Tack Review

Tina Hoover adjusted my saddle a few weeks ago.  The saddle fits Speedy a bit better as he is wider than Sydney.  In order to accommodate both horses, Tina suggested that I ride Speedy in just a square pad without the accompanying fleece half pad and that I try to find a riser pad for Sydney to help lift the saddle a little in the front.

I had to spend some time investigating, but I finally found a riser pad that I thought would do the trick.  I bought Roma's Wither Relief Lift Front Half Pad from Dover Saddlery.  When I took it out of the box, I was a little skeptical as it is super light weight.  Even Hubby cast it a disparaging look. Not one to judge a book by it's cover, I decided to give it a try.

Available from Dover and Smartpak

What I like about the pad is how contoured it is.  I ride Sydney in the Steffen Peters Dressage Show Pad which also has a lovely contoured shape.  (Mine is black.) 

Steffen Peters Dressage Show Pad

So far so good ...

Much better, but needs a minor adjustment.

The Roma half pad fits very nicely under my saddle, which I like.  It also did a fabulous job of lifting the front of the saddle, maybe a hair too much.  I need to play around with it just a bit to get my saddle a little more level.  

As soon as I got on, I could feel the difference; the saddle was definitely higher in the front which felt MUCH better.  When I next ride, I need to place the half pad a bit farther back on the dressage pad.

Overall?  This was a good purchase.  The pad sells for $29.95 ($28.45 for USEF Members) at Smartpak and for $34.99 at Dover Saddlery.  I had a $20 Visa Reward from Dover so with my discounted shipping, I ended up paying only $19.94.  Not a bad deal!