Equitex Saddle Pads

ycbm said:
It would have helped if someone had mentioned the research earlier.

https://www.equestrianindex.com/news/-new-research-shows-equitex-saddle-pads-reduce-pressure-by-87%

However, if you look up the PDF where what they gave Dr Marlin to test it against can actually be read, it doesn't look as if it was compared with any of the really high tech materials, or that any account was taken of the fact that if you have a pad that's 4 times as thick as other materials, it's bound to come out better than most thinner pads with the simple "drop a weight on it" tests he did.

There's an 8mm pad available that absorbs 95% of the forces landing on it. And it doesn't cost £250.
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What sparked off that set of tests on the Equitex was a separate piece of research by DDM where it concluded the best material for saddle pads (he was testing half pads) is medical grade closed cell memory foam. The only other real contender was sheep skin but the sheep skin loses its ability to reform over time where the medical grade closed cell memory foam doesn't. So there may well be other products but in some cases it has been hard to get a straight answer from the manufacturer what exactly there product is made of (believe me I tried). Open cell memory foam (very common in saddle pads) simply does not have the same ability to absorb shock and reform. I wouldn't have spent that money without a trial and the supplier lives in my village so it was easy to arrange. Mine washes really well but does take longer to dry. However they don't attract dirt in the same way as others and I give mine a quick brush after every ride so I don't wash it as often. Its no replacement for having a regular saddle check though and it isn't supposed to make a badly fitting saddle fit!
 
The whole thing is fascinating as, even with just the two brands I fit, sheepskin is better for one and Invictus for the other so I can't see what we can say is the very best pad. I am not a member of DM's group so I have not seen his research and won't pay to do so. Reindeer skin came out as the best pad in some other (probably slightly less scientific!) study, sheepskin a close second.

There are too many "tests" where the pad is only named generically - gel pad, memory foam, yet there are SUCH different types of foam within those categories.

My biggest issue, as some of you are agreeing with, is not being able to find out the physical properties and testing results of actual materials, hence I'm only interested in named proprietary products, or makers who can provide detailed testing results if it's their own rebranded material.
 
sbloom said:
The whole thing is fascinating as, even with just the two brands I fit, sheepskin is better for one and Invictus for the other so I can't see what we can say is the very best pad. I am not a member of DM's group so I have not seen his research and won't pay to do so. Reindeer skin came out as the best pad in some other (probably slightly less scientific!) study, sheepskin a close second.

There are too many "tests" where the pad is only named generically - gel pad, memory foam, yet there are SUCH different types of foam within those categories.

My biggest issue, as some of you are agreeing with, is not being able to find out the physical properties and testing results of actual materials, hence I'm only interested in named proprietary products, or makers who can provide detailed testing results if it's their own rebranded material.
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I forgot - reindeer skin was up there with sheep skin in DDMs review
 
Lady Jane said:
What sparked off that set of tests on the Equitex was a separate piece of research by DDM where it concluded the best material for saddle pads (he was testing half pads) is medical grade closed cell memory foam. The only other real contender was sheep skin but the sheep skin loses its ability to reform over time where the medical grade closed cell memory foam doesn't. So there may well be other products but in some cases it has been hard to get a straight answer from the manufacturer what exactly there product is made of (believe me I tried). Open cell memory foam (very common in saddle pads) simply does not have the same ability to absorb shock and reform. I wouldn't have spent that money without a trial and the supplier lives in my village so it was easy to arrange. Mine washes really well but does take longer to dry. However they don't attract dirt in the same way as others and I give mine a quick brush after every ride so I don't wash it as often. Its no replacement for having a regular saddle check though and it isn't supposed to make a badly fitting saddle fit!
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Is equitex closed cell foam?

How about thin line, invinctis and prolite?

which are closed cell foam?
 
Fieldlife said:
Is equitex closed cell foam?

How about thin line, invinctis and prolite?

which are closed cell foam?
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That's the point, some makes I couldn't work out what they were made from - I have no idea if any are closed cell memory foam. Prolite isn't for sure
Equitex is definitely closed cell memory
 
Fieldlife said:
I thought you accredited the wow girth with scoring very close to 70% and rated it a success? Or am I mis-remembering?
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Not entirely convinced, I think I have said that several times. Or similar.

And that he has been improving all the time, test on test, even before the girth.

Last Sunday it rubbed him :oops::rolleyes:
 
Red-1 said:
Not entirely convinced, I think I have said that several times. Or similar.

And that he has been improving all the time, test on test, even before the girth.

Last Sunday it rubbed him :oops::rolleyes:
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Ah I bought 2 and sold on 2.

Aspects I / my horse loved but he needs a crescent/ banana girth. Once I’d seen the footage of the longer stride in crescent girth, and that WOW girth angled forwards on my horse, no going back.
 
Bumping this as I have a birthday coming up and felt Lottie would appreciate a nicer pad than her current bog standard one. Equitex price is eye watering but the word of mouth recommendations are very impressive. I’m less fussed about the research to be honest. Horses tell you what they like. Well mine do anyway. And they don’t read the journals!

@Red-1 what did you think of it?
 
Ambers Echo said:
Bumping this as I have a birthday coming up and felt Lottie would appreciate a nicer pad than her current bog standard one. Equitex price is eye watering but the word of mouth recommendations are very impressive. I’m less fussed about the research to be honest. Horses tell you what they like. Well mine do anyway. And they don’t read the journals!

@Red-1 what did you think of it?
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It is our go-to pad for dressage. No rubs, comfy, not too sweaty. The design keeps too many hairs from attaching.

However... I liked it so much that I bought a jumping one too. Waited for the saddler to come to fit the saddle with it and, sadly, my jump saddle is a Stride Free so 'different' in construction and doesn't suit the Equitex.

Drat! So, I have a brand new jump pad, used for 3 minutes, that I don't need. They seem to sell really well on the secondhand page on FB, but I still have it here.

For both of mine, I chose the ones without the braid as it seems the braid is what causes rubs on some horses. I chose the airflow ones. They are tricky to wash (well the dressage one is, obviously the jump one hasn't been washed for the three minutes it spent on a clean horse!). It does wash well, but I do it on a delicates or hand type wash and keep the drum speed down to 600. Dries overnight in a warm place. However, because it is so smooth underneath, it doesn't need washing much at all, a brush off and damp sponge sorts most of it. It is tricky as sometimes it unbalances the machine and the machine quits on me!

I think they look smart too.
 
I really like the Equitex half pad I use as a bottom layer, wouldn't want to use anything else now as the material is perfect, and I like how it doesn't rip much hair out
 
Love mine I have a GP numnah a close contact style pad and a full GP pad all of which I use with my GP saddle. I prefer the close contact style as less bulky. They’re very easy to brush clean. I’ve washed all of mine in the washing machine at some point cold wash, low spin speed then hung to dry.
 
I dithered for a while over saddle pads. Hermosa wanted something with more padding, and I needed to be able to shim it. The price of the Equitex was off-putting. I ended up with a fluffy sheepskin Christ Lamfelle pad with big pockets you can stuff shims into. So far so good, and it wasn't cheap, by any means. Most expensive bloody saddle pad I have ever bought, but cheaper than the Equitex.
 
I got rid of mine as my saddler preferred to fit my saddle with sheepskin. It definitely altered the fit of the saddle and I didn’t notice any difference in way of going between Equitex and sheepskin.
I found that the binding rubbed terribly too!
 
I'm adding anothe comment if I didn't mention it before, the pad is very bulky under the rider's legs and this affects not only our leg position but, ultimately, whether we can achieve a neutral pelvis too. On a wider ribcage it's likely to cause more issues than on a narrower ribcage, all other things being equal. It's why I generally recommend a half and not full sheepskin lining on a pad.
 
Does hair stick to them? How do they wash?
A lady I work for said I can borrow hers to give a try.
I don’t want to return it with grey hair all over but would be interested in just giving one a try as I have the offer!
 
It is VERY easy to brush hair off them- I use a magic brush, or a dandy brush. Sweat brushes off quite well once dry, or sponges off.

A quick cool slow wash in the washing machine brings them up like new, but they do take a while to dry - you can't tumble them or put them on a radiator - I wouldn't hang them out in this intense heat either, tbh.
 
Cragrat said:
It is VERY easy to brush hair off them- I use a magic brush, or a dandy brush. Sweat brushes off quite well once dry, or sponges off.

A quick cool slow wash in the washing machine brings them up like new, but they do take a while to dry - you can't tumble them or put them on a radiator - I wouldn't hang them out in this intense heat either, tbh.
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Thanks! I may give it a try to see what the fuss is about, I very much hope I absolutely hate it or see no difference 😬
 
Red-1 said:
It is our go-to pad for dressage. No rubs, comfy, not too sweaty. The design keeps too many hairs from attaching.

However... I liked it so much that I bought a jumping one too. Waited for the saddler to come to fit the saddle with it and, sadly, my jump saddle is a Stride Free so 'different' in construction and doesn't suit the Equitex.

Drat! So, I have a brand new jump pad, used for 3 minutes, that I don't need. They seem to sell really well on the secondhand page on FB, but I still have it here.

For both of mine, I chose the ones without the braid as it seems the braid is what causes rubs on some horses. I chose the airflow ones. They are tricky to wash (well the dressage one is, obviously the jump one hasn't been washed for the three minutes it spent on a clean horse!). It does wash well, but I do it on a delicates or hand type wash and keep the drum speed down to 600. Dries overnight in a warm place. However, because it is so smooth underneath, it doesn't need washing much at all, a brush off and damp sponge sorts most of it. It is tricky as sometimes it unbalances the machine and the machine quits on me!

I think they look smart too.
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Love HHO! On the back of this I am now the proud owner of Red's beautiful blue Equitex. And Lottie loves it. Noticeably less grumpy about being tacked up. So I also now have a white dressage one and my saddler has tweaked the saddles to make sure the saddle and pad are perfect together. Which means I can't use any other pads now. Which in turn means I need a non-white dressage pad for schooling! This was a dangerous road to go down...... For now I am schooling in the posh competition one. But I do want to keep that clean really! So if anyone else has a pad their horse disapproves of - any colour - please let me know.
 
Ambers Echo said:
Love HHO! On the back of this I am now the proud owner of Red's beautiful blue Equitex. And Lottie loves it. Noticeably less grumpy about being tacked up. So I also now have a white dressage one and my saddler has tweaked the saddles to make sure the saddle and pad are perfect together. Which means I can't use any other pads now. Which in turn means I need a non-white dressage pad for schooling! This was a dangerous road to go down...... For now I am schooling in the posh competition one. But I do want to keep that clean really! So if anyone else has a pad their horse disapproves of - any colour - please let me know.
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Lots second hand here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/217476616519549
 
Currently reading these comments. my horse changes one width from summer being XW to winter being W+ so rather than alter the tree every six months saddler suggested front riser pad. Joined DDM and there are two studies completed: one where the reindeer came out on top and the second was the most recent that was a combination of DDM and Russell Guire having completed static testing and kinetic testing. It showed that gel pads acavallo in particular exert more pressure, than no pad at all. The pads generally came out differently for the different aspects of the tests. Equitex came out on top. Winderen was in top 5 overall but top 1/2 in some of the testing. I opted for a winderen pad.
Fast forward two months and I’ve not used it once where my PSOS/anky pads don’t move and under the saddle (they never moved without the pad)

I’m now considering the equitex alpha riser, as it says I can use that directly on horses back and pad over top!
 
my mare goes fine in a plain cotton or fleece lined and i would rather spend the money of physio for her rather than a pad, we do a lot of bareback anyway. i'm not saying they are good or not good but i just don't have that money for a saddlepad
 
I’ve recently bought one second hand. After taking it off yesterday I noticed rubbing on her back both sides underneath the front of the saddle, in about 30 minutes. Saddle/pad didn’t move though. If I’m honest she didn’t go that nicely in it, so think I’ll be selling it.

I bought it because of all the hype.. I guess if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
 
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