A Saddle Mattress?

Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like, a mattress for your saddle. I saw this on Facebook, and was quite intrigued.

Photo from their website.

I use a pretty standard saddle rack, the kind that you can carry easily to shows. I keep it padded with two old saddle pads.

Somewhat padded.

After reading about the Saddle Mattress, I decided to look at my saddle closely to see if there were any pressure points.

Yep. Right there.

Both sides of my saddle have an indentation where it rests against the saddle stand.

Fortunately, the pressure points hit my saddle just below the saddle's panels, but still, the pressure points can't be healthy. I have my saddle's flocking adjusted at least once a year, and so far, the fitter has never mentioned the "indentations." Over the weekend, I asked her about the Saddle Mattress, and she loved the idea. She also suggested padding the rack with fleece or pool noodles, which I had already planned to try.

Saddle Mattress photo

The Saddle mattress is a great idea, and using one can only be a healthy option for your saddle. As soon as I saw the product, I knew I wanted one, but at $100, it's kind of pricey for what is basically a piece of foam covered nicely in cloth. In the meantime, here's what it looks like with a pool noodle instead.

Much cheaper than $100.

I sent my saddle fitter the above photo. I asked her to evaluate the width and overall efficacy of my cheaper solution. Her response was very positive. She thought it all looked great.

I sliced the pool noodle with a pocket knife.

​I use pool noodles a lot for P.E. with my students, so I have had some experience in cutting them to size. I simply measured the length of the saddle rack to determine how much noodle I needed and then sawed off the desired length with a hacksaw. I took a pocket knife and sliced down through the pool noodle so I could slide it onto the saddle rack. I thought I might need duct tape to secure the noodles, but so far, they fit snuggly without sliding around or falling off.

They slid on easily.

While I really like the idea of the Saddle Mattress, and I may eventually just get one, I thought I'd try this out for a while to see how it holds up.

New cover and better padding for my saddle. Now it just needs to be cleaned.

We have a pool, so I buy new pool noodles every year anyway. Now I have a use for last year's pool noodles. Out of curiosity, has anyone tried a Saddle Mattress, and if so, do you like it?