Consider a vaulting surcingle. You can get cheap ones for a few hundred. They aren’t good for serious vaulting, but they are great with a thick western pad for learning the basic wtc on a lead or lunge, and for playing with basic vaulting moves. I have one and love it. Even older kids benefit from working on the lunge. Its the perfect middle ground between saddle and bareback.
Thanks so much for the helpful responses! I’ve been mulling it over. Now I’m leaning towards buying a vaulting surcingle (for now!) until they are ready for a “big girl” saddle. I found this one on Ebay that is very basic but well-priced.
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Performers-1st-Choice-Vaulting-Horse-Surcingle-New/254084849071
I’m thinking that I love the solid handle to hang onto until they are ready to use the reins, and I can lunge the pony in it and put on loose side reins to keep him steady, just like normal lungeing but with a bit of added weight on his back. I think this is great to learn balance because they can hold on until they are confident enough to let go, especially for cantering. Plus I don’t have to worry about saddle fit etc, and I anyone could ride with it. Has anyone else used one for little kids? I would need to figure out what kind of pad to use under it - something with some grip. Would a Western pad have enough grip for the little kids? Wondering if it would move around at all.
goodhors - thanks for the tip about the full body shake! My Haflinger is pretty much bombproof but I hadn’t thought about the shaking!!! I don’t think he has ever done it under saddle but you never know!
We used a regular felt 1" thick pad under our vaulting surcingle, great to start beginners and for later real vaulting.
Our pad had a red plastic top that was not very slick, looked more like a canvas covered with a thin bit of plastic.
A plain pad would work also, or most western pads, as they are larger than English saddle pads.
It protects the horse’s back just fine, even when standing up there.
This is the brand of bareback pad that I have, comes with stirrups (although they’re probably too long for really small kids lol). I lost the stirrups long ago because I never used them 
http://gaitedhorsetackshop.com/equig…with-stirrups/
I actually don’t use the pad at all these days (my pony spooks often - the joys of only having one eye - so I need the security of an actual saddle :D). Not sure if it’s long enough to fit your horse (84 inches from strap-end to strap-end, it fit the seriously chunky 15hh-ish horse I rode as a kid), but if it’s big enough want me to stuff mine in a box and send it your way? It’s light, so shipping probably wouldn’t be much.
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Oh my goodness, Cbonadeo, thank you so much for the offer! I would LOVE that! I actually have been online looking at bareback pads to use under the vaulting surcingle and the one you have looks perfect! You are so sweet! I will message you!
Great choice with the vaulting surcingle - you may want to choose a standard western pad underneath rather than the bareback pad as the bareback pad has rings where the surcingle will sit (potential for bad pressure points) and also has it’s own girth and the surcingle will also have a girth.
This is exciting - using the surcingle, go ahead and have the twins do things like around the world and riding backwards … at ALL gaits as they work up to it! (This is one of the reasons accomplished vaulters have amazing riding seats.) There are also lots of fun shapes they can make (push-up position, one knee one hand) that will get them stronger in the core so when they’re ready to ride on their own they have good body control and know what the horse motion is going to feel like underneath them so adding steering is no big deal. After cantering sitting backwards with one leg in the air, cantering forwards is pretty straightforward!
Great choice and please keep us posted on the journey. (Preferably with LOTS of pictures, lol!)
