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Citaat:

I use the Old Mac Western All-Purpose Pad.
Brilliant. They are very light , very thin and are very shock absorbing. What more can you want from a pad ?You get a very close fit with the saddle and horse and they are well ventilated. If your horse lathers a lot with a big workout the lather is visible as the pads don't soak it up but the saddle area is much cooler than with a normal pad

Citaat:

I use the Old Mac pad without anything else over it or under it. I put the black side(Nitrex foam)directly onto the horses back-never a hair out of place. As the Nitrex cannot absorb heat all the heat goes straight out through the holes. The back is far ,far cooler this way. It sure beats a hot steamy saddle cloth. It also is a great way to stop heat lumps. You have to be aware that as all horses sweat, you will actually see the sweat as it is not being soaked up but the back is cool. Definitely the way to go for trainers who work a lot of horses. Once you are ready to work your next horse the pad is dry so you just put it straight on. I strongly recommend them

Citaat:

Hi Miss Marjolein!

The Old Mac's saddle pad is nothing new. The idea of combining closed-cell and open-cell-memory foams has been around for a looong time. There are at least six or seven saddle pads made in roughly the same way as the Old Mac's, with roughly the same performance characteristics.

Those characteristics are: They don't work any better than any other saddle pad. In fact, depending what you're trying to fix as far as saddle fit goes, the memory-foam can actually make the saddle's fit worse!

When trying to evaluate a "new" product for your horse, one MUST go all the way back to the question: "WHY do I need this fancy saddle pad?" "Does my horse exhibit pain or the effects of pain when under saddle?"

If the answer is "yes", then the first obligation of the rider is to DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE PAIN!!!!

Consider: 1) Injury--was he hurt; did he have an accident? What was it? Did you see the vet?
What was the vet's recommendation? Did you follow it? What was the result? What is the horse's prognosis for full recovery? Is recovery suffient to provide the horse with a relatively normal balanced physique? If not, MAYBE a theraputic saddle pad MADE FOR THAT HORSE would be of some help. Off-the-shelf saddle pads cannot give a fraction of the relief that a custom-made theraputic pad will provide.

2) Saddle fit--does the saddle fit the horse? Yes or no--and how do you KNOW that?

If "no", the saddle does NOT fit the horse, then fix the saddle, or go get another one. Believe it or not, it is often MUCH less expensive to get the saddle fixed than it is to buy a "fix-it" saddle pad (which will NOT fix anything, regardless of the manufacturer's claims)! If the saddle causes pain, then fix the saddle, not the saddle pad.

If "yes", then we must look at saddle positioning on the horse; does the saddle slip while riding--WHY? Does the saddle get girthed too tightly or too loosely? Fix those first, then....

Is the horse "heavy" on one side in favor of the other side? That means you've been working your horse to only ONE side! Mounting on the left, doing nothing but left turns, etc. will build a horse up on ONE side. Of COURSE he's off-balance, and he's in pain! BALANCE your horse out by lunging, or riding TWICE as much to the weak side as the strong side to build up the weak side and, thusly, BALANCE your horse! You'd be surprised at how many people don't know this!

3) After going through the above list, and Horse is still showing the effects of pain, check the BALANCE of the RIDER!!!! In MANY instances, the rider not only doesn't know where the center of the saddle is, they find that the few days of working on staying in the center is "too much trouble", and continuously cause their horses pain.

Once the center is established, the STIRRUPS have to be set so they carry the exact same weight in each one! Not length, WEIGHT. It is balanced weight which provides the most comfortable setting for the horse under saddle.

Once those two parameters are established, the rider's POSITION in the saddle must be considered. That position is either too far forward (riding over the pommel), too far backwards (pushed into the cantle), or sitting correctly, balanced, in the MIDDLE!

A position too far forward will cause withers and shoulder soreness, and can cause white hairs in the withers area. A position too far backwards can cause rubbing on the loins, hair shaving, and exruciating pain to the horse's lower back. A balanced, centered riding position will cause NONE of those things to happen. In fact, your horse will become lighter, more responsive, and virtually pain-free.

Soooo, Miss Marjolein, the answer to your question is both simple and complicated. No, neither the Old Mac's, nor any other saddle pad will make your horse feel any better than the cheapest of saddle pads under a well-fitted saddle, on an injury-free horse, with a balanced and center-weighted rider.

Did I answer your question?

Karl

Muijs schreef:

dit klinkt als muziek in mijn oren ,maar had ik dit ook al eens niet gezegd?