Best shock absorbing half pad

[Scribbler]

Get an independent saddle fitter out, watch, ask questions, learn everything you can. Also before that find some of the good saddle fitting websites.

Saddle fit is just as important as proper farrier work for keeping a horse sound and useful.

It is possible your saddle is a good fit that just needs a little tweaking or it is possible it is a bad fit overall.

The shim saddle pads people are suggesting all.cost in the $100 plus range so it is money well.spent to get a saddle fitter involved now before you accumulate a library of pads and shims that you don’t need and that don’t fix this problem.

Good advice at the start always pays off IME!

[Inclined]

Cashel makes a pad specifically for swayback issues. I have not used one of these, but it looked interesting: http://www.freedomrider.com/Saddle-Pads-English-Western-Cashel-Swayback.html .

[JB]

@apha-gunner

Hi, my horses saddle doesn’t fit 100% because he has slightly narrow withers and a bit of a sway back. Right now I am using a quilted half pad frome horze, but I want to find something with more shock absorbtion and padding

does anyone know something that provides lots of comfort that isn’t crazily expensive?

What about the saddle isn’t fitting well enough? In other words - how are his slightly narrow withers impacting the fit? Is the pommel sitting too low and coming down on his withers?

Is he actually sway-backed, or does he just have a curvier back? Is the saddle too flat for his curve?

A mild difference between the flatter saddle and the curvier back can be helped with a shim in the middle, but really you do need a curvier saddle. This is an easier remedy though than having a saddle that’s curvier than the back.

[NSC_Los_Angeles]

Like many other commenters have said, I too love Thin Line. I would avoid the super fluffy pads that look like you have stuffed a small sheep under your saddle, but I’ve used several of their other pads and am a huge fan.