Saddle pads for sensitive skins!

Dizzco

Dizzco

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My little TB quite often gets a slight rash in her saddle area after any work that makes her sweat a little. The rash is mild, just visible raising of the skin in patchy areas that disappears quite quickly and doesn't cause any discomfort. She's always washed off well after sweating and then groomed before bed, it's not washing powders or anything as have tried changing and the same happened with a brand new saddlecloth. As it doesn't happen every day I'm guessing its some sort of heat reaction so I'm looking for some nice saddlecloths/saddles pads/ numnahs that are good for keeping their skin cool and I guess drawing the sweat away as much as possible to try and prevent any reaction. Definitely more every day than competition so ideally ones that come in darker, practical colours. Thanks :)
 
either go for a thin cotton one, rinse after every use (I wouldnt use washing powder or softener in case it is irritating her) or go for a sheepskin one to keep the skin dry?
 
Echo wool or real sheepskin - I know it seems counterintuitive than something light and cotton when you're worried about heat, but it allows air to circulate better and allows the right amount of movement to reduce rubbing.
 
Thanks! I was thinking sheepskin but concerned it might make her too warm unnessecarily.. I might try a lined one to start. In terms of keeping them clean, does anyone have any good tips? I have some half lined sheepskin pads that have been kept for best and have washed up fine so far but every day use might get grubby quickly!
 
Sheepskin. Brush it regularly (one of those very fine tooth metal pronged dog/cat brushes work well) and occasionally brush hair conditioner through it to 're-fluff' it (after a skin patch test if she's very sensitive!)
 
Sheepskin is a good option like others have said or technical saddle pads such as anky or Eurostar are really good!
My mare has sweated a lot all round girth, neck, head etc and I take the saddle pad off and she is dry where it was but saddle pad is damp where it has wicked away sweat from the skin.
I find ordinary thin cotton pads are worst for creating sweat.
 
Just in case you don't know, Nuumed are not sheepskin. They're cotton with real wool woven into them. No skin attached. They come in a couple of different thickness and the 'lightweight' and even the classic can be a little disappointing if you're used to full thickness quality sheepskin. The 'luxury' Nuumed's are gorgeous though! They're all lightweight, less sweaty and far easier to look after and clean though!
 
Kallibear said:
Just in case you don't know, Nuumed are not sheepskin. They're cotton with real wool woven into them. No skin attached. They come in a couple of different thickness and the 'lightweight' and even the classic can be a little disappointing if you're used to full thickness quality sheepskin. The 'luxury' Nuumed's are gorgeous though! They're all lightweight, less sweaty and far easier to look after and clean though!
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But the lightweight is ideal if you don't want them getting too hot or don't need extra thickness that might change your saddle fit, just softness. We use the 50z nuumed half lined numnahs all year round on very fine skinned horses (quarter horses) - they get used to sheepskin under their western saddle pads so are very particular about having wool under their English saddles too!
 
Sheepskin really doesn't make a horse hot, no more than wool and definitely less than cotton. A horse with wool or sheepskin will have a dryer back than with a cotton pad. Sheepskin is simply thicker so alters the fit slightly , so some companies make a shorter pile version - sadly Mattes don't, well not as standard, though they use it on the flaps of some fully lined numnahs. I should ask them :)
 
Used my new griffin numed high wither adjustable pad tonight (mare doesn't have high withers, the opposite actually and I need it as a riser pad)

VERY pleased with it! Think it is ahead of the Prolite as she didn't sweat up as much under it either :)
 
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