The quest for the perfect saddle pad.

HorseHaus features a variety of high-quality saddle pads for dressage, multi-purpose, and jumping saddles. But which is the right pad for your horse?

May it be for schooling, trail riding, endurance, or even rehabbing a horse, the search for the perfect saddle pad is almost as confusing and mysterious as the search for the perfect saddle.

Many riders have a saddle pad that they 'swear by', others try various models to find the one that finally helps solve the horse's back soreness or seems to provide just the right amount of cushioning.

When searching the for the perfect saddle pad, it is important to ask the right question: What does the pad do for my horse and me? Here the criteria in the order of importance:

1. Minimizes friction (!!!)
2. Does not trap heat
3. Wicks sweat away from the horse's skin
4. Adds to the horse AND rider's comfort
5. Protects the horses back from pressure
6. Stays in place

"If your horse’s back is subjected to too much friction, the results can be:

• Muscular soreness

• Damaged or inflamed hair follicles (white spots)

• Calluses and hair loss"

In a survey of a variety of riders, most riders answered: "protect the horse's back from pressure", when asked: "What do you want your saddle pad to do for your horse?".

However, is saddle pressure really the problem? What is putting the pressure on in the first place?

At the Midwest Horse Fair, which is held in Madison every year, I have lots of fun putting my hand under a gel pad and getting hit with a hammer. I enjoy this. Not because I am an undercover masochist, but because it’s fun to experience that IT DOES NOT HURT!

This must mean: If we hammer on the horse’s back with very hard instruments (seat bones?) and lots of force (jump from a tree?) we don’t hurt the horse. At least not if we only hammer once or twice.

Impact Versus Friction

Let's get nerdy: When rider meets horse in the horizontal/vertical alignment of equine and human spine, connected by an interface commonly called saddle>>> which problem do we face?

Unless you are an incredibly tough-boned, unbalanced rider, it will not be impact (as in hammer on gel pad).

The subject of ill fitting saddles aside – you should never attempt to correct an ill fitting saddle with a pad – we’ll need to examine what actually happens when horse, rider, and saddle interact.

For this purpose, we’ll take a quick look at the horse/rider biomechanics in the walk: The horse, a quadruped, has a four-beat walk during which he naturally swings his rump from side to side.

Humans are bipeds and can actually deal quite nicely with the horse’s walk: Following the movement of the horse in a relaxed way - without pushing with hips - alternating the forward movement of the right and left sides of your pelvis to harmoniously engage with the horse’s movement. This way, you are not working against your horse.

Even under the best circumstances, there are still two bodies at work, trying to harmonize in the same movement.

The rider transfers his movement to the horse, if ever so slight, and the horse his movement to the rider.

The result: FRICTION between rider, saddle, and horse's back.

What actually is friction? What does it do to the horse’s back?

You know that when you rub both hands together, they start feeling really hot. If you keep doing it, you’ll get a blister.

If you’d take a folded handkerchief between both hands and try it again, you will not get a blister, because there is less FRICTION on your skin.

The more layers the less friction on your hands. Also: the greater the pressure, the greater the friction force (here is a case for losing those 10lbs.!).

Here a little science:

1. “The force of friction is directly proportional to the applied load. (Amontons' 1st Law)”
2. “When contacting surfaces move relative to each other, the friction between the two surfaces converts kinetic energy into thermal energy, or heat.”
3. "The force of friction is opposite of the direction of motion." 

(This is taken straight from Wikipedia. I am inviting anyone with more scientific knowledge to explain all this a bit better.)

If your horse’s back is subjected to too much friction, the results can be:

• Muscular soreness
• Damaged or inflamed hair follicles (white spots)
• Calluses and hair loss

Now what does all this have to do with saddle blankets, foam or rubber gel pads? Simply said, I have nothing against gel pads that can turn the impact of a hammer descending at 40 miles per hour into a soft caress, but – in my humble opinion – it doesn’t do enough for the horse’s back.

My horse’s back will still be subjected to quite a bit of friction, not speaking of the fact that synthetic materials have a tendency to heat up.

So, what do you want in a saddle pad? You may say…

1. What I want, is a natural, sustainable material that doesn't heat up and wicks moisture away from the horse!
2. What I want is a pad or blanket that minimizes friction: multiple layers or materials that mimic this effect!
3. What I need, is a washable pad, that is easy to care for!
4. And… what I also want is something that cushions my movement in the saddle. Because if I move about less I transfer less movement to the horse’s back in return. Every millimeter counts!

This sounds like a sales job for a new, exciting product. Instead I’d like to get you enthused about a very old exciting product:

The Military Wool Saddle Blanket

The US cavalry and European cavalry forces used folded wool felt blankets for a reason:

• They kept their horses back sound while riding 45-50 kilometers every day with heavy equipment by minimizing friction.
• When sweaty, they can be refolded so you’d be able to put a clean, dry side on your horse.
• When hopelessly dirty, simply wash and hang.
• They are multi-purpose and double as a cool off blanket or – this might appeal to die hard distance riders – as a warm cover for the rider at night.

Please note: I am not promoting war or warfare. I simply came to appreciate the practical cavalry approach.

Whether the rider uses a Western saddle, endurance saddle or English saddle, the result is always the same: More comfort for the rider, less discomfort for the horse.

You can use any army/navy blanket with at least 80% wool content. 

Veteran endurance champion Bonnie Mielke: "My new horse was getting a sore back whenever I would ride him for more than an hour. At first I thought it was the saddle, so I changed that. Stefanie came out and selected the correct saddle and yet he was sore. She suggested that I try the cavalry style padding system. It worked. He has completed several 25 mile distance rides without getting a sore back. Thank you, Stefanie for encouraging me to try this. Kota (PSL Lakota Chief) thanks you, too."

Happy cushioned trails!