Marko wrote:
Mustang wrote:
These bareback pads have no stirrups, so no need to worry about that. They are constructed differently then most so they do offer some protection to the horse. I started this thread about these specific pads because they seemed better then the average bareback pad. I have since had confirmation that they are.
Good to hear. I didn't read the whole topic and just answered too fast. My mistake
I think that anykind of clothing between rider and horse is better than none at all. It softens bumbs a little and gives little weight distribution too. If somebody did ride with me i would like to have mat or pad atleast on my back. I never would like to have normal treesaddle(yes I have tested it on myself).
You give good pause for thought.
I wonder if there are others here besides myself that were backpackers...that is that hiked, walked, rambled, whatever, with a rucksack or back pack.
I know there was a world of difference between styles and brands as to how comfortable and how long I could carry them without pain.
It took me years to find just two that fit me properly. One was absolutely the top of the line in hightech suspension system.
The other, which I carried more weight on usually, was an old army surplus (actually it was marked "U.S. Marine Corps") military board. And board is what it was.
Thin plywood, warped at each edge, and stout piece of canvas with metal grommets laced into it. In time the canvas form fitted itself to my back. And when it was in use it would get MORE comfortable as I hiked with it. I think my body heat softened it to the shape of my back even more under use.
I think a saddle should be something like and upside down little 'bed' on the horse's back, or to the horse's back.
It should be a suspension system of some sort. It is, of course, but not on the scale that a well made mattress is.
Some of the most comfortable camp beds I slept on as a kid (my folks camped and fished a great deal in the out of doors in the California Sierra Madres) were just like the old Marine Corps backpack. A piece of grommet edged canvas laced into a suspension frame.
I hope we all keep thinking and contributing to the saddler's art and science.
I hope some are reading this right now.
And they are probably miles ahead of us, but it's fun to explore the issue.
Frankly I love bareback riding. Not like when I was much younger, of course
but I do think it more difficult for the horse because of our relatively bony bums.
What people often don't get is that no matter how much padding you have on your rear, that is not what is on the horses back. It's those blasted pelvic bones that stick right straight down. Almost no padding at all over them.
Try sitting on your hands, turned palm up, sometime and you'll see what I mean. Ouch! (translated from Equus to English, of course).
Until I tried that embarrassing little experiment I did not truly get what it would feel like to the horse. No wonder my horses used to buck me off when I was a kid. Oddly, though, NEVER, not once, with a saddle on.
Distribution of the bearing surface contact helps a great deal.
I'm thinking more and more about this back of horse (dorsal) molding underside of saddle padding.
And what materials might not only make the first one, but could with some change, continue to mold to the horse's a back over time on it owns.
Some materials, for instance, will change characteristics when an electrical current is passed through it. The recover it's firmer material properties in whatever new shape it has been pushed into.
At least I think I recall reading something on it.
I also consider something I'm sure I've read has been done, a padding protected inner gel cell weight bearing surface.
The problem with gel is that under pressure it takes on a very hard state that will wobbly still is so firm as to hurt. I've tried gel cells for my feet. They do NOT work for me. It's like walking on a form fitting rock. Ouch!
Nice chatting with you.
Donald Redux