Best half pad?

[Countrywood]

My saddle fitter recomended using a half pad, (he adjusted the saddle, the fit is not the problem, said my horse is cold backed/sensitive after watching him go) I agree, he takes a long time to warm up, very cranky first 15 minutes of ride then finds his gear and goes nicely.

He recommended Thin Line or Mattes, but I see there are some half pads with new technology. I borrowed a thin line to try on him, the base model not the shaped one. He was somewhat less cranky, not amazing but a bit less. I found it kind of bouncy to ride on. (though I think it helped me sit a giant spook he did early on). I didn’t;’ love it to be honest overall, his gait bouncy and the thin line seemed to make if feel more so. Have never used a Mattes, will it feel thick and cushion in a good way or make the saddle sit far off of horse? Thinline also makes more expensive ones now with sheepskin and shaped not just flat as the one I tried.

[TequilaMockingbird]

After trial and error on several this has become my favorite:
https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/ultra-thinline-trifecta-all-cotton-half-pad-11433

I can add shims as needed in between saddle adjustments to fix any minor imbalances. It does a great job of absorbing impact without adding bulk.

I still have some very nice sheepskin pads that I never use anymore. It just feels like I am further away from the horse when I use one. They’re also a pain to clean in the very hot summers here when my horse easily soaks through any baby pad I try to use.

[Countrywood]

That does look like a nice one! The addition of foam to thinline and shaping makes it look more substantial than the flat thinline only, I was afraid sheepskin would put saddle feeling too high off horses back.

[Keg-A-Bacchus]

I’m in love with my EquineLux Bufferlux after trying most of the others. It’s shimmable, shock-absorbing and non-slip. My mare goes beautifully in it. I loved my Ecogold but I also needed non-slip and shimmable so I ended up with this one. It’s held up for over a year beautifully. Super easy to customize as you can add shims, remove everything completely, or any combination of the above. Very versatile.
http://www.equinelux.com/saddle-pads.php

[MysticOakRanch]

Personally, I love Mattes - no shims, no extra pads. I find the thinline stuff “deadens” the ride a bit. Mattes sheepskin is the best - I’ve tried several different brands over the years including Thinline (sheepskin w/ inserts), and I far prefer the density and quality of the Mattes pads.

You might also try a Back on Track pad (not a half pad, just a regular pad) for a cold backed horse - let it sit on his back a few minutes before you get on - it might really help!

[Countrywood]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I wish my horse could pick one out.

[see_u_at_x]

I used to use Mattes and then eventually moved to a Thinline Ultra with sheepskin, but now am using a Prolite pad. I was worried that the sheepskin might be a little too thick and cause the saddle to feel a bit too unstable. I had read good reviews and now love my Prolite pad. It provides some extra cushion for him and it’s totally shimmable. It comes with 2 sets of shims - one thicker and one thinner - for multiple shimming options, and I find it much easier to put shims in it than I did with my Thinline pad! But I do think that the Thinline pad linked to above is pretty easy to add shims to. Mine wasn’t because it didn’t have the velcro opening along the spine.

[Dee-Vee]

If he is cold-backed and sensitive, recommend that you consider the Thinline Back on Track integrated saddle pad. It integrates a Thinline half pad with a BoT saddle pad. One piece is very easy for tack up too…and no shifting. Best product ever in my view for effectiveness and simplicity.

Edited to add…it is shim-able too.

[Countrywood]

He is definitely a princess and pea kind of guy. Will look into the BOT integrated…but it is hot here and I see looking up it is full pad not half pad. I will look into prolite, ogilvy etc. Wish there were trials avail on them.

I did own a thinline years ago, it was the simple flat kind, a love hate relationship…I think the horse liked it okay but I kind of hated it…it “deadened” the ride, like every stride had a delayed reaction feel, yet at same time made gaits feel bouncy (at least on my horse but he has a very bouncy gait). Maybe their shaped pads are an improvement. A few new pads now advertise space age technology shock absorb ion…never know if those are great or just very expensive.

[DownYonder]

I love my Back on Track full pads - as does my horse - but they are way too hot to use in our steamy southern summers. They are also not quite big enough for big WBs - both the spine length and the drop are 1-2 inches too short for my 16.3h guy.

Everyone at the barn has been using the Ogilvy pads lately and we really like the way they cushion. And you can order the half-pad covers in custom colors, too! In addition to a plain white one, I have a gorgeous one with navy suede body color, baby blue piping, and navy binding.
https://ogilvyequestrian.com/en/store/product/cover-dressage-memory-foam-half-pad

[Dee-Vee]

[QUOTE=DownYonder;8653943]
I love my Back on Track full pads - as does my horse - but they are way too hot to use in our steamy southern summers. They are also not quite big enough for big WBs - both the spine length and the drop are 1-2 inches too short for my 16.3h guy.

Everyone at the barn has been using the Ogilvy pads lately and we really like the way they cushion. And you can order the half-pad covers in custom colors, too!
https://ogilvyequestrian.com/en/store/product/cover-dressage-memory-foam-half-pad[/QUOTE]

I guess it is really personal thing that your horse needs to pick out, but in my barn we all moved away from the Ogilvy Pads. Good thing about the Ogilvy is their resale value. You can usually get back most of what you paid for in resale.

On a side note, I am a huge fan of the Ogilvy baby pad. Nice cut…stains wash out…always stays white…nice fashion piping colours.

[Countrywood]

http://www.dressageextensions.com/sedelogic-half-pad/p/2643/

I am intrigued by this one above:

And these two…

http://www.dressageextensions.com/ecp-grip-tech-half-pad/p/26443/

http://marystack.com/fleeceworks-dressage-cut-fxk-plain-edge-half-pad/

[Draftmare]

I have had both Thinline and the Toklat Matrix pad. I really liked both. Thinline was great after my knee surgeries when I wasn’t always the most coordinated. They are also great if you have a really good fitting saddle but was some shock protection. Toklat I really liked after buying a saddle that was a hair too wide on a non-adjustable tree. But they are pretty thick if your saddle does fit.

[artisticgold]

I have had a thinline pad, but didn’t really care for the way it fit. Recently I bought a used Ecogold pad, and my horse seemed to love the cushioning on his back, and it cushioned the ride for me as well, and made the concussion a lot smoother and softer.

[AMWookey]

I LOVE my ecogold. I was never keen on a half pad because my saddle fits, but had to get a little extra shock absorption for my own back. After researching, I decided on the ecogold and I am so happy I did. I ride with a back on track brace for myself, and I don’t need it when I have the ecogold on. He has always had a pretty great back, but with the increased work load, and we jump him once a week, his back started to get just a little touchy. That cleared up immediately.

He goes better in it as well, and I find it way easy to find his rhythm now, so we ride better together.

[Countrywood]

The ecolgold sounds promising, I still have not bought one yet (using two pads for now one on top of another) will decide soon

[rocky01]

I’ve used prolite, ogilvy, mattes and fleeceworks fxk and perfect balance and would always go with fleeceworks. If I don’t need the shims I always use my fleeceworks fxk half pad, found it amazing with my sensitive horse and found I could feel him through it where I couldn’t with the ogilvy as much or the mattes at all (far too much pad with the mattes, also found it went quite hard but that might have just been bad luck).

[IndyEquestrian]

Try the EcoGold, they guarantee them. . . Everyone who has ever purchased one from us has loved them, and I love mine. . .I use the Flip pad, shimmable, non-slip and the perfect thickness.

[Countrywood]

EcoGold sounding good…hope to do it by end of week!

[artisticgold]

I also found that the Ecogold conformed well to the horse’s back, didn’t change the fit of the saddle too much as it’s not super bulky and didn’t move around at all.