OMG - Not another saddle pad question!

[Shine]

So I have this saddle that was given to me when I bought my horse trailer. It had one ride and then the guy got out of horses. Very comfy saddle and fits my Morgan.
http://www.chicksaddlery.com/page/CDS/PROD/Abetta/20510C

Out of the 20 or so saddle pads have:eek:, the closest one that fits is a Toklat 36" wide x 26" long round. So now I need to add to my saddle pad collection and need opinions on the following pads. My Morgan will be getting in shape for LD’s and is currently doing trails (7-10 miles 4 x week). TIA

Toklat Original Tucker Comfort Round Contour Saddle Pad Navy for sale online...

Cavallo Tucker Round Saddle Pad Total Comfort System Shock Absorbing Never...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231535245363?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[Bombproof]

Can you be more specific about what you are looking for in a pad? Do you just need a pad that fits your saddle or do need to address specific concerns? If the Abetta fits your horse well, all you really need is 1/2" or so of padding to cushion shock a little. In that case, get whatever fits well under your saddle. I have always thought my horses liked memory foam or gel pads best, but that’s very subjective and I may be delusional.

[konjina]

The first ebay link looks good to me …

[melhorse]

I use a reinsman shaped trail pad with mine and it fits the saddle shape well

[Guilherme]

THE most sold item of horse tack is the saddle pad. Everybody has a stack of them; most are not all that functional.

What works for a huge percentage of horses regardless of tack style (English, Western, Aussie, Military, etc.)? The blanket folded “cavalry style.”

When properly done you have a very “cushiony” pad with a laminate construction that effectively absorbs lateral stresses (something that most other pad don’t even think about).

Here’s a link to the how and why:

https://sreinhold.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/which-saddle-pad-is-best-is-there-a-right-answer/

I’ve used this on English, Western, and Military saddles with excellent results on a variety of horses. It’s cheap (you can get well made, 2nd quality wool blankets from Pendelton outlets for about $50). Or you can go to re-enactor vendors like What Price Glory or The Blockade Runner and get reproduction, period blankets for just a bit more.

If you do this USE WOOL! Polyester does not wick moisture from the horse’s back. It also does not transfer heat as well. Both are bad for the horse’s spine during work.

You can spend a lot of money on stuff, here, but it’s tough to beat the wool blanket folded correctly.

G.

[Shine]

Thanks for the replies. G. a big thank you for that link. I’m going to be putting some serious trail miles on the little dude and he is a honest, I want to please horse. So my job is to make him as comfortable as possible.

[NoSuchPerson]

[QUOTE=Guilherme;8128301]
THE most sold item of horse tack is the saddle pad. Everybody has a stack of them; most are not all that functional. [/QUOTE]

Isn’t that the truth?! I’ve got a stack of saddle pads, some of them very expensive, and most of them with at least one serious flaw.

Thanks for the link, G. I’m going to give that a try. I’ve been struggling with one particular mule/saddle relationship for which all my saddle pads/blankets seem to be either to much or not enough. The cavalry saddle blanket might be just right.

[reubenT]

The more time spent riding the more critical saddle fit gets. An hour a day and it’s not all that critical, start riding 6 hours a day and that saddle/pad combo I thought fit, starts causing sore spots. I like Len Browns corrector pad, it has a thin flex panel in it, and then with the envelope pad and shims, nearly any variation of fit can be had. It does take some experimenting with shims. Or if the saddle is already a close fit no shims might be needed. A slight bridging works well there, ends of saddle bars sit on the flex panels. And to fit a QH saddle to a slim paso fino, a drastic misfit, I made some extra shims out of thin closed cell foam camping mattress. It took too many, by the time the saddle fit it was sitting too high. But it worked. I was able to keep riding 6-8 hours a day with the group without the soreness appearing. I started that week riding on a bareback pad, but after a couple days a sore spot started appearing where I was sitting on him. Never mind my rear, it was the horses back I was concerned with. I had heard a bareback pad was not good for long term riding, and I found out why. Weight needs to be spread out more.