Previously, we have tested a large number of saddle pads in the lab to see how good they are at reducing impact on horses’ backs (LINK to Saddle Pads Tested). But there are many things we can’t easily test, such as how well they wear, fit, wash, what the company’s customer service is like, etc. All these things can be important when making buying decisions, as no one wants to waste money!
We launched a saddle pad survey in March 2025 to find out what riders’ real-world experiences of saddle pads were. The survey was on the SurveyMonkey platform and consisted of seven questions and took on average five minutes to complete. Respondents could rate between one and three saddle pads. The survey was anonymous, but respondents could choose to leave an email to enter into a prize draw to WIN one of five saddle pads ranging in value from £50 to £200 plus an Animalweb t-shirt!
Over 1500 saddle pads were rated. 94% of respondents were rating a pad that they currently owned. Most commonly, respondents had owned the pad for 1-2 years (22%) or 2-3 years (20%), but 17% had owned the pad for more than 5 years. Only pads with at least ten ratings were included in the analysis.
The different brands of pads that were rated included:
- Back on Track
- Eskadron
- Equestrian Stockholm
- Equitex
- Griffin Nuumed
- Horzehoods
- Hy Equestrian
- LeMieux
- Mattes
- Ogilvy
- Polypads
- Premier Equine
- Prolite
- ProtechMasta
- PS of Sweden
- Shires
- Thinline
- Weatherbeeta
- Woof Wear
Most said they used the pad for everyday riding (58%) or everything (27%), whilst only 9% said they
used the pad for specific activities such as schooling or jumping or flatwork, and only 6% said they
just used the pad for competing.
The highest and lowest ranking pads are shown below. Griffin Nuumed and Horzehoods
each came top in three categories, with Protechmasta, Thinline and Hy each coming top in two categories.
Polypads came bottom in four categories, and Weatherbeeta came bottom in three categories.
Ranking for customer service:
The overall ranking based on all scores was:
Summary
As always, our surveys are not saying “this is the best, buy this” but rather giving you information based on what people who have purchased and used these products think of them. So, if you are looking for a pad that doesn’t slip, then Horzehoods would be a good choice or if fit is most important, then Hy came out top.
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