In my SmartPak catalog, I noticed types of saddle pads i had never seen before. What are they for?! Baby pads and shims were the ones I didn’t know! I know what non-slip and half pads are, but when would you use them? Does the average horse need any of these?
Saddle pads are really just personal preference and saddle fit. I school all my horses in a square baby pad with an Ogilvy. The baby pad isn’t bulky and is basically just there as a barrier to keep sweat/dirt away from the saddle/Ogilvy.
It’s really no different then a square all purpose pad except that it’s much thinner.
The average horse will need one of two things under his saddle: either a shaped fleece pad like this http://www.jefferspet.com/high-profile-double-fleece-pad/camid/EQU/cp/DY-ND/cn/2403/
Or a half-pad like this http://www.jefferspet.com/fleece-wither-pad/camid/EQU/cp/J0-F0/cn/2403/ over a square pad, or baby pad. Baby pads are thin cloths used under half-pads. They are meant to keep the half-pad clean and prevent any part of the saddle from chafing the horse’s back, but they don’t really provide any protection.
A shaped fleece pad or a combination of a half and baby pad (or any square all purpose pad) will have to be under your saddle to give the horse enough padding.
Shims are insertable pieces that you put into the saddle pad to help raise your saddle in the front or back if it doesn’t fit your horse right. You can also get gel shims to help protect your horse’s back from impact when jumping. 
Oh okay! 
GoodTimes, what kind of Oglivy do you have? And what about for shows?
I’ve got one of the jumper memory foam half pads. I show my jumper in a nice baby pad (embroidered), and the Ogilvy. I show my hunters in just a regular fitted fleece pad, some day I’ll cough up the money for one of the Ogilvy hunter pads. I don’t have the money for multiple custom saddles so instead I’m forced to play around with padding for everyone.
I see! I can see myself becoming a saddle pad addict. :o Seriously, two normal pads, a fleece fitted show pad, 2 baby pads, an Oglivy… :lol:
[QUOTE=HunterJumper<3;7436803]
I see! I can see myself becoming a saddle pad addict. :o Seriously, two normal pads, a fleece fitted show pad, 2 baby pads, an Oglivy… :lol:[/QUOTE]
Oh, honey child, let me tell you about the saddle pad addiction 
It takes you and your tack room over slowly until it manifests itself into a hoarding problem. As of right now, I have 2 half pads, 2 fitted show pads, 6 baby pads, and 12 (yes, TWELVE) square pads. And I just ordered another one. We won’t even get into my polo wrap or fly bonnet collection. I would rather have new saddle pads and polos than eat.
Speaking of baby pads, which brands do you guys find hold up the best?
A saddle pad is meant to keep the dirt and sweat from your horse off your saddle.
All horses do not need padding. If the saddle is correctly fitted, you don’t need all that under it. Pads can offer some fit correction in the short term. If you ride many horses in the same saddle you may need to pad up because the saddle won’t fit every horse you ride.
You can ride in just a square pad if you like. You could ride in just a baby pad it you like. There is no need for a half pad beyond personal preference. If you show hunter, you will need a shaped fleece pad of some kind just for shows.
[QUOTE=chestnuthunter;7435542]
The average horse will need one of two things under his saddle: either a shaped fleece pad like this http://www.jefferspet.com/high-profile-double-fleece-pad/camid/EQU/cp/DY-ND/cn/2403/
Or a half-pad like this http://www.jefferspet.com/fleece-wither-pad/camid/EQU/cp/J0-F0/cn/2403/ over a square pad, or baby pad. Baby pads are thin cloths used under half-pads. They are meant to keep the half-pad clean and prevent any part of the saddle from chafing the horse’s back, but they don’t really provide any protection.
A shaped fleece pad or a combination of a half and baby pad (or any square all purpose pad) will have to be under your saddle to give the horse enough padding.
Shims are insertable pieces that you put into the saddle pad to help raise your saddle in the front or back if it doesn’t fit your horse right. You can also get gel shims to help protect your horse’s back from impact when jumping. :)[/QUOTE]
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[QUOTE=gumshoe;7437253]
A saddle pad is meant to keep the dirt and sweat from your horse off your saddle.
All horses do not need padding. If the saddle is correctly fitted, you don’t need all that under it. Pads can offer some fit correction in the short term. If you ride many horses in the same saddle you may need to pad up because the saddle won’t fit every horse you ride.
You can ride in just a square pad if you like. You could ride in just a baby pad it you like. There is no need for a half pad beyond personal preference. If you show hunter, you will need a shaped fleece pad of some kind just for shows.[/QUOTE]
Personally, I disagree. I think that a horse needs a good, thick layer or two between his back and the saddle. I think it is more comfortable for him and I believe the impact on his back from landing off jumps would not be comfortable without a half pad. I wouldn’t recommend any rider go in just a baby or square pad. A saddle is a hard piece of leather with my weight in it, and I wouldn’t want it pressing on his back with every stride with just a thin pad under it.
[QUOTE=gumshoe;7437253]
A saddle pad is meant to keep the dirt and sweat from your horse off your saddle.
All horses do not need padding. If the saddle is correctly fitted, you don’t need all that under it. Pads can offer some fit correction in the short term. If you ride many horses in the same saddle you may need to pad up because the saddle won’t fit every horse you ride.
You can ride in just a square pad if you like. You could ride in just a baby pad it you like. There is no need for a half pad beyond personal preference. If you show hunter, you will need a shaped fleece pad of some kind just for shows.[/QUOTE]
Exactly, gumshoe! You only need all those pads if your saddle doesn’t fit perfectly. If it does, you shouldn’t need any padding. Mine goes through all three phases of events with nothing besides a square pad and a Thinline. I only use a halfpad with my tack when she’s not been in work regularly and her topline isn’t as well muscled as it should be. Those I know with custom saddles don’t use anything other than a square pad with something like a Thinline or Mattes, which don’t change the fit.
You see pros using a lot of different pads because they ride a lot of different horses and its prohibitively expensive to have a custom saddle for all of them, espcially if you’re riding a bunch of sale horses. A little extra pad here or there (which is what shims are for), or fluffy pad under a very slightly too wide saddle, and you can make it work.
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[QUOTE=chestnuthunter;7435542]
The average horse will need one of two things under his saddle: either a shaped fleece pad like this http://www.jefferspet.com/high-profile-double-fleece-pad/camid/EQU/cp/DY-ND/cn/2403/
Or a half-pad like this http://www.jefferspet.com/fleece-wither-pad/camid/EQU/cp/J0-F0/cn/2403/ over a square pad, or baby pad. Baby pads are thin cloths used under half-pads. They are meant to keep the half-pad clean and prevent any part of the saddle from chafing the horse’s back, but they don’t really provide any protection.
A shaped fleece pad or a combination of a half and baby pad (or any square all purpose pad) will have to be under your saddle to give the horse enough padding. [/QUOTE]
A good saddle fitter will tell you that this is false information.
A well-fitted saddle does NOT need additional padding. The soft wool flocking of a well-made saddle is very comfortable when fitted to the horse. Extra padding will make problems if a saddle already fits like a glove.
OP, you have mentioned wanting to show rated shows but having financial constraints (I’m right there with you, buddy!). If you do hunters or eq, you won’t be using an Oglivy half pad to show, and heck they will probably be out of fashion next year, anyway. If you do jumpers, who cares what other people are using? Use what’s best for your horse. He/she doesn’t care how trendy you are.
Have you considered eventing? You can ride any breed/size/color you want with any tack that fits you and your horse, and nobody cares how trendy it is. Mostly they care about your horsemanship.
3 Likes
[QUOTE=chestnuthunter;7437306]
Personally, I disagree. I think that a horse needs a good, thick layer or two between his back and the saddle. I think it is more comfortable for him and I believe the impact on his back from landing off jumps would not be comfortable without a half pad. I wouldn’t recommend any rider go in just a baby or square pad. A saddle is a hard piece of leather with my weight in it, and I wouldn’t want it pressing on his back with every stride with just a thin pad under it.[/QUOTE]
Personally, you are not a saddle fitter, and it doesn’t sound like you’ve ever worked with one.
When I run, I think it would be nice to have more cushioning for my feet, but wearing 2 pairs of socks is a terrible idea. My feet would be pinched. Saddles work the same way.
If your saddle panels are THAT hard, then maybe you need redo the flocking–or get a saddle that fits your horse. A well-fitting saddle distributes your weight across the maximum surface area without pressure points. Padding a poor-fitting saddle can make the fit better–or make it a lot worse.
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Really. What kind of saddle do you have? It sounds like it is time for you to have a fitter check it over. It shouldn’t be a “hard piece of leather”. Maybe you should have it reflocked (if it is wool) or replaced (if it is foam).
The half pad you linked to - I wouldn’t put that on a saw horse.
[QUOTE=chestnuthunter;7437306]
Personally, I disagree. I think that a horse needs a good, thick layer or two between his back and the saddle. I think it is more comfortable for him and I believe the impact on his back from landing off jumps would not be comfortable without a half pad. I wouldn’t recommend any rider go in just a baby or square pad. A saddle is a hard piece of leather with my weight in it, and I wouldn’t want it pressing on his back with every stride with just a thin pad under it.[/QUOTE]
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[QUOTE=cleozowner;7437522]
Personally, you are not a saddle fitter, and it doesn’t sound like you’ve ever worked with one.
When I run, I think it would be nice to have more cushioning for my feet, but wearing 2 pairs of socks is a terrible idea. My feet would be pinched. Saddles work the same way.
If your saddle panels are THAT hard, then maybe you need redo the flocking–or get a saddle that fits your horse. A well-fitting saddle distributes your weight across the maximum surface area without pressure points. Padding a poor-fitting saddle can make the fit better–or make it a lot worse.[/QUOTE]
Wow, nastiness. There is absolutely no need to take that kind of tone. I was stating my opinion and personal preference. No, I haven’t worked with a saddle fitter for my jumping saddle. I did get my Verhan dressage saddle custom fitted, and I use a half-pad and a square dressage pad under that too, as does my trainer with all of his saddles. I bought the saddle I could afford and took advice from my trainer on what type of padding to use. My horse has a round-belly but high withers, and I think he would be uncomfortable without his half-pad.
It doesn’t sound like the OP will be buying custom saddles that fit her horse perfectly anytime soon, anyway, so she will probably need a half-pad. I have never, ever seen a horse without at least a half-pad at any show in my area.
My mother, who grew up riding hunters in the Netherlands, would snatch me off any of our horses if she saw me riding without a half-pad.
[QUOTE=gumshoe;7437530]
Really. What kind of saddle do you have? It sounds like it is time for you to have a fitter check it over. It shouldn’t be a “hard piece of leather”. Maybe you should have it reflocked (if it is wool) or replaced (if it is foam).
The half pad you linked to - I wouldn’t put that on a saw horse.[/QUOTE]
What on earth is wrong with that half pad? It is a decent, fluffy pad. At a jumper barn close to me, almost every student rides in this half pad because it is affordable and easy to throw in the wash when it gets dirty.
This. OP, if your saddle doesn’t fit your horse perfectly, depending on how it doesn’t fit, extra padding and/or pads with shims may (or may not) be able to help it fit a little better. If your saddle fits well, either a plain shaped pad or a square pad or a baby pad is just fine on its own. If you add extra padding to a saddle that fits well, you’re going to screw with the fit so if you get a custom saddle, you want it fitted so it fits with the pad configuration that you’re planning to use. My saddle fits my horse very well, and she seems to be more comfortable/happier with just a square pad than she is with a square pad plus a half pad.
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[QUOTE=chestnuthunter;7437919]
Wow, nastiness. There is absolutely no need to take that kind of tone. I was stating my opinion and personal preference. No, I haven’t worked with a saddle fitter for my jumping saddle. I did get my Verhan dressage saddle custom fitted, and I use a half-pad and a square dressage pad under that too, as does my trainer with all of his saddles. I bought the saddle I could afford and took advice from my trainer on what type of padding to use. My horse has a round-belly but high withers, and I think he would be uncomfortable without his half-pad.
It doesn’t sound like the OP will be buying custom saddles that fit her horse perfectly anytime soon, anyway, so she will probably need a half-pad. I have never, ever seen a horse without at least a half-pad at any show in my area.
My mother, who grew up riding hunters in the Netherlands, would snatch me off any of our horses if she saw me riding without a half-pad.[/QUOTE]
Did VERHAN tell you to use a half pad? Because I’ve spoken with the owner, and he rarely recommends them, if the saddle is actually built to fit the horse. You’ll also note that none of his videos on proper saddle fit recommend stuffing a half pad in there.
You don’t need a custom saddle for a saddle to fit a horse properly, that’s ridiculous. You DO, in most cases, if you are fitting to one specific horse, need to look for a wool-flocked saddle that can be adjusted as the horse changes. I have a growing young horse and have bought three saddles so far, each in the $500 range used. (Kieffer, Bates, other good-quality names) Each time I had my fitter out to customize the flocking to fit my young horse at that moment, a “custom” fit for her without the expense of a full custom saddle. The only time I used a half-pad with her is with a saddle that was a smidge too wide, on the suggestion of my SADDLE FITTER, not a trainer. Fitter’s thought was that, as she was starting to do real work, she would “fill out” the saddle within a few months and no longer need the pad. Which was indeed the case.
As for the prevalence of half pads on your show circuit? It’s called fashion. Just like the prevalence of the helmet-du-jour.
If you want real protection for your horse’s comfort without optimizing the fit of your properly-fitted saddle, you go with something like a Thinline pad, not a big fluffy pad. There is at least “science” to prove the protection of those.
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[QUOTE=GoForAGallop;7437967]
Did VERHAN tell you to use a half pad? Because I’ve spoken with the owner, and he rarely recommends them, if the saddle is actually built to fit the horse. You’ll also note that none of his videos on proper saddle fit recommend stuffing a half pad in there.
You don’t need a custom saddle for a saddle to fit a horse properly, that’s ridiculous. You DO, in most cases, if you are fitting to one specific horse, need to look for a wool-flocked saddle that can be adjusted as the horse changes. I have a growing young horse and have bought three saddles so far, each in the $500 range used. (Kieffer, Bates, other good-quality names) Each time I had my fitter out to customize the flocking to fit my young horse at that moment, a “custom” fit for her without the expense of a full custom saddle. The only time I used a half-pad with her is with a saddle that was a smidge too wide, on the suggestion of my SADDLE FITTER, not a trainer. Fitter’s thought was that, as she was starting to do real work, she would “fill out” the saddle within a few months and no longer need the pad. Which was indeed the case.
As for the prevalence of half pads on your show circuit? It’s called fashion. Just like the prevalence of the helmet-du-jour.
If you want real protection for your horse’s comfort without optimizing the fit of your properly-fitted saddle, you go with something like a Thinline pad, not a big fluffy pad. There is at least “science” to prove the protection of those.[/QUOTE]
Merciful heavens. All OP wanted was an explanation of different saddle pads and how they might be used, not an argument about MY tack that works for MY horse. I have a Thinline gel pad, and perhaps if my horse’s topline fills out a little I might use it instead of the fluffy pad.
No, Verhan did not tell me to use a half-pad. I’ve always assumed it was necessary. But, again, using a half-pad is not entirely up to me. If I tacked my horse up in my Verhan and just a square dressage pad and went to ride, my mom would have a fit. She does not allow me to ride in just a square pad; therefore, I never have. I could show her this thread and then she would start shouting in Dutch about how much she hates COTH again. She has a very “work with what you have, get it done, and don’t listen to the holistic couch coaches” attitude.
[QUOTE=chestnuthunter;7437993]
Merciful heavens. All OP wanted was an explanation of different saddle pads and how they might be used, not an argument about MY tack that works for MY horse. I have a Thinline gel pad, and perhaps if my horse’s topline fills out a little I might use it instead of the fluffy pad.
No, Verhan did not tell me to use a half-pad. I’ve always assumed it was necessary. But, again, using a half-pad is not entirely up to me. If I tacked my horse up in my Verhan and just a square dressage pad and went to ride, my mom would have a fit. She does not allow me to ride in just a square pad; therefore, I never have. I could show her this thread and then she would start shouting in Dutch about how much she hates COTH again. She has a very “work with what you have, get it done, and don’t listen to the holistic couch coaches” attitude.[/QUOTE]
But your post wasn’t “how they might be used” it’s that “you need to own these because every horse will need them, hard stop.”
Personally, my mother stopped ordering me what to do when I was oh, I dunno, 16, but clearly everyone’s experience varies.
As for her ranting and background in riding, the area of the world you learned to ride in has nothing to do with how good you are, sorry, nor how educated you are. Things change…here in America, in Germany, in England, EVERYWHERE. In any vintage fox hunting photo you see, they are riding without any saddle pads at all! That was the fashion in the show hunter ring as well for a while.
As for the “holistic couch coaches” comment…well, perhaps you should enlighten your mother. There are some BIG names on this board, from all discipline, even if they don’t proclaim it loudly. Not to mention a good six or seven professional, certified saddle fitters.
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