Bareback pads - Werner Christ vs Thinline vs?

[ReReRider]

Looking for a bareback pad to use for longer trail rides (mostly walk/trot, occasional canter) and very low jumps (logs). The Werner Christ pads look interesting, have narrowed in on the “Cloud Spez +” and the “Premium plus”. I’ve also heard good things about the Thinline pad, though it looks to provide less structure

Anyone know differences between the Werner Christ pads? Others I should consider?

Thanks much!

[KathyShack]

I use the QHP super soft bareback pad with a reindeer hide underneath and an acavallo tailbone seatsaver pad zipped into the seat. I had to pay shipping from europe but even then it was cheaper than a werner christ. I was hesitant to get something with so much sheepskin because of cleaning, especially when considering a high price tag. I had a thinline pad for a while and it was nice for shorter rides but wanted to protect my horse’s spine more because we were trailriding in the bareback pad while rehabbing his back. The QHP is nice because its a rubber bottom if you don’t want a pad underneath and the synthetic fleece seat zips off for easy cleaning; I put the acavallo pad between the base and zip off seat. Highly recommend for being modular, easy to clean, and good price.

I now ride in a Ghost treeless saddle and I would recommend one of their bareback versions if you wanted to use stirrups. Their saddles are very close in price to a higher end werner christ bareback pad and you’re getting a whole modular saddle. The bareback pad version can be made without panels.

[Moss]

I love my Engel soft saddle, which is similar to the Christ. I prefer it to any of my saddles.

[PaddockWood]

I’ll say if you have the money those are lovely pads. On the other hand, I’ve found with a Toklat wool bareback pad and a Mattes Sheepskin over it you get good grip, padding and for so little money - assuming you might already have a Mattes?

[beowulf]

I ride in a Thinline regularly. I prefer to use it on top of a full sheepskin Mattes or LeMieux pad. My only complaint is it slides back on every horse I use it on unless I have a breastplate. I think if it was a dual strap girth design (like regular saddles) versus single strap, it’d be a bit more stable.

I don’t know how it would be for a few hours. Have you ever ridden bareback or in a bareback pad for more than an hour? Venturing into TMI territory here but, you may find you get chafed in certain regions. I ride bareback regularly as a “temp check” of sorts to call out any position flaws/bad habits. If your goal is more than an hour or two, I’d consider something with more structure like a treeless saddle for both you and the horse.