QUESTION:

I’m an older person and always wanted to learn to ride bareback. Do you have any tips for me?

ANSWER:

Well, first of all you want to be sure that whatever horse you’re planning on riding bareback is used to having riders on him bareback AND he is sound, quiet and sensible – a horse that looks out for his rider. You definitely don’t want to start out on a high-spirited Arabian or a speed-demon Thoroughbred! Be smart about it and listen to your ‘gut’. If your gut is telling you, “Ummmmmm, that’s not quite the horse I had in mind.” … then listen! *LOL* Find another horse on which to begin.

Some general tips here from horses.about.com are good ones:

Mastering the sitting trot in the saddle will help you a lot when you learn to ride bareback.. Keep your legs long and heels down. Think of letting your weight sink through your ‘seat cushions’ and down through your legs. Keep those ‘seat cushions’ springy. Stay relaxed and flexible and don’t forget to breath. Holding your breath keeps your weight high.

If you start to loose your balance don’t clench with your legs. Your horse could understand this as a cue to move forward more strongly. It’s fair to use a hank of mane to steady yourself at first. I think that a handful of mane is more secure than using a neck rope or strap because there is no chance of the horse’s mane slipping side to side!

Many people have a tendency to lean back and let their legs push forward. Or they hunch forward and bring their heels up. Either tendency will erode your overall security and skill.

A few tips that I have … imagine yourself sitting IN the horse’s back (much as one would sit IN the cockpit of a Sunfish (sailboat).

Always remember to .. BREATHE!  When one holds his or her breath the entire body tenses up. So make it a point to do your ‘yoga breathing’ and be aware of what your body is doing. Consciously EXHALE down through the bottom of your feet when you feel you’re getting tense. This will help relax you AND your horse.

Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk … lots of walking. If you’re in a safe, enclosed area you may close your eyes and just FEEL the horse move and FEEL how your body responds. At this point you can also raise one arm out from your shoulder and then switch.  When you’re feeling uber safe you can then extend BOTH arms out from the shoulder at the same time and make yourself into a slow-motion whirly-gig. If at any time you feel as if its either making your horse nervous or you’re about to lose your balance, open your eyes and pick up the reins again or grab a hunk of mane. (a neckrope helps so you don’t pull on the horse’s face/mouth if you lose your balance. )

Once you feel you are comfortable at the walk, ask for a few steps of the trot. Just 2 or 3 to begin with. Get used to the transition from walk to trot and then back down again to the walk.  Remember to sit IN the horse’s back, especially while trotting. Sit back ‘on your pockets’ and stay loose at the hips so your hips can move *with* the horse. Lean a bit back at the waist (but not too much — find your own ‘sweet spot’) and don’t worry about your equitation position. You’re learning BALANCE right now.  If you tense up, slow down your horse and EXHALE … try to remember to ‘put on the brakes’, so to speak, so you don’t end up clenching up your legs and scrunching your body into the fetal position (which is a natural response) … you’ll lose your seat that way for sure!

Just do little bits at a time … and only as YOU feel comfortable. Don’t let anyone else tell you what *YOU* should be ‘doing/feeling/thinking’ etc.  Focus on your horse and on you – together.  and most of all …

SMILE!  and enjoy the ride. 🙂  (Oh, and wear your helmet!)