What are some of your favorite jumper pad brands and styles for showing? The ogilvy pads that I loved are not working great with my new saddle so looking at some other options.
Well, Ogilvy are my favorite, but I only show one or two horses in them because they’re expensive and I don’t want to own a million of them. So I got a whole bunch of monogrammed “cheapie” pads from Smartpak and those have become my favorite show pads - https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/smartpak-lite-white-ap-saddle-pad--9504. They stay put really well (on all but the one horse who I stick to the Ogilvy pads with), wash up well, and look nice enough to show in for long enough.
But I guess it’s important to know before making a suggestion - why aren’t the Ogilvy pads working for your saddle? e.g. If the flap is too forward for the pads then the Smartpak pads would work no better.
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I’ve been showing in - and really like - the Lemieux X-Grip Twin Sided Euro Jump Square. It has grip and padding on both the saddle and the horse sides, and keeps the saddle and the saddle pad glued in place. They also make one with the grip/padding on the saddle side only. And they do have versions without any grip/padding.
My saddle is big, and has an extra long, extra forward flap. Many saddle pads either aren’t long enough down the spine or aren’t cut long/forward enough in the flap area. The Lemieux are great for me on both fronts.
The Professional’s Choice VenTech Jump pad is really nice! I show in Ogilvys but my ventech pad is bright white with fleece on the withers and looks great on classic day. It doesn’t slide and is big enough to cover everything. And it has the wither clearance I love with the Ogilvys!
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I had been using the same Ogilvy, and have some of the baby pads for schooling at home that I adore, but recently started riding in a County Stabilizer that I love and they’ve all been slipping back and bunching up at the girth:(
I had been wondering how people liked the le meuix pads. I was on the fence but may have to pick one up.
I also love my Lemieux pad. I have the one with the sticky side on just the saddle side. I had the same problem you are with my Ogilvys. They were all I ever used until I got my new saddle and they just bunch up! The Lemieux is firm enough that it stays in place without the velcro billet straps which is nice. Plus you can get super matchy matchy with them!
I only have the Ogilvy pads, but lately they have started bunching up as you describe. To counter this, I ordered directly from them to add the girth loops.
But now I’m wondering if it’s a sign my saddle isn’t fitting as well bc this didn’t used to happen. We’re doing more long and low work and I do get the sense my horse’s topline and back are a little stronger. I"m wondering if that could cause the pad problems. I"m getting saddle fit checked next week at thermal to find out…
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These are my go-to: https://shop.wilkers.com/hunter-jumper-schooling-show-saddle-pad/?sku=19BC I like the quality and ability to customize for the money.
If you’re handy at all with a sewing machine you can make your own billet/girth keepers for the Ogilvy! At least for the baby pads, fixed the bunching up problem for me. I second the SmartPak pads but lettia coolmax pads are my favorite!
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