One of my favorite things to do it ride bareback. When Phoenix was still being ridden at least 50% of our rides were bareback rides. I even rode Stampede bareback at times despite his massive withers (and with the help of a bareback pad). A few weeks ago I decided to see how Ernie felt about bareback rides. He was good of course, so we’ve been continuing to try to fit one in weekly, usually on Saturday afternoons.
Bareback riding really helps me stretch out my tight hips and focus on straightness in my body. I find horses like it too because it’s usually their easy day while I focus on myself. That whole less is more thing seems to come into play in riding a lot for me.
I’m still loving my Thinline bareback pad I bought back in April of 2014. It’s held up well and my only complaint is that on some horses the girth twists around so the cushioned backing isn’t behind the girth buckles. No horses have ever seemed to care, but it bugs me. It always did that on Phoenix and Maestro, but doesn’t do it on Ernie so it seems to be a horse shape issue. You can read my original bareback pad review here.
I was lucky enough to get a friend to take a video of Ernie and I doing a quick bareback canter, so I wanted to share that too.
I’m hoping for many easy and fun bareback rides as I head back into the stressful time that is tax season when you work as a tax manager in an accounting firm. I think Ernie is agreeable. 🙂
Ah! I can’t get over how adorable Ernie is! I’m glad he likes to ride bareback too. I just got a new bareback pad that I can’t wait to try on Eros. Maybe this weekend!
Yes, you and Amanda posting about fancy bareback pads. I had to rein myself in from getting another one – mine works fine!