My horse has been having some saddle issues lately and none of my westerns fit her. My english fits much better, but still iffy. I will be looking into a shim pad until we get her issues under wraps, but i was wondering if i could show western pleasure bareback? I know it is ultimately up to the rulebooks and show but would it generally be accepted? Or would a bareback pad in a “saddle style” be accepted? Obviously I’ll call ahead and make sure that it’s all okay, but as I said this is a " in general " question
Very doubtful. Maybe, MAYBE a very traditional looking treeless saddle would fly, but I wouldn’t bet on that either.
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I figured, thank you! Wishful thinking i guess haha.
I believe a saddle is required. There are some breed shows that offer bareback classes, as do some open shows.
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You could always go in ride a buck. I’ve never seen any other bareback class at little playdays and schooling shows.
Consider if something is wrong with it’s back, why not wait until the horse is completely well?
Have you tried riding bareback since he started having back issues?
Riding bareback puts more pressure on a horse’s back than with a saddle.
Any saddle distributes weight over a larger surface, one reason we use saddles, along with saddles making a rider more stable and so making the horse also more comfortable.
Showing can wait.
Then, if you try it and he goes fine, why not?
Some little shows, if you ask them about any kind of bareback class, they will put one on if they think there will be interest.
Give that a try also.
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No
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Ultimately it depends on the show rules.
Most places, that answer will be a “no”.
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