Sara Schmitt andd high Country Doc
The saga of Sage is 8 years in the making, apparently starting with trauma to her neck, a tying up incident, or something prior to my purchasing her as a 2-year-old. She also had a twisted pelvis, maybe from flipping over? We will never know for sure.
Part of the care recommended by Dr. Suzan Seeyle (I’m so glad to have found someone to fix Sage!) was no riding for two weeks and then starting out bareback.
Bareback?! I had not ridden without the security of a saddle since I was a teenager, and that has, ahem, been a few years.
I borrowed someone’s bareback pad; I didn’t want to get horse hair and horse sweat on my husband’s car seat on the drive home. (I personally would buy a horse-scented air freshener for cars, but my husband may find it not so pleasing.) I put on the rope halter for use as a bridle – not having procured my Bitless Bridle yet – and walked her out to the arena after a good brushing and some bodywork.
Well, I don’t remember any mounting blocks being around when I was a kid, but I didn’t think that I could jump on Sage with any grace after all these years. So I got her as close to the mounting block as I could – which wasn’t very – and sort of half-gracefully threw my body across her back. She and I are not used to mounting blocks because I never use them with a saddle. [Tsk, tsk, Eleanor! See “The Importance of Mounting Blocks” in the August/September09 edition of HOLISTIC HORSE] In any case, I made it up and then gently swung my leg over her.
As soon as she started to move, I felt younger, like a teen almost. Well, maybe not younger, but at bare minimum rejuvenated by being in close contact with her. I felt the powerhouse of muscles beneath that bareback pad and the gentle propulsion that walked us forward. I had a warm, breathing, body of power beneath me. I kept her to a walk and a trot, but I am looking forward to a faster cadence in the future.
All in all, it was a lovely, moving experience. It also inspired another gal with whom I was riding in the outdoor arena. She sidled over to the fence, slid off her horse’s saddle, and jumped onto her horse’s bare and sweaty back. And loved it! We both wondered out loud why we hadn’t done this a lot sooner.
I got off of Sage before I ended up walking like John Wayne, but I am looking forward to the next ride together. I am also looking forward to getting my legs and my core in better shape, something for which hippotherapy is excellent.
In researching some bareback articles for this blog (which unfortunately came back with too much x-rated material not related to horses), I found a superb article on the horse’s back and saddle fit from Chrisann Ware’s site, Equethy (she also has an informative article on barefoot horses vs shod, by the way).
I am not advocating giving up saddles; I am merely thrilled to be in closer contact with my horse. I am probably going to invest in a different saddle soon. In the meantime, I will be returning to my youth as frequently as possible on the back of my horse!
Eleanor D. Van Natta has a Bachelor's degree in Zoology from the University of CA, Davis, a career in sales that included over five years working as a pharmaceutical representative for a major drug company, more than 16 years of dealing with her own chronic illness, and 20 years of horse experience. She has been published on horsecity.com and theequinest.com as well as The Horse's Hoof and Flying Changes. www.sagebynature.com