Ridecamp: Re: [RC] "I can't see how bareback would help. I too am short and have sho...

Before I started endurance riding and conditioning, I bred my mare.  I 
couldn't ride her with a saddle for a couple months when she got too big.  I 
borrowed a horse so I had something to ride, but still rode her a little 
bareback.  After she had the baby, and I was ready to put her back to work, I 
finally noticed that the saddle (a western one) didn't fit her.  After not 
having a saddle on for so long, she got REALLY CRABBY every time I tried to 
put it on her.  So I just rode bareback until I found a saddle that fit her, 
took almost a year.

Several things happened in that time.  One, I started out mainly walking, and 
then got brave enough to trot for a few steps at a time, then even cantered 
some.  I actually started riding with a new friend who got me started in 
endurance, so I was starting to condition bareback.  

You gotta understand that my mare is a rough horse to ride.  She had, at that 
time, upside-down muscling on her neck, and upright feet in front, one of 
which was much taller than the other (your typical club feet)  She also had 
one big shoulder, the one opposite to the clubbier foot.

So what was the result of riding bareback (actually with a fairly thick pad) 
for that period?  I developed a better seat.  My horse lost her big shoulder, 
and her front feet became more equal in length and angle.  Why did those 
things happen? Because I (who had always had the problem of "one stirrup is 
too short" when I borrowed a saddle) found that I was very crooked on the 
horse.  Feeling her backbone, not enough to hurt--just enough to place myself 
squarely in the middle, made me ride straighter.  Now my stirrups leathers 
are the same length, and they FEEL like they are the same length.  Because I 
rode straighter, my horse went straighter, so her big shoulder went away.   
Her feet became almost equal.  She also became smoother to ride (probably in 
self-defense).  It did help a little with her upside-down neck development, 
but it took me a long time after to work that completely out.

The point is, if you are having problems with your saddle moving to the side, 
riding bareback will help you FEEL the middle of the horse, without those 
stirrups to lean on.  If your seat is not great, it will improve your overall 
riding skills.  If your horse has crooked development, it MAY help the horse 
straighten out too (no promises, horses can be crooked for other reasons than 
rider crookedness).  You don't have to ride bareback all the time, maybe do 
it for a couple of weeks when you ride in the arena, then do it once a week 
or a couple times a month in the arena after, just to keep what you found.  I 
really think it makes a big difference.   jeri

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