Front riser (wither) pad v half pad with riser - opinions please!

[Orchardbeck]

Hi, my mare has muscle wastage behind her withers, and whatever saddle she has, needs a front riser to 'fill in the gaps'.

I have a Prolite wither pad, a le mieux pro sorb with front and back risers, and an aerborn aerolite korrector. I'm trying to avoid the perched feeling you get when using a pad, but does it always follow that if you use a wither pad, the weight will be tipped back and pressure placed on the loin?

Is it therefore better to use a 'full' half pad with built in risers, so there is always a minimum level of protection?

 

[Zargon_91]

I would highly recommend getting a prolite shim pad (ideally 6 way)- you should be able to fund it by selling the others on ebay!
That way you can build up padding and it can be different on either side for muscle asymmetry which means you wont have so much of a perched feeling as the padding is more graduated.

 

[emma.is]

I would highly recommend getting a prolite shim pad (ideally 6 way)- you should be able to fund it by selling the others on ebay!
That way you can build up padding and it can be different on either side for muscle asymmetry which means you wont have so much of a perched feeling as the padding is more graduated.

my advice too

 

[naid pollyanna]

it can sometimes depend on the saddle if the saddle is being tipped forward so the back is ending up standing off her back the front riser will even it out and put the pressure back evenly....but if the saddle is sat even i would suggest a fluffly halfpad with some kind of insertable padding to put by the whithers so that it can be adjusted etc..its a difficult one and really depnds on the fit of the saddle

 

[Orchardbeck]

Zargon, Emma, thanks for the reply. I had the prolite tri pad (6 way) but gave it to my mum -unfortunately prolite only make in one size and it is huge on my 16- 16.5" saddle - the shim pads were totally out of proportion and therefor didn't work. The aerolite corrector is the same type of pad with only 4 pockets, but it is in a pony size so works far better with our size. I just need to get some pockets stitched in so I can add centre shims!

I guess this one is the way to go - my horse aways seems happy in the prolite wither pad, but I worry that it means pressure is going to the loin.

Naid - I guess either of the ones I have will do the trick then, i'll just stop using the wither pad then I don't need to worry!

 

[sbloom]

You need exactly the right amount of shimming to bring the saddle into balance, it shoudln't ever be tipped back. This is why I like the Mattes pad - four pockets so you can always get the saddle level, and thin shims that are trimmed and layered, nothing else matches it.

 

[Orchardbeck]

Thanks sbloom. The le mieux pro sorb has four pockets, so have replaced the memory foam inserts with the closed cell ones out of the aerolite (like prolite). Hopefully that is edging towards what we need...