New half pad...horse acting strange...

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1Lucie

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My horse recently had his back checked by Mctimmoney back therapist. He had two sessions a month apart. She recommened i had my saddle fitter.

Master saddler came out, checked saddle and confirmed it wasnt fitting as it did when purchased 4months prior (due to weight/muscle loss). She said the saddle itself was fine but recommended a thick saddle cloth along with a half pad or 2 normal cloths.

So shiny new Premier equine half pad arrived... Tried it out...

First time in manage... my quiet boy reared.. yes reared which is unheard of.

He's had it about 2weeks now and although he's fine on a hack, ive noticed he's not right in manage. Its always the first 5mins of riding, then he's fine

Twice this week he has stopped dead half way round a circle and sidekick/little buck.

So, what can it be.. is he just not used the the half pad? Its always on a circle ((my boy isnt overly well schooled in arena and finds circles different normally anyway) Or is it spring fever?
 
Why didn't the saddle fit? Saddle pads will decrease the width of the saddle across the whole panel- if it's just the front that needs lifting it could be too tight at the back or vice versa? If thus is the case a corrector pad with sms would be better
 
He had lost muscle and weight. He has almost put the weight back on now and im working on the muscle. He currently has a medium width saddle and the next size down was slightly to much.
 
I've had something similar, had my saddle checked, saddler said my horse had lost a bit of condition, (ok he had) told to use a half pad, first time with it on, horse when asked for canter reared 5times and I was unable to get him down, he then went over backwards and came down next to me, lucky not on top of me, but it was close. Spoke to another saddler later on about the issue and she said that some half pads will creep up into the gullet and sit on top of spine even with ones with spine clearance, ESP if your saddle hasn't got a wide clearance.
 
Doesn't sound quite the same as I only had half pad and no other pad, but when I used it my horse started to buck after 20min and was getting quite grumpy in transitions. I realised that without a full pad to hide it, my girth was too short and was pinching him between the bottom of the saddle flap and the synthetic girth. Hadn't thought about my girth being too short before as pad protected him. Now have a better girth and no bucking.
 
Sheepskin covered pads are made up of more than one piece of sheepskin sewn together. The cheaper ones can be up to 70 pieces, believe it or not. If you are using it next to his skin, it is possible that your horse can feel the joins.
 
brown tack said:
I've had something similar, had my saddle checked, saddler said my horse had lost a bit of condition, (ok he had) told to use a half pad, first time with it on, horse when asked for canter reared 5times and I was unable to get him down, he then went over backwards and came down next to me, lucky not on top of me, but it was close. Spoke to another saddler later on about the issue and she said that some half pads will creep up into the gullet and sit on top of spine even with ones with spine clearance, ESP if your saddle hasn't got a wide clearance.
Click to expand...


Very interesting! Its odd coz after 5 mins he's fine, wondering if this could be the problem and it somehow rectifys itself as i ride
 
cptrayes said:
Sheepskin covered pads are made up of more than one piece of sheepskin sewn together. The cheaper ones can be up to 70 pieces, believe it or not. If you are using it next to his skin, it is possible that your horse can feel the joins.
Click to expand...

Its always used with a saddlecloth
 
KatPT said:
Doesn't sound quite the same as I only had half pad and no other pad, but when I used it my horse started to buck after 20min and was getting quite grumpy in transitions. I realised that without a full pad to hide it, my girth was too short and was pinching him between the bottom of the saddle flap and the synthetic girth. Hadn't thought about my girth being too short before as pad protected him. Now have a better girth and no bucking.
Click to expand...

This is intresting too, another thing to try. I'm glad isnt just me thats experienced this, thought i was going mad.
 
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