India), hardly “proper” riding wear. My bare skin against his hair coat gave me excellent grip, otherwise I tended to slip around his back.
Now my balance is so horrible from my MS that I refuse to ride bareback and I also refuse to ride without stirrups. If I felt secure enough to ride all 3 gaits without stirrups I would go back to riding bareback periodically, but since the last two times I fell off the horse was at a walk I decided not to be stupid about it.
I rode and jumped bareback a lot as a kid, and into my 20s, often with just a halter and two lead ropes.
I think it’s a fantastic way to learn good balance and feel, especially when you’re young and brave and spry. Lol.
I’ve ridden bareback occasionally over the years as I’ve gotten older, but I’m a lot more selective about the horse!
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