What are your thoughts on the ogilvy GUMMY pad?! My saddle is a custom fit Butet.
Given that every horse’s needs are different, I’ve always understood the Ogilvy pads to be excellent correctors/fillers for saddles that fit well but not exactly right. If you have a custom saddle that truly fits your horse’s back, even the gummy is thick enough to alter that fit (I still found it to be fairly thick when I touched one at around a half inch I think?). So an Ogilvy might be a good choice if you use one saddle on multiple horses kind of thing.
But if you are convinced your saddle needs more you really just have to try all the different types of half pads out there to see what works and what your horse likes.
I have tried both. I have a custom saddle but I still use one as my horses tend to prone to back soreness. I started with the memory foam and noticed a difference immediately and to test the theory I rode a week with it and then tried a couple rides without and both felt a difference for me and the attitude change in my horse… grumpy, unhappy, uncomfortable. So I went back to using it.
I had heard great things about the Gummy and decided to give it a shot since it was thinner. My first ride was great and I after a couple more with good results switched out all mine only to find out three months later that my horse was super sore in his back and the only change with the half pad. So I sold the inserts and got memory foams back. Soreness went away with time and have a much happier horse.
Each horse is different, but my two OTTBs, much preferred the memory foam even with a custom saddle.
Memory foam pads made my horse sore. So it really depends on the horse/saddle fit/what you’re trying to correct with the pad.
