Bareback saddle pads...

I decided to ride my horse bareback this summer. Its been great and iv'e learned so much about balancing and I think my horse feels less burdened but, my horse's back is a little bony and at the end of long trail rides my butt is always aching:), so I wanted to try a bareback pad, but there are so many different ones on the market i'm not really sure where to start , does anyone know of any good brands to look at or of any good places to find them? I wanted something simple in design, no stirrups, no raised cantle or pommel, and under $150, any suggestions? Or...does anyone know of a good horse feed that encourages back fat or a place to look for padded riding underwear/pants?:) Thanks:P

Bareback pads are usually cheaper than $150 (unless you want to go with really fancy one ). I have similar to this one: Navy Blue Comfort Plus Bareback Pad

I've heard those by Toklat and Reinsman are very nice too.

Parelli Bareback Pad - eBay (item 190562011445 end time Aug-09-11 19:56:17 PDT)

This is at $157 right now with 10 hours to go.

I have one like it ($100 used about 10-11 years ago) With regular light use is still in perfect condition.

A different one gotten about same time ($135 new) with english rigging but also suede with medical felt is showing much more wear.

I started riding bareback a lot more also! But with my TB gelding I could have only two good bareback rides before I was in intense pain. He is very narrow with a VERY prominent backbone. So I just got this bareback pad Amazon.com: Comfort Plus Bareback Pad: Sports &...
It works great! I enjoy riding my TB now! If you look around you may fine it cheaper on other websites. OH and the "Navy" looks like a purple color on the website but it actually is a navy color like actually dark blue. Good luck :)

Thank you guys! Those are all like what i'm looking for. I'm going to go right now to ebay and type those that you mentioned up and see if I can get them for a good deal!:)... One more question, do your bareback pads slide around alot when the horse is sweaty? Iv'e heard that's normally an issue when riding with them...

You're going to pay a lot more for anything Parelli, CA, etc. than it's worth because it's a "NH brand."

To stop slipping, you can use a breastcollar.

Mine has not slip yet and I have used it in 95 degree weather!

Not the one I use. But then it also depends on balance of the rider and the gait of the horse. If you bounce a lot I guess it may (my qh is very smooth).

I am an extreme cheapy. I made my own out of an old, cheap, 1 inch thick, western felt pad. I sewed an old latigo to it across the top and attached rings to each side to act as the rigging for the girth.

It cost maybe a total of $20 (not counting the girth, which is a good quality western cinch) and gives a ton of stick-um when I'm riding, sweaty horse or not.

Whatever you do, don't buy one with stirrup attachments! Other than that, i've seen fuzzy ones with attached breast plates to keep the sliding to a minimum. Get one with holes for a girth, not one of those weird metal clasp ones, they never last long. Also, riding bareback on a skinny horse can hurt its back, so using a bareback pad is probably a very good idea for not only your butt, but the horses back as well =)