[HFSH]

Hi all.

My saddler was just here for a visit to adjust my saddle (yay George!) and we're about 95% perfection. The saddle still wants to just slightly slide L to R (it's an issue with the way the tree of my sadde is built, it wont' lock perfectly on the back as the points are a bit too short to do a perfect job).

He suggested the Thinline pads. I've read the rave reviews and am in the market for the 'right' one.

I've been to the Thinline website http://www.thinlineinc.com/ and am a bit perplexed as to which one. I don't know that I need one of the shimming ones as I regularly have George here for adjusting my saddle.

So after reading, thinline suggests the Contour pads to help with a saddle that wants to slide side to side.

Sooo, ultra thin or regular contour?? And then, what's the "Trim" that they are talking about? There is an 'untrimmed' option, a custom color and then the same color of the pad. What is the "trim?"

By the way if you sign up for their newsletter you get an email coupon for 10% off.

Hmm, what color should I get? Black or white? Saddle is black, pad is white. I was thinking black to hide the fact that I'm sure the white will eventually look not-so-white.

[hollyhorse2000]

Call thinline and talk to them. I've done that before and found them very helpful. You might very well need to go with something with a shimming option if you're saddle is sliding. You'd shim up the side it's sliding too, to minimize that happening. (I shim because my horse is uneven, not my tree.)

[jn4jenny]

Call them. Call them. Call them. Did I say call them? Call them.

ponyjumper4 is the Thinline customer service rep and will hop on here eventually, but really, you'd save yourself a lot of time and misinformation by just calling their office. They are lovely to deal with.

Don't forget to sign up for the e-mail list--they usually send you a coupon right off the bat.

[HFSH]

I have the coupon and I did send them an email. Just curious abuot cothers suggestions.

thanks!

[horsegalriding]

I have the Ultra Thin Line and I love it. It should be enough to keep your saddle from shifting. I would recommend not getting the trim (unless you're getting black) because it gets dirty and washing the pad does not get the trim very clean.

[Jay-N-Jete']

Do call them! They're so nice to work with!

I got the black Ultra ThinLine Contour b/c L to R shift.
The pad blends right in with the saddle, so you don't even notice it.
I got no trim b/c the rep said the pad itself won't fray w/o it and...if it does, you can just trim off a bit with scissors.

LOVE MINE! So does my horse!

[ThoroughbredFancy]

I have the sheepskin comfort pad and I like it. I found that it runs a little big so I had to get the smaller size. Although my saddle is a less bulky saddle as it is a close contact saddle but the quality seems good and they were very pleasant to deal with.

[HFSH]

My saddle is an 18.5" so I'm assuming I would order the 'Large' option on the ultra thin contour (I'm taking the cothers advice, thanks!) with no trim.

[DownYonder]

I ride in an 18" Kniedersuss and use a large Thinline Contour. I love it, and my mare seems much happier in it, too.

[flshgordon]

If I remember correctly, the regular thinline is supposed to help a little bit more with riders that have back soreness than the ultra.

[SerenaGinger]

I have the white pad and it stayed white where the gullet is and has black lines where it meets the saddle. I have actually found this helpful in placing the pad in the middle of the horse's back. It isn't as obvious to center on the back like a regular saddle pad.

I also don't have the trim. I bought the thicker one for my daughter, in black, but she rides a pony and we can easily place it in the center of his back!

[crazy_horse1095]

Just wanted to say that I've been using the Thinline contour since I put my mare back into work a few weeks ago, and I LOVE it! We've just been hacking, but it's ALL hills. Even without a breast collar there's no slipping in any direction. (she's also going 10x better, no joke)

FWIW, from what I've read, the ultra would be for a horse and rider combo that don't need much "tweaking". The regular is targeted towards horses with sensitive backs, horses in high impact situations, and riders with back soreness.

Definitely call them though!

[Foxtrot's]

I'm happy with my "saddlefitter pad", but it came with one shim missing, all of them were black and it was a bit of a jigsaw to get them right with the mitred cut fitting the right way since there were no markings on some of them. Not tooooo difficult, since one set was thicker than the other, but actually, when they sent the missing shim, the mitre was wrong: not a disaster, but a bit careless. Also, the "saddlefitter" is not the topline sheepskin, but a grade lower. Again, in my case just as well because it will squash down and make the pad a little less bulky with the shims in it. Need the shims for my horse with a sharkfin and dip. They are made in China and perhaps the packaging is done there. So far I have used it only with a clean baby pad - too afraid to dirty that lovely white fluffy sheepskin.

[wildREDhorse]

http://www.chronicleforums.com/Forum...light=thinline

Here's a post from around Christmas when everyone was asking ponyjumper4 about the pads, I think they are a customer service rep or something for thinline??

Anyways, it turned into a I have this this and this, which should I order type thing. Hope it helps!

[HFSH]

Yep, I did a search and read a miriad of raves about the pads, but still had a few questions which is why i posted.

I ordered one today!!

I ordered a large, black, ultra thinline contour pad.

I went with the ultra thin because my saddle fitter is a genious, and i don't like a lot of bulk between my horse and the saddle.

I DO have back problems, but lately it's been good. Who knows, I may end up also buying the regular thinline contour pad at a later date

I am really excited to see how it goes when I get it! I can hardly wait.

BTW, I rode tonight, and the sippage is so minimal I would guess that many wouldn't notice it. I hope that it's perfect with the pad!

[honeydoozy]

My saddle is an 18.5" so I'm assuming I would order the 'Large' option on the ultra thin contour (I'm taking the cothers advice, thanks!) with no trim.

I was advised to get the endurance pad for the 18.5" saddle and am I glad I did!!!! It's *just* long enough down the spine, and is easliy trimmed to fit my particular dressage saddle.

I think the regular dressage style pad would be too short for anything bigger than 18".

[Dune]

I bought one. It fits well and keeps the saddle(s) in place, although with proper girth tightness, I can't say that was a huge problem before purchasing the Thinline pad. I was hoping to see a HUGE improvement based on the "hype". I have not, as of yet.

[Valentina_32926]

Saddle slipping to the side is exactly the reason I purchased a thinline pad. I purchased the least expensive thinline countoured dressage pad. When combined with NOT allowing my mare to throw me to one side (so she doesn't have to work as hard) and really concentrating on riding straight I eliminated the problem. With a coupon for $20 off I saved on shipping - no need to go hog wild. Only thing I don't like is it tends to pull "tight" over the withers - so once I place the saddle on top of the Thinline pad (which is on top of my saddle pad) I "pull" both the cloth and thinlins pads up into the wither channel area to reduce compression over the withers.

[honeydoozy]

Only thing I don't like is it tends to pull "tight" over the withers - so once I place the saddle on top of the Thinline pad (which is on top of my saddle pad) I "pull" both the cloth and thinlins pads up into the wither channel area to reduce compression over the withers.

I'm really struggling with this right now too - even with the pre-mount adjustment, by the end of the ride, it seems to be sitting pretty firmly on his withers. It doesn't seem to bother him in the least, but it bothers ME.

I'm wondering if a straight cut right along the wither to allow the pad to rest comfortably on either side of his "dorsal fin" might help??

[ponyjumper4]

Call them. Call them. Call them. Did I say call them? Call them.

ponyjumper4 is the Thinline customer service rep and will hop on here eventually, but really, you'd save yourself a lot of time and misinformation by just calling their office. They are lovely to deal with.

Don't forget to sign up for the e-mail list--they usually send you a coupon right off the bat.

Ha ha ha ha. My boss (the owner) just pointed me to this thread.

I think I can clear up a few things and I actually remember the OP's email. You can call me customer service as that is one of my many jobs here. I am basically the retail sales manager so I handle the website, all the online and most of the phone orders, I'm the one (well, one of the ones ) in the official ThinLine booth at the horse shows, work with the sponsored riders, and oh about 50 million other things.

As for the rider back pain and which pad, it depends on your pain and where it's coming from. Typically for lower back pain that comes from sitting in the saddle or if you've recently had back surgery or problems with your hips, go Ultra ThinLine. For general back pain and stiffness either the Ultra or ThinLine will do the trick. For back pain from a more impact standpoint, go ThinLine.

Do not worry about the ThinLine causing issues with your high withered horses (I have one too). It is not a restrictive material, there is a lot of give to it, especially when it's warmed up from your horse's body heat. If needed, you can take a pair of scissors or a utility knife (my tool of choice) you can cut back the wither a little more in a half moon shape--a straight cut like one poster suggested would cause the pad to rip and be ruined. Make sure you have a smooth edge cut and you won't have any problems.

Foxtrot, glad it's still working out for you. I'll apologize again that it came a shim short. I can guarantee the quality control when it leaves the warehouse, but not when it leaves from the tack shop to the customer. The sheepskin does come from China, but it constructed in the US and packaged in our warehouse. It almost sounds to me that the tack shop may have given you the wrong shim as replacement based on your description. If so, let me know and I'll certainly correct that as I mentioned before.

Dune, which pad did you purchase and how long have you been riding in it? There are number of factors that influence when, how much, and what kind of improvement you see in either yourself or the horse. It really does vary that much and can vary greatly from horse to horse.