Therapeutic/Gel saddle pads...any thoughts?

[iluvhorses28]

I am thinking of buying a therapeutic saddle (western) pad for my TB. She is an older mare and I am concerned about her back and the shock on it, especially since my little one does small jumps in her English class.

Has anyone ever tried these, and do they really work??? Many of them claim to vent out moisture from under the saddle... others claim that they are better for the horse's back...

I have always ridden on a Navajo pad and has a cut out at one end. Being the horse I purchased is an older horse, I was advised by my RI to look into therapeutic pads.

Between my daughter and I we do very lite riding for lessons and some trails. I don't know whether that is necessarily needed...but I do want to make my horse less uncomfortable if possible as her withers dips slightly due to age.

Please help! :(

[KarinUS]

so what kind of saddle are you riding in?

[iluvhorses28]

Just the regular wool or navajo-- they seem fine to me, but then again I am not the one carrying the saddle and people at a trot, canter and jump....Just concerned about her back....

[KarinUS]

I am wondering about the saddle itself, not the pad. What kind of saddle do you use on the pad?

[iluvhorses28]

Sorry...its a western saddle for me...but my daughter will also use an English saddle on her....so BOTH are used.

[KarinUS]

Okay. I would probably use a pad to match each saddle. YOu may not fidn one that fits both. On the Western saddle we were told a plain felt pad would be best but in the end we splurged on a sheepskin pad (http://www.equinecomfort.com/pads.html) by EquineComfort and she seemed to like that better. Sheepskin is a natural fiber.
What's best in your case though may largely depend on how well you saddle fits. :)
For my English saddle I had the Fleeceworks (http://www.fleeceworks.com/) Sheepskin panel pad but since my English saddle fits so well it may actually have been a little overkill. I now just use a nice flannel pad by Roma. :)

[KarinUS]

PS: check you private messages! ;)

[iluvhorses28]

Thanks!

I will lookin to the pads further. Boy-- is this whole horse ownership A LOT of work! :D BUT FUN!

[Peace]

My saddler advises against anything but a thin pad of natural material. He really hates the gel pads!

I bought a fairly thick pad with the waffly neoprene next to the horse, thinking, since Bram has a dipped back, that a thicker pad would be a good thing. Turns out it was constricting at the withers and making him sore. :(

[iluvhorses28]

My saddler advises against anything but a thin pad of natural material. He really hates the gel pads!

I bought a fairly thick pad with the waffly neoprene next to the horse, thinking, since Bram has a dipped back, that a thicker pad would be a good thing. Turns out it was constricting at the withers and making him sore. :(


So maybe just a regular thick sheepskin pad will work for my mare? She does have a dipped back.

I am soooo confused which to go with....

[KarinUS]

Not necessarily. It really depends on how the saddle fits. Think of wearing nice thick cushy socks in your ski boots. Comfy, right? Now think of those same nice thick cushy socks in your dress boots. It would squeeze you. :)

[Peace]

I cheat and buy the pads with the fake fleece on one side. :) Next time, though, I'm getting a cutback pad, which is what your Navajo pad sounds like it is. Gives more room for those high withers! :)

Have you checked around to see if there's a saddle-fitter in your area? I looked a long time but finally found one near me. As long as the saddle fits properly, then there's no more than about a pound of weight on any one part of the saddle. So you don't need a thick pad. :)

[Bananaman]

You should always find a saddle fitter that you trust to look at your saddles before using any type of pad. If you over-pad your saddle then you're in danger of making it too narrow and pinching on the horse's back. :(

Having said that, my horse's saddle was fitted very slightly wide as he had significant muscle wastage behind his withers when I bought him and I was advised to ride him in a Prolite Wide relief pad. The pad fits the saddle to his back, but because of its construction allows him to work and develop muscle into it. The flock of a saddle would not allow that.

My fitter has now advised me to remove the pad, so long as he's ridden in a natural wool numnah. However, she's advised me to keep it in place when doing SJ / XC due to the different way that the horse goes in those disciplines.

[iluvhorses28]

Will try that...hard to figure it all out :eek: especially when you are a first timer owning a horse :o

[Wally]

I too don't like gell pads, just find a saddle that fits well, I like serge panels, then put a thin cotton numnah under it.

Any saddle maker worth is salt will have pressure tested a saddle under normal and shock loading.

[katefarmer]

Just talking about english saddles now, a lot of saddlers don't like gel pads because they are too soft. They don't allow the horse's back muscles to develop properly, and existing muscle tends to soften (not desirable for an older horse!). A lot of riders (including me! :D ) don't like them because they give a very "dead" feel in the seat - like you're sitting in a bowl of jelly and can't get through to the horse's back.

I have 2 saddlers, both of whom are very reputable and I respect enormously, and they have completely different opinions on things under the saddle. One is more "trad" and says there should only be a thin saddle cloth under the saddle. If the saddle fits it fits, and if it doesn't it doesn't, and putting a pad under it is like putting and extra pair of socks on if your boots don't fit. The other saddler is more "high tech" and while he agrees about the fit and that if the saddle doesn't fit a pad don't help, he also says a sheepskin or firm foam pad under the saddle gives better weight distribution. (Apparently a recent study conducted for Stübben showed that a plain sheepskin numnah spreads and evens the the weight distribution by something like 50%) He says all a correctly fitted pad does is lift the saddle and does not affect the basic fit - and in his opinion horses tend to be happier with the rider sitting a little higher.

In your case, I think a foam pad or sheepskin would be fine and helpful - but would probably avoid a gel pad.

Cheers

Kate

[KarinUS]

I cheat and buy the pads with the fake fleece on one side. :)

Oh, Peace, you are cheating yourself. Fake fleece is totally different from real sheepskin. You should try one. :)