Saddle pad slipping

When I jump anything over 3ft, my jump saddle pad slips backwards and bunches up by the end of my ride even though the saddle stays in place. The point of origin of the slipping seems to be around the girth loop on the saddle pad, so I think it may be from my leg/boot…? It doesn’t happen when I use my XC pad (only really use this for clinics/shows). Any recommendations for schooling pads that won’t slip? Open to any price, but obviously the lower, the better.

Ogilvy baby pads are all I’ll use anymore. They do not move. They are not cheap but will last forever :slight_smile:

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Tighten your girth.

If the saddle isn’t slipping why tighten the girth more?
I had one saddle pad that would do this. The fabric had a slight sheen to it so it was slippery. I sold it.

I like the some of the Roma saddle pads.

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A well fitting saddle will still stay in place sometimes.

Whenever I have a “migrating” saddle pad, it’s almost always because my girth could have been a hole or two tighter. I use a variety of pads, from Rambo/polypads, to thin quilted types, I cut the bullet loops off but use the girth loops. I rarely use a nonslip pad. If I use a thinline ultra, it stays in place regardless of the underpad.

Just wanted to point out, before OP spends money on new pads, that she might just tighten her girth another hole after mounting.

It may also be a sign your saddle needs a fit check.

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Like AJ said, could be the girth is not tight enough. It may be you are in between girth holes with this pad and you just need something slightly thinner or thicker.

When I ride my horse in my cheap schooling pads, my girth will tighten snug onto the third hole and we have no problems. With some thicker or longer pads, the girth wants to snug up tight between the second and third hole. Because I hate too tight girths, I’ll let it fall down to the second hole instead of cranking for the third. If I’m just hacking or my horse is being lazy the pad stays in place. But it my horse is hot/we’re working hard, that pad will slip back. So I just bought more of the cheap pads for him (win-win!).

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my experience is that when my pad slips, my leg is out of place. I ride with pads with no billet or girth attachments and as long as my girth is snug, they stay in place.

For a pad suggestion, since that is what was asked, I live by the lemieux pads. They wear well, grip perfectly and fit nicely. Little pricier then your average pads, but well worth the investment. We have one ecogold (that we also love) but our all purpose and dressage pads are all lemieux, and my xtry pad will be one of the new carbon mesh lemieux’s.

I have done everything the same, and always had saddle pad slippage. With the lemieux pads, nothing slips.

I love sheepskin pads. They stay put no matter what. I had a few really cheap plain pads that just slip out the back door 20 minutes into the ride. It’s so annoying. I’d rather pay a little more to have sheepskin. ROMA makes one that is half the price of Mattes and just as nice.

This is my favorite non-slip pad.

https://www.premierequine.co.uk/tech-grip-anti-slip-gp-jump-saddle-pad-c2x21435904

I bought it at their pre-Christmas sale when they had 35% off everything. I haven’t found the plain LeMieux pads to be particularly anti-slip, although they do make an anti-slip pad that I haven’t tried.

I also have a Horze pad with the little silicone dots that works pretty well.

Another thing to consider- your schooling pad may not be cut high enough in the wither-- the standard off the shelf AP pads tend not to. As such- it rubs and moves back to accommodate his back over the jumps. Likely your XC pad has a bigger/taller drop for the wither. Compare the topline shape of your schooling pad and XC pad. Then shop accordingly. (Griffin Nuumed has some great pads for a high wither profile, and you can find them on Amazon-- but there are other more stateside options too.)

Thanks so much to everyone for your thoughts and recommendations! I am suspicious that it is not my girth since this issue doesn’t happen with my XC pad when my girth is on its regular holes–and XC is where my horse is actually moving and testing the equipment the most.

I think this comment is actually hitting the nail on the head. My horse does have a high wither and my trainer just commented to me the other day about how she liked one of my high wither cut dressage pads for this very reason. My AP and jumping pads are almost all just regular square cut. I went ahead and ordered a Le Mieux to try…and for folks who love Le Mieux but not the price, I have been told by a friend who runs a consignment tack business that the Prof Choice imitation Le Mieux pads are just as good as the Le Mieux. If I like the Le Mieux, I may pick up a PC version just for comparison, and to have an extra!