Bareback Riding

Last New Year’s I hung up my stirrup irons, then eventually put away my saddle completely, and rode bareback until spring. I’m starting a little earlier this year. I began wishing for a side saddle when I was about 15 or 16. But, I’ve wanted a bareback pad since I want about 10. I finally bought myself one. The 10 year old in me really wanted a green one, but I thought William would look more distinguished in black.

My reason for buying a bareback pad, was not so much to give me traction on the horse, but Mr.W.P. Grey seems to find the feel of my thigh muscles gripping his bare back at the canter either strangely provocative or down right annoying, because eVeRy.TiMe.We.CaNteR: he bucks. If he doesn’t start out crowhopping, he ends crowhopping, and when he gets like that he is not easy to pull up.

He has a big, bold, ground covering canter, and we have worked all summer on a smooth, loose reined transition. If I stay out of his face and leave my legs off him, he will step off quietly and lope along smoothly like a top notch western pleasure horse. If I get a little tense and interfere, he gets chargey and it’s off to the races. Then he might slip or trip on less than perfect footing, which makes him mad, and conditions have been known to disintegrate from there. This is all more likely to happen when I am bareback and clinging for my dear life. If I am ever going to canter aside, we need to work this out.

I feel riding bareback has a lot of comparisons to riding aside. You need core strength and to develop independent balance, and you have to trust your horse. You have to be aware of your seat bones and keeping one on each side of the spine. If you hold tension in your upper body, your shoulders will end up somewhere around your ears and you may be inclined to flap your chicken wings ...ummmm I mean elbows. You cannot rely on stirrups for anything.

I’ve just completed my second ride with the bareback pad. The first ride Grey was very careful of me, jogging along like he was giving a pony ride. This is a little strange considering his frequent delight in seeing if I am truly paying attention and have my heals down.

Today was cool and brisk and I had a snorty horse under me. But, he was obedient and had a lot more impulsion at the trot allowing me to work on keeping my shoulders and chicken wings down …and keeping one seat bone on each side of his spine. Yes, I can feel his spine through the pad, and I was surprised how often my seat bones went astray, twanging on the spine which I sure is not pleasant for the horse either.



I was able to get my calves off his side and let my lower leg hang properly. By the end of the ride, I was stretching my legs down and back and lengthening them along his side instead of perching with my knees too high. He went along at a very nice, straight medium trot, not behind the vertical and generally giving me everything I work so hard for in my dressage lessons and daily ride without my asking. And I haven’t figured out exactly WHY other than I was concentrating on my riding, not him. And we all know the root of all riding problems is the rider, not the horse.

Both rides we cantered on each lead uneventfully with no dolphin moves or pronging like an antelope, and he seemed quite pleased with himself. After 20 minutes or so in the ring, we headed out the driveway and up the road. This was an exercise in trust. He is generally better behaved out of the ring than in it, but the nervous adult re-rider in me says that cantering up the road bareback is a risky endeavor if not plain stupid. We trotted and had a short canter. We are baby stepping our way to more confident and balanced riding in order to ride aside that much more elegantly.

Ladies of Comfortable Porportions

I drifted off to sleep last night dreaming of a 24” off side saddle… and that if such a gem were to surface, I would have the cash sitting around to purchase it’s rareness. Ha! Don't be fooled! If I found it, I’d charge it! In a heartbeat.

I also drifted off with these elusive questions rattling about in my head…
Would half an inch of seat even make a difference?

When I save the thousand plus dollars difference between these scarce 23” saddles and my own 22.5” will it be worth it? Should I give up on the old masters and buy a less expensive 23" Elan to try?

Why do they use the word “generous” when describing a piddling 13” wide seat? Are they trying to be insulting?

Does the flatness of the seat make a difference?

Will I just have to sit in it to find out?

Why does it have to be my right knee that hurts all the time? Couldn’t it be the left that just hangs there? Why is it aching now just thinking about it?

What if my seat bones fit my saddle just fine, but the size of my caboose will always make me look like a saddle measuring moron?

Why does it seem like I gain 10 pounds every time I have a birthday with a zero in it? And if that is really true, why do I weigh less now than when I graduated college?

How can I gain back a whole pound by adding 3 ounces of salad dressing and a chick pea to my usual salad? OK, it was more than one. Chick pea that is.

Is it possible I am getting taller?

What if I were truly tall and fat instead of tallish and plumpish? Would I never be able to ride aside? Where are the tall side saddle riders? Are they hoarding the larger saddles?

Was it some cruel twist of fate which made the bathroom scale crack?

Yes, I broke the bathroom scale! My husband just shakes his head and says “I can’t believe you cracked it.” Yeah, neither can I. The good news is it now reads consistently 10 pounds lighter. I haven’t had the heart to throw it out yet even though I know it’s not true.

I think I may have gained some insight on the old (1890 and earlier) standards of measurement which say I should fit into a 20" seat. Of course, my upright head is a modern shape, and so is impossible to measure this way for a comparison. But it makes much more sense now.

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On a positive and progressive note, I’m working on my saddle pads.

Not that the dressage pads are really lacking in anything. I just love the shape of a side saddle. Don’t you?

Take me there....

After reading Robin's last post, I was most struck by her description of finally feeling as if she was in a Munning's painting come to life. I'm sure we've all done that, seen a a painting or a photo, and wanted to immerse ourselves in it. Vacations are planned that way... some destinations take longer to achieve. They require time travel, and personal skills. Whole collections and grand passions are built on such things.

Take me here...

Or here...

"Why weren't you out Yesterday?"
by Sir Alfred Munnings

My Wife, My Horse and Myself

by Sir Alfred Munnings

No news on the personal sidesaddle front. None of my "fixes" have arrived. I did pick up a sticky rug pad to put under my quilted pad to see if that stops some slippage. And I believe I have the leaping horn adjusted to my satisfaction. I've been riding bareback all week, and am pleased that after 4 weeks of strictly bareback, I have a much more independent seat, and my balance and confidence have improved greatly. I haven't even had to grab mane the last two times. I have gotten back to the point where if I feel I've bounced over to all my weight on one side, I just bounce it right back without my heart leaping into my throat. I feel 16 again! Only 30 pounds heavier... working on that too.

Preparing for the Saddle

While I wait for my saddle to cross the country by truck, I've been making preparations. January is officially "No Stirrups Month" and I have totally removed my stirrups from my saddle. Although I rode regularly up until Thanksgiving, December was so awful and blustery that I gave it up entirely. Now Grey and I are back to a 3 day a week routine albeit in the confines of our 50x50 foot indoor area. That gets pretty boring pretty fast, not to mention hard on the joints, so to make each short ride count more, I've ditched my stirrups entirely. I still start with one hand on the grab strap, mostly to stop my hands (and then shoulders) from raising but I've stopped waddling around and am back to full weights at the gym. The first episode hurt for several days. It was the middle of the third ride before my balance improved enough to let go of the grab strap. In my own defense, it is only 17 degrees in the barn and despite my insulated breeches, there is a layer of "freeze" on my legs that is not present in the summer!

This has an added benefit. Besides strengthening my legs, and improving my balance, Grey and I get to work through his urge to take advantage of a loose seat or any movements that are out of the ordinary. He has a rather evil sense of humor when he feels me loosen up, and is overall a rather silly guy. Now and then I try bareback, but it can get a little tricky.

Up until I was in my late teens, and got into Saddlebred show horses exclusively, I rode bareback a LOT. The horse is not as wide as I remember.