by Nune Travels

Created on: July 31, 2008   Last Updated: June 25, 2009

Bareback riding brings back all those impossible yet beloved childhood fantasies; becoming shipwrecked on a stunning tropical island with a magnificent black stallion, splashing through cooling ocean spray and galloping across sun warmed beaches. It's Cherokee war whoops, pounding drums, and thundering hooves. Macedonian Cavalry, (think Alexander the Great) triumphant in war. The simple pleasures of wind ruffling through your hair, sun shining on your face, and the total freedom that only bareback riding can provide. Bareback riding is more than sensation alone, it improves overall technique on or off the saddle.

Bareback riding is not just for the rodeo. Perhaps you have watched the inspiring video in jaw dropped amazement as Stacy Westfall and brilliant horse Roxy competed for the All American Quarter Horse Congress reining competition of 2006, the biggest single-breed horse show in the world. Combining a flawless routine with subtle cueing, riding bareback and bridle less, Stacy's astounding horsemanship started wowing contestants and competitors alike with her dazzling riding technique. It didn't take long to see bareback riding start popping up in paddocks and pastures throughout the country as regular folks decided to give it a go, trying to follow in their hoof prints. While the rest of us may not ever achieve that kind of grace and fluidity, even beginning bareback riding, nerve wracking and clumsy though it may be, is still a phenomenal experience, and definitely worth exploring.

Hands on and exciting, bareback riding is a thrilling experience. There is no protective saddle, no foot cradling stirrups, or comforting saddle horn. Forget the security blanket. It just gets in the way of you and your horse. Bareback riding makes shabby riders better and really good riders absolutely amazing. It quickly becomes painfully clear whether or not the rider has a good seat and balance or if they have become sloppy, counting on the saddle to make all the necessary compensations. Using only the saddle can provide a sense of safety, offering the new bareback rider time to get used to the idea before heading out "au naturel."

Start out in a round pen or arena. Grab a helmet and a helper. Ditch the stirrups and consider using a snaffle bit, resisting the almost instinctual urge to tug and hang on the reins. Get the horse on a lunge line, and get out there. Meander around the enclosed space, getting used to the difference in movement. Once the two of you can handle

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