If anyone is looking for a bareback pad that's a little more than the standard flat piece of felt/suede or fake fleece, I've found one that looks interesting. I have a "Phantom", made by Ghost, here for a demo. It just arrived last night, and I probably won't get to ride it before Friday or Saturday, but it looks interesting. http://www.mossrockendurance.com/view_product.asp?category_ID=47&prod_ID=345 What I don't like about many bareback pads, including the three that I own, is that most don't have any contour cut around the withers, and will pull down on the withers if you aren't careful. This one does have some nice contours cut around the withers.. This one also has a grippy Sympanova bottom. In fact, I even wonder if it might have enough "stick" to the design that it might be acceptable to add stirrups to it. (The conventional wisdom is that stirrups are dangerous on bareback pads, since there's nothing to keep them from rolling to the side.) IF, I feel like this one is ok to add stirrups, and I emphasize IF, there's a cool feature on this one - the seat Velcro's onto the base, so I can use a Sensation stirrup hanger, which I already own. If I can add stirrups, I might use this as a spare saddle, in addition to using it in the ring as a bareback pad. It's a little expensive ($270) as bareback pads go, but if it turns out to be more of a light-use/spare saddle too, then it's a great deal. I want to start back taking some more bareback/passenger lessons, and I don't like the way my Parelli-type pad sits on my horses' backs. (I also won't put stirrups on it - it's ONLY a bareback pad.)
Another nice thing about this pad is that the girth attachment is adjustable, plus attached to a ring that's sort of on a pulley for lack of a better description. This should be nice if your horse has an oddly placed (forward) "girth groove" since you should be able to adjust where it goes. I'll soon see if it works in practice as well as it should in theory! Here's a picture that shows how the Ghost treeless saddle rigging is attached - the Phantom bareback pad that I have here is very similar, but it doesn't have the panels. http://www.mossrockendurance.com/view_product.asp?category_ID=47&prod_ID=344 Karen Thomas, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.23/1113 - Release Date: 11/6/2007 10:04 AM
