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New Experiences - Bareback.

Well for those of you that have been reading my blog for a while you will know that I've always wanted to try riding bareback but that I have never had the opportunity to do it before. A couple of weeks ago I told Fiona that I really wanted to do it and explained that I thought that it would help me really be able to feel how to get Gatsby in to an outline. After explaining this Fiona said I could have a go and three weeks later thats exactly what I got to do. I started out by riding with the saddle, just to be able to warm up, making sure that I could swing in the saddle without feeling restricted, we did a bit of walk, trot and canter work and mainly focused on getting him in the outline. I wanted to make sure that Gatsby was forward but also that he was willing accepting contact and moving in to the outline. I wanted him to feel that he was doing the right thing by accepting small amounts of pressure on the rein and only having to occasionally reinforce the contact and make it stronger. 

After I'd rode for about 30 minutes with a saddle, it was time to try riding bareback. As you'll all know Gatsby is quite a big horse so we were trying to figure out for a while how I was going to get on him. I knew using the mount block I wouldn't quite be able to get the right amount of stretch as I'm just that little bit too small and I was riding in jeans (I won't be doing that again). So we decided to use the fence on the outside of the arena, to give me that little bit extra height so that I could just swing my leg over on to his back. It went surprisingly better than I thought that it was going to go and I was really happy getting on. 

The first few steps felt STRANGE, I could feel every single thing and it was weirding me out, I could feel his shoulders moving, his back lifting when he dropped in to the outline. Just EVERYTHING. To start with I felt quite tense (because it was something I've never done before), but as time went on I felt able to relax and chill out and move freely. Gatsby looked and felt happier without a saddle than he did with a saddle. Fiona told me that I needed to do some trot work to see what it felt like and at first I was a bit like OH. MY. GOD. I can't do that. However when I gave it ago I found it so much easier to actually be able to sit to the trot, I felt like I literally could just stick to his back. I was so happy with it. We managed to get moments of really good strong outlines, we just need to work on steering more when I don't have the saddle, as I know that he listens more to hips and my hips just weren't quite level today. But that is something that I am working on at the minute through doing lots of stretching, walking and hopefully swimming to! Hey I might even get motivated to join the gym.  I learnt so much from riding Gatsby bareback today, and I know that the more I do it the stronger my riding is going to get. So Fiona said next week we are going to start off by just getting rid of the saddle straight away. 

I will upload the photographs from todays lesson tomorrow, as right about now i'm just ready to crash in bed and get some sleep, as i have a busy but fun day ahead of me tomorrow. 

Tomorrow I'm off to the last day of Chatsworth horse trials so I am sure that I will have lots more photographs for you guys then. So stay tuned! 

Until Next Time 
AmberRose
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Comments

  1. PaolaSaturday, May 16, 2015

    That's awesome! Bareback is fun! I first rode bareback on a 17 hand Thoroughbred Percheron, so I too had trouble getting up. I'm happy you got to try it out!

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    Replies
    1. AmberRose- Girl With a DreamMonday, May 18, 2015

      Thank you I am going to be trying it again next week it was so much fun I loved it! aha worth it, even if it was a struggle to get on lol,

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  2. Achieve1dreamSunday, June 21, 2015

    Yay!!! I LOVE riding bareback. Being able to feel everything they do is so cool and I sit the trot so much better without a saddle too. :D I'm glad you had so much fun with it. Wait until you canter bareback! It's so awesome! It's not hard at all! So fun!

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    Replies
    1. AmberRose- Girl With a DreamMonday, June 22, 2015

      My riding teacher was joking about me cantering bareback it's definitely something I would love to do one day but I really need to get my confidence up first! I find it easier to sit the trot and get Gatsby in an outline without stirrups or a saddle !

      Delete
    2. Achieve1dreamMonday, June 22, 2015

      I'm the same way about trotting bareback! Cantering is a lot of fun, just stick to straightaways at first. Maybe you can try cantering him down the long side. Can he do a fairly good canter to walk transition? That's the only thing I don't like is the canter/trot transition bareback so I just normally skip down to the walk lol. Keep experimenting with bareback and you'll be trying lots of fun things. :D

      Delete

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