Description
This pad is made from two layers of ¼” gel-foam, one slightly smaller than the other, to create a graduated (stepped) ½” lift at its thickest point (in the centre).
It can be used on top of any of the Base Pads, or directly onto the Cushion Quilt versions of the THV Saddling Wool Fleece Pads or Double Quilt (QQ) versions.
The THV Saddling Pro-Complete Remedial ‘A’ Pad.
Used very sensitively* (please see below), this pad can be useful for horses with a dropped back posture where the lowest point of the back is under the middle of the saddle area. Saddles that are well-designed tend to have trees and panels that are relatively flat, in order to respect the shape of the healthy, well-muscled and well organised equine body. On a horse that has a damaged posture like the one below, such a saddle will bridge too much to be comfortable.
This is where a Remedial ‘A’ pad, set in the deepest part of the hollow, can reduce the bridging and allow the horse to connect up into the underside of the saddle fully during movement PROVIDING the process is healing and therapeutic for the horse*.
*We recommend that this pad is seen as temporary, whilst monitoring very carefully that the work the horse is doing is benefitting him or her. The horse in the picture is in a very weakened state and while some horses like this can benefit from very short period of therapeutic riding, for most horses it’s inappropriate and the in-hand BALANCE Remedial Programme is far more appropriate and effective in helping the horse to recover biomechanically correct posture and muscling before riding resumes. There can be many reasons a horse adopts a dropped back posture and it is not always saddle-related so it is important to establish and address the cause. It could be anything from foot/neck/back/jaw pain, to simply working at the wrong tempo – click below to see an article written about the importance of tempo:
In our experience, many horses find the THV/BALANCE Saddling System therapeutic when working in hand; moving better when saddled with correct pads than they do with a naked back. It seems the Functional Saddle gives them references points and wakes up the nervous system, encouraging the horse to experiment with releasing old patterns of destructive movement. With supportive and correct riding/training, most horses are able to learn how to engage their hindquarters enough to lift the middle area of the back, at which point this little pad becomes unnecessary.
The size of this pad is suitable to use under:
THV Saddles in adult sizes: A, B, C, D and E (in non-THV Saddles from 17″ and bigger).
Available in black only as it is not visible under saddle.
