Saddle pads dampen the pressure on the horse's sensitive back and thus provide relief for the back muscles of your horse. Correction pads do even more, however, as they offer the possibility of easily compensating for a suboptimal saddle position and slight skews. Correction pads for horses are available in a wide variety of designs and for different disciplines. Each equestrian discipline has its own preferences. Sheepskin correction pads are often seen in the jumping arena. Many dressage riders, on the other hand, use memory foam pads or gel pads for correction, which are less easily recognisable from the outside. In western riding, western felt pads and western saddle pads made of sheepskin are used.
Sheepskin correction pads usually have two or more pockets, which are also called chambers. This makes them particularly versatile. These corrective pads with inserts can be used to raise the saddle at the front or back, as required. Special shock absorbing inserts are available in different thicknesses for this purpose. The comfortable sheepskin also has a shock-absorbing effect. The versatile pads, such as the Christ sheepskin correction pad with chambers, allow you to quickly adjust the saddle to your horse. They are suitable for young horses as well as for horses that are being retrained after a long period of inactivity. Correction pads for saddles are ideal for compensating for these temporary irregularities in the horse's body structure.
Correction pads made of memory foam or memory foam pads appear quite thick and stiff at first glance. The memory foam only becomes soft through the horse's body heat and thus adapts to the contours of the back, making them ideal as correction pads. Due to its material properties, the memory foam pad can compensate for a wide variety of irregularities, which means that these pads fit under almost any saddle.
The most widely used saddle correction pads are made of gel. Gel pads for horses do not only provide more comfort, they can also be used as correction pads. The saddle pad of the gel pads is very large in general, which distributes and cushions the pressure evenly. Gel pads are available as back risers, where the gel pad is raised at the back, and as front risers, where the gel pads are raised at the front. The best known are certainly the Acavallo pads. In addition to the corrective effect, a properly applied gel pad also prevents the saddle from slipping.
In order to offer horse and rider even greater comfort, Kentucky Horsewear has combined the excellent properties of the gel pad and memory foam pad in a 3-layer system. This innovative technology makes Kentucky Horsewear correction pads even more comfortable and effective.
Which corrective saddle pad is right for your horse will depend on the existing bias and the equestrian discipline being practiced. As a correction pad affects the saddle position, it is always advisable to involve your saddler in this question. This way you can make sure that the correction pad fits well under your saddle and does not become too tight.
However, it does not always have to be the corrective pad. Standard gel pads and sheepskin pads can also compensate for small skews and distribute the pressure optimally. They also have a shock-absorbing effect and are in most cases absolutely sufficient to increase the comfort of the saddle for horse and rider.
