Is it possible...

[ploddypop]

I was just wondering if it was possible to sit a gallop bareback.? I think my friend might be lying because she said that she can although she hasn't ridden horses much.

[heathfield]

That's what Red Indians did

[horselady]

When you say she hasn't ridden much, how experienced is she really? It's a pretty hard thing to do.

[lankeela]

Depends whether it was intended or she was being bolted with. I would rather hang on for grim death than fall off at speed!

[Quizmonster]

Given that horses have been domesticated for about 7,000 years and that saddles and basic stirrups did not appear until about 2 - 3,000 years ago, there were some 4,000 years during which bareback riding was the only available method. So - as Heathfield says re Native Americans - it must be possible to gallop thus, unless every horseman inevitably chose to amble along!

[horselady]

As lankeela says, perhaps she had no choice in the matter, oh god, memories of something spooking the horse and that awful feeling when you just know you're about to enter the land speed record. I still remember being so proud once when i managed to stay on and after we stopped, I jumped off to sit casually on a fence holding reins of the by now "who me, I wasn't spooked" horse., to wait for my companions. I fell off the fence onto the concrete and cracked 2 ribs.

[EDLEE]

No doubt about it being possible. My riding experience is limited to a two week period in my early twenties when I dated a girl whose family owned horses. Most of my riding was bareback and most often at a gallop. I found that the faster the horse ran, the smoother it's gait and therefore the smoother ( and more comfortable) the ride. I was lucky enough to have never fallen off the horse but I did fall out with the girl. Since then I have never found the urge to ride very strong.

[spudqueen]

There's a bloke in our village who rides a stallion barebacked so yeah I would say it's possible.

[winny]

Possible but the gait changes at a gallop so it may have been a fast canter. I agree it rather depends on the circumstance. If it was a horse with a hogged mane I would certainly doubt it.

[lankeela]

I used to exercise a couple of trotting horses and took my sister for a ride on one of them. She had the ignominious honour of being run away with - at a trot! The more she yelled, the faster it trotted, up the white line in the middle of the road, between the traffic.

[CrazyWolfman]

Historically Roman cavalry (and many others) were able to not only gallop but also fight bareback. Apparently it's possible but is fairly reliant upon how well trained the horse is as well as the aptitude of the rider.