Bareback pad with stirrups?

[4horses]

I love riding bareback. I typically don’t use a pad. On trail rides, i think a pad would be nice to prevent getting covered in sweat. Stirrups would be even better. My friend’s cashel soft saddle seemed stable with stirrups and a breast collar.

I looked at available bareback pads and have not seen anything that I’m really excited about. I do have peacock stirrups that I could use so I’m not worried about my feet getting caught. My other concern is that the pads might rub my horses. Both my mares that I ride bareback have very prominent withers. Not enough to bother me, but i know from experience that they do better with a cutback pad to keep it off their withers.

So do they sell a cutback bareback pad? That would be stable with stirrups?

I have tried numerous treeless saddles but so far none have worked because they don’t have a twist and make my hips sore. I don’t like how bulky they are under my leg either. I would much rather ride bareback then ride in a treeless saddle. I haven’t tried a sensation or a ghost yet.

I’ve also thought of somehow modifying a bareback pad to include a pommel and cantle, like a treeless saddle. Maybe add some knee blocks like my dressage saddle has and i probably would be pretty comfortable. Of course that would require a lot of trial and error and messing with design.

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[Training_Cupid]

I’ve never seen a bareback pad with cutback, but this one is slightly shaped and made to order so maybe you could request it: https://www.etsy.com/listing/67728530/bareback-pad-horse-equestrian-custom?ref=shop_home_active_20

My other thought was to try a gallop/exercise saddle with thicker (cutback) pad underneath for comfort.

I haven’t used a bareback pad with stirrups since I was a kid, but I think generally they don’t stay in place too well.

[Sleipnir]

Bareback pads with stirrups are a bad idea unless you ride at a walk only. They don’t distribute pressure over the spine well and when trotting or cantering all the pressure will get concentrated in one narrow strip right across the spine. They are also not very safe when it comes to stability. Bareback pads can be great, but should always be used without stirrups.

I also really recommend you to try a Ghost. They’re not bulky at all and have a narrow twist. I have a bad hip that doesn’t forgive me if I sit on anything that is too wide, but I’m pain free after rides ever since I got a Ghost saddle.

[katyb]

https://www.facebook.com/trailmasterbarebackpads/

I don’t have one yet, but her customers seem happy. She rides in one with stirrups.

[Ceylon_Star]

You may be better off with something like a Thorn riding pad, that’s designed for use with stirrups. https://www.thornsaddles-pads.co.uk/saddle-pads.html

They’re popular with the show cobs in the UK, with builds that make fitting a saddle a bit of a headache.

They seem more stable than a lot of treeless saddles, and MUCH moreso than traditional bareback pads with stirrups. If you’re on Facebook, Kizzie & Ettie over in the UK use the Shires version of a Thorn pad on their ponies, even cross country and foxhunting, and they don’t seem to slip at all even on tge rolliest of ponies.

[cattywampus]

https://www.total-contact.co.uk/ what about this? Intriguing concept.

[Sleipnir]

They look interesting, but doesn’t seem like a horse-friendly concept. It’s basically just a surcingle with stirrups - pressure from stirrups clearly goes right over the horses’ spine and there’s absolutely nothing to protect the back/spine. I suppose it gives you the feeling of riding bareback - but with stirrups + of course there’s a close contact feeling if there’s no saddle between the rider and the horse… But I wouldn’t use it.

[Larksong]

Hmmm, riding with stirrups attached to a pad seems a recipe for back soreness/injury. Bareback riding without stirrups isn’t a problem because ones pelvis protects the horse’s spine.

have you tried a Freeform? The only models I recommend are the classic and dressage versions—without a cutback. Just be sure to tent the saddle blanket to provide wither relief. (The cutback model allows the saddle to cut across the wither lower down where the rider can’t see the problem in my experience.)