ZOMG - western saddle pads! What a bewildering array! How to choose?

[MES]

Something to keep in mind while shopping for western saddle pads/blankets: while a thin pad may be fine under an English saddle, because the saddle itself is well padded, a western saddle is not padded. It may have some nice fleece on the bottom but that is not the same as padding.

A western saddle pad provides the padding so make sure you don’t just try to get away with a folded Navajo blanket. You will have a sore horse.
I have a Pro Choice saddle blanket and of three horses, only one likes it. My former trainer had a rack of them sitting there unused because the horses didn’t like them. Another barn I went to used them all the time. It’s hard shelling out $100 for a pad horses don’t like. But they do hold up well if your horse likes them.
I have several Skito pads that I love. The inner foam core can be removed so you can wash the entire pad cover. Going from the mind-set of English=able to wash the pads over to western=not so much washing going on there, is a hard step. The Skitos make the transition easier for those who want to wash their pads. I usually just call them and see if they have any pads in stock, you do not need to custom order if you don’t want to.

For my show set-up, I use a totally different padding system. I have a thin non-slip pad, covered by a 1/2 wool pad, covered by my Mayatex colored blanket.

Also remember, a blanket is not the same as a pad. A blanket is thin like something you could use under an English saddle and should be used over a bottom layer of padding, like a wool pad. A pad is thick (and spendy) and used alone.

FWIW, I went through a lot of western-style saddles. Buying and re-selling. Thinking I needed something “western, but non-western”, like what you are looking at now. Sometimes the best thing is a good old-fashion Circle Y Park n Ride. My Circle Y trail saddle is leather but only weighs around 26 lbs. My show saddle weighs 40 lbs.

A major selling point for me with the Skito is not only are they very well made, but you can wash the outer cover. You can also order different thickness of the inner pad.

[pAin_t_Misbehavin]

[QUOTE=MES;7047081]

A major selling point for me with the Skito is not only are they very well made, but you can wash the outer cover. You can also order different thickness of the inner pad.[/QUOTE]

That is good to know, thanks. I remember looking at Skito pads years ago, when I was riding my (now retired first) horse in a western-style endurance saddle. I’ll have another look at them. I have the cutback Diamond wool pad already, but I kind of think I’ll need something else - what if I want to ride again before the wool pad dries out?

[SuckerForHorses]

A western saddle pad provides the padding so make sure you don’t just try to get away with a folded Navajo blanket. You will have a sore horse.

Actually, you shouldn’t “need” padding to keep your horse from getting sore. A saddle that fits the horse appropriately should keep the horse from getting sore. If the saddle fits, a folded navajo blanket’s purpose should be to keep the bottom of the saddle clean.

[katarine]

Some navajos are like rest stop toilet paper. Nearly so thin as to be nonexistent.

Others are quite well made and have a good bit of shape and ‘cush’ to them.

[aktill]

[QUOTE=SuckerForHorses;7048222]
Actually, you shouldn’t “need” padding to keep your horse from getting sore. A saddle that fits the horse appropriately should keep the horse from getting sore. If the saddle fits, a folded navajo blanket’s purpose should be to keep the bottom of the saddle clean.[/QUOTE]

Agreed, you can ride a well fitted western saddle padless if you like cleaning fleece. Most people use pads to account for the fact a saddle doesn’t really fit properly, likewise a saddle that sores a horse without padding doesn’t fit (or the rider isn’t riding well…which can override the best fit saddle).

Padding has a place in roping saddles to help mitigate shock, not to protect the horse from the saddle not fitting well in the first place.

5 Star pads are my choice for roping saddles, else a thin navajo on something like an endurance saddle works great. Anything non-breathable risks overheating the back. Gel or air are useless at the best of times (flowing away from the area needing support), and will lead to greater back damage since a small amount of unrelenting pressure is more damaging than a shorter, stronger pressure (capillary refill)

[Fillabeana]

Yeah, about the ‘Navajo’ saddle blankets:
An acrylic one can cost $8 new, and is…a great dog bed cover or floor rug. Some of them, you can wash, and can work as a pad liner.

The wool ones, are dense wool and pretty heavy. A doubled one can way eight pounds.

One good trick to see if a ‘saddle blanket’ is appropriate padding or not, is to push a fingernail up through the bottom, if you feel your sharp fingernail through the blanket, not good. If you feel dissipated pressure, that is what you are looking for. Some of the acrylic blankets can dissipate pressure, and can be washed and used as a blanket liner.

If you take a good wool western blanket, doubled, and try to compress it as much as possible, you will find that you can’t compress it any more than, say, a good 1/2" wool felt pad. Try it with a pair of slip-joint pliers. You won’t get the wool compressed thinner than an english fleece pad.

I keep my wool navajo pads pretty clean by blowing dirt of the horse’s backs before I ride. My machine is for show cattle, instead of vacuuming the dirt in, it blows the dirt away. It’s much faster, and I end up with sweaty pads, but not sweaty patches filled with abrasive dirt crusted in them, so it keeps the pads clean.

A good western saddle blanket works fine, especially under a saddle that fits the horse well. Wool is both breathable, heat dissipating and shock absorbing, features that are necessary in a saddle pad or blanket- whether english or western, endurance, aussie, you name it.

A Navajo can indeed be hard to keep clean, but I’d rather have a good wool blanket or pad that I can hose off, vacuum, etc than a thick pad made of 'Herculon" (which is an oleofin synthetic auto upholstery) and acrylic fleece. Those can get impossibly crusty and stinky!

[MES]

You could look at it like this: my work boots fit me pretty well. Probably about as well as a non-custom western saddle is going to fit different horses. I don’t wear thin socks with any of my boots. I wear thicker socks because they feel better with heavy boots.
Your saddle may fit but it would feel better to your horse’s back if you layer a cushion between his back and a hard, heavy saddle with 140 lbs or more of human up there.

I will never believe a horse is comfortable in a western saddle without more padding than a thin blanket or the fleece liner provide. I don’t care how many posts you have here or how long you’ve had your horse.

Think about it. Wear your work boots with thin dress socks. You want to try that?

[Amym600]

I use a woolback pad in endurance or barrel shape and use my english thinline on top. My thinline is a larger english model so it does double duty under my english and western saddle. If you like thinline don’t be afraid to use it for western riding!

[katarine]

[QUOTE=MES;7048444]
You could look at it like this: my work boots fit me pretty well. Probably about as well as a non-custom western saddle is going to fit different horses. I don’t wear thin socks with any of my boots. I wear thicker socks because they feel better with heavy boots.
Your saddle may fit but it would feel better to your horse’s back if you layer a cushion between his back and a hard, heavy saddle with 140 lbs or more of human up there.

I will never believe a horse is comfortable in a western saddle without more padding than a thin blanket or the fleece liner provide. I don’t care how many posts you have here or how long you’ve had your horse.

Think about it. Wear your work boots with thin dress socks. You want to try that?[/QUOTE]

who suggested anything like that?

[aktill]

[QUOTE=MES;7048444]
You could look at it like this: my work boots fit me pretty well. Probably about as well as a non-custom western saddle is going to fit different horses. I don’t wear thin socks with any of my boots. I wear thicker socks because they feel better with heavy boots.
Your saddle may fit but it would feel better to your horse’s back if you layer a cushion between his back and a hard, heavy saddle with 140 lbs or more of human up there.

I will never believe a horse is comfortable in a western saddle without more padding than a thin blanket or the fleece liner provide. I don’t care how many posts you have here or how long you’ve had your horse.

Think about it. Wear your work boots with thin dress socks. You want to try that?[/QUOTE]

I often do…I’m an engineer who needs to go out into the field often. Boots live in the truck, but I need to wear dress shoes and socks to work. A full day in the boots is fine, and I don’t change socks before I put on cowboy boots to go ride. My shoes fit just fine…they’re not perfect, but my idea of good enough is fit to pretty narrow tolerances.

Likewise with my saddles…I’ve torn down a $5k saddle to adjust bar fit. After that, it fit good enough to ride in dress socks, so to speak. I ride a gaited horse, so believe me, he’d tell me if it wasn’t good enough, and we’ve been out for 8 hours +breaks with no issues.

Your line of thinking is why lots of people buy blankets…because they’re sure their horses must be cold. You’re not hurting anything, so if it makes you feel good, fill yer boots.

[SuckerForHorses]

[QUOTE=MES;7048444]
I will never believe a horse is comfortable in a western saddle without more padding than a thin blanket or the fleece liner provide. I don’t care how many posts you have here or how long you’ve had your horse.[/QUOTE]

That’s fine. Everybody is entitled to an opinion and it doesn’t have to be the same as someone else’s.