Built in half pad or separate half pad?

[Jess318]

Hi!
I may be totally overthinking this, but am wondering if people have a preference of using an all purpose saddle pad with a sheepskin half pad on top OR a pad with the sheepskin half pad built into it? Is there actually a difference? And am I making any sense? Haha I can't figure out if there's a way to show pictures of what I'm thinking of.
If I got a half pad separately, is it advisable to get real sheepskin and not faux?

 

[domane]

As long as your saddle is fitted correctly to cope with the thickness of either, it's purely a personal choice. Neither is incorrect....unless your saddle pinches!!

 

[Bodshi]

I have a treeless saddle so used to use a sheepskin half pad with shims, on top of my normal numnah to get the correct balance. I thought a full pad with sheepskin and shimmable pockets would be the way forward, as less messing about getting numnah, sheepie and saddle all lined up correctly. However because I had one with pockets underneath I found the seam along the pocket openings rubbed my horse's back so that was a waste of money! Pad + sheepie is quite a lot of thickness so as @domane says, you need to make sure your saddle is still the correct fit with all that bulk underneath it.