I was given an expensive felt wool saddle pad. Would like to leave it at the barn where i board, but i wonder if Mice will be a problem. Have any of you dealt with mice chewing a felt wool saddle pad?
Yes mice like to make nests out of wool, some times in the pad itself, if given the opportunity.
Wool and fake sheepskin blankets seem to be preferred. 
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I found holes in an old wool trophy cooler, clearly created by mice. I was mad.
Later, when I really unfolded it, completely, and shook it out, I found a flat, totally dessicated little mouse. I found that I was no longer mad.
This roller coaster of emotional responses intrigued me.
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I feel you, I had mice in the tack room, mad I had to clean it, until I found a nest of tiny, naked blind mice in a box of taken outside. Then I was on the horns of a delimma, do I put them back? They’ll ruin more stuff, but they are just babies!
Chicken came wandering by and fixed my problem. Which was kind of horrible, too.
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I use blanket bags to store my sheepskin pads and keep them safe, seems to have worked so far!
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Don’t leave it at the barn - inconvenient but will be worth it •
Buy a tote box to keep it in. Mice have done damage to several different types of pads I have over the years. I keep traps out as well which really helps.
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Mice love wool. The nicer the wool the faster and more thoroughly they’ll destroy it.
If caught early, sometimes the chewing damage is negligible, but oh my the pee! They have even managed to get inside plastic totes to get at my best pads.
Other than traps and cats, the ONLY ways I’ve found to keep wool from being destroyed are to a) keep the item in a metal container with a tightly fitting lid, or b) keep the item out in the open, in a well-lit area, away from walls or shelving or anything with a hidey-hole, like a free-standing saddle rack, AND move the item often, like every 3-6 days. Mice are deterred when they have to cross the open floor with no cracks or furniture to run along, scale a tower in the broad daylight, and sense that the object of their desire is frequently disturbed.
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When I found a pair of mice in the horse treat roll around toy and they couldn’t escape, it was just a little tragedy that was too much.
Mice wise, I find dryer sheets with the lavender smell keeps them out.
ymmv
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I found a nest of blind baby rodents in my horses deeply bedded stall in the summer. I agonized but couldnt kill them. Three weeks later I was stripping the stall. A whole herd of small but perfectly formed micelings ran for the exits. I was surprised they’d survived.
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I ordered a saddle pad bag to store it in. Let’s hope it works. I also plan to use peppermint oil on and around the beg to keep the mice away. Finger’s crossed. I can never kill any mammal unless it is suffering and even then, I am totally petrified to kill it. So if i found a nest of baby mice or baby rats, i would likely move the nest somewhere near the original site, and hope the momma finds them. I have always loved mice and most mammals, but i know they are a problem in the tack room.
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No advice on the saddle pad, but just chiming in to say that these little 2-sentence dramas about mice nest discoveries are awesome. Concise and yet fraught with tension and compassion.
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