# Bareback Trail Riding?



## ButtInTheDirt (Jan 16, 2011)

Is this even a good idea?

I just was thinking about that after watching a video of a horse show that had a few classes bareback. I know I would never trail ride bareback because I have zero balence with even a regular saddle, and no saddle would probably make it alot worse.

But does anyone do this? Like actually go out on a trail without a saddle. Perhaps a pack horse trailing along with some supplies, but would this even be a sensable idea.

I was just wondering. It would seem sort of cool, but then again it would be so dangerous and have alot of room for error. So, if you can, share your opinion. ^^

~Butt


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## Dusty1228 (Dec 2, 2010)

ButtInTheDirt said:


> Is this even a good idea?
> 
> I just was thinking about that after watching a video of a horse show that had a few classes bareback. I know I would never trail ride bareback because I have zero balence with even a regular saddle, and no saddle would probably make it alot worse.
> 
> ...


I haven't done so recently, but when I was younger, I never used a saddle at all on either of my horses and we did trails all the time. 

I never packed them up with anything or whatnot, as we were just going a few miles and back, but I have always felt more secure OUT of a saddle than IN. 

I didn't realize the balance issue until I got back into riding last year. I looked at my boyfriend and was like 'I SWEAR I used to do this all the TIME!' At the time I was riding a 15 hh Arab. I have since moved to a 16.3 TB and he is like riding a couch! No balance issues. I plan to take him on trails this spring/summer.

I've always felt more comfy bareback because I can feel the horse and he can feel me, we can feed off each other better. If he spooks and I fall... well, I know how to fall, to me it feels a lot less risky sliding off a horse, than it does trying to disentangle from a saddle, supposing your shirt gets caught on the horn, or foot in the stirrup or fingers in the reins, etc. Plus I find it easier to calm the animal if I can feel him under me.

Anyhow, that's my long winded self, lol.


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## Sahara (Jul 23, 2010)

I have trails all around my farm, so I have ridden many, many times bareback...........on a dead broke, quiet mare that responds very well to leg and rein cues. I have another mare that I started riding bareback in the arena this last summer. I don't know when I will ride her bareback on the trails.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I ride bareback on trails all the time. Even though I do come off occasionally (haven't in quite some time), I have never had 1 fall bareback that was as bad as any of my falls from a saddle. Bareback it is more like you just slide off where with a saddle, it really is more like a fall.


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## DrumRunner (Jan 26, 2011)

agree with smrobs..I ride bareback all the time..I did a quick trail ride (about two miles) day before yesterday and took Nikki swimming in the pond in front of my house when we got home..it's fun and it just makes me feel closer to my horse. I know it's super corny but it just makes me feel like I am "one" with my horse because I know her every movement and I just love it..


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## Gidget (Jan 19, 2010)

you went in a pond during winter?! crazy woman!

I like to ride bareback BUT I tend to tense one side of my body which causes a shooting pain in my hip after I get done riding so I prefer saddles. I don't think i could ride my horse bareback on trails...she's a good trail horse but at the same time if she spooks she sometimes spins and trys to gallop away so having stirrups lets me put all my weight into my seat and hold on for dear life if needed.


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## vivache (Jun 14, 2009)

I used to do it A TON. There were lots of comfy, fat, flatbacked horses. There were lots of STEEP up and downhills. I found downhill(leaning back) to be FAR easier than uphills, especially since they were severe angles. On one, I had to just grip Razz's mane and trust him.


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## mystikal222 (May 26, 2009)

Ive trailed on Salem bareback a few times (its not like its a far fall from the ground yet lol) but only on the actual trails. I used to ride an old police horse up and down the roads by our barn back in his younger years


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Gidget said:


> you went in a pond during winter?! crazy woman!


 
LOL, don't forget, she's down in Georgia. I don't know what the temps were like there but it was almost 80 degrees here yesterday.


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## Gidget (Jan 19, 2010)

you lucky dog you!

it's like 40 here still.


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## mbender (Jul 22, 2009)

Used to when I was a little less brittle!! Didn't care where we went or how fast we rode, it was always bareback. Now, so rare if at all. Just can't risk injury.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

It all depends on your horse and your personal fear factor. With Molls or Excel, I wouldn't dream of barebacking on trail with them at this point. With Artie, I'll go tie a lead rope to his halter and go for a gallop in the back 1000.

YouTube - Bareback Gallophttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmSGX3wpPGQ&feature=BF&list=ULp-gAfwSH5-Q&index=5


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## Hunter65 (Aug 19, 2009)

I used to take out trail rides all day long and never used a saddle. My Welsh pony never had a saddle. I will have to practice riding bareback as I don't have my balance anymore but may not be a very good idea on a green horse with these old bones. lol


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## Hunter65 (Aug 19, 2009)

equiniphile said:


> It all depends on your horse and your personal fear factor. With Molls or Excel, I wouldn't dream of barebacking on trail with them at this point. With Artie, I'll go tie a lead rope to his halter and go for a gallop in the back 1000.
> 
> YouTube - Bareback Gallop


Oh I miss those days.


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## DrumRunner (Jan 26, 2011)

Gidget said:


> you went in a pond during winter?! crazy woman!


Lol its in the 70s here..we have highs in the 80s this weekend..Soooo nice.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Gidget (Jan 19, 2010)

I thought it might have been cold there..I'm orig. from IL..sorta close...well closer to GA than OR  Its cold there...lucky,,we have been having horrible rain spells...i live in a temp. rainforest..technically..rains so much but so dry in the summer.


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

I ride bareback on the trails occasionally, but my mare is a bit spooky so it's not a great idea xD I usually leave her halter on and use a neck strap just in case though, since she often randomely decideds to rear at butterflies and go galloping off because a twig snapped x]


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## Amlalriiee (Feb 22, 2010)

It all depends on the rider's confidence level and riding ability as well as the horse's experience level and general behavior. I don't currently own a saddle, so I do it. My horse isn't perfect, but she's not green either, and I've been riding for a long time so it's an okay idea! Haha...generally I prefer a saddle on trail because I can't get back on easily bareback...would have to find a rock to climb on.


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## Frankiee (Jun 28, 2010)

I do alot of riding bareback so riding with a saddle or without there isnt much of a difference for me anymore. Tho I wouldn't go trail riding somewhere un none to my horse with out a saddle just to stay on the safe side


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## Sunny (Mar 26, 2010)

I actually prefer trails bareback unless it's a really long ride. I usually _almost_ come off at least once each ride, but it hasn't actually happened yet. :lol: It's usually when I slip too far back and get jolted around too much. 
Bareback has done wonders for my balance.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Brittmilt (Mar 12, 2011)

Everything that people do in life has some risk attached to it. Chewing gum is a great example of something that most humans do that has a risk linked to it. You can breathe in too quickly and choke on the piece of gum. Riding a horse on the trails bareback has no more of a chance that you'll get hurt than chewing a piece of gum in my mind. Bareback riding on the trails is a lot more fun to me because of the risks that are involved. However, If I were to fall I'd rather slide off a horse than getting caught in the stirrups, on the horn, or even in the reins.


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## Benny (Mar 10, 2010)

Dusty1228 said:


> I haven't done so recently, but when I was younger, I never used a saddle at all...
> ...or foot in the stirrup or fingers in the reins, etc...


You use reins bareback as well. :lol:

I -love- riding bareback. I can feel the horse better. I can feel if she's gonna trip. Jump. Shy. Buck. Bolt. Freak out. Halt suddenly. And I have a ton of balance bareback, but none in a saddle. I think because stirrups take your legs at different angles, so you can't grip with your legs.
But bareback is amazing. I wont go back to saddles any time soon.


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## ImSoCaptivating (Mar 28, 2011)

I went on my first bareback trail ride with my friend today. We hopped on them bareback, and we were off. We rode down about a mile down the main road and then turned off onto a slower road with much less traffic. We had a great time riding by cows and their calfs, lambs and even a gorgeous creek. We road down that road for about a mile and half, before we tunred back.

Almost everybody on the road(including a motorcycle!) was extremely courteous and slowed down when they passed us. Even to the ones that sped past, both Eris and Zoe didn't even flinch.
It's great to see the sun shining and actually being able to ride. 

When we got back:


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## AQHA13 (Apr 19, 2017)

I love trail riding bareback! I actually have to right now b/c none of our saddles fit my horse, but I still enjoy it. I ride with a bareback pad but I still feel really close to my horse. 
I've fallen off a couple times bareback, and never been hurt, as others have said it was more of a slide off than an actual fall. I've been hurt worse when I've fallen out of a saddle. I think too that I am more careful when bareback because I am a little less secure. I love the fact that I can ride in my running shoes without a saddle. I love to ride for a few miles and then get off and jog. I don't feel so badly about her having to carry my large butt around.


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## SAsamone (Nov 5, 2009)

I love riding bareback...on some horses...depends on their confo, lol, but I love riding my palomino bareback because she's wide and comfortable. but I ride for HOURS and MILES bareback...it keeps the horse cooler (being in Florida, this is a big concern), you feel the horse more, and it's just a cool experience...and honestly, you oughta start doing it, because that's the best way to learn to ride and create balance. That's how I learned...probably not the safest way, but the girl put me on the horse bareback, slapped it's butt and told me to hang on lol. Now I can ride and sit almost anything. I give lessons, and I try to get my students on bareback as often as I can.


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## Clair (Jun 7, 2010)

I love trail riding bareback. I've taken my share of tumbles... But the worst was off of my barefoot saddle.. The pommel socked me in the gut before I slammed into the ground. :\
Ow.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## ArabianChic (Mar 29, 2011)

Honestly the only reason I will use a saddle is if the horse I am riding is really high strung or if I am racing. 
I love riding bareback. I feel closer and more connected to the horse. Plus it really helps with my balance when I have to use a saddle. 
I in a way think it is safer (for me) as well. When I ride bareback I can feel the horse and I am able to tell faster what it's next move is going to be and when it gets nervous around a certain object or when it gets overwhelmed and is about to blow. With a saddle I can't feel those signals as easily. 
I have had worse falls with a saddle than with out. The worst fall I've ever had bareback is when I slipped off of a horse into a lake. 

Just an FYI, never ride a sway-backed horse bareback for a 2 hour trail ride. You won't be able to sit down for weeks. lol


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## SAsamone (Nov 5, 2009)

lol^^ I know what you mean! 

And as for the saftey end of it, yes, I agree. I've fallen off when a filly I was training spooked, when my mare reared...not "bad" falls honestly. 

Yesterday, I went for a bareback ride for the first time in forever, and Emma spooked at some plastic flags that were blowing in the wind (which she never does...figures she'd do it the first day I ride bareback in a while) She pivoted so fast, I didn't expect it and took off at a canter...I didn't even fall, I sort of enjoyed it actually lol. I LOVE cantering, it's my favorite gait, especially bareback.


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## crisco41 (May 2, 2011)

30 years ago I bought an arab mare at an auction. Couldn't afford a saddle and never had ridden before. It was how I learned to ride. After a summer of bareback I could not ride in a saddle. I'd have to drop the stirrups. That was the best summer of my life. Learned to ride, and loved every second of it.
now 30 years later...wish I had never bought a saddle. I have done a few bareback rides on my mare in her pasture. My balance is just not there anymore and I am very dependent on my saddle. Looking back,,,its a skill i should have kept up;that lil arab and I could fly. And yep.....talk about being one with your horse. oh those good ole days of youth..and flexible bones


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