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While they may look graceful as they perform, horses endure a lot of shock and discomfort that can not only affect their performance but their health as well. That’s where saddle pads come in. Because they play a huge role in your horse’s welfare, you must ensure that you invest in the best saddle pads for your horses.
The Top Benefits of Saddle Pads
Saddle pads are more important than most people think and here are the top three benefits for both horse and rider:
1. Comfort and Protection:
Despite being strong, horses are also delicate creatures. They are prone to injury if not taken care of properly. Riding without a saddle pad (or using a bad saddle pad) can result in you damaging your horse’s spine.Saddle pads form a protective layer that smooths out pressure points and evenly distributes weight. Adding a good saddle pad ensures your weight is evenly distributed on the horse’s back, ensuring their comfort for long rides.
2. Shock absorption
They help absorb and distribute the impact of the rider’s weight and movements, reducing the risk of injury to the horse’s back. This shock absorption can be particularly important during jumping or other high-impact activities.
3. Moisture Wicking And Breathability
Many saddle pads are designed with moisture-wicking fabric that help eliminate horse sweat from the horse’s skin, keeping the area dry and reducing the risk of irritation or fungal infections. Proper ventilation during hot weather also helps in maintaining a cooler and more comfortable temperature for the horse leading to less skin rashes.
How to Choose the Best Saddle Pads for Horses
Now that you know the importance of saddle pads, let’s quickly look at how you can pick the best one for your horse.
Prioritize Saddle Fit
When looking for the best saddle pad for your horse, always start with saddle fit. The way in which a saddle pad fits will make all of the difference to the overall fit of the saddle and your horse’s comfort and safety during riding. To find a good-fitting saddle pad, make sure it matches the contours of the horse’s back and the contours of the underside of your saddle. This ensures the saddle pad doesn’t put too much pressure on the horse’s spine or withers.
It’s also crucial to understand that saddle pads are never meant to rectify an ill-fitting saddle. While some pads will include saddle shims to help with fit, the priority must always be to choose s properly fitting saddle pad for your horse.
If the fit is still poor after ensuring matching to your horse’s back shape and taking steps to make sure they receive pressure relief, it can help to have a professional saddle fitter to assist you.
Get the Right Style of Saddle Pad for Your Horse
As you shop around for saddle pads, you’ll find that there are three main types to choose from. These are:
- Shaped saddle pad These are best for dressage riders.
- Square saddle pad Square pads are more popular in jumping disciplines.
- Half pads. Half pads are versatile and can be used in all disciplines. They can be used alone or in conjunction with square and shaped pads.
Shape Matters
Another crucial criterion you must use to select the best saddle pad for your horse is the shape. Like human beings, horses have different body shapes. That’s why, when looking for a saddle pad, you must consider the shape of your horse’s back. For example, among other options you could get:
- Contour shaped. Contour saddle pads are designed for horses that have a slight dip in their back. They’re also helpful for horses with more prominent withers.
- Straight shaped. These are best suited for round or mutton-withered horses or horses with a flat back.
- Cutback saddle pads don’t have material on top of the withers and are designed to provide full wither relief.
This extra padding helps to achieve a better saddle fit and assists in the even distribution across pressure points along the entire back, especially relieving pressure from the highly susceptible withers and kidney areas for optimal horse comfort.
These are just examples of the different shapes you’ll find as you shop around for the best saddle pads for your horses.
Consider the Material Used
There are a wide range of factors at play in choosing the perfect horse saddle pad. One of those is the type of material used to make the saddle pad. Your options include:
- Fleece
- Felt
- Neoprene
- Closed-cell foam
- Open-cell foam
- Cotton wool
Each type of material has its pros and cons, so be sure to do your due diligence to know which material is best for you. For example, although wool saddle pads do provide natural breathability and wick away moisture, synthetic pads offer other benefits, such as even pressure distribution, shock absorption. and more. Note, however, that if the material used results in a thicker saddle pad, it may change the way your saddle sits on your horse.
The Unique Advantages of Vitafloor Saddle Pads
With so many manufacturers of saddle pads on the market, you’re probably wondering what makes Vitafloor saddle pads your best option. Besides the quality factor, our Sedelogic saddle pads are the future of saddle pad technology.
Sedelogic saddle pads are meticulously crafted to ensure maximum shock absorption while still giving your horse optimum comfort during all your riding sessions. Sedelogic saddle pads absorb shock, offer pressure relief, and prevent the saddle from slipping, but also protect your horse’s back muscles and help them regulate their body temperature. Add the efficient weight distribution across pressure points and orthopedic benefits, and you’ve found yourself the best saddle pads for you and your horses.
Sedelogic also offers a new line of uniquely remoldable custom-fit saddle pads. Using advanced technology, these come with a thin, sturdy layer of breathable thermoplastic that provides the perfect fit for each of your horses. What’s more, as your horse’s body changes—gaining muscle, weight, etc.—you can simply reheat and reshape the pad as often as needed. You can use the same process if you want to use the saddle pad on a different horse.
A result of years of research, Vitafloor’s line of saddle pads undoubtedly features the best saddle pads for horses and the most value for your money that you’ll find on the market today.
So, if you’re in need of quality dressage saddle pads, jumping saddle pads, or pleasure riding pads for your horse, make sure to check out our inventory. Alternatively, give us a call at (352) 737-6743. We’d be more than happy to help you choose the best shock-absorbing saddle pads for your horses.