Truly bareback?

Personally, I think that riding with a bareback pad shouldn't be considered riding bareback. There is a pad between you and the horse. It should be like pad back or whatever, ha ha. But your not bareback when you ride with the pad. What are your thoughts?

I think it still considered bareback with a pad or not. I've ridden both with no pad and with a bareback pad and I found the bareback pad much more comfortable. It gives people an option to ride their horse bareback but with comfort. Ever ridden a horse with bony withers? A bareback pad makes it softer.

I'd be curious to see what everyone else says.

Actually, yes, I have ridden a horse with huge withers. If you can ride properly bareback and can control the horse it shouldn't hurt.

Are you assuming I cannot ride properly?

It's obviously whatever the person wants to think it is. Some people consider riding bareback with a barepad pad acceptable. Others don't.

No, sorry, I wasn't triggering that at you in particular. I'm just saying, if someone can ride properly or whatever and they say they have control of the horse then it really shouldn't hurt to ride the horse.

Who would I be to say you can't ride? I don't even know you. That would be retarded of me.

I was just asking because you did say you, so I wasn't sure if that was generalized or not.

I do know what you mean, but I think some horses are more boney than others. High withers don't really matter, its just, I don't know the about of fat or muscle there.

I don't really think its "if you can control the horse" because just standiing there it hurts, and its more so how the horse is made up. I'm sure if a horse had a really bumpy trot no matter how slow it was, i'm sure it would still hurt. Same with a canter.

Just as you said though, its all a matter of opinion and that's why I'm asking everyone. My opinion is is just that it isn't regardless of comfort purposes.

Some horses can in fact be more bony, depspite how well you ride.

I ride bareback all winter (no pad) because I find it easier, but I think riding with a pad is still bareback. When you throw in the pad with handle and stirrups, then I think you are branching to some blend of bareback/saddle. I think a bareback pad would also be handy to keep horse hair and sweat off your bum area. :)

In the summer I just saddle because I don't want to get sweaty, I can accomlish more accurate training with a saddle, and if I am cinching a girth I am going to do it with a real saddle, not a bareback pad.

Some horses are fat and round and some are boney and linky. Boney and linky is more uncomfortable than fat and round whether you have 50 years experience or 1 year.

I'd consider riding without a saddle to be bareback, regardless of whether you ride with a bareback pad. With that said, some of the more fancy bareback pads nowadays seem to be closer to riding with a saddle than riding bareback.

When I ride bareback, I prefer riding without any sort of pad. I tried a bareback pad once and it was extremely slippery, especially when it came to getting on the horse. I just felt unsafe.

My QH has the most awesome, broad back for bareback. He also has the bumpiest trot of any horse I've ever ridden. With him, the bumpy trot doesn't make it uncomfortable for me to ride, it just makes me fall off!