At the barn where I ride, people are starting to ride with only the sheepskin half pad. The bottom of the flaps are on the horse. Is this a new style? Seems to me it cannot be comfy for the horse, would be like wearing thick socks 1/2 way up the foot…
Plus, the leather would get all sweaty. Just curious why, or is it a new fad/style?
It used to be, way back when, that no one rode in a pad of any kind at all. Technically, in order for the horse to experience the benefit of the sheepskin, it needs to be directly against its skin.
As long as the saddle flaps are wiped down (which technically are called sweat flaps), the saddle should be fine. And regarding the horse comfort? I would think that should be fine as well assuming the saddle fits appropriately.
I saw an couple of AO hunters go at indoors with just a half pad. So while I wouldn’t say it’s the popular option, it does happen.
I ride in just a sheepskin half pad most of the time. I want the sheepskin straight on her back in order to get the full benefits of it, and putting a baby pad on top of the half pad is awkward. She doesn’t seem uncomfortable at all - I think she seems happier with just the sheepskin half pad than she is with a regular pad and my other half pad. The saddle flaps get sweaty, but that doesn’t bother me, I just wipe them off regularly. She’s a heavy sweater and sweats through regular pads onto the flaps anyways.
Sheepskin half pad directly on the back is actually the way it was intended to be used to get the full therapeutic effects of the sheepskin. Most of us put a baby pad underneath because dealing with sweaty sheepskin 7 days a week is a giant pain in the butt.
The part of the flap that touches the horse is actually called the sweat flap, so it’s perfectly fine to be against the horse. Make sure your billets aren’t super low or stretched out, so that the girth buckles are not against the side of your horse.
I used to have a hunter who I showed in his sheepskin half pad because he went better in it and adding a fitted pad under neath it would have been too bulky. I used a baby pad at home and had two sheepskin half pad for shows so that one could dry if it got too sweaty.
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