Five reasons to ride bareback - Don Jessop

1. When you ride bareback, you develop better balance.

Cause we all need better balance, right? As a rider I know there are two reasons to be better balanced. One, to ensure I don't fall if my horse does something sudden. Two, to offer my horse a package that works for him or her instead of just sitting up there like a sack of potatoes, or worse... working against him when he's busy working for me. Imagine trotting long distances without rising and falling in time with the rhythm of his feet but sitting and hanging on the whole time. If that happened both my horse and I would have a sore backside. 

Riding bareback is, for most people, waaaaayyyy harder than riding with a saddle but as you develop the skill of bareback riding you naturally develop your balance too. It's an organic experience of growth, core strength, and balance development. The more you do, the better you get. 

2. When you ride bareback, you feel tension you didn't even know your horse had.

Another reason to ride bareback more is because it's hard to feel your horse's body through a heavy leather saddle. For most riders who never ride bareback they never experience the small muscle movements that occur every single time your horse becomes ever so slightly tense. When you feel those things riding bareback you learn to feel them under saddle to but you always have to start bareback to really know what's going on. Plus, if you know what's really going on for your horse, you'll slow down and do more to help him or her rather than push through with the false sense of security the saddle offers. 

I shouldn't say it's false. The saddle does offer security, but it's for you, not your horse. Push a horse past his tension and you take away his security.

3. When you ride bareback, you train slower and more thorough because otherwise... you get hurt.

Also, because it's so much harder to balance, you usually end up slowing down your cues and expectations of your horse. In other words, if you want to canter but you fear you lack the balance, you ease into it and ask your horse to ease into too. If you rush it, like you might while riding in a saddle, you will probably not stick the transition, causing you discomfort or a lack of balance resulting in more discomfort. The point is, riding bareback literally forces you to slow down and ease into motion rather than blast into motion. A good rider wouldn't do that anyway but riding bareback teaches the true value of going slower for both you and the horse. 

4. When you ride bareback, it's easier, and can often be more fun.

Tacking up (putting on a saddle and bridle) takes time, precious time. Riding bareback takes no time at all. Brush off the dust, the snow, the excess hair and just hop up there and enjoy one of God's greatest gifts. 

5. When you ride bareback, it can be more comfortable for the horse on short rides. Unless you have a bony butt or weigh too much, compared to your horse.

Saddles do a much better job of distributing weight than riding bareback. But... poor fitting saddles are very uncomfortable for a horse and riding bareback is actually more comfortable for them simply because you're not pinching them in odd places. Long rides might be better suited for better tools but short rides offer much more comfort to the horse simply because there's less weight to carry, less belly straps to wear, less stuffy saddles to pinch the shoulders or dig into the hide, etc. 

In summary...

Riding bareback will develop you as a rider like no other skill, offering many benefits and few downsides. Naturally, you have to start slow and do easy things and only over time, develop greater skills. As a point of inspiration, when I see a student of mind take their first steps bareback, I smile big! When I see them take their first steps in the canter, I hold my breath and smile bigger! When I see them canter a course full of turns and jumps without a saddle or bridle... I see a master rider in the making. 

My old teacher Pat Parelli would often say these words in parting, "May the horse be with you!" I'm going to borrow them today because, one, I love the line, and two, it lends to our theme today. A bareback rider knows the horse better than any other type of rider because riding bareback demands that you keep your horse "with" you. It's a noble journey. Join me on that journey. I have the tools to help you succeed!

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