I have a hard to fit horse.  You would think that as many horses as we see and help fit through the store that fitting our personal mounts would be easy, but that did not prove to be the case with my mare, Lolly.  She has a fairly narrow back and all of my saddles were just a little too wide for her.  I tried maybe 6 different saddles before finding one (A Martin Saddlery All-Around with adjustable rigging) that was a great fit for her without a pad, but I still got some dry spots after I rode her.  The fit was not bad enough to cause her problems on short rides and training sessions, but I wanted to trail ride some this past summer and the last thing I wanted was a sore backed horse halfway through a five hour ride.  In the meantime, I had acquired another horse and a new Alpine contoured pad for her.  I'm usually not a fan of swapping pads from horse to horse, but I decided to give the new pad a try on Lolly. 

Wow, with this many saddle pads to choose from, how do you ever narrow your selection down to just one? It's a hard task, but when it's time for a new pad, you've just got to do it. Here are some tips and guidelines to help you out.

When choosing a new saddle pad, you'll have to consider several things. Your saddle size, saddle fit, the type and amount of riding that you do, and sometimes other special details.

Have you ever wondered how to measure a saddle pad? Or maybe, how to know what size pad you should use? Here are a few guidelines.

Most saddle pads have two or three measurements. Length, width, and sometimes thickness. The first number on a pad's measurement is the length of the pad along the horse's spine. The second is going to be the width of the pad, from one side, across the withers, and down the other side.