#Barebruary 2015 – thank you all for taking part!

It was the last day of #Barebruary 2015 this past Saturday and I would like to thank you to everyone who took part in our little hashtag initiative 🙂

There is one predominant benefit of bareback riding that I really appreciate to have as a teaching tool  – it encourages feel over haste…

It makes the rider very aware about font to back and lateral balance of their own body, of being in front of or behind the movement as well as of being centred and “listening” to the horse’s movement.

I hope this initiative made some of you excited about trying bareback riding for the first time or re-visit it if you haven’t done it for a long time. I will definitely be keeping it as part of Aspire’s training on permanent basis as and when possible.

#Barebruary by Nigel

Nigel is a rider on Aspire Equestrian Foundation Programme and today he shares a few thoughts on his bareback lessons’ experiences from a novice rider point of view 🙂

Nigel on Star during their today’s training session

Riding without the saddle makes me more aware of small movements I make and the difference they have on Star. This is helpful because often I am out of ideal position or posture; it’s like the saddle wraps your body in cotton wool so that you don’t feel the actions and responses so strongly…Riding bareback allows me to feel the differences between balanced seat and one that is about to become an unbalanced one! I am able to feel the issues much quicker and make smaller corrections thanks to that.

Thank you for sharing Nigel!

Would you like to join in #Barebruary training theme? If you do, email your bareback pictures to aspire@outlook.com, post them to our Facebook page or Tweet at @aspireacademy adding #barebruary hashtag with a few words about how bareback riding has helped you with your riding skills – I will publish your photos on the blog throughout February!

To read more about #Barebruary click HERE

*Please note: I don’t accept any pictures, no matter how beautiful, of riders without riding hat/helmet or of horses wearing “creative” bits/bridles suggesting violent training methods.

#Barebruary by Mariana

Mariana is an instructor I link with whenever possible for development of Aspire programmes. She is also Aspire’s team blogger and certified Bowen Therapist. She sent these photos of her clients enjoying their bareback sessions and shared a few thoughts on riding bareback for rider’s education.

To learn more about Mariana and how you could have lessons and/or Bowen session(s) with her please see http://www.equinebowen.net/

I love bareback and use it often.

Superb for kids and in combination with games they forget that they are learning and just have fun. Nothing better for balance, for learning to be at one with the horse, learning to feel the horse. They learn how to use the seat aids and how if you overdo them you just fall off 🙂

They learn to use the leg properly because they can feel the horse.  I tend to take long boots off, I think trainers are better for that. Lots of exercises and even the adult rider, Stella, was happy 😉

Thank you for sharing Mariana!

Would you like to join in #Barebruary training theme? If you do, email your bareback pictures to aspire@outlook.com, post them to our Facebook page or Tweet at @aspireacademy adding #barebruary hashtag with a few words about how bareback riding has helped you with your riding skills – I will publish your photos on the blog throughout February!

To read more about #Barebruary click HERE

*Please note: I don’t accept any pictures, no matter how beautiful, of riders without riding hat/helmet or of horses wearing “creative” bits/bridles suggesting violent training methods.

#Barebruary by Jodie

Jodie joined #Barebruary via Twitter and here’s what she would like to share 🙂

Here are some pictures of me riding some horses bareback/tackless. I thoroughly believe that riding with less or minimal tack improves my ability to ride with my seat and improves the horses trainability as sometimes less is more!

My horse (chestnut) is very happy to be trained this way. I find it sad that professionals can no longer teach bareback riding due to h+s. Riding my horse Folly like this has helped my ability no end. Jodie Morris

Thank you for sharing Jodie!

Would you like to join in #Barebruary training theme? If you do, email your bareback pictures to aspire@outlook.com, post them to our Facebook page or Tweet at @aspireacademy adding #barebruary hashtag with a few words about how bareback riding has helped you with your riding skills – I will publish your photos on the blog throughout February!

To read more about #Barebruary click HERE

*Please note: I don’t accept any pictures, no matter how beautiful, of riders without riding hat/helmet or of horses wearing “creative” bits/bridles suggesting violent training methods.

#Barebruary by Abi‏

One of the great things about running #Barebruary initiative on Aspire blog is that I (and hopefully many of you out there) get to know many lovely riders and sometimes, they are bloggers too. Abi, who writes a fun and thoughtful equestrian blog that you might want to check out at Life At a Canter, sent these couple of photos with her bareback experiences 🙂 Over to Abi!

This is me liberty riding my mare, Allie.  Liberty has become an essential part of our bond by increasing our dependence on each other and developing a mutual understanding as well.  Additionally, I have grown as a rider to maintain better balance and position as a result of liberty riding

Bareback jumping is both Allie’s favorite and mine.  I feel so much more connected to her when I ride bareback, and jumping gives it a new kind of thrill.  Jumping bareback has improved my lower leg drastically as well as my overall two point.  I have actually jumped higher bareback than I have in the saddle.

Thank you for sharing Abi! 

Would you like to join in #Barebruary training theme? If you do, email your bareback pictures to aspire@outlook.com, post them to our Facebook page or Tweet at @aspireacademy adding #barebruary hashtag with a few words about how bareback riding has helped you with your riding skills – I will publish your photos on the blog throughout February!

To read more about #Barebruary click HERE

*Please note: I don’t accept any pictures, no matter how beautiful, of riders without riding hat/helmet or of horses wearing “creative” bits/bridles suggesting violent training methods.

#Barebruary by bilingual blogger – Roping My Dream

NIna, a bilingual blogger over at Roping my dream – Ein Cowgirl in Deutschland ,became inspired by our little bareback initiative and wrote a blog post over at her blog with more insights into her bareback experiences.

Scroll down her post for the English version or start in German from the top.

http://ropingmydream.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/barebruary-warum-ohne-sattel-reiten.html

#Barebruary by Lucy

I had a pleasure of teaching Lucy while she was a member of Reading University Riding Club several years ago. She sent this fab picture with a few thoughts on bareback riding 🙂

This is a picture of me riding Paddy completely tackless which was a great confidence boost as it reminded me that i can ride and control my horse without any of the tack we rely on normally. I was a lot more balanced than I thought I would be! (plus it was great fun and I had such a laugh jumping!)

It made me realise how much your weight placement affects your horse and how important it is to be relaxed!

Thank you for sharing Lucy! 🙂

Would you like to join in #Barebruary training theme? If you do, email your bareback pictures to aspire@outlook.com, post them to our Facebook page or Tweet at @aspireacademy adding #barebruary hashtag with a few words about how bareback riding has helped you with your riding skills – I will publish your photos on the blog throughout February!*

To read more about #Barebruary click HERE

*Please note: I don’t accept any pictures, no matter how beautiful, of riders without riding hat/helmet or of horses wearing “creative” bits/bridles suggesting violent training methods.

#Barebruary by Nina

“This is an almost 8 year old picture of me and my German Riding Pony “Lucky” He was such a wonderful horse. You could always ride him bareback without beeing afraid. Such a good horse, sad I lost him.

You can read more about Nina 8 years on over at her blog: http://ropingmydream.blogspot.co.uk/ She writes all her posts both in English and in German.

Riding bareback often as a child helped me develop a better seat and improved my balance. I encourage beginners and young riders to ride bareback every once in a while, as it really helps to feel the horses movements.”

Best Regards from Germany,

Nina

Thank you for sharing Nina! 🙂

Would you like to join in #Barebruary training theme? If you do, email your bareback pictures to aspire@outlook.com, post them to our Facebook page or Tweet at @aspireacademy adding #barebruary hashtag with a few words about how bareback riding has helped you with your riding skills – I will publish your photos on the blog throughout February!*

To read more about #Barebruary click HERE

*Please note: I don’t accept any pictures, no matter how beautiful, of riders without riding hat/helmet or of horses wearing “creative” bits/bridles suggesting violent training methods.

#Barebruary by Zaria

I am sorry the quality isn’t terribly good but it was taken from a camcorder! Although I hacked her out bareback, and bit-less, this was my first ever bareback jump on our beautiful mare Tommy. Phil, my partner, rides her now whilst I bring on my gorgeous youngster Ripple.

I am so looking forward to the day when I can do this with Ripple too! 🙂

Best wishes

Zaria

Thank you for sharing Zaria! 🙂

Would you like to join in #Barebruary training theme? If you do, email your bareback pictures to aspire@outlook.com, post them to our Facebook page or Tweet at @aspireacademy adding #barebruary hashtag with a few words about how bareback riding has helped you with your riding skills – I will publish your photos on the blog throughout February!

To read more about #Barebruary click HERE

*Please note: I don’t accept any pictures, no matter how beautiful, of riders without riding hat/helmet or of horses wearing “creative” bits/bridles suggesting violent training methods.

#Barebruary by Mairi

Mairi joined Aspire Equestrian non-horse owner riding programme at Foundation level at the end of December 2014. She started co-sharing Tilly following her Introductory session and has been enjoying the intensive progress and seat development that I am putting her through 😉

Mairi’s observations about her bareback lessons include: 

– heightened awareness of my own body movement in relation to the horse’s movement

– realisation how pelvis of the rider is moved by the motion of the horse’s back

– how easy it is to lose balance through lousy posture!

– feeling much clearer when inaccurate turns cause bracing response in Tilly’s back and neck

– really starting to understand the meaning of “seat first, rein aids last”

– getting the idea of connecting the upper arms and elbows to my hips and how this affects my ability to rotate the upper body correctly on circles

– how slippery it is if I don’t move exactly with Tilly!

– how I can slow her down or speed her up by changing my posture and energy through the seat

Thank you to Mairi for sharing her observation from the lesson 🙂 I hope I haven’t missed any points she mentioned! 

Would you like to join in #Barebruary training theme? If you do, email your bareback pictures to aspire@outlook.com, post them to our Facebook page or Tweet at @aspireacademy adding #barebruary hashtag with a few words about how bareback riding has helped you with your riding skills – I will publish your photos on the blog throughout February!

To read more about #Barebruary click HERE

*Please note: I don’t accept any pictures, no matter how beautiful, of riders without riding hat/helmet or of horses wearing “creative” bits/bridles suggesting violent training methods.