does riding bareback hurt your horses back?

I've always ridden bareback, never thought anything of it until last week when someone mensioned that having your weight on their spine is painful. Is this true? Is it better to ride in a bareback pad?
Thanks

i dont think so. i mean unless your bouncing really hard. i ride bareback all the time & my horses dont ever get sore backs from it

I don't really know, but it seems like your weight would still be on there spine if you had a saddle between you. I've never heard it before.

I used to ride bareback 5 days a week for two hours each day, at least. The horses never had soar backs.

I don't think that is true. I ride bb all the time and Romeo never seems to have a sore back...

I've never had a horse have a problem with it... But I would think if you're off balance and really bouncing around it could be painful.

I was told (by a tackshop owner trying to sell me a saddle) that riding bareback can put pressure on the horses spine and over time could cause issues, and that the tree and padding in a saddle keeps your weight more evenly distributed and off the spine... I guess it could make sense, but all the more often I ride my girls, I think occasional bareback won't hurt anything...

No way. I mean it would if you were bouncing around like crazy, but that would hurt their back a little even if you had a saddle on them. I think bareback pads are more for the comfort of the rider than the horse.

Only if you're bouncing, unbalanced, etc

I read that it can be rather uncomfortable for them for the simple reason that all your weight is on in spot rather than spread evenly with the saddle tree. Plus your seat bones can dig into their back without a little padding(either a bugger butt or a bareback pad). Also a saddle is designed to keep pressure off their spine, when you ride bareback our crotch (and most of your weight) is placed directly on it. I'm not saying bareback is evil or anything don't get me wrong, I do it sometimes too. I'm just saying that if you ride bareback often, unless your horse has a well muscled back or you have a nice bubbly muscly butt(hehe) you might want to at least comsider a thick bareback pad for your comfort and his/hers.