With customers from all over the country, many who order pads online as opposed to buying them in person, it is the job of Best Ever employees to help these horse owners design and order a saddle pad that correctly fits their horse’s back. Obviously every horse is a little different and requires a little different needs, but with their guidance and 30 years of experience as horsemen, Best Ever employees are able to tell their customers what works best for them and the company.
Every horse is built different, but no matter their structure, it is important to always make sure your saddle and pad fit their backs correctly. Ryan White, one of the owners of Best Ever Saddle Pads, is here today to give a few need-to-know pointers when it comes to finding the right pad.
Today Ryan is saddling up one of his young horses, Buckles. Buckles is a six year old heel horse. Although his back is relatively normal with lower, flatter withers, his structure is still developing.
Because Buckles’ pad doesn’t necessarily require anything too specific, Ryan saddles him with two pad setup - meaning he uses both a navajo and a one inch wool pad on top. Although this is just another option of how to saddle a horse, this is a tried and true cowboy way and riders of many disciplines use this method. The wool on top and bottom provides good absorbance and allows the horse to breathe.
The only main difference when using this two pad setup is to make sure you pull your navajo a little further forward when saddling your horse. It does tend to slide if it is sitting too far back, but once you get roping your saddle and pad should square up nice in the front. Again, make sure to always keep your saddle and pad balanced up and down the entire spine.
After throwing on a correctly fitting saddle tighten the cinch just enough to see that this pad also doesn’t push down on the withers of the horse, allows plenty of space in between the gullet to run your hand, or at least three fingers, through, and is big enough to still have a extra inches of room both in front of and behind the saddle.
Although this method is a bit more simple, you can easily spice things up by individually customizing your saddle pad with either leather tooling or even any other special design.
World champion team roper, Jade Corkill sports this pad and has never used a different product from Best Ever. He said this two pad setup is durable and lasts long - perfect for constantly traveling the rodeo road.