The moon sits in the sky so close you can almost reach out and feel the cold silvery slivers as you are racing the meadow bareback. The free feeling is the ultimate reward. You are one with the horse and he with you. The muscles in his back move in sync with your leg muscles. The breeze as you move through the tall meadow’s grass is fresh on your face, your senses alive with the aroma of the horse as he races the night with the wind at his back.

The feeling that riding bareback can give you is the sense of freedom that you have never known. There is no other feeling in the world quite like the power and the unrestrained, almost primitive sensations that race through your body. Almost sensual the gliding horse moves through the night with the canter that you wish could never end.

Never underestimate the power of your horse. He is the one that can move with grace like no other animal of his size. He can carry you through the night like the wild stallion his grandfather was or he can meander along like a child. This is your call. Your horse will respond to you.

By riding bareback you naturally lose the reigns and the stirrups and all that you think is necessary to control your horse. This is not true. You can control him with a flip of the wrist. His mane is the reigns and your feet can give him the incentive to walk, trot, or run like the wind. Of course even riding bareback you can opt to keep the bridle, reigns and bit but if you are going to experience the true delight of riding without any restraints, leave them all, climb on your horse and ride.

Horses are the most beautiful animals that you will ever have the pleasure to meet. Have you ever watched them galloping in the field? They can run at full tilt and stop on a dime. The grace of these animals will never come close to being rivaled by any other animal. Rising on their hind quarters and pawing the air is an act of freedom that will always be symbolic of the wild horses roaming the land as they always have. Watching the behavior they exhibit is almost as much fun as riding. Almost, but it could never rival riding.

When your time comes to make the decision, and a decision this will be because most riders feel they are not experienced enough to ride without a saddle, you will never be sorry. Try it out a little at a time. Just walk around without the saddle and before you know it you will be galloping like a professional.

I can still recall the time as a little girl, about 10 years of age, I decided to ride the horse my brother and I shared bareback. No sooner had I gotten on, than she decided to go for a stroll in the brush. There were small trees and bushes smacking my face. I could not get her to stop. I was too inexperienced at that time to know how. My brother was chasing along behind us and I was yelling at the top of my lungs for him to do something. What could he do?

She continued through the brush and somehow I got turned totally around backwards on her. I guess it was all the wiggling trying to either get down or her to stop. Finally she emerged from the tangled mess we were in and I slid off. I have to say I was petrified but apparently that is where my love for horses started. I could not wait to get back on and try again. Although the next time I made sure she had her reins so that I could guide her.

No one knows the feeling that you have for a horse unless they have had it as well. The bond between a person and their horse is so strong that it is almost as if one knows what the other is thinking. Today too many of the simple pleasures are gone.

They are not being taught or experienced in the formative years so it is not a priority. The sad part of it is they will never know the thrill and the sense of expectancy that climbing upon the back of the horse and racing away from all civilization so that it is just you and your horse.