Help a Sister Out: Half Pad Problems

My guiding principle #1 on half pads is that they are a primarily trendy item and as long as they don't make your saddle fit worse, it doesn't much matter what type you're using. When Courage was scarily attempting jumping, we used an ogilvy half pad, because they're all the rage in that ring and I like being on trend. 

sheep represent

Then we switched over to dressage. DQs are big on dead sheep, so I snagged a mattes correction pad with shims for like $90 and have just rolled with it. Sans rolls. Ha! #halfpadnerdjoke

I have never noticed Courage care AT ALL about what half pad I put on his back, so in keeping with guiding principle #1, I haven't messed with it. Arguably, I could ride him without one and see what happens, but my brain just likes a little something extra in there because I don't trust myself enough as a judge of saddle fit and I feel better knowing there's some margin for error. (Noted: Courage is an EXCELLENT judge of saddle fit and as you would expect, lets me know when things are sub-optimal, so this is probably frivolous. You're just going to have to accept my human frailty on this point.)

so classic

HOWEVER, whilst tacking up the other day, I was futzing (it's a word??? who knew) with my much-used-shimmable-mattes and noticed that one of the shim pockets is creating a ridge of pressure under the panels of my saddle. I tried adjusting the pocket and screwing with the velcro, but it looks like the pad is just old enough that it's not going to cooperate with me. AKA, it's fine if I have shims in it (probably?), but since I don't, it's not quite laying flat, which means it might be causing me problems, which means it's in violation of principle #1.

And see, we're asking Courage to do hard stuff like lift his back and while he does settle in and do it eventually, it's a learning curve, it's going slowly, and my trainer has commented that he doesn't quiiiiiiite want to give in and lift through his withers. That's probably mostly a training thing, but if my half pad was stabbing me in the back, I'd hesitate too.

so. what to do.

hair hair everywhere and it's covered in dust ewwwwww

I rode Courage this past weekend in his jump ogilvy pad under his dressage saddle, which to me is a very non-flattering look. Of course, I'm also anti-winter-fuzzies, so basically this entire picture is just nails on a chalkboard to me.

If you separate out how I felt about the dust+hair combo (SO GROSS MUST CLIP OMG), I actually had a really superb ride. Which is interesting.

This brings us to options.

1) The mattes problem is all in my head. Carry on with what we have and assume it won't cripple the princess. This is obviously a stupid idea and is pre-discarded. I'm just listing it here so you know I considered it.

2) Use jump ogilvy. Carry on like it's not aesthetic hell. This is obviously a temporary idea. It needs to end. The sooner, the better.

3) Acquire an non-shimmable, non-corrective mattes pad. This eliminates the pressure ridge problem by not having pockets. We stay on-trend for the dressage ring. The major drawback is that this is the $230 answer to the $90 question. Or the $210 answer, if we go without rear trim. Thoughts on rear trim?

hmmmm rolls

4) Be enough of a nerd to know that Blueberry (yes, THE Blueberry) has actually eschewed sheepskin in favor of space age gel. His particular model is lined with sheepskin, which is $ more and seems hard to clean, but there's also an option that's cheaper and simple to clean that would just disappear under my saddle. In addition, the non-sheepskin option would potentially be the $100 answer to the $90 problem, so that's something. There's even a $50 knockoff I could almost justify instead, but if I'm changing brands, I want to get the nicest thing and evaluate it on it's own merits, not sort of half ass it and then be pissed it doesn't work.

it's definitely a look.

5) Explore other options. I mean, I'm actually really interested in the Invictus half pad innovations--if the rumors are true (and I've handled one, so I believe them), the pad essentially eliminates pressure points by distributing weight, which is basically what we're trying to do anyways. I'd buy one RIGHTNOW, but this is the $280 answer to the $90 problem. If you're keeping track, that's by far the most expensive option we've considered so far. It's also not particularly attractive, but I guess that's neither here nor there if it actually does what it claims.

the sadly unattractive invictus

6) Go ogilvy/ecogold/equifit routes. This is another one I'm just listing for your benefit. I've had the first two and handled the third. I kinda lump them all in the same heap. They're fine, but they're not on-trend enough in my ring to satisfy guiding principle #1 and I'm not excited about them.

equifit pretties

Ideally, someone will pipe up and say "hey give me $100 and I will give you this invictus half pad", but that seems like wildly unrealistic speculation at this juncture. Talk to me blog land--what are your half pad solutions/opinions/ideas? What else should I be considering? Do you deeply hate one of the options listed?

Stump the Tack Ho

totes a dressage bridle. note sparkle bonnet.

Everyone knows I'm like the world's worst tack ho. I see new things and I just get wanty. I'm not a hoarder, so I have really high turnover and sell lots of things too. That makes it ok, right?

Anyways. The last time I owned a dressage saddle was with the hellmare years ago. I sold it around the time I sold her and never looked back. With Cuna, I never bothered to buy one, and with Courage, I was convinced we were just going to be jumpers so I didn't even think about it. I've long since sold/dispersed all the dressage things I had, because why hang on to crap I won't use?

just because my horse is adorable

And then I bought a dressage saddle. Oops. I have a grand total of one dressage pad. (Before you pity me--it's an Ecogold that I snagged for $14. BOO FRICKIN YAH). I borrowed irons, snagged my leathers off my jump saddle, and rescued an abandoned girth out of the tack room. Plus I have a dark brown bridle that sort of looks black if you squint when I'm in the indoor.

It's ghetto-tastic, but I'm making it work.

Here's the thing. I am a sucker for good advertising backed by solid reviews and I will buy new if the right item comes along. And Courage really does need a contoured girth because of where the billets on our saddle hang. And contoured girths are really expensive, except that one with good advertising and solid reviews.

pictured: current girth. too long.

Which one?

The Total Saddle Fit girth, of course. I've always been intrigued and the pricing is completely reasonable and then Stacey over at the Jumping Percheron got one and did a review. Sigh.

I really want one, but I'm not quite in the right place financially to pull the trigger, even though I own the dressage saddle free and clear now. I'm stalling on the purchase by trying to figure out what size I need.

jump ogilvy ftw

I think it's really important for a contoured girth to fit symmetrically and for the contours to fall in the right place. The loaner girth is a 30" (buckle to buckle). I think it's too big--I can't use the billet keepers on my pad and the girth overlaps the pad binding, which can create pressure points.

What size do you think Courage needs in the TSF model? I want to go shorter, but not crazy short. 28"? 26"? 24"?

I've never been a proper DQ. Help a sister out?

Half Pad Review Rundown - Thinline, Ecogold, Ogilvy

Plus you can totes ride with no half pad.

Halfpads are such a fun puzzle. They are very, very faddish and yet they all purport to help...something... and we shell out lots of money for them. Today I'm going to focus on the three most expensive half pads I've owned and the logic for them. You'll note that none of them are sheepskin. Here's why:

My friends in the medical industry point out that coma patients are not swaddled in sheepskin. If it really had magical properties, they'd be all up in that shit, but they're not. Rather, humans in need of pressure relief and long term comfort are all about the high tech foam. Say what you will about modern medicine, I'd rather be a coma patient in 2014 than 1014. Sorry sheep. (Not sorry? They get to keep their skin in my world.)

First up:

There is a lot of new stuff in this picture

Thinline Trifecta with sheepskin rolls - Smartpak $157 with free shipping

I bought this pad several years ago. Thinline was WAAAAY trendy then. I think it's sort of fading now, but maybe that's just because it's old hat to me and I don't feel that interested.

Regardless. I bought this pad because I wanted something shimmable and magical to make my extremely picky mare happy. (Duly noted: if you are a one-horse ammy who lessons infrequently, the odds are that your hormonal mare needs her ass kicked more than a magikal half pad. Hindsight being what it is.)

Izzy canters in the thinline

Anyways. This pad fit the bill, right down to the stylish sheepskin rolls. It didn't have the skeepskin under the saddle, because even I thought that was excessive.

This pad did the job. I know a lot of people argue that thinline holds heat and can lead towards soft tissue injury and blah blah blah. To them I say this: IT'S UNDER A SADDLE THAT'S UNDER YOUR ASS. Heat is going to happen. I think the heat argument is a very legitimate reason to not use certain boots, but I don't get worked up about saddle pads for that reason.

I sold this pad a short while after I sold my mare, because it really did add a lot of bulk under the saddle. It worked fine--between that and a well-fitted saddle, I really never had any soreness issues with my mare.

It's not a bad option, but if you're buying half pads to stay on trend, it's a bit dated.

There is a lot of new stuff in this picture

Ecogold Triple Protection half pad - Ecogold $165 plus shipping

My next crazy splurge in the half pad world was the totally on-trend ecogold that comes in a lovely shade of brown. I love brown. It also comes in more boring colors, but wutevs. Not interested.

I bought this some time after the infamous m&ms test. It's a nice pad. It's a little rigid, which isn't quite the right word. The very soft foam holds it's shape very well, and that shape is pretty set. It works on the horse just fine and it's easy to store because it folds up nice and flat. It doesn't just collapse onto the horse, I guess is what I'm trying to say.

Canter pictures seemed like a good idea

That said. (Whatever it was.) While the ecogold is maybe the least sexy option I'm talking about today, I used it constantly with my MW saddle that didn't quite fit Mr. C-rage. He has never exhibited any signs of back soreness. That actually impresses me.

The saddle wasn't a bad fit, but it definitely wasn't great and I never had any ill effects from it. I will give the ecogold triple protection pad at least some of the credit for that.

I even still own this pad. It's thin enough that it can go under pretty much anything, but it seems to do a nice job on the horses and I have no burning urge to sell it.

Only the half pad is new in this picture.

Ogilvy Jumper Half Pad - Ogilvy Equestrian $199 plus shipping

If you've ever used social media, you know that Ogilvy is red hot right now. I'm going to risk sounding like a hipster right now and say that I was aware of them long before their recent rise in popularity, but I grant you the custom covers and all are way more sexy than the weird old colors they used to have in the Dover catalogs.

Anyways. I think a major drawback to these pads is the ridiculous wait time attached to your custom order. Talk about an impulse buy buzz kill. I held out for a good long time because I already had the ecogold and I have the patience of a caffeinated quail, but then one popped up on eBay in the colors I wanted and I just happened to have money in my checking account. Whoops.

More cantering. Ogilvy in action.

I did get some free front risers with my ebay buy, so I guess that was nice. Like the thinline, the Ogilvy is completely shimmable. Unlike the ecogold, it's also totally washable. I actually think this is one of the best perks of ogilvy--as long as you don't buy the gummy pad, you can just take the inserts out and wash the cover. NONE of the other half pads offer this option.

Dunno 'bout the rest of y'all, but my shit gets dirty and I like the idea of being able to clean it.

Maybe an ogilvy will make your horse jump like this

The Ogilvy, much like the ecogold, really does seem to pad out the rough patches in saddle fit, whether that's a little hollow behind the wither or tree panels a little too wide for the horse. I've been quite pleased with the sweat marks under all the saddles I've tried in both pads.

I have heard people criticize the Ogilvy pads for being too thick and changing the fit of a saddle. My pad in the regular 1" thickness and it squishes down well enough that I really haven't noticed a difference. When I tried a slightly-too-wide saddle on Courage, I did have to use the front shims to make it fit. Yeah, it looks like a lot when you're tacking up, but they squish right down and you have to tighten the girth a lot after you get on.

This is how we jump in an ecogold

Wrap up

We live in a really cool time for technology, both equine and otherwise. I've certainly enjoyed playing with trendy half pads, but at the end of the day, a well-fitting saddle and solid training is more important that brand names and cute colors.

That said.

If your saddle fits, by all means, buy the cutest half pad you can afford. They don't hurt the horse, might possibly help, and everyone loves looking at pretty things.

Because sometimes we just play dress up

PS My conscience compels me to point out that at no point have my horses struggled with significant back soreness. Whether that's because I always have a majikal half pad or because I buy saddles that fit or because I don't ride very much or because my horses are made of iron or because I'm just bloody lucky, I really can't say.

Long Term Plans (or "How to Make my Brain Explode")

The best at being cute with a mask on

I gave Courage a couple days off this week while I thought about the big picture--what we're doing and where we're going. (I am NOT a big picture person in general, so yes, I do have to set aside time to figure that sort of thing out.)

First things first: we adjusted our goals. My nervous riding+Courage being green was not helping anyone out in the XC field. I made an executive decision to just be ok with not doing that anymore this year. I'm not ruling out chucking redheadlins up in the tack and sending them off, but it doesn't need to be me at this point in time.

We are also not sort of hoping to scrape it together and do the little hunter derby in August. If all went according to plan this year, it wasn't out of reach, but nothing has worked out the way I meant it to. If Courage goes to the jumper shows in August, he'll do the 2' division and a flat class or something. And again, not ruling out trainer rides for that. I need calm, positive experiences just as much as he does.

Of course I wish it was a dee

We're also mixing up the tack front a little bit. I dropped us down to an even softer bit and am taking a couple rides to just solidify the things we worked on for cowpony day. Great takeaways there, really happy with what our western fling did for my little man.

Wednesday we just did w/t/c both directions on the buckle and let everything flow forward. I think it's good confidence building for me and it relaxes him because I'm not picking at all. It was a surprisingly great ride. Maybe next time we'll try using the new bit? Hard to say.

Not gonna lie, totally want a stock saddle right now. I need to get other financial ducks in a row first, but how cute would C-rage be as a pony horse? Team penner?

Too cute.

What can I say? Sometimes I stress buy. Ebay loves me.

So that's where I'm at. I'm an ammy. It's summer. My horse is cute. At the end of the day, I want a calm, all-around horse who I can have fun on, whether that's doing an XC clinic or winning a belt buckle at some crazy western event*. I'm not going to keep freaking out that I'm overfacing my horse and ruining him or that I'm not challenging him enough and he'll never amount to anything.

You know what? I'm having fun with him right now, and that is the whole entire point.

Mission.

F******

Accomplished.

*Hey, I can dream. Belt buckles are possibly cooler than ribbons because it's socially appropriate to wear them around and show off.

PS I know I keep editing my swears. I go back and forth between "HAHA BITCHES I'M A GROWN UP" and "oh my god, kids read this blog". That is a big picture question for another day.

Pony Weekend Wrap-Up: Goin' to the Tack Store

It started out as a really good idea--I'd sent some items to a tack sale and the ones that didn't sell were just sitting in my loaner vehicle. I either needed to put them away or sell them. I have lots of horse stuff and was ready to part with these ones, so I opted to hit the local tack store before heading out to my lesson on Saturday.

Of course, they know me there. Redheadlins happened to be working the counter. She's my notoriously expensive friend, under whose influence I have ended up with things like a Sprenger bit, a fancy breastcollar, oh, and a new horse. Before I check out, she assures me I have to see the new consignment that has come in and because I'm a tack 'ho, I accept.

Can't say no

I am in desperate need of new breeches. I am also not overly-endowed with money due to life circumstances. She hands me two pairs of lightly-worn FITS full seat breeches. $35/pair. I've always wondered if I would like them and been a bit insecure about the ass-patches, but now I'm going to find out. Look for a review soon, I guess.

Then we get looking at some fancy tall boots. I'm not too interested because they're dress boots and I don't really "do" dressage, but I already have breeches on. I slip into one pair. Dehners. Broken in, but not used up. Fit like they were made for me. Stury, soft leather, super classy looking, $51.

Sold.

Things to do after 10

And then I'm really like "Ok, time to stop spending money, I am legit headed to a lesson blah blah blah" and we walk back to the saddle pad aisle and there's an ecogold dressage pad for $14. "OH MY GOD YOU HAVE TO BUY IT," I tell her and she snatches it up. Afte all, she rides dressage and I do not.

But I look down and on top of another stack is another ecogold dessage pad, also $14. The fleece is a little worn, but the pad is in perfect condition. I make grabby hands and book it for the front counter.

So yeah, in case you're keeping score, that's 2 pairs of FITS, 1 pair of Dehners, and an Ecogold pad all for $150.

And it was only 10 in the morning.