Saddles discussed already---what about pads??

[Luther]

Oh, heavens, yes! Not only are all our saddle pads clean and dry, our horses’ backs stay WAY cooler.

We can run 7-9 head through training on a slow day, which would mean loads of saddle pads to own, and then to wash each day.

With the No-Sweats, we have ONE saddle pad per horse, assigned to that horse, and it never gets sweaty or dirty. Some of them are 3 & 4 years old, but they look and work like brand-new.

The best thing is their working temperatures: our horses’ backs don’t get any hotter than the rest of their bodies now. Even with four or five hours work. The No-Sweat has the sweat which used to get stuck up in the saddle pads now running right down their sides. It takes the heat with it, and our backs are much cooler.
Even in the summers.

I like 'em. Over 100 horses have been thru here since we got them, and not one has had a problem with the No-Sweat.

[mustangrider]

I now use a SaddleRight pad and my horse loves it. Yes, it’s expensive but if horse is happy, I’m happy. I’ve gone through so many pads I could start my own tack shop. The SaddleRight is guaranteed not to compress or harden with age; if it does, they will replace it for free.

[gothedistance]

Oh its so simple! Really! What “felts” wool is two things: pressure and water. Agitation quickens the felting process, but it also makes the felt “harder” than the way I’m going to give you. So…here’s the quickest and easiest way to make your own felted saddle pad in the classic western shape:

Secure for yourself a whole (brown shopping) bag of wool that has been carded (cleaned and combed out) flat. It looks rather like the long layers of first aid cotton that comes off those rolls. Take a pillowcase (percale or flannel) and gently start to layer the carded wool inside. Place each layer in a different direction from the preceeding one: ie: the first layer of wool stretches from front to back, the second layer side to side, the next layer front to back, etc., until the pillowcase is plumped thick with wool. It will feel like the most luxurious down pillow you’ve every held!

Place the pillowcase on your horses back (no underpad) and put your saddle on top. As you girth up the pillow will compress, but not totally. Now … go ride. Your horse will love the feel of the fluffy wool, and your weight (and horsie’s sweat) will start the felting process to custom fit the wool to the horse’s back. As the wool becomes more compacted, add a layer or two of new combed wool, and continue using the developing pad until it is felted to the thickness and scope you like. You can then discard the pillowcase and just ride with the wool pad.

At that point you will find you can’t pull the wool apart – to trim it to your saddle you’ll have to cut it. However, I like the square shape because it holds my side packs away from my horse’s side. I use a light english cotton pad overtop of my felted pad to protect the flaps of my saddle from sweat, but find I have to change my pads at every hold because they are sopping wet where they touch the horse. The felt pad, however, stays wonderfully dry!

The second method is to put it in a pillow case, stitch the top closed and quilt the body of the pillowcase by hand to hold the wool in place. Now toss in the washing machine with hot water and Ivory Flakes. The heat and water and agitation will quickly felt the wool. Wring it out and let air dry – don’t throw it in the dryer unless you want it to felt all the way down into a mini-pad!

PS. I have my own sheep, so I’m always felting something or other for my riding pleasure. The endurance vets love seeing a homemade wool pad used for endurance riding and are VERY complimentary about how wonderful they are for the horse’s back.

[Luther]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-title”>quote:</div><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-content”>Originally posted by missyclare:
I’m in the process of trying to find a pad for a Synergist saddle. I too am choking on the prices.Since I’m in Canada, $218 gets to well over $300 by the time it gets to me. I’ve researched everywhere to try and find a pad that will fit this saddle and haven’t had any luck, except at the Synergist site. I’ve been looking at the Supracor Endurance Cool Pad. I asked some questions, got a short answer, sent a couple of more questions and haven’t heard anything back…getting nervous. I need customer care under these circumstances. For those of you who have Supracor, could you please tell me what kind of material is on the top and bottom of these pads? Also, being 3/4" thick, will that change the fit of the saddle? I also wondered if someone could point me to the Skito pad site and to where the No-Sweat Vent pads are sold. Thankyou!!! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I was at endurance.net and found this Canadian dealer for No-Sweat vent pads:

http://www.canadiantack.com

Canadian Trail House

[CanterQueen]

Skito. I don’t leave the barn with it!

[system]

I use the Equipedic pad. It’s the best pad out there. I tried Supracor, it broke down after a while and didn’t really conform to my horse’s back. Also used the Skito but it slipped like crazy and the foam didn’t really work al that well. The Equipedic doesn’t slip from front to back or side to side. It is really easy to clean. I just brush the felt bottom before I ride with a rubber mitt just like I curry comb my horse before I put my pad and saddle on. My horse moves better with this pad… significanlty. His back is drier than the rest of his body after a 20-30 mile ride. I know other riders who absolutely love this pad and they are all top endurance riders, Heathe & Jeremy Reynolds, Cia reis, Alex North, Melody Wong, Jonathan Bowman, etc. When I spoke to them they all said the same thing. The pad is great. It’s the only pad they use. It does what it says and their horse’s perform better with it. Also I didn’t find that it held moisture more than the Skito pad. it always seems to dry out over night.

[Eireamon]

gothedistance a question if I may?
When you say cleaned and carded wool do you mean it has to be scoured?
I have my own sheep and although I don’t know how to card I have seen it done and am sure I could learn without too much difficulty.
The felting process is definately within my abilty I am sure!
So do you mean just cleaned as in bits taken out or cleaned as in scoured professionally.
I am looking forward to making my own pads.
Thanks so much for letting us know the ‘recipe’

[system]

I stumbled across this forum. I have to agree with the others about the Equipedic pad. It’s great. It works better than any othe pad I had including Supracor, ProChoice and Skito. Worth every penny!

[Shadowsrider]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-title”>quote:</div><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-content”>Originally posted by gdolapp:
I use a reinsman contoured tacky too pad
works great even when horse is sweating
I have no problems with it I also use
a split showme pad and my horses like either
or. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I agree. I use this too, must get the contoured ones, though, I wouldn’t get any pad that wasn’t contoured.

I also use the endurance contoured plain tacky pad, sometimes with a simple saddle blanket to spruce it up a bit. About the only place I’ve ever seen this one sold, though, is in the National Bridle Shop catalog.

Since I do most of my trail riding in the mountains, I wouldn’t have a pad that didn’t have the tacky bottom, at least.

[bewitchedarabians]

cool! Thanks for the instructions gothedistance! Will have to give that a try…the sheep at work are “shedding” like crazy, clumps of wool everywhere! Had wondered if there was anything I could do with it, lol! Will also have to put in my request to save some for me when they shear the flock…

[marta]

these prices make my head spin!
and then to add to my confusion, an endurance rider i recently spoke to told me that she uses regular cotton saddle pads!
so what do i do?
i don’t have $ to burn but i don’t want my mare to come back w/ welts. although, she’s never had a back problem and we use regular cotton pads. somehow, i feel like it’ll be ‘different’ at our first 25 and that i should use a ‘better’ pad.

[wendy]

my problem with these pads is they are so expensive you just can’t buy one of each type and try them to see what works best for your horse. Or at least I can’t. I wish someone would do some solid research.

[Halcyon_Days]

I have a Skito and Supracor, love them both! They both come english or western, supracor is more breathable, easier to clean (just hose off) the skito is great for shock absorbtion, and some horses do prefer the fleece bottom of the skito.

[A_P]

My TWH gelding sweats like a pig. I use a Dixie Midnight pad under a regular pad, and highly recommend them. They are a plastic mesh, so the sweat runs out from uner them, keeping you regular pad dry. The DM pad can be simply hosed off, dries quickly.

[Bogie]

It sounds like your saddle may have the wrong size tree for your horse. In my experience, it’s very difficult to adjust saddle fit appropriately if the tree is the wrong size. If the tree is too wide (which it sounds like), you can add a pad that will take up more of the “extra” space, but you may be creating other pressure points. It’s better, however, than having a saddle that’s too narrow, as there’s no way to fix that.

Better solution than adding extra pads: get a saddle fitter to look at your saddle. If the tree is the right size, fit can be altered by adding/removing stuffing from the saddle. This will probably run you $75-$125, much less than buying a new saddle. The Stubben’s are good quality saddles and are flocked with wool, so they are adjustable.

If a saddle fitter tells you that the tree is the wrong size and the saddle cannot be adjusted to fit your horse, you would be best off selling the saddle and finding one that works. Riding a horse in a saddle that doesn’t fit will result in a horse with a sore back and may cause behavioral problems like bucking.

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-title”>quote:</div><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-content”>Originally posted by rgeiger101:
Hello everyone, I am new to this site and have a question that maybe someone can help me with.

I recently got a new horse. He is high-withered and my saddle sits too low on his withers. I ride English and my saddle is a Steuben Siegfried. I cannot afford a new saddle right now, and thought someone would be able to suggest a pad that will help get the saddle to sit off his withers. I mostly trail ride these days, but am also back taking lessons in order to get more in-synch with my horse quicker.

Any help would be most appreciated.

Thank you,
Ruth </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

[KarenC]

AP, I’ve been thinking about getting a Dixie Midnight pad. What pad do you use over it? I was thinking if I got a Dixie Midnight, I would save money in the long run because I could use inexpensive pads over the Dixie.

[system]

Forgot to say on the Supracor ones…you can buy them with covers that have wool against the horse

[system]

even if there was a to standardize testing in same horse, repetitive conditions (like temp. under pad)…unfortuntaely it still comes down somwwhat to personal preference, region and climate and each horse/rider combo is different.
It is looking like one mare I have just does not like anything synthetic like the DM pad or supracor…others are fine with it. IT’s going to be somewhat trial and error with each horse

[marta]

i know someone w/ sheep. how do i make my own pad?
so you use felted wool on your rides… so they breath well and let the sweat eveporate?

[katarine]

We use Dixie Midnights under wool navajos. really help wick that sweat off. Mr Kat’s horse used to sweat up all over under saddle, since we added the DM’s he doesn’t get as hot- that pad is pulling so much sweat and heat away from him, he’s staying cooler.

www.dixiemidnight.com