[crayon]

I used to ride at a barn once where the owner was very up front with peopel about things. One kid wanted to horse show and his mother kept asking if he could wear certain things that they already had... Like 50 year old green rubber boots. Honest to God. Seriously. And the BM said something like "Well, this is really one of those times when if you want to participate, you really have to buy the equipment."

This only partially goes along with your situation. But what I'm trying to say is that If you really want to ride her, start really searching for a saddle! Stop buying extra things that you don't really need and save all of the moeny you earn. Get a job if you're old enough. I'm one year too young to get a job and my parents paid for my first saddle. From then on I've been "trading up". Selling my old/unfitting saddles for more than I paid (not more than they're worth, just more than I paid.) and then buyign the next one for less than I earned off of the last one. You can get some pretty killer deals on ebay and I end up with some reserve $$ left over for extra horsie stuff and it also helps as a starter in case I end up with another saddle that doesn't fit Crayon. Good luck.

[KristinJ]

I would jump on her bareback, see how she is. How old is the horse? How old are you? Are you parents involved in horses? I plan on breaking my yearling bareback first. If you feel uncomfortable hop off. You've had her for a year so that should have been plenty of time to do groundwork and prepare her for a rider if she is not-so-broke.

[trailgurl]

I know how you feel! I didn't even have a horse until less than 5 months ago. We went to our first show this week-I don't have a saddle that fits her to my liking but it works for short amou, so whenever I ride a long time,I borrow a saddle from this barn down the road that I work at. I also am grooming for a trainer in exchange for lessons- maybe if you groomed for them, they would at least let you borrow an old saddle of theirs. just an idea hope you and Mia have a blast!

[Berlunz]

Considering the level of riding experience you have, the time its been since the last time you rode and the time its been since the last time someone rode this mare not to mention you dont know if she was really safe to begin with. I would say 100% wait for the saddle. It would probably also be wise to pay someone else to come out and ride her once or twice with a saddle to see how it goes, whether you have a saddle or not. You got this horse for $100 and dont know how she rides, personally I would be very suspicious that there was something wrong.

[BeckyB]

I started working when i was 13 to pay for my horse habit, Cleaning stalls at a local stable after school and on weekends....
A lot of work but well worth it

[Anne Peterson]

I have hoped on horses that haven't been riden in ten years and they have been fine. There were two brood mares that we weren't SURE were broke but we figured they were because of how they acted. Neither of them had been riden in a million years and I'm really not a good rider myself. They did just fine though. So I would say go for. Honestly if a horse starts bucking after just a year of not being riden then I don't want that horse.
I'm not saying jump on every horse you think might be broke, I just used them to prove a point....kinda....

[loboqh]

I know you want to ride western but you can fin cheap english saddles on ebay all the time. I just bought a REALLY nice dressage saddle for 42$ including shipping and an all round english saddle for $28 including shipping. if you keep watching sometimes you can almost steal this stuff. an english saddle would be better than getting yourself killed bareback and you could bide your time until you can get what you want in a western saddle.

[xlilxonex]

Christmas is right around the corner........

[mftx4]

Are you afraid of this horse or just an inexperienced rider? Is this a first horse.
? Did you test ride her before you bought her? Do you not have the ambition to earn extra money to buy a saddle? Seems as though there's some missing information here.

[SWRerider]

I also did not have a saddle for the first year of horseowning- had non-horsy parents, so no help. And I was also too young to work(except for babysitting, which paid for feed). I had never even had riding lessons. I say jump on and learn to ride bareback. I did my share of sliding and falling off learning to balance with how he moved.
Others have given good instructions on how to approach it slow and safely. I say just do it. And just do the chores!!!