Crown pads to relieve poll pressure

[HicksteadFan]

Ok, since my search for a bridle didn’t go so well my next search came up with crown pads. (I still my buy a bridle with a padded crown and noseband strap that goes over the crown because I don’t currently have a dressage bridle.)

So, experiences; do the work; what type? And I believe they are still allowed in dressage IN CANADA.

I’ve got some options here:
http://www.applesaddlery.com/Stubben-Padded-Crown-Piece/6622733201649434864/Product

http://www.bahrsaddlery.com/for-the-horse/bits-1/accessories/ridewell-chin-and-crown-guard.html

http://www.pleasantridge.ca/index.php/english-tack/bridles/bridle-padding-sheepskin.html

http://www.brubachersharness.ca/contents/en-us/d215.html (its the cashel cushion)

I personally like the look of the neoprene and cashel ones (my horse has no problem with neoprene). What are others’ experiences. They’re fairly cheap so not a huge deal if my horse specifically decides they aren’t for her.

[DressageChic2]

AFAIK they are dressage legal(but im UK not US).

my sisters OTTB LOVES his sheepskin pad and prefers that to any leather or gel type.

[Farys]

I have the Stubben crown pad that you have linked. It’s excellent quality leather and I have it on my Stubben bridle. It is designed for a bridle with wide leather over the crown area so not sure how it would fit if you used it on a bridle with a narrower crown piece. I imagine it would move around quite a bit. On my Stubben bridle it fits quite snug and doesn’t move around at all.

[sascha]

I have one I got at either Brubacher’s or Bahr. It’s a Velcro on neoprene and gel from Waldhausen. Super comfy, washes and dries perfectly and you don’t need to take the bridle apart to get it on and off.

I looked at the Pleasant Ridge ones when I was there for the sale. They look nice, but you would need to take your bridle apart to get them on and off since they are elastic, not Velcro.

[sascha]

11771 is the product number for the Waldhausen one. They call it “Neck Protection”

[SerenaGinger]

I had this on my horse’s double bridle a while back and he seemed to like it. It was a pain to get on, but once on it didn’t slide and the bridle didn’t get dirty underneath it. (and it’s only $3.99!)

[HicksteadFan]

My crown pieces is about one inch wide. Is the Stubben leather one going to be too big for that? I like the look of the neoprene and cashel because they seem like they would spread out the pressure better. But they don’t attach to the bridle and I don’t adjust my bridle quite as tight as a lot of people so I’d be worried about it slipping out. Anyone had this? Or do they tend to “stick” in place because of the material?

[beowulf]

just a caveat on these… placing more material between the poll and the crownpiece does not mitigate or reduce poll-to-mouth pressure… if anything, it will increase it unless you drop a few holes in the cheek-pieces. just FYI. it’s a feel good idea but i don’t think it does squat to reduce pressure.

IMHO you’re better off investing in a bridle that has a flatter/wider crown. or if you’re REALLY worried about the poll pressure, ditching the noseband entirely as half the time that is what really puts pressure on their polls.

[sascha]

[QUOTE=HicksteadFan;8377576]
My crown pieces is about one inch wide. Is the Stubben leather one going to be too big for that? I like the look of the neoprene and cashel because they seem like they would spread out the pressure better. But they don’t attach to the bridle and I don’t adjust my bridle quite as tight as a lot of people so I’d be worried about it slipping out. Anyone had this? Or do they tend to “stick” in place because of the material?[/QUOTE]

The one I posted attaches by Velcro. It does not move.

[sascha]

[QUOTE=beowulf;8377590]
just a caveat on these… placing more material between the poll and the crownpiece does not mitigate or reduce poll-to-mouth pressure… if anything, it will increase it unless you drop a few holes in the cheek-pieces. just FYI. it’s a feel good idea but i don’t think it does squat to reduce pressure.

IMHO you’re better off investing in a bridle that has a flatter/wider crown. or if you’re REALLY worried about the poll pressure, ditching the noseband entirely as half the time that is what really puts pressure on their polls.[/QUOTE]

Ok, so tonight when I go to bed, I’m going to replace my pillow with a flat piece of leather with firm edges on it. Should feel exactly the same because my head will still take the same amount of surface space. Awesome idea.

I’m also going to remove all padding from my duffle bag shoulder straps.

And I think I’ll tape a piece of cardboard over my biopsy hole. Should be just as comfortable as a padded bandaid.

Next, I will cut all the padding out of the palms and fingers of my mountain biking gloves.

May as well take all the stuffing out of my saddle panels too since the tree fits just fine.

Oooo, also, that padding inside my helmets? Totally unnecessary.

It’s about comfort, not about reducing pressure to zero. Jeez, please apply some common sense

[beowulf]

[QUOTE=sascha;8377629]
Ok, so tonight when I go to bed, I’m going to replace my pillow with a flat piece of leather with firm edges on it. Should feel exactly the same because my head will still take the same amount of surface space. Awesome idea.

I’m also going to remove all padding from my duffle bag shoulder straps.

And I think I’ll tape a piece of cardboard over my biopsy hole. Should be just as comfortable as a padded bandaid.

Next, I will cut all the padding out of the palms and fingers of my mountain biking gloves.

May as well take all the stuffing out of my saddle panels too since the tree fits just fine.

Oooo, also, that padding inside my helmets? Totally unnecessary.

It’s about comfort, not about reducing pressure to zero. Jeez, please apply some common sense :)[/QUOTE]

Okay, is there a reason for the snark? Good lord, who took the jam out of your donut?

If you lodge material between an object under pressure, it places more pressure on the taut object. SO, placing more width between the horse’s poll and corners of the mouth will cause more pressure/tautness between the two, thus increasing the amount of pressure on the mouth and poll unless you release the tension vis lowering holes of the cheekpieces… It’s kind of common sense.

Loosen the cheekpieces when you lodge the material between, but don’t expect a miracle. Pressure is better dispersed when you utilize space (as in a wider crown piece) than it is by just putting something soft and cushy through it. The pressure is STILL there with the soft/cushy item…

[HicksteadFan]

I was of course going to let the cheek pieces down so the bridle would fit the same with the padding. I think the cashel is 3/4in thick so I wasn’t going to try to squeeze that underneath. And I know you can’t completely get rid of pressure. If somethings there, there’s at least some pressure. I was just hoping to widen the area. $10 for a crown pad that people like compared to $100+ for a new bridle that I don’t know is legal? I’ll go for the cheap pad and hope it works.

[beowulf]

[QUOTE=HicksteadFan;8377660]
I was of course going to let the cheek pieces down so the bridle would fit the same with the padding. I think the cashel is 3/4in thick so I wasn’t going to try to squeeze that underneath. And I know you can’t completely get rid of pressure. If somethings there, there’s at least some pressure. I was just hoping to widen the area. $10 for a crown pad that people like compared to $100+ for a new bridle that I don’t know is legal? I’ll go for the cheap pad and hope it works.[/QUOTE]

I think there was some sort of magnetic cushy poll pad out a while ago too… Maybe BOT or Thinline? If I was going that route, I might look into those. I remember holding one a few years ago at a product demo but the brand escapes me. It was pretty nice feeling and IIRC was in the realm of $30.

[HicksteadFan]

[QUOTE=beowulf;8377671]
I think there was some sort of magnetic cushy poll pad out a while ago too… Maybe BOT or Thinline? If I was going that route, I might look into those. I remember holding one a few years ago at a product demo but the brand escapes me. It was pretty nice feeling and IIRC was in the realm of $30.[/QUOTE]

Didn’t think of that. Thanks. I was checking out magnetic stuff a while ago and BOT did not have anything. (I decided not to go with magnets because of all the research saying it doesn’t do much). If Thinline has something I’m sure it would be a good one. I’ll check that out.

[DoubleDown]

Just curious, but how does one know if pony needs a squishy crown? Are they resistant during bridling?

[sascha]

[QUOTE=beowulf;8377645]

Loosen the cheekpieces when you lodge the material between, but don’t expect a miracle. Pressure is better dispersed when you utilize space (as in a wider crown piece) than it is by just putting something soft and cushy through it. The pressure is STILL there with the soft/cushy item…[/QUOTE]

I invite you to take the padding off any item you may own which has a shoulder strap. See how much difference padding can make. It DOES make a difference.

Crown/poll padding doesn’t change the weight of the bridle. It doesn’t change the pressure between the bit and the poll (because we are pretty much all smart enough to know that the cheekpieces will need to be lengthened). It DOES make it more comfortable to carry the bridle.

The edges of flat leather can be very irritating to some horses and can cause small concentrated pressure points themselves. This is why we have padded nosebands. They are more comfortable that plain, flat leather. This is why crank nosebands are padded behind the jaw.

DoubleDown - some horses have very sensitive skin behind their ears (why my girl wears padding late summer when she’s changing coats), and others resent concentrated pressure behind the poll. That can manifest in many ways from being irksome when bridling all the way to head tossing. It’s one of those things that you need to experiment with imo. Add padding. Noticeable difference? Great. No difference. Boo, on to the next possibility.

[beowulf]

@sascha;8377911

Crown/poll padding doesn’t change the weight of the bridle. It doesn’t change the pressure between the bit and the poll (because we are pretty much all smart enough to know that the cheekpieces will need to be lengthened). It DOES make it more comfortable to carry the bridle.

You’d be surprised. Judging by your response it seemed you took my differing opinion as a personal attack. No one is arguing that the softness isn’t soft and cushy, or that horses need to go without softy and cushy headpieces or that we need to sleep at night under cinderblocks. I really don’t know where you got that insinuation. Yet, physics and common sense still remain and adding a wedge between an object under pressure will increase the amount of tension going on poll-to-mouth.

I can’t tell you how many people don’t loosen the cheek-pieces. I can’t tell you how many horses don’t care for the new “wedge” between their head and leather. My caveat remains a caveat and is not a direct attack on anyone who chooses to employ a soft cushy poll device. I was simply noting that I’ve seen better results when you buy the padded crown-piece.

Signed,
Someone who has worked in tack retail for a very, very long time.

[AC1]

I like these:

http://www.doversaddlery.com/kathy-connelly-crown-pad/p/X1-0847/

[keysfins]

The one issue that I found with some of those pads is that they do pad the crown of the bridle, but then I had issues with rubs on the horse’s ears from the ‘edge’ of the pad, or horse being annoyed by velcro straps of the pad tickling/touching the ears. My mare needed a sheepskin crown pad for a while so her ears didn’t get rubs, and it was a trick to find something that didn’t have attachments that further irritated her. The solution was a sheepskin halter tube for a while, which is no longer needed. No idea why she can handle a plain padded crown without an extra pad now!

[Farys]

[QUOTE=HicksteadFan;8377576]
My crown pieces is about one inch wide. Is the Stubben leather one going to be too big for that? I like the look of the neoprene and cashel because they seem like they would spread out the pressure better. But they don’t attach to the bridle and I don’t adjust my bridle quite as tight as a lot of people so I’d be worried about it slipping out. Anyone had this? Or do they tend to “stick” in place because of the material?[/QUOTE]

I don’t think it will fit snug as it would if it were being used on an actual stubben bridle crown piece and I think it might move around a bit. I will compare my stubben to my other bridle tomorrow and report back so see how it compares.