Cramps while riding + bareback pad suggestions?
Hey guys! I have a couple things to ask about. First, I love riding bareback and I wish I could do it more often. However, I have an extremely narrow-built Thoroughbred. High withers, very bony back, impossible to ride bareback. I have tried riding him bareback with a thick pad, but it didn't help much. I'm interested in investing in an actual bareback pad, but I am unsure what kind to get. I haven't looked too deeply into my options yet, but I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience with this kind of situation and if you've found a bareback pad that makes a significant difference on an extremely uncomfortable horse.
For fun, the beastie in question taking great care of a friend of mine without too much riding experience(so proud of him for that!):
As for my second problem. This is something I've struggled with basically my entire life, as I remember it happening a few times when I was a child, but seems to come and go randomly and has been getting worse lately. When riding sometimes I will get cramps in the side of my abdomen, my mom calls them "stitches". It can be an extremely sharp pain and once it starts, will usually not go away unless I get off the horse and sit still for a while. It's not possible for me to just ride through it most of the time. I cannot figure out what the hell is causing this honestly. I have worked on my breathing, making sure I am breathing properly, tried breathing differently than I normally do, even tried HOLDING my breath in a fit of desperation. I have tried not eating for hours before I ride, tried eating normally, tried not drinking before riding, tried drinking more, tried drinking different things, just water, everything. It just seems to come at me randomly no matter what I do, whether I've been riding regularly or just coming off of a break(I'm in college now so during the semesters I'm unfortunately away from riding often). Happens on all kinds of horses. Sometimes I'm perfectly fine. But once it starts, I can't get it to stop as long as I'm moving at all. I cannot figure it out but it is really upsetting. Has anyone else had this sort of problem? Have you managed to figure out what was causing it/how to stop it? Could it be that I'm just not breathing right despite my best efforts during these times? But I don't feel like I'm breathing any differently from the times I don't get the cramps? I just don't know. I'm open to ANY ideas at this point.
For fun, the beastie in question taking great care of a friend of mine without too much riding experience(so proud of him for that!):
As for my second problem. This is something I've struggled with basically my entire life, as I remember it happening a few times when I was a child, but seems to come and go randomly and has been getting worse lately. When riding sometimes I will get cramps in the side of my abdomen, my mom calls them "stitches". It can be an extremely sharp pain and once it starts, will usually not go away unless I get off the horse and sit still for a while. It's not possible for me to just ride through it most of the time. I cannot figure out what the hell is causing this honestly. I have worked on my breathing, making sure I am breathing properly, tried breathing differently than I normally do, even tried HOLDING my breath in a fit of desperation. I have tried not eating for hours before I ride, tried eating normally, tried not drinking before riding, tried drinking more, tried drinking different things, just water, everything. It just seems to come at me randomly no matter what I do, whether I've been riding regularly or just coming off of a break(I'm in college now so during the semesters I'm unfortunately away from riding often). Happens on all kinds of horses. Sometimes I'm perfectly fine. But once it starts, I can't get it to stop as long as I'm moving at all. I cannot figure it out but it is really upsetting. Has anyone else had this sort of problem? Have you managed to figure out what was causing it/how to stop it? Could it be that I'm just not breathing right despite my best efforts during these times? But I don't feel like I'm breathing any differently from the times I don't get the cramps? I just don't know. I'm open to ANY ideas at this point.