Riding, training, jumping, and other demanding English horse activities are a lot less taxing on the horse when there is a saddle pad between horse the saddle. Saddle pads are oddly shaped saddle cushions that take most of the force during riding training. For most horses and riders, they make all the difference and completely transform the riding experience. Most horse owners understand the use and advantages of the saddle pad, and that is why most of them search for the best saddle pads for horses when they shop. In this guide, we will be going over some of the best saddle pads on the market, and we will be recommending outstanding ones.
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Contents
- 1 Guide to Buying a Saddle Pad for Your Horse
- 2 Top 15 Best Saddle Pads for Horses
- 2.1 Star Thick Rancher Western Saddle Pad
- 2.2 Weather leather Herculean Working Contoured Saddle Pad
- 2.3 ECP All Purpose Diamond Quilted Cotton Saddle pad
- 2.4 Weaver Leather Western Gel Seat Pad
- 2.5 Southwestern Equine OrthoRide Correctional Saddle Pad
- 2.6 The ECP Western Therapeutic Contoured Support Pad
- 2.7 Weaver Leather Contoured Wool Blend Felt Saddle Pad
- 2.8 Lami-cell Full Shock Absorbing Memory Pad
- 2.9 Diamond Wool contour felt Ranch Pad
- 2.10 Success Equestrian Deluxe Hunter No-Slip Saddle Pad
- 2.11 AceRugs Clear Seat Saver Non-Slip Therapeutic Gel Half pad
- 2.12 Intrepid International Comfort Plus Western Bareback Pad
- 2.13 Best Friend Comfort Plus Bareback Pad
- 2.14 Weaver Contoured Felt Saddle Pad
- 2.15 Tough One EquiRoyal Square Quilted Cotton English saddle
- 3 Conclusion
Guide to Buying a Saddle Pad for Your Horse
When buying saddle pads for your horses, there are a couple of things you should watch out for during the buying process.
The Kind of Impact Protection It Comes With
This might sound a bit obvious, but the primary reason why we are getting a horse saddle pad is to reduce or eliminate shock and impact. Some products do it better than others. The best impact absorption materials are gel foam, memory foam, cotton, wool, etc.
Check the Liner Material
The saddle pads for horses is almost as important as the padding in the liner itself. Generally, you want a liner made with wool or some other soft and cushioning material. They will make all future rides more comfortable for both horse and rider.
What Kind of Material Is the Pad Made of Mostly
While there is nothing wrong with synthetics, they are not the best for comfort. The quality of the pad material increases or reduces the amount of comfort a rider experiences while riding. Cotton, polyester, and wool are bound to be more breathable and manageable than popular types of synthetics.
The Shape of the Saddle Pad
The shape of the saddle pad is another important feature you need to watch out for. Saddle pads come in various shapes and sizes. While it is true that the material is the most important when it comes to increasing comfortability, the shapes also matter. A perfectly shaped saddle pad will lineup with the natural contours of the saddle pad and will increase stability as well as comfort.
Top 15 Best Saddle Pads for Horses
In this section, we will briefly review some of the best saddle pads currently available on the market.
Star Thick Rancher Western Saddle Pad
This amazing five stars thick Rancher saddle is a western-style saddle pads made in the USA. It is a all-natural virgin wool felt pad with great shapes and contours that increase mobility and comfort. It is soft, incredibly durable, and it makes riding easier on the horse and rider. It is very easy to attach to a saddle, and it is slip-proof. Since it’s completely made of genuine wool, it produces three times more compression than most synthetics, and it definitely delivers a more memorable experience.
Weather leather Herculean Working Contoured Saddle Pad
The weaver leather is a heavy-duty rugged contoured saddle pad of superior quality. From its wear leather top, you can tell that it’s going to last. And from the 1-inch wool liner at the bottom of the saddle pad, you know it won’t be slipping off any time soon. It has a unique contoured design that lines up with the natural curvature of a horse’s back. Unlike most saddle pads on the market, the Herculean saddle pad is relatively easy to clean. It comes in numerous color packages, and it weighs about 3.2 kg.
ECP All Purpose Diamond Quilted Cotton Saddle pad
The ECP saddle pad for horses is a multi-purpose saddle pad appropriate for all sorts of activities. Whether it be jumping, eventing, and training, riding or showing. This great multi-purpose saddle pad comes in numerous colors, and four pockets so you can store things on your saddle pad while riding.
This pad goes perfectly with any horse. It was made with rider and horses in mind, so it comes with contours that deliver maximum comfort at all times. The ECP pad also comes with a memory foam padding for impact protection and additional comfort.
Weaver Leather Western Gel Seat Pad
The Weaver Leather Gel Pad is a horse saddle pad that was made for western horse saddles specifically. In addition to the comfort and stability that the standard western style horse saddle pad provides, it is also shock absorbent. It is hand washable, breathable, and is even heat resistant. It is the kind of saddle pad you want to take with you while you are out riding on a hot day.
The Weaver leather pad contours allow it to handle most western style saddles, and it can even handle regular old saddles. It also comes with elastic straps that you can wrap around the horn and saddle for added stability.
Southwestern Equine OrthoRide Correctional Saddle Pad
The Southwestern OrthoRide saddle pad is a correctional saddle that allows you, and your equine to fix or address most of your riding problems. It also teaches you a thing or two about proper riding posture, and it is comfortable for your horse too.
It is great for horses with underdeveloped shoulder muscles because of how well it helps distribute the load and lessen the impact of your weight. It is also great for training, practice rides, and so much more. The Southwestern saddle pad also has great shock absorption because of the PORON-RXD saddle bars installed in its liner. During rides, the PORON material helps eliminates up to 90% of the shock.
The ECP Western Therapeutic Contoured Support Pad
The ECP therapeutic pads are correctional pads for beginners and specialists. Unlike the all-purpose ECP, we talked about earlier on in the guide; it was designed primarily for correctional and training purposes mostly.
Like the all-purpose saddle pads, it also comes with memory foam for shock absorption. Instead of being static or immovable, the foam pads are completely adjustable and can benefit the horse during training. The ECP support pad can regulate temperature during long rides and also improve comfort for rider and horse. It supports hand and machine wash, and the memory foams are replaceable.
Weaver Leather Contoured Wool Blend Felt Saddle Pad
This Weaver leather saddle pad is made from a wool blend. It has moisture-wicking capabilities and is contoured perfectly to fit most horses. The weaver leather comes with unique top grain wear leather and a padded spine that enhances its durability.
It has an incredibly shock-absorbent inner liner that increases stability and improves comfort. In addition to that, it also comes in an ideal 30″ x 30″ measurement that fits most horses.
Lami-cell Full Shock Absorbing Memory Pad
The Lami-cell memory pad is a unique horse saddle pad with incredible shock absorption properties. Instead of the standard memory foam or dense wool liner, the Lami-cell Memory pad comes with gel-foam. The gel foam has increased shock absorption properties and makes rides very comfortable for both rider and horse.
It is incredibly lightweight and super durable. The memory foam has perfect contours that line up with most horses, and it comes with a durable saddle spine. The memory foam has a measurement of 21″x 12″.
Diamond Wool contour felt Ranch Pad
The Diamond wool contour felt pad is a highly durable one-inch-thick horse pad made from wool and leather. It has elegant contours tat easily line up with any grown horse’s back. The Diamond wool contour felt pad is extremely shock absorbent and moisture-absorbent too. It is also easy to clean, use, and transport since it is incredibly lightweight.
This amazing felt pad is a handcrafted specialized wool pad with leather lining all over. It is safe for use and is perfect for most kinds of horses.
Success Equestrian Deluxe Hunter No-Slip Saddle Pad
This saddle pad is a unique impact resistant no-slip saddle pad made of 50% cotton, 30% polyester, and 20% PVC. The external lining of this great saddle pad comes with a sure grip that keeps the saddle in place during long rides. This saddle is super breathable and is elegantly contoured for flexibility and stability.
The Success Equestrian no-slip saddle pad has great shock absorption and provides great support. It is perfect for riders who are not quite used to riding horses constantly. It’s also great for young horses too.
AceRugs Clear Seat Saver Non-Slip Therapeutic Gel Half pad
The Ace rug gel seat pad or saddle pad is an interesting gel-based transparent saddle for training, eventing, riding, jumping, and all other fun activities. Since it has gel padding, it is extremely shock-absorbent and provides impact protection during stressful events. This gel pad has a non-slip internal lining that helps keep the pad in place during use.
Like most therapeutic gels pads on the market, it helps correct some serious flexibility, posture, and habit issues commonly found in horses. It does not come in the length of a full pad, but it is just as impressive.
Intrepid International Comfort Plus Western Bareback Pad
The Intrepid western pad is an incredibly comfortable non-slip pad with incredible fleece underlining. It is made from breathable synthetic fibers and suede for maximum comfort and mobility. This product also has incredibly shock absorption features.
Although it’s comfort features are not as pronounced as other popular saddle pads for horses, it’s impressive nonetheless. This product also comes with a classic buckle that helps keep the entire saddle in place even when the non-slip fabric fails.
Best Friend Comfort Plus Bareback Pad
Best friend comfort pad plus is an impressive bareback pad with tons of great safety features. Unlike most horse saddle pads, it comes with a buckle for stability, including the fleece lining under the horse for additional comfort and control. In addition to providing great control, it also has a super soft and plush top that provides comfort throughout your ride.
This pad comes in numerous colors, and it comes with an adjustable girth, so it fits small and large horses easily. Best friend comfort plus comes with great impact protection and provides a much smoother riding experience.
Weaver Contoured Felt Saddle Pad
This large 31” by 32” pad is a single weave topper pad that provides great impact protection for most horses and riders during long rides. It has a great contoured shape that fits perfectly with most large horses.
This product is reinforced by leather on all sides, and it has great cushioning in addition to the stability it already provides. It has a great wool blend felt liner that helps keep the entire saddle pad in place while riding, and it provides significant impact protection. This saddle pad is made from a unique material that is extremely moisture absorbent and has moisture-wicking features.
Tough One EquiRoyal Square Quilted Cotton English saddle
This is the first real English style saddle pad we have come across in this review. The Equiroyal square saddle pad is an all-natural cotton twill pad with impressive shock-absorbent insulation between layers. It provides great comfort for both rider and horse, and it has a mini quilted aesthetic design.
This saddle pad comes with nylon billet straps and numerous color options. This aesthetic pad is suitable for day riding, training, and other interesting English riding activities.
Conclusion
As you might have noticed from the products we reviewed in this guide, saddle pads come in all shapes and sizes. There are thousands of saddle pads currently available on the online market. With this kind of versatility and options, it can be challenging figuring out which product is the best saddle pads for horses. Although we have numerous great products, for this guide, we have singled out the most mobile, shock-absorbent pad available on the market. While most of the products on this list are by no means bad, they are not quite as good as the Lami-cell Full Shock Absorbing Memory Pad.