# best pad to stop saddle slipping on no-wither barrel??



## ellerslie83 (21 July 2012)

I'm trying to stop the saddle slipping on my OH's xx-wide table-backed cob with no withers (on a diet - trying to sort it!). There's so many out there to choose from and some of them are really pricey, so I don't want to buy one and regret it...any suggestions from personal experience?


----------



## claribella (21 July 2012)

I just bought a treeless saddle and have been directed towards either the HAF pad or the equitex ones. Read reviews and they seem good but I have no personal experience as yet.


----------



## niamh (21 July 2012)

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Stephens-GEL...t=UK_Horse_Wear_Equipment&hash=item27c6dabc7c

tried, tested and recommended. You need only run water on it to get it sticking like new anytime it gets dirty or dusty. It's actually a gel pad so it's primarily for sore backs. 
The only downside would be that it's so effective that if you place the saddle too far forward like tons of people do, it will just stay there and irritate the horse 

This one here is cheap, they're normally a lot more....Stephens is a good known brand. Otherwise you're looking into racing gear, and that'll set you back as much money without the gel properties really


----------



## dafthoss (21 July 2012)

If its slipping back then a breastplate is your best bet, if its slipping side to side imroving your balance (and the horse loosing weight) is the best way to solve it. I'm not to keen on the non slip pads as if you put them on your self then they are uncomfortable when you try to move and all the horses I have ridden with them have gone better without. But for a tempoary fix the non slip rug rolls you can get for laminate floors are the same as some of the pads and much cheaper.


----------



## katherine1975 (21 July 2012)

I use a Barnaby grip pad, expensive but well worth it.


----------



## katherine1975 (21 July 2012)

Meant to say barnsby - sent from my phone!


----------



## niamh (21 July 2012)

dafthoss said:



			If its slipping back then a breastplate is your best bet, if its slipping side to side imroving your balance (and the horse loosing weight) is the best way to solve it. I'm not to keen on the non slip pads as if you put them on your self then they are uncomfortable when you try to move and all the horses I have ridden with them have gone better without. But for a tempoary fix the non slip rug rolls you can get for laminate floors are the same as some of the pads and much cheaper.
		
Click to expand...

Yeah and they'll take out the skin off the horse as well as giving it a bad back because it's too non-slip with absolutely zero movement in it, and nowhere for the sweat to go. no thanks, been there, won't make the mistake again


This is why I recommended this gel pad above. I use it daily on several different horses (altogether has been used on over 30 different horses) and they all go better in it due to it being not only a gel pad, i.e. a shock absorption one,  but ventilated and _made for the purpose_


----------



## katie_southwest (21 July 2012)

I'm also using a gel pad which my saddler gave to me , it's great the saddle doesn't move which is making exercising her to get the weight off a lot easier! I just have to wash it once a week to keep it's stickiness


----------



## quirky (21 July 2012)

I had a point strap attached to my saddle. Luckily when I first bought her saddle, the saddle fitter appreciated het shape and steered me towards a saddle with the anchor there. It cost very little to get the actual strap


----------



## TigerTail (21 July 2012)

Is the saddle actually straight? Are the stirrup bars level side to side? Same with the girth straps?

Is the rider collapsing to one side?

It shouldnt be slipping at all, especially a treed saddle tbh, and I wouldnt be going down the route of grippy pads until I knew why it was slipping.


----------



## ester (21 July 2012)

we use one of the stephens- type gel pads on a mare with no shoulders.. gives the saddle (and mother!)  half a chance when she sticks a dirty stop in


----------



## Sugar_and_Spice (21 July 2012)

I like limpet pads.


----------



## ellerslie83 (22 July 2012)

Thanks for all your answers! 

The saddle is straight, but he's so massively round, it slips even when I lunge him. I had it on him yesterday with a 'Tacky Too' pad which is normally for his western saddle (which no longer fits!) and after a 40 min hack in walk where I rode him half the way and walked him back, by the time we'd got back it had slipped halfway round his side! 
The saddler said when she fitted it because of his massive size (double extra wide), fattness and no withers, he would need one, but the choice is a bit tricky when you can't try them first and obviously I want it to work and for him to be comfortable! By the sound of it the gel ones might be good as they'd also be shock absorbing - not that I think he knows I'm even on his back as I'm tiny!


----------



## Equilibrium Ireland (22 July 2012)

I use cheap "dish mats". Can pick them up anywhere. Can't do a photo and bad at describing them. You can cut to any size. I put down before putting on pad. Flip over the front of pad and saddle will not move. Used to use wet, not wringing wet, leather chamois people use to clean cars with but these are cheaper. The dish mats are soft, grippy, don't need to be wet, and have little holes in them. 

Worth a try if you don't feel like spending a fortune on pads to start with. 

Terri


----------



## dotty1 (22 July 2012)

I have exactly the same problem, huge shoulders, no withers, barrel body. The best I have found to hold my xxw Barnsby Highland/Haflinger saddle central is an Acavallo thin gel pad and a flexi girth used together.


----------



## faerie666 (22 July 2012)

Try using a chamois leather (from Halfords or Tesco etc, has to be a leather one, not the microfibre cloths), dunk it in some water and ring it out so it's just slightly damp.
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...alfords Chamois Leather Large&source=shopping

Or these work very well too:
http://www.rideaway.co.uk/evazote-race-panel-1/


----------



## SuperCoblet (22 July 2012)

I used to have this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Non-Slip-...t=UK_Horse_Wear_Equipment&hash=item27c194a294
Which was ok for riding generally but I still couldn't get on without someone holding my stirrup/leaping on with no feet in stirrups until I'm on!

I now have this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gel-Eze-N...t=UK_Horse_Wear_Equipment&hash=item35bdae497b
Which is amazing! I have no slipping around and can get on off the floor without any help (providing coblet stays still!)
My lad is very round and his coat is very soft and slippy!
I also use it for riding bareback, I don't go anywhere with this


----------



## niamh (22 July 2012)

ellerslie83 said:



			Thanks for all your answers! 

The saddle is straight, but he's so massively round, it slips even when I lunge him. I had it on him yesterday with a 'Tacky Too' pad which is normally for his western saddle (which no longer fits!) and after a 40 min hack in walk where I rode him half the way and walked him back, by the time we'd got back it had slipped halfway round his side! 
The saddler said when she fitted it because of his massive size (double extra wide), fattness and no withers, he would need one, but the choice is a bit tricky when you can't try them first and obviously I want it to work and for him to be comfortable! By the sound of it the gel ones might be good as they'd also be shock absorbing - not that I think he knows I'm even on his back as I'm tiny!
		
Click to expand...

Consider shock absorption goes both ways.  You'd also need to consider a non slip girth. A neoprene sleeve works great on existing girths, or a narrow tyre tube cut in half if you don't mind appearances.
Real chamois are expensive also and don't last too long ( as well as being a breeding ground for skin conditions), synthetic chamois don't stick nothing at all, by the time you have tried all those cheap pad alternatives you'll have spent as much money if not more


----------



## Roasted Chestnuts (22 July 2012)

I have used a racing grip pad on baby S as her withers are nonexistant and being a double native X she is very barrel like without being overweight.


----------



## Slave2Magic (22 July 2012)

I now have this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gel-Eze-N...t=UK_Horse_Wear_Equipment&hash=item35bdae497b
Which is amazing! I have no slipping around and can get on off the floor without any help (providing coblet stays still!)
My lad is very round and his coat is very soft and slippy!
I also use it for riding bareback, I don't go anywhere with this [/QUOTE]

A word of warning! Do not do as I did and leave said gel pad on the parcel shelf of my car. Cue hot sunny day and pad melted to a jelly mess on my shelf:0
You live and learn


----------



## niamh (22 July 2012)

Slave2Magic said:



			I now have this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gel-Eze-N...t=UK_Horse_Wear_Equipment&hash=item35bdae497b
Which is amazing! I have no slipping around and can get on off the floor without any help (providing coblet stays still!)
My lad is very round and his coat is very soft and slippy!
I also use it for riding bareback, I don't go anywhere with this 

A word of warning! Do not do as I did and leave said gel pad on the parcel shelf of my car. Cue hot sunny day and pad melted to a jelly mess on my shelf:0
You live and learn

Click to expand...

Nearly the same one as I and another two people recommended (only difference is this one is cut to size)  Stephens is good stuff


----------



## sbloom (23 July 2012)

As a saddle fitter who specialises in the wide and flat I will say categorically that with a correctly fitted saddles (and of course with weight gain yours might be too narrow now, but fitted well previously and may well do again) you should not need a sticky pad, I've never needed to recommend one with do not like them one bit for reasons stated already.

I really would consider a second opinion on the saddle fit.  Tree, panels and girthing options all need to be absolutely correct on tricky to fit wide horses.


----------



## MissMincePie&Brandy (23 July 2012)

niamh said:



http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Stephens-GEL...t=UK_Horse_Wear_Equipment&hash=item27c6dabc7c

tried, tested and recommended. You need only run water on it to get it sticking like new anytime it gets dirty or dusty. It's actually a gel pad so it's primarily for sore backs. 
The only downside would be that it's so effective that if you place the saddle too far forward like tons of people do, it will just stay there and irritate the horse 

Click to expand...

Niamh,  sorry to hijack post. can I ask a question about this gel pad: How big is it? Would it fit a horse with an 18" saddle OK?


----------



## niamh (23 July 2012)

MissMincePie&Brandy said:



			Niamh,  sorry to hijack post. can I ask a question about this gel pad: How big is it? Would it fit a horse with an 18" saddle OK?
		
Click to expand...

Yes. It is long enough for a Zilco training saddle to fit on top of it, when most SJ pads are too short for it. It's thin and jellyish so that it sits flat on the horse's back whatever the shape of it and can be put more or less forward depending on the horse and the saddle.
I train racehorses and break in half breds all day long so that it has been tried with every possible combination of horse breed and several different saddle types. It really is in a different league as far as non-slips go  Basically if this one doesn't work nothing else will.


----------

