# Do you think Bareback riding and bitless riding should be allowed in 4-H?



## Eclipse295 (Nov 30, 2010)

I was going to ride Ace bitless and bareback a lot as he is really comfy to ride bareback and is extremely calm and bombproof. I was looking at the 4-H rules and you are only allowed to ride bareback in 2 recognized classes. Bareback English Equitation and Bareback Western Equitation. Ace is going to most likely be a barrel and trail horse. I think Hackamores, Bitless bridles, bareback, and that kind of thing should be allowed. At least in the practice ring.

In the practice ring you must have a bit in your horse's mouth unless you are in full speed tack(breast collar, saddle, Helmet, etc) So you can't just clip reins to your halter, or use a hackamore or bitless bridle and ride bareback. I understand for the fact that some people shouldn't ride without a bit if their horses just run through it but if you have a horse that can easily be ridden bareback and bitless(or in a hackamore) I think you should be able to. 

So what do you think? Should riders be allowed to use hackamores, bitless bridles and ride bareback in the practice ring and more then just in the bareback classes?


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## corinowalk (Apr 26, 2010)

The better question is...why can't you just put a saddle on and ride? Is there som reason why you would chose to ride bareback and bitless? 

4-H rules are for safety. I am sure this is why the bareback/bitless/bridleless stuff isn't going to work there.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Exactly, it's a liability issue. All it would take is 1 kid to fall off and get hurt for one sue-happy parent to take the city, arena owner, show steward, and whever else they thought they could get for every cent they had.


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## corinowalk (Apr 26, 2010)

Oh and you may want to contact your leader...rules change from county to county/state to state but here in PA, Westmoreland County you are allowed to run in a mechanical hack. Full saddle though.


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## Spastic_Dove (Oct 4, 2007)

I agree with the 4H rules. I can understand some cases for bitless or bridleless riding if the rider is competent to use the hackamore or bitless bridle, but I agree with their decisions about bareback.


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## Brighteyes (Mar 8, 2009)

I think horses should be allowed to be ridden in proper hackamores, but just clipping reins to a halter sounds dangerous. Sure, I do it all the time _at home. _At home, if I can't stop my horse, he isn't a danger to others. He won't startle their horses with his behavior and cause them to act up. There are inexperienced riders out there who can't handle their horses spinning and running and trying to join in the fun. 

Halters (rope halters excluded; those things can have some bite) don't give you enough control to keep your horse contained if he decides to do something stupid. Furthermore, it is more likely he will do something stupid at a show anyway. It's too big a risk.

Bareback poses a similar problem; anyone will tell you that it's very easy to fall off bareback. You fall off and your horse goes flying around the ring. That'll certainly mess up someone's warmup. But of course this can happen with a saddle as well. It's just not as likely.


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

No. 4-H is for people learning about horse showing for kids, showing later on in your life you can ride however you want.

What if someone got out of the gate after their class, horse spooked, took off running through the fairgrounds and down the street? With a bridle and saddle it provides much more control if something DID happen.


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## BarrelRacer86 (Jul 6, 2010)

Safety reasons. Nobody needs a loose horse, people falling off, and other such things. 
And in my county and state, were allowed to barrel race or do any contesting event in a mechanical hackamore.


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

This is one of those situations where when in Rome do as the Romans do.

You do not join an organization with set rules for their shows and then expect the rules to be modified because you like something else.

I agree with the others, the rules are there for the general safety of everyone.

If you can make a good argument to have the rules changed why not make a presentation to the leaders and see if you can get them changed?


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## CinderEve (Oct 26, 2010)

Alwaysbehind said:


> This is one of those situations where when in Rome do as the Romans do.
> 
> You do not join an organization with set rules for their shows and then expect the rules to be modified because you like something else.
> 
> ...


Well said


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## iRide Ponies (Aug 10, 2012)

No. Most definitely not.

Perhaps, if it wasn't 4H, which I believe to be a kids program, if it was an adults show, then maybe. But its a kids show, and perhaps you can control your horse perfectly well, but maybe some other person can't and they try to ride bitless and bareback, then their horse takes off and gallops past some lead line ponies, or a young teen on their green project horse, then they could go bolting too and it wouldn't take much for a HUGE catastrophe with lots of crying children and lame ponies. Can you see, how if the people were wearing bridles and saddles, how it would be so much safer?


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## Ponies (Aug 18, 2012)

In our county we had two kids ride bareback during our fair week. I don't know what 'qualified' them to do so but I'm sure that asking your advisors and being in the intermediate or advanced grouping was required. I wouldn't like to see walk trotters bareback and bitless.. most of them can barely control where they're going with tack. Now if the horse had some mouth problem and couldn't wear a bit then id see the county making exceptions for it. But letting just anyone do this could be risky.


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## TheAQHAGirl (Aug 10, 2012)

Like others have said, if it was adults, then possibly. However you have kids, around the age of 9+ showing. I'm sure kids that age range don't have the experience of what an adult has (not saying that you don't).

Monkey see monkey do right? 

Well lets say you go in and ride without a bit, like a bitless bridle. Well then kids are going to think that is 'cool' and so they will join in. Nothing is really wrong with that. However, since they are kids and aren't really quite sure what they are doing, they can cause nerve damage in the wrong hands. See where I'm going with this?

Not only that, but your going to have the kid with the hot-blooded horse going bitless, and lets say the horse wasn't properly transitioned into a bitless bridle and the child isn't that good of controlling his/her horse. Well then the horse spooks, child can't control her horse, the horse smacks into another horse. Possibly breaking it's leg, children flying everywhere, horses loose, broken bones, etc.


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## Joidigm (May 8, 2012)

I don't trust children to be strong enough to stay on and control a horse or pony without full tack. Especially on a horse that may not be trained to respond properly to a hackamore or bitless bridle, and most especially at a show with tons of noise, vendors, new people, new horses, etc. Its to easy to say hey look, a bareback class! Thats new, mommy I want to try! And it could be a disaster. I dont trust kids and parents enough to be safe about it.


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

4-H is a 'teaching' organization. It pretty closely follows breed show rules and good, safe horsemanship guidelines. You cannot change the rules for one individual or small group of individuals. No one should set themselves up to 'judge' who should and should not follow the rules.

Western breed rules usually allow mechanical hackamores and bitless bridles in speed events and roping. Here is the quote directly from the AQHA rulebook.


> (i) In roping, speed events, team penning and ranch sorting western type equipment must be used. Use of a hackamore (including mechanical hackamores) or other type of bridles is the optional choice of the contestant; however, the judge may prohibit the use of bits or equipment he may consider severe.


I like the rules and think they are good rules and should be followed. What people do on their own times is there business. What they do at 4-H meeting and events should be 'by the book'. Part of learning good horsemanship is learning to follow the rules. When 4-H kids come to my house to practice, they wear helmets and ride with saddles and bridles -- period. JMHO Cherie


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

Really old thread, guys ;-)


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Can you imagine a 4th grader and their horse trying to ride bareback and bridleless in the warmup pen?

I wouldn't do it. I don't show 4-H anymore because I got tired of the "mafia", I show HS Equestrian instead, but I do agree with the rules. It's there for safety, end of story.


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## Copper2 (Feb 16, 2021)

I feel like if your horse is properly trained to ride in a bit less bridle then you should be able to because some people just plain don’t like using bits and I think that they shouldn’t have to use a bit just to ride bareback especially if your horse has never been ridden in a bit. Also, if you are riding bareback, I feel like that shows that you have control over your horse and that you are a good rider.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

*MODERATORS NOTE:*
This thread is from 2012...if the issue is yours, please open a new thread for current answers.
Thread is closed.


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