Riding your Horse Bareback: The Ultimate Guide

Riding your horse bareback has many benefits, but it isn’t necessarily as simple as just hopping on. The steps one should take before tossing the saddle altogether range from certain tack to gaining core strength. So here’s Riding your Horse Bareback: The Ultimate Guide!

When I was five years old, my mom bought a Tennessee Walker named LadyBell. Being our first “backyard” pony, bareback was the go-to in our household. Me and my sisters used to double up and bounce around without a saddle, and looking back… still very fond memories for me!

Now, all these years later, bareback is still a weekly occurrence for me – but now I have the luxury of riding my very own Thoroughbred. Unfortunately, those shark-fin-withers aren’t as appealing as a Tennessee Walkers and Quarter Horses (that we got later down the road).

But hey, riding bareback is something every equestrian should be able to handle, so luckily for you… I have pieced together everything you need to know! Without further ado, here’s riding your horse bareback: the ultimate guide!

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Saddle and ground Prep

Bareback might seem pretty simple – just tack up without the saddle and hop on – but it’s so important to do your homework before attempting! You, nor your horse, should be put in harms way after all… and to avoid this, it all starts with practice in the saddle.

stirrup-less

One of the biggest concerns riders have is that of riding without stirrups. Not having anything to hold them in place or a “just in case” makes them feel uneasy.

During your next ride, be sure to let the stirrups drop for a few minutes (you can pull them up and crisscross over the horse’s neck), and then the following time, see if you can get through the entire ride without them.

Make sure you stay relaxed and see if you can handle the trot (etc.) without bouncing around!

Without Reins

The second concern for riders is overall balance. And with many new riders, they tend to rely on the reins for balance. But with bareback, moments of unbalance are common, especially when you get started, so you absolutely don’t want to be constantly pulling your horse’s mouth.

Ask your trainer if you can have a lunge line lesson, and spend time riding without holding onto the reins. Without the reins, you can even practice your two-point, sitting and posting trot, canter, and stirrup-less work!

Exercise

When riding your horse bareback, you’re no longer able to stay on the horse with support from the saddle; now, you need to stay on with just your thighs, abs, and balance. And contrary to popular belief, it’s not an easy task… which is why it’s important to train your muscles so they’re able to support you.

Spend a couple days a week exercising, targeting your thighs and abs especially. This will help you to engage without tiring out too quickly. If you need workout ideas, check out YouTube tutorials or equestrian programs like The Fit Equestrian!

Stretch

Like exercising to train your muscles, being able to have flexible and supple muscles is just as important. When you’re tight while riding bareback, it can be easy to lose your balance with, for example, a bouncy and forward trot.

Take a few minutes before your ride to stretch and warm up!

Equipment and Tack

I know what you’re thinking: “Bareback means no tack, right?” But not always. When especially learning the mechanics of bareback, some might find it easier if they have assistance from certain equipment!

Bareback pad

Maybe you have light-colored breeches that you don’t want to ruin, or you have a bony horse and need some extra support.

Swing by the tack store (or check out this bareback pad here) and grab a nice, thick bareback pad. Having one between you and the horse will still provide the benefits of riding without a saddle, while adding extra cushion and protection. Just make sure you still check the girth so you don’t slide around!

Neck rope

Let’s say that you’ve mastered your seat and you’re able to correctly use all of your aids without help from the reins. Give a neck rope a try to really limit the use of tack!

This will take some training for you and your horse, so make sure to a) ask your trainer about it, b) do some research on neck ropes, and c) try it while in the saddle first! Check out this neck rope here.

Dressage whip

Consider picking up a dressage whip to use as an extension of your leg! You can use it strictly to better communicate what you’re trying to ask and it might clear up some communication between you and the horse. Just be sure that you’re not relying on it ; )

You can find a dressage whip here.

Helmet

Though I’m an advocate for always wearing your helmet, I’m especially so when it comes to bareback riding. You never know when a session could go sideways! Check out my post on finding the right helmet for you ; )

Check out: The Best Helmets for Equestrians!

Mounting

Mounting bareback can be tricky but there are def some ways to make the transition from the ground, to the horse, more efficient.

Mounting block

The tried and true mounting block.

Even when you have a saddle, it’s important to use a mounting block as often as possible so we’re not putting unnecessary pressure on our horses back. Emphasize this when mounting bareback as you might be struggling more than usual.

Buddy up

There are also a couple of methods for getting on bareback without anything to aid! The first being a buddy up: facing the side of your horse, jump high enough enough so your hips land on the top of their spine, then bring your right leg over to the side.

This can also be done with a partner. Have them hold onto your left leg, and on the count of three, jump and swing your right leg over.

Swing mount

The second method is a swing mount: stand parallel with your horse, facing their rear. With momentum, swing your right leg up and over their back, dropping your shoulders, then shimmy up.

Check out this example!

While Riding

Now we’re getting to the good part… actually riding bareback! When you finally get your balance and confidence down-pat, bareback is so rewarding for both you and your horse. Though, there are still some things to keep in mind:

Take it slow

When you’re first introduced to bareback, you can feel like you have no support, you’re sliding around, and every movement is more apparent. It just takes some getting used to but ultimately, you wont even noticed a difference soon after!

Until you’re fully comfortable, take every ride slow. Definitely no shame in only walking the first few times! And when you do feel up to trotting, try trotting the short side of the arena, then the long side, and keep pushing yourself until you can trot endlessly without losing your balance : )

Stay relaxed

One of the biggest mistakes I see are riders tensing up as soon as the horse starts picking up the pace. This will lead to feeling unbalanced as well as discomfort to you and your horse.

Work towards relaxing your legs/seat, and giving in to the movement of the walk, trot, and canter.

Balance techniques

Balancing comes with practice, so here are a few techniques to expedite the process:

• Strengthen your core outside of barn-time
• Keep your chin up and look ahead
• Make sure you’re taking nice deep breaths (don’t ever hold your breath!)
• Work on circles (or on a lunge line) for more control and consistency
• Practice upward and downward transitions

When you lose balance…

When a rider loses balance, their first instinct is usually to tense up, but this is just a one way ticket to the ground haha. Here are some things to practice (in order of operations) when you start to feel unstable:

• Don’t panic!
• Slow down to adjust your position
• Sit deep in your saddle
• Relax your legs and engage your core
• Check your tack for a lose girth and/or incorrect stirrup length

Keeping Yourself Safe

I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard the term ‘shark-fin withers’ before… but you’ll know it when you feel it. Nobody wants to experience the excruciating pain of hitting your horse’s withers while trotting, and certainly not the lasting pain from injury.

Here are some ideas for making bareback a little more bearable for you and your horse!

Wear pads

For the ladies, wearing thick sanitary pads (and even doubling up on them) can provide some comfort as well as protect you from injury. As a thoroughbred owner myself, I try my best not to ride bareback without some sort of padding.

Half pads

And for the tried and true: half pads. Or as my trainer called it, the ultimate bareback-pad combo. Take a normal saddle pad as your first layer, then add a half pad (I use an ECP), and then top it off with your bareback pad.

Trust me, you really can’t beat this setup as far as comfort goes.

The Benefits

Now that we are effectively riding bareback, we can start to experience all of the benefits it has to offer.

Improve your seat

When riding your horse bareback, you no longer have any assistance from equipment (duh), but this allows you to use your muscles and rely on your body/balance to keep you on the horse.

You’re going to start seeing a drastic change in your overall EQ; from your leg position, your seat, and even the stability of your hands.

Gaining deeper trust

As you ride without the saddle, you no longer have a barrier between you and the horse. This makes every movement more prevalent and lets you connect on a deeper level.

Not only that, you’ll also find that you need to trust them to stay under control and you’ll need to trust yourself to handle every situation.

Time-sensitive

My personal favorite: it saves so much time! As a full time college student, sometimes heading out to the barn for three hours just isn’t realistic… and a lot of times it results in not riding or even going at all. But with bareback, I can grab Theo, quickly groom, and hop on.

Bareback is perfect when you want to get a quick ride in but really don’t have time to go through the motions of grabbing your tack, making sure they’re completely groomed, etc. etc.

And that’s all there is to it!

Riding your horse bareback is both challenging and rewarding at times, so it’s important to hit the ground running! This post went over everything you need to know to best prepare, but if you have any suggestions or tips/tricks, please let us know in the comments!

Here’s a quick lineup of everything we touched on:

• Saddle and Ground Prep
• Equipment and Tack
• Mounting
• While Riding
• Keeping Yourself Safe
• The Benefits

What’s your fav thing about riding bareback?? Let me knowww!

All the best,
Laura

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