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Discussion on Riding Bareback?
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Member:
Longhorn
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Posted on Sunday, Nov 21, 2004 - 10:11 pm:
I wasn't sure whether or not to post this in "Care of the Horse" or in "Basic Riding Skills." One has to do with soring up a horse, the other with riding skills.
Trainers from Ga-Wa-Ni Pony Boy to Pat Parelli to Klimke will say riding bareback greatly improves your riding skills. No argument there. Ga-Wa-Ni Pony Guy says riding bareback hours at a time would be good. Pat Parelli demos jumping barback. (BTW, Holly and Marc, I'm still trying the vaulting thing.  )
The benefits notwithstanding, I read somewhere or was told that riding bareback, without a bareback pad (which The Ga-Wa-Ni Dude says are dangerous anyway because they tend to slip), can sore your horse up badly. I recall the problem was that our butt bones will tend to straddle the horse's spine and dig into the back muscles without any relief thus causing soreness. One function of saddles is to distribute our weight evenly over the horse's back to avoid soring from the concentration and movement of weight in one area.
I also have horses that are a bit high-withered and trying to tighten a bareback pad on them is just impossible without crushing down their withers or having it set so far back I'm smack-dab in the middle of their backs. Extra blankets cause more slippage and negate the close contact bareback riding offers.
Now, without giving away too much information that no one is interested in, my butt certainly isn't what one would call "bony," and neither is it overly padded. Flat and wide, yes, spikey or very round and soft, no.
'Nuf said there. So, will riding bareback without a pad sore up a horse? or does it just....depend?
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Member:
Ryle
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Posted on Sunday, Nov 21, 2004 - 10:29 pm:
Laura,
I've spent countless hours (in the thousands) on horses bareback and haven't seen any problems with my horses getting sore backs and I've got a bony butt! I've done everything from pleasure riding to barrel racing and even some jumping that way. But, if your balance is off and you aren't comfortable up there then you may bounce or slide around more and that may cause soreness issues for your horse.
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Member:
Jojo15
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Posted on Monday, Nov 22, 2004 - 12:45 am:
I would say it depends on your butt. And the horses back.
If my girls back was sore from the saddle i would take breaks and ride bareback. And do excercises that way. nothing between you and the horse. I have learned more that way than any other.
I have learned that i ride more comfortably more toward the middle of her back and used to worry that i should ride closer to the withers, not to hurt her. And place my legs up under her legs where the girth might go. Almost like a saddleseat posture. I don't know maybe it is just her conformation, but i noticed an easier ride.
Its such great excercise. Try posting bareback.
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Member:
Christos
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Posted on Monday, Nov 22, 2004 - 9:13 am:
Well, Laura,
For what it's worth, I believe you can't damage a horse's bare back before damaging yourself in the process.
I think the major concern with a clumsy bareback rider is the horse's mouth, not its back.
Now if a rider is stubborn enough to keep bouncing in a punishing fashion while grinding his teeth against pain, yes, damage to the horse's back may also occur.
But I believe such a rider would cause far greater damage with a saddle on.
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Member:
Trouble
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Posted on Tuesday, Nov 23, 2004 - 3:36 pm:
This is a very interesting thread. As I was reading, my initial thoughts were that there should be enough padding on anyone's hiney so as not to cause pain to the horse's back.
However, I tried this experiment while sitting at my desk at work (with door closed!) and I was amazed at what I found. By the way, I consider my hiney an average one.
While sitting at my chair, which is a standard padded office chair, I put both hands under the hiney with palms on the hiney(basically sitting on your hands). Wow! I was amazed at how boney the hiney really is! If you move from side to side, you can see what a horse would feel if you were sitting bareback. Try it.
On the other hand, my horse has never seemed uncomfortable with my riding bareback, so maybe it's no big deal. But, I wouldn't totally rule it out.
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