Prolite pads - any good?

[Walrus]

Hello,

I've heard differing reviews regarding the prolite pads etc. I'm looking for some sort of pressure-relieving pad for my boy's saddle. nothing too bulky. Does anyone have any expereince with the prolite pads or similar?

Cheers

 

[Weezy]

Obv in an ideal world all saddles would fit beautifully, but sometimes this isn't the case. I have used Prolites for years on different saddles and I have never had a problem with one yet. They are certainly designed well and do the job they purport to do. One thing tho, it is worth having your saddler check the fit of your saddle WITH the pad - I have seen some rather worrying things when people just lob one on without thinking about how they can alter the fit of their saddle.

 

[Kenzo]

Providing your saddle can accomdate one then yes I think they are good, although if your not sure it's best to have it checked to make sure it won't have any negative effects on the fitting of your saddle and of course if you really do need one, some saddles have quite hard panels so I think they do have a benefit that way as well as using them on horses that may need room under the saddle to develop more muscle.

I bought mine about 9 years ago (or there about's) and compared to other things I've bought in the past around that price range, probably the best £45.00 I've spent, it's still in good condition.

 

[PucciNPoni]

I use one on my loan horse who's back is a bit of a challenge, shall we say? He has this enormous slope from wither to loin and then rises back up again - not quite a sway back - but nearly. He has a massive shoulder and is rather barrel shaped. I'm making him sound horrible, but in fact he's absolutely marvellous (not that I'm biased)

Anyway, without spending an absolute fortune on a loan horse's saddle (have had it fitted and checked by my saddler) we opted for the prolite pad and at the moment he's got two shims in it. As his back improves, we'll remove one or both. He is a much much happier horse with this arrangement and is beginning to work through his back now. I give them a thumbs up!

 

[ladyt25]

When I was having my horse fitted for a saddle last year (he'd had his for years and years and I don't think it was doing his back any good in the last few years), they used a prolite pad to pad out the front as they have fitted him with a wide Kent and Masters GP (I didn't want to spend an extortionate amount on a saddle but wanted one fitted as opposed to me buying 2nd hand and fitting myself). Anyway, since then i knew I had t pad it out infront as the ideas is he will steadily build up a bit then and may need less padding (he is 20 this year though so not sure how much he'll build up but we'll see). A lady I had a schooling session with said the saddle didn't fit and when i told her it was new and had been fitted she then said it needed padidng out - which i knew, was just using an old pad i had at the time though. She swore by the Balance pads and put these on at the end of the session to try. It worked ok.

However, the physio we use and who is also trained as a saddle fitter swears by Gel-lite pads so i went to look at them. I have ended up with one and you can change the pads at the front, middle and back to get the saddle to fit correctly. It seems ok so far and, whether it is my eyes or not but I do think my horse has built up a bit more across his shoulders.

So, I would suggest the pro-lite or gel-lite ones (pro-lite stuff is always pretty good anyway). I have gone for the plain black gel-lite (NOT the sheepskin!) and the one with changeable pads.

 

[zizz]

I use one under all my saddles. just a plain one though not one wiith shims.
Washes well and looks like new after about 7 years use.