Thoughts? Reviews? Is it really as low-interference saddle fit-wise as advertised? Easy to shim?
Thank you!
I love this pad. This style is all I ride my jumper in, except in the winter when I use a sheepskin-lined square. His saddle fits very well with just a square but the ThinLine adds just a tiny bit and the fit is perfect. The saddle never moves, even when jumping 1.20m+.
I have a stack of black and white pads for schooling and then I have a few white ones with his name on them for showing. I"ve never shimmed mine but it has the openings so it shouldn’t be a problem for you. They wear very well; I throw mine in our front-loader and then air dry and the pads stay in great shape.
I asked the company if they would consider making them in other colors and got a big old no, but other than the boringness of only have black or white, it’s been a fantastic pad for me.
I love my Contender II saddle pad, EXCEPT it holds on to every mote of dust and the loose hairs on the horse’s backs, especially during shedding season. I have to vacuum it several minutes after each ride to clean it off.
Shimming is a breeze. I have to do some work with my fingers to get the front and back shims deep into the pockets, but nothing onerous and the results are worth the effort. Getting the shims out can be a minor problem since they seem to sort of fuse to the ThinLine covering on the top of the pad, as in I had a lot more difficulty taking the shims out after a few months of riding than I had with getting the shims into the pockets.
There are two reasons I picked this pad. I got it to use on a lesson horse who had an iffy back. It did help him relax. Every other horse I’ve ridden with it has also liked it. I have given two to my lesson stable, and they ended up being used with their competitive trail horses.
The other reason is that I find the six pockets extra useful for horses that do not have an ideally trained and conditioned physique, like older horses whose back starts to sag. If the horse’s shoulders are uneven I use two shims on one side and one on the other side.
I have MS and my balance is not the best. I have some peace of mind that if my weight all of a sudden slams down on the horse some of the shock is taken up by the ThinLine top and shims. I don’t get that unbalanced often, but when I do the horses are more forgiving and don’t seem to get as upset with me.
When I had to ride an elderly, extremely croup high horse with a swayed back this pad really saved the day. I had to use two of the bridging shims on each side. With logical riding and re-training (something that poor horse had never been exposed to since he had been essentially abandoned at my riding stable before I took him over) he got over his fear of discomfort from the saddle on his less than ideal back. This pad helped turn a badly conformed horse who viewed all humans with deep suspicion into a pretty neat little riding horse who I enjoyed riding. He got good enough so I had zero difficulties using a double bridle on him.
I bought one used for my dressage saddle and didn’t like it. I’m just not a fan of the Thinline material - it’s not for everyone so try one before you buy one! I like the idea but for me it seemed to deaden the feel a TON without helping my back.
