How to Swing Up Bareback!
Do you like to ride bareback? Learn how to swing up on all sizes of horses, from a 12.3hh Icelandic to a 17.0hh Clydesdale! Get Started by watching the How To Video below!
Make Sure Your Horse is OK with a Swing Up!
Test out by grabbing hold of the mane and doing some small jumps up and down next to your horse. Your horse needs to be willing to stand still, not scared of you jumping on, and patient enough for you to make some mistakes as you practice.
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Practice First: Mounting Bareback.
Start with a mounting block and have someone help you by holding your horse. Once at the top of the mounting block, grab rein and mane. Put your belly on your horses back and swing that right leg up and over.
For more advanced practice try "bellying up" without a mounting block. For riders with taller horses, this can be rather difficult as you have to jump quite high! You can have a friend help you with a leg up if needed. Make sure you are always balanced so you can slide or step back down to the ground at any point.
The Swing Up Technique:
There are three main components to getting the full swing up.
1. Your Hands: For your hands you are going to grab a big handful of mane and also hold onto your reins. Your other hand will grab a little bit farther back.
2. Your Feet: For foot positioning, start right at their shoulder and set yourself back a little bit so you have room to get some momentum.
3. The Swing Up: The Fun Part! Use your arms and a bit of swing to help you get up and around.
Helpful Tips:
Make sure to use your arms when you are doing the swing up, that is going to help you get the lift you need in order to get all the way up and over.
Lead with your KNEE. To get better elevation and to make it easier to get up and over your horses back leading with your knee instead of your foot is going to be extremely helpful.
Try all of the practice exercises as well as the swing up on a smaller horse or pony!
Make sure to take this slow, be safe, have someone help you if needed and take it one step at a time to make sure you are comfortable.
The great thing about this move is that once you get this technique you can use it on all sizes of horses!
Make sure to check out the Best Bareback Pads List, Voted for by Equestrians!
