I’ve wondered for years, have never found anything, and just have to know because it keeps me up at night like all inconsequential pieces of trivia do- is there a specific reason McLain Ward and his students all show either with just a fitted pad or a fitted pad over a square pad?
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I wonder the same about Todd Minikus wearing his number on his back versus his saddle pad. 
I wonder the same thing about Brianne and all her students not wearing belts!
Odd, no horn to catch on. As a teenager jumping in my stock saddle my belt did get caught once, once-never again.
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I think somebody asked that question on Facebook, and one of McLain’s horses has a funny body shape so that the square pad bunches up, or something like that, which is why that one shows in just a fitted pad.
Lots of people show jumpers in a fitted pad on top of a square pad. That’s not terribly unusual.
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Todd has allegedly said “it’s called a back number, not a saddle pad number” or something to that effect.
I’ve heard the reason for the shapes pad on Mclain’s horses but I can’t remember exactly what it was.
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We used to ride all the time with a fitted pad and square pad underneath. We did it because we could still use the fitted pad to show the hunters.
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OK, I had heard that too about Todd but wasn’t sure if it was just a rumor, so that confirms that! 
That’s odd and I never noticed…
Todd likes to go without anything that can unfasten/catch/snag like number pins. Once he was pressured to braid wee Pavarotti for a Nations Cup (Rome, perhaps?) and had the out of the triple because the button on his jacket was caught on a braid and he couldn’t sit up! Which he had predicted would happen. He foresees problems like a flight mechanic.
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Wow! Good to know, and makes sense!
McLain has always done that with his horses. He also gets off pretty much every one of them and resets his saddle when he’s 1-2 horses out from going in. I believe it’s just his preference. He likes that feeling.
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