Was wondering what everyone does in the show ring when they need a rear riser for their saddles? Weve had a saddle fitter out and the saddle fits but the back is a hair low on my mare so we’ve decided to use a rear riser. We show trillium so looking for the traditional look.
Wilkers will add a riser to a classic saddle pad for not much of an upcharge.
I used to show with a black riser pad in hunters. It wasn’t noticeable because my saddle was also dark in color and it didn’t stick out over the sides.
However now there are riser pads that are sheepskin covered or rimmed that I would go with. If you just type in ‘sheepskin covered rear riser pad’ you get a ton of options in different price categories.
Lastly, wilkers makes a fitted pad with a rear riser built into the pad, and toklat makes their ‘lollipop’ which is the same material as their fitted pads so it blends in.
I would just get one of the shimmable half pads to either match your saddlepad or saddle (white or appropriate shade of brown, black might work if it’s very dark brown leather). There are a number of different brands that work. I ended up making my own shims for the ECP pad but Mattes/Thinline etc. are pretty discreet options.
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I do have one that is the sheepskin rimmed ones. Would I just use the half pad or use a saddle pad with it?
It depends. If the half pad is wider than the saddle pad, then that looks weird and you shouldn’t do that. I would suggest getting a different half pad if that’s the case as while you can do just the half pad, no saddle pad, it’s very much out of style. However, if you have a good round it shouldn’t keep you out of the ribbons.
We use the Toklat Medallion Liftback Foam Wedge Insert show pad (easily found on google): it is a traditional white show pad, and has a “pocket” in the back with a foam wedge (which can be removed to wash pad). You really can’t tell that it’s not a normal/flat show pad. We put a low-profile thin black half pad under the show pad to offer non-slip and shock absorption (you can’t see it when show pad is on as it covers it). This has been the best-looking option we have found as a thicker half-pad plus show pad looks like a lot.
