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Posted : 5/16/2009 3:34:52 PM

I'm new to horse ownership and new to the forum. I have an 11 year old Appy mare that will be ridden as a trail horse. I have bought a saddle and other accessories, but am currently still borrowing a saddle pad from a friend. It is a Professional's Choice heavy duty pad and measures 30 X 30. My appy is pretty small so it's plenty big on her. When I found one like his online though it's cut much bigger and I'm afraid it will rub. Also the price made me choke a bit too.

I have started looking at the Reinsman Tacky Too Square Pad and was wondering if anyone had any feed back on these. I've only found a handful of reviews online and they were kinda mixed. Mostly good, but one that was written by a roper said the pad ripped hair off his horse. Any suggestions or feedback you can offer would be appreciated! Thanks!

Guest

Posted : 5/17/2009 3:31:44 PM

Wish...Trust me when I tell you that buying a pad these days is cause for a lot of thought even for those of us who have had horses for a very long time. The variety is huge and each makes claims that their product is the answer to your riding needs.
I have been a fan of "natural fiber" for a long time. But my husband bought a Reinsman Tacky-Too Contour pad last year and it worked very well. We did not see any hair damage. We are pretty much mosey-down-the-trail sort of riders and try not to do anything too exciting. And I like the contour design of the Reinsman. Helps get the front of the pad up off the withers so there is no added pressure. I'm thinking about getting a Reinsman Tacky-Too Trail Pad for myself. Horse.Com (formerly Country Supply) seems to have some good prices. Not cheap, but maybe better than you might find in your local tack store.
Good luck and happy trails!

SonnyWimps

Posted : 5/18/2009 12:55:07 AM

my friend has the Tacky Too pad and he says he likes it, but it isn't that padded so it makes the saddle go downhill which in turn makes the horse be on the forehand and makes it uncomfortable for the horse.

My favorite type of Pad is the Theraflex pad. There are air channels in it so it makes it comfortable to the horse, and you put shims in the saddle pad to make the saddle be right so it's easy to get on your balance point and is more comfortable for the horse. Definitely a pad that I couldn't live without.

NWMNMom

Posted : 5/19/2009 1:20:10 PM

A good felt contured or semi contured pad with air channels works great. Wicks the moisture off your horse, great comfort for him/her and usually reasonably priced. If your horse is very small/short backed, perhaps consider some other types of pads - barrel pads with barrel style or rounded skirt saddle are smaller and generally work really well on short backed or smaller horses.