Try some laundry blueing - might be the only thing to save you!
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You could also spray with peroxide solution and leave it out in the sun
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Carbona Color Run Remover from Walmart, Amazon, etc.
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Update: I soaked in warm water with oxiclean whitening powder out in the sunshine for 6 hours, then ran it through a cycle in the washing machine and it came out sparkling clean. Crisis averted! Thanks for all the input.
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Yes! I use this, too.
I use fresh pads every week – so every 5 rides. I use this rubber brush and brush off my pads after every ride. It they don’t come clean in my home washer, I take the wet pad and spray Dawn Powerspray and lightly scrub with one of my old horse brushes and re-wash and they come out perfect.
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Has anyone seen any ACTUAL damage to the washing machine or the next load of laundry by washing horse stuff? I know it’s something many spouses or parents are afraid of, so ban the practice, but I have no one to tell me not to wash saddle pads in the washer, and I’ve never had a problem. I don’t even do anything special before the next load. I had a Frigidaire front loading washer which lasted me 25 years, and now have a Maytag top load with an agitator.
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NO damage to the machine. If you wash something with a lot of loose dirt whether that’s hairy shedding season pads or socks covered in hay and shavings, you will need to wipe the tub out after. Washers can handle towels and bath mats etc that are as heavy as pads. One pad might unbalance and thump in spin cycle but so can a pillow or bath mat.
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If whatever it is has a lot of dirt and hair, you could create a clog, but if you dust stuff off with a rubber brush prior to putting it in there, then that helps. I do that during shedding season especially.
I’ve not had pads cause any issue, or boots, or wraps. Blankets could if you don’t cover up the metal pieces (and just sounds annoying AF in there 
). The heavy front snaps on my Rambo blankets banging around in the front loader wouldn’t be the best thing, IMO. For blankets I do a rinse off outside first. For coolers, I just try to get the hair off.
But no, I’ve never experienced any damage.
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We have an old front load and sometimes some hair builds up in the space between the door and drum, but I wipe it out and it’s fine. My husband is meticulous about his referee uniforms, so if they were getting horse hair on them I would certainly hear about it!
We wash dog stuff (blankets & towels) all the time that are WAY worse, and our front loader (and 90-yr-old plumbing) handle it just fine.
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I’ve been washing my saddle pads in the same LG front load machine since we bought this house 8 years ago. Have had zero issues, other than needing to wipe the hair out. I always wash them on the “bulky” cycle. We end up with more hair from washing the dog blankets/beds than the saddle pads, frankly.
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