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For a long time saddle fitters especially in England have discussed whether half pads do more harm than good. However newer science illustrates that half-pads might be able to reduce pressure from the horse’s back in certain situations.
Whether using a half-pad or not it is very important that the saddle fits the horse correctly. This is concluded by the scientists from Centaur Biomechanics who are also the research team behind a study on whether half-pads provide any help for the horse. An older study with 1011 respondents from different types of riding disciplines revealed that 98 % of the riders use half-pads underneath the saddle and 64,6 % use more than one layer of textile underneath the saddle.
All in all, this means that several horse owners add a layer of more than 1 cm underneath the saddle. The reason for this, most of the respondents expressed is that they want to prevent pain and increase workability in the horse. They believed that their horses feel better with a half pad, however this self-appointing role as experts has had saddle fitters around the world worrying. Therefore, Centaur Biomechanics decided once and for all to find out whether pads are useful or not.
12 fully grown horses were part of the research. All participating in competitions. The horses were healthy and wering saddles that were fitted a month before the research started and then again, the day before the study began. All saddle fitters were independently chosen for the study and none of them knew about the purpose of the study. All horses were ridden in walk, trot both sitting down and rising trot and canter.
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Opposite what has been the previous concern about half pads - that they would harm the horse, the study showed that especially in terms of trot when sitting down and canter, half pads have a good impact on the pressure that the horse experiences in its back. This was evident with the use of wool and foam pads even when the saddle was correctly fitted from the beginning.
So, both wool and foam pads have a positive impact on the horse. However, this does not seem to be the case with the gel pads. In this case, there seemed to be a likelyhood of a more concentrated pressure in one place on the horses’ back instead of spreading the pressure out on a larger part of the back.
In other words, there might be a risk of causing more pain for the horse using gel pads. Another part of the problem turned out to be that the gel pads tend to move around instead of staying in the correct position underneath the saddle.
One thing that is obvious from the study is that it is very important to seek professional help to have a correct saddle fit and to get help in choosing the right for your horse.
Read more about the interesting findings from the study.
