Shock absorbing pads

[mydogs]

Does anyone have a shock absorbing pad (saddle pad or half pad) that they use and love?

My saddle doesn’t fit my horse 100% perfectly because him and I are both hard to fit sizes, but it isn’t a horrible fit either. Unfortunately, getting a new saddle isn’t in the budget just yet (thanks vet bills!) and this was the best, used saddle that fit that I could find (but I am still keeping an eye out for another if it happens to appear). Maybe next year after taxes if I am still leasing this horse. So, I would like to look into trying a shock absorbing pad that might help him reduce any discomfort the saddle might be causing since he does have a lot of movement in his back.

I am currently using a ChrisT half pad with shims, so I would really like to find a saddle pad with the shock absorbing material. Thinline half pads didn’t fit my saddle well.

I saw the acavallo saddle pads and thought about giving that a try.

And yes, I am working with a saddle fitter. My saddle gets checked at least every 3-4 months and has been checked by 3 different people (saddle fitter, owner of the saddle company, and my chiropractor who used to fit saddles).

[PrincessPonies]

I guess it depends on how much you want to spend but I’ve uses Thinline, Ecogold and Ogilvy. I’ve liked all of them and have used all on many horses. The Thinline won’t affect fit of a saddle but does offer some help with shock. The Ogilvy is memory foam and I found it realived pressure points. And the Ecogold is impact foam and very similar to the Ogilvy but better for impact shock. I’ve loves all three and still own all three. However my current horse likes the Ecogold the best.
It should also be noted there are many other memory foam pads out there, I got one in Canada that my horse loved more than the Ogilvy before I got the Ecogold. It was just the local tack shop brand.

[alibi_18]

If there is space, and the saddle is even, I would more like put a Mattes sheepskin half pad with a gullet channel.

I also like my thick felt/leather Devoucoux half pad for shock absorbtion. Delgrange/CWD/Butet, from the top of my head, make those too.

[theresak]

I would also recommend the Mattes to help with saddle fit (although I prefer Thinline for shock absorption). Get the Mattes with the pockets for shims, then have your saddle fitter fit the pad and saddle to the horse - my fitter actually flocked my Mattes pad to get a better fit than just shims.

[myhorsefaith]

I’ve recently purchased LeMieux Prosorb (the sheepskin dressage square) and my horse loves it, so now I have a black one for schooling and a white one for shows. I’ve also used a prolite pad and thinline, both shimmable- I liked the thinline until I got my hands on the prolite.

[CanteringCarrot]

A Prolite pad that’s shimmable would work. They put a fair amount of research into developing their products. I was able to get a gently used one off of eBay for a good price.

I also have an Acavallo gel pad. No riser on it (you can choose none, front, middle, or rear) and very thin but I mostly bought it for its “stick” because I have a horse that the saddle moves on a bit, even when correctly fitted. This pad alleviated that and I think these gel pads have come a long way from what they used to be. The only think is you can’t move and remove shims. On the Prolite, you can.

[staceyk]

Hi, The right pad will depend on the fit problem you are having, but I do like the Grandeur pads for slightly software than thinline material embedded into a pad. It also has a “vented” spine so air circulates nicely. https://www.cheshirehorse.com/future-ii-dressage-square-pad

[yaya]

@staceyk

Hi, The right pad will depend on the fit problem you are having, but I do like the Grandeur pads for slightly software than thinline material embedded into a pad. It also has a “vented” spine so air circulates nicely. https://www.cheshirehorse.com/future-ii-dressage-square-pad

I just dug out my Grandeur pad that I’ve had in storage for about 16 years. I want to use it for shock absorption on my horse whose saddle is a little close in the withers because its thinner than adding a thinline half pad. I’m hoping it’ll help until the saddle fitter comes.