Finding myself without a saddle that fitted my horse, on the recommendation of German trainer & superstar Isabell Brenner, I decided to get a Grandeur bareback pad to ride in.

Here is their website (look for fellsattel) & a few pictures of their new models.

I managed to buy an older second hand barock style one from a friend in Germany.

I had ridden in a best friend bareback pad a few years ago but didn’t like it much.

To be honest I wasn’t expecting much from this bareback pad, just a stop-gap until I got a new saddle that fitted my horse.

It arrived in a few days, and I had to eat my words.

This was the most insanely comfy thing I have ever used on my horse. I was pretty speechless.

They come in just one size, and you use a dressage girth with them. I rode without stirrups as they are not built to distribute your weight through stirrups.

My horse liked it too and immediately started to offer a huge walk and lots of upward transitions (which he hadn’t before in the ill-fitting saddles).

I was without a saddle for a few months, and so I rode in this pad at least 4-5 times a week.

I also rode in this for Steve’s 4 day clinic this year.

By the end of the clinic, all my friends had tried it on their horses and loved it, and wanted one.

The highest praise possible was that Steve Halfpenny rode in it and wanted one too!

So that’s the Grandeur bareback pad.

Keep an eye out on the ‘fellsattel’ facebook groups and on German eBay, sometimes they come up second hand.

Buy Grandeur bareback pad on Facebook group 1
Buy Grandeur bareback pad on Facebook group 2
Buy Grandeur bareback pad on German ebay