Bareback pads - Opinions

Hi Everyone,
I was wondering if anyone on this forum uses or have used Bareback pads? Especially in training a horse? As a sort of "first saddle". I'm especially looking at the kind that's a little more than just a saddle pad with stirrups:
http://www.chicksaddlery.com/Merchan...0001/NBP55.jpg
(I hope that works!)
Reason I'm asking: I'm hoping to start a gelding of mine for general farm| cattle work soon. I've owned him since birth, but slipped up with desentisation so he's quite wild. I owned his father and till the day I gave him away I could never get him over his IMO irrational fear of saddles, I eventually got him to accept a saddle pad, but a saddle EH EH! So I suppose my fear is his son will follow in his dads hoofbeats.
So I was wondering if a bareback pad might just be the "inbetween" step needed. Because I really do not want to have to sell Mischief(or Chief as the workers call him) to some jerk who's going to break him.

Stirrups on a bareback pad provide a false sense of security. Because there is no tree to help anchor the pad in position, too much weight on one stirrup and the pad will slide down the horse's side like it was greased.

I'd get one without stirrups personally. And would work every day with the horse on getting him used to the normal saddle (that fits him!).