Speak to me of comfort half pads...thinline, sheepskin, Ecogold...

[Keg-A-Bacchus]

Well I did it! Finally picked one! As I could not find a single review that didnt say “It’s amazing my horse has never gone better” I bought…the Ecogold Triple Protection pad! I will report back when we use it!!! If it doesn’t work we’ll go with Prolite!

Ecogold users, can you place it directly on the back or only over a pad? We’re trying a Roma Protec Riser to lift the saddle up higher in the front. Would you go pad, Ecogold riser, saddle? Thank you for ALL the help! Really helped me make my decision and I will report back!! Fingers crossed!!

[KateKat]

So? Update?

[Keg-A-Bacchus]

Still waiting impatiently for it! LOL Hopefully it will be here by the weekend!

[esdressage]

My Ecogold came and I rode in it for the first time today. I love it! My mare worked well, it fits my saddle and her beautifully, and I can feel her back through it beautifully while it still offers really nice protection. I’m really happy

keg - I hope you like yours as well when it arrives!!!

[eventer_mi]

Add me to the Ecogold fan club.

I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t put it directly on the horse’s back. The bottom of the pad (if you got the Triple Protection half-pad) is a fleecy-like black material that looks like it would absorb sweat pretty well. I use mine on top of a thin saddle pad, but that’s because I want it to stay clean. You should be able to put it right on your horse’s/pony’s back.

Btw, I have an UltraThinline with full fleece, an Ecogold Triple Protection halfpad, a SaddleRight pad, and a Corrector pad. The only two my boy seems happy with are the Ecogold (for jumping) and the Corrector (for dressage, because I have to lift the back a tad). I’ve tried combinations of all the others and he tells me he’s not happy by staying hollow through sitting trot.

[Ibex]

Me too! I tried out an Ecogold Triple Protection pad. I’m a total skeptic of these things, and ONLY ordered it because I could send it back.

Horse has never gone better in her life…

[Keg-A-Bacchus]

It just came and I’m so excited!! Of course now I work all weekend and can’t try it until Monday! Grrrrr! But all these reviews sound great and I had Mr. Keg-to-be test it on my leg and even with one finger with as hard as he could push it still felt like a general light pressure over a large area! Exactly what I’m hoping for!

[Keg-A-Bacchus]

UPDATE: Well, it wasn’t the magical pad I had hoped for but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. We are now leaning towards a physical issue. She went from the easiest happiest horse I’d ever started to a rushing or stopping disaster…literally over night. We realized her saddle had started sliding forward and was probably pinching her badly. So, saddle fit. Still slipping. Again. Still slipping. Shim it. Still slipping. Non-slip pad. Still slipping. New saddle…GREAT for 2 rides. Third ride…back to rushing and stopping. This was my fourth ride in the new saddle and I added the Ecogold. Still rushing and stopping. Heavy sigh. I was sooooo hoping that perhaps this pad would eliminate any discomfort if that was the problem. I’m now thinking something else MUST be going on. The fitter/massage therapist is coming to the rescue for an evaluation hopefully within 2 weeks. I’m just going to go back to the beginning and do just ground work until we figure this out. She’s a very sweet willing mare who blew us away with the ease of starting her. She was happily walk/trot/cantering away on the trails in under a dozen backings. Then about ride 25 all hell broke loose. Throw in a change of barns, a sand indoor instead of a grass outdoor and a slipping saddle all at once and I have NO idea what the trigger was/is. And perhaps it’s just anticipation of pain and not still pain itself. So the hunt for my happy, rhythmic, willing little girl continues. But her rushing even on the longe prior to work and two well fit saddles is telling me something is really going on. No signs of lameness though.

But the pad is well made and I will still use it regularly when we get going again! It really seems like it would be soooooo comfortable!!!

[esdressage]

Have you had the vet out?

[Keg-A-Bacchus]

A basic exam and check teeth. Nothing obvious was found enough to point us in any direction. I didn’t pursue it heavily because of all the more likely possibilities that it could be. I gave her most of December off because it was frozen ground and we couldn’t ride. So in January I moved her to a new barn. The first ride was the day the problems started. But it was 1) A new barn 2) First time in sand arena…and an indoor at that 3) Saddle was now slipping forward 4) Stallion on property caused her to fly into heat 5) New herd dynamic and she is no longer low man

SO…I started picking my way through the above reasons as she does not seem sore or off at all. Flexes fine. Can touch her nose to both hips fine. No dropping or soreness when we firmly palpate the withers and back. No swelling. Just a very confused and frustrated mom!

I’m going back to the beginning and reperfect her groundwork and lunging as she seems nervous even at that step. I wouldn’t have ridden at all if her groundwork wasn’t perfect but we had to try new saddles and pads to find out. My only real head scratched is WHY was she perfect for 2 rides in her new non-slipping saddle and then the third and fourth horrendous. I can’t figure that one out. Grrrrrrrr.

[Keg-A-Bacchus]

UPDATE!!! I’m an Ecogold believer! I had the fitter out and we got a different saddle. IMMEDIATE improvement in pony who would only hit the brakes or race forward hollow and like a sewing machine. She loved it, moved forward and found her rhythym. Then after a few good rides I added the Ecogold for curiosity. OMG she lifted her back, stretched into contact and we had the most beautiful ride! Next ride: no Ecogold…good but not the same. Next ride: Ecogold and AMAZING! Then we tried it on a back sore hunter pony who’s saddle is less than ideal. HUGE difference! So…the results are in. It WORKS! I’m on my 5th Ecogold ride in a row and I can’t stop smiling up there!

[KateKat]

Thanks for the update! I’ve still been on the fence about buying it (because I do I REALLY need another $200 half pad?)

Apparently answer is yes

[easyrider]

Thanks for the update!

[Stacie]

ecogold pinches my horse

We bought the ecogold on the advice of my saddle fitter due to it’s shape and (supposed) heat wicking ability. The underneath of the pad is a synthetic grippy material and boy does it grip. So much so that it pinched the skin of the horse. When we took the saddle off after a particualrly hot day, her skin had dips and folds in it and has HOT HOT HOT. I never had a problem with heat with the mattes and coolmax pads.

So, I’ve got two lightly used pads if anyone wants em

[Happyhorselady]

I like Ogilvy for making a saddle fit and for general comfort and style but I don’t really get how memory foam is shock absorbing… I also like the the laminate cell half pads which are nothing fancy but do the trick for shock absorption and are a happy medium between gel and memory foam!

[Countrywood]

I just got my half pad yesterday, rode in it today, and am in love! I got an Air Comfort half pad…very reasonable ( $44 at tack store) and best of all IT REALLY WORKS. It made my horses’s bouncy trot so much easier to sit, yet it is lightweight and I can still feel him, he seems to like it as well. I had tried thinline pads previously and was underwhelmed to say the least.

[DressageChic2]

i went through half pad drama recently, just felt like my 4yo was wanting a little more between the saddle and himself, just for shock absorption as the saddle fits great.

i wanted an invictus pad but the £££ made me gulp, so went for this:
http://www.premierequine.co.uk/shockproof-half-pad-c2x12201915

and am REALLY pleased. My back is just a little better, and he is just that bit looser and softer, particularly in upward transitions.