Thin Line Shimmable Pads for Bridging

[Mr.KnowItAllArabian]

Hello everyone
I recently had the chiropractor out for my little guy, and we came to the conclusion that his saddle is bridging, causing painful spots right behind his shoulder blades and right where our saddle ends. He is 22 and has a bit of a dipped back, and not much muscle tone over his topline. I lease so I am not able to buy a new saddle for him and there aren't any more saddles out there that would fit him better. My instructor is recommending a thin line shimmable pad for bridging, but looking into it they are quite expensive including getting the pad and the shims. Does anyone know of any alternatives or deals on thin line pads? Also any experience or opinions on it would be appreciated. Also, the saddle fits him ok other than that, I ride him in a therapeutic ceramic heating pad with a hand me down Mattes half pad. Thank you all in advance and a pic of my boy for attention <3

 

[Birker2020]

This is the trouble I had with my friends saddle that I had fitted to my new horse by a fitter. We used a prolite pad to fill the gaps but over the course of the week the saddle started coming down on him above his shoulders and he reacted very badly, each time I rode he was worse till we realised the saddle was causing the issue (he does have other longstanding issues also). It wasn't the saddle fitters fault as it fitted perfectly when she was there as she watched me ride, but I started to get a reaction a few days later which got worse throughout the course of the week.

So now I am building up his core and topline as much as I can by a number of ground work exercises, lunging in a pessoa to make him stretch down and strengthening polework exercises to build his core. We are also doing a lot of stretching exercises and he's coming on very well. The first photo was on the 23rd October the second on the 27th November, nearly five weeks later. Once you have a better top line you will fit a saddle better.

I plan to have the vet for reassessment in February with a view to getting a saddle fitter to visit and try a number of saddles until we find the correct one and make him comfortable. I could just shove a load of padding underneath which is what he had with the pro rider who rode him prior to me buying him but i want to get the saddle correct so we don't have any issues going forwards. I also don't personally think that that is fair on the horse. If your shoes hurt you, you wouldn't stick a load of thick socks on, because although they might relieve the comfort for a time, it won't be helpful long term when it starts to pinch.

I know doing groundwork and strengthening is a PITA when all you want to do is ride, but its worth it in the long run.

 

[I'm Dun]

There are lots of half pads with shims, and you can pick them up second hand for about £40/50. Sometimes less if you keep an eye out. My older boy has lost his top line as he ages and as a happy hacker hes not going to get it back. He has a memory foam prolite pad with shims where needed. I've also got a le miex that has shims as well somewhere. They are a handy thing to have and if you buy second hand you wont lose much money if you need to sell

 

[ycbm]

I'm sorry but I hate the idea of shimming to make a bridging saddle fit. Unless you can get perfectly feathered edges on the shims, tailored to the dip in the back, then there are always going to be pressure points at the edges of the shims.

I would look at WOW Korrector pads, which are air filled, or go treeless.

.

 

[sbloom]

I'm sorry but I hate the idea of shimming to make a bridging saddle fit. Unless you can get perfectly feathered edges on the shims, tailored to the dip in the back, then there are always going to be pressure points at the edges of the shims.

I would look at WOW Korrector pads, which are air filled, or go treeless.

.

I would somewhat agree, as a fitter I can easily balance a saddle and check that the shims are fine tuned to correct the fit statically, without causing other issues after being ridden either (ie I see the saddle ridden too). it's a fine art, and good shim pads are expensive. I like the Mattes shimmable pads, Thinline is a proven technology so if the design of the pad works for you then it's a good'un. I would massively recommend using a fitter if you possibly can, personally I'm no fan of air in saddles and again you can cause just as many issues if you get that wrong.

 

[Birker2020]

Someone offered me one of these to try - its a memory foam pad. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this SBloom? I assume that having no fixed area this would pad any atrophied areas like above the shoulders rather than using shims that would be hard and likely to 'dig in'? Or would it eventually have the same affect? This particular one retails for around £170 but there are similar options on the market that are a lot cheaper.

 

[sbloom]

Someone offered me one of these to try - its a memory foam pad. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this SBloom?

I can't see what it is, looks a bit like an Equitex but maybe Equipe branding? Memory foam is usually slow recovery, such as a bed when you roll over in it, it takes a couple of seconds to let you sink. Not what you want on a fast moving set of bones and muscles IMO. If you can borrow one and the horse likes it then less of a problem, but there are more proven products - good sheepskin, high performance (fast recovery, low rebound) foams such as Poron XRD, d3o and Thinline - but a ton of expensive pads that are far from proven and may actually cause issues.

A thick pad of course isn't a shim pad and won't be able to correct bridging in the vast majority of cases, in fact may make it worse. They really can't fill in gaps, not properly, hence a good shim pad and someone who knows what they're doing is the only way to do it successfully.

 

[I'm Dun]

I've got a Korrector pad I'd sell if it would be any good OP? Its been sitting in my tackroom for ages doing nothing useful and would probably work well for your issues

 

[flying_high]

Hello everyone
I recently had the chiropractor out for my little guy, and we came to the conclusion that his saddle is bridging, causing painful spots right behind his shoulder blades and right where our saddle ends. He is 22 and has a bit of a dipped back, and not much muscle tone over his topline. I lease so I am not able to buy a new saddle for him and there aren't any more saddles out there that would fit him better. My instructor is recommending a thin line shimmable pad for bridging, but looking into it they are quite expensive including getting the pad and the shims. Does anyone know of any alternatives or deals on thin line pads? Also any experience or opinions on it would be appreciated. Also, the saddle fits him ok other than that, I ride him in a therapeutic ceramic heating pad with a hand me down Mattes half pad. Thank you all in advance and a pic of my boy for attention <3

Not a saddler

Personally having used both, I would think a mattes correction half pad with shims or a prolite with shims would be far better.

Mattes is preference, but I have seen other older horses with atrophy do better the additional thickness of prolite.

I have an shimable thin line half pad (and I think it is more for micro corrections) as the pad and the shims are very thin.

It worked well for more sensitive rehabilitation horse under his saddle and for marginal shimming.

I don’t think thin line would be enough to solve bridging.

 

[flying_high]

Someone offered me one of these to try - its a memory foam pad. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this SBloom? I assume that having no fixed area this would pad any atrophied areas like above the shoulders rather than using shims that would be hard and likely to 'dig in'? Or would it eventually have the same affect? This particular one retails for around £170 but there are similar options on the market that are a lot cheaper.

View attachment 83818

Are there any advantages of this over a spine free mattes sheepskin half pad? Ideally a shim-able one giving more adjustability. I thought sheepskin did really well in pressure and shock testing.

 

[sbloom]

It looks like the Equipe pad, if that's what it is, is made by Ogilvy. This lady is interesting:

I have an shimable thin line half pad (and I think it is more for micro corrections) as the pad and the shims are very thin.

It worked well for more sensitive rehabilitation horse under his saddle and for marginal shimming.

I don’t think thin line would be enough to solve bridging.

For a saddle that is already borderline too high in front, a common cause for bridging, a thinner pad and thin shims may be an advantage.

Are there any advantages of this over a spine free mattes sheepskin half pad? Ideally a shim-able one giving more adjustability. I thought sheepskin did really well in pressure and shock testing.

Yes sheepskin performs pretty well, in my basic testing is absorbs as much impact as a Prolite pad. I think the issue is the OP owns a half pad without pockets, so can't use it to shim, hence is deciding what to buy.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I use the nuumed sheepskin shim numnah I find they work well, I have used a polite as well in the past.

 

[sbloom]

I use the nuumed sheepskin shim numnah I find they work well, I have used a polite as well in the past.

Wool lined, not sheepskin , they're proudly vegetarian and wool and sheepskin do have different properties.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Wool lined, not sheepskin , they're proudly vegetarian and wool and sheepskin do have different properties.

I know I always say sheepskin don't know why ?

 

[Birker2020]

Are there any advantages of this over a spine free mattes sheepskin half pad? Ideally a shim-able one giving more adjustability. I thought sheepskin did really well in pressure and shock testing.

I don't honestly know the answer to that one.
https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/...mable-pads-for-bridging.813181/#post-14785133

 

[Goldenstar]

I only use the Griffin numbed shims now because they are so thin .
I always trim them to make them shorter as I don’t think them coming up into the gullet .