I have a 17hh Hanoverian whom I've used a 7 foot step ladder to get up on. I've only used a saddle on him because it is a long way down. I'm 5'4". I rode my 15hh Canadian mare bareback this spring and I too went up on her and kept on going down the other side. She must have thought me a total nutcase because I got up and did it again. Riding her bareback is like riding a barrel of jelly, without the barrel.... But I felt accomplished and the ground was soft. Still I was sore for a couple of days.