Does your saddle pad For Trail Riding give you comfort, fit and shock absorption, making both you and your horse work better and in a happier mood?
Many riders get saddle pads so they can solve more than one problem at once, problems like moisture control, saddle fit, and most importantly, shock absorption.
What you would need to ask yourself is, can my horse and I feel a difference with this pad?
Saddle pad sales are made in static environments. The sales information that you find in stores usually have little or nothing to do with the dynamics of horses and riders in motion.
You can compare a horse in work to a runner. The runner wants enough shock absorption to protect his joints, tendons, and muscles but still wants to make sure that there is no rebound or any unpredictable movement.
If the horse steps on a series of saddle pads, here’s what will happen:
- Memory Foam: The horse’s weight would compress the foam and bottom it out, supplying no shock absorption whatsoever jarring on the hard surface.
- Closed Cell Foam: Foams like Neoprene or lift pads. The hose steps on it and it in turn springs the horse into the air, making the horse lose balance (which can also be referred to as the trampoline effect).
- Gel Pad: The horse no texture on the road, creating a shearing effect
Staying Connected to Your Horse
Now, imagine that you add two inches of product to the bottom of your saddle pad. The foam or the gel will give and pitch with every step. The saddle will roll front, back and left and right, giving the horse an uncomfortable feel, making it give up its search for safety. This, unknowingly, is what we do to the horse when we add thick layers of padding under our saddles. We produce the pitch and yaw effect.
Let us compare it to the marathon running shoe insoles. This is made for athletes who are on the move. It is thin and it is breathable, and it has the ability to absorb the impact without any added bulk. It keeps the runner’s feet stable. And there are certain saddle pads that give this kinds of experiences to horses, making their trips a very comfortable one, even for the riders themselves.