Friday, April 27, 2012

Affinity Saddle Liner from Trailwise Tack

 Above, the bars of my Euro dressage saddle. Below.... the bars lined with pure wool saddle liner from Trail wise tack....after two hundred miles.
The lovely Michelle Smith of Trailwise Tack gave me this lovely product to try out on my Arabian Endurance horse Kipling a.k.a The Silver Bullet. I took it to Nevada where I rode hard for approximately 200 miles for  three weeks in the high desert around Reno. Lots of mountains and sandy plains. Kip's back didn't sore at all and what I like most about this pad is it STAYED in place! It has velcro in the center so you can adjust it to the gap and some on the other side to stick to the bars of the saddle.Plus a tie ring at the front. It also has pockets in three strategic locations and comes with some 'soft fluffy stuff' to put into them where your horse's back tends to hollow. I added some up front and will probably add some more as it flattens down.
The whole pad has actually snugged into the saddle and I just leave it there. I should probably take it off and flufff it up a bit here soon but so far I haven't really had to touch it. Nice! I put a light cotton dressage blanket underneath just to cover the side flaps but other than that, it's all I have needed. I use a woolen under blanket sometimes and that works but I think the cotton one is plenty. The cotton one gets dirty but is very easy to wash. Two cotton ones would be good to have so you can change them out when one gets dirty. They are not expensive.
The only problem I have seen so far is that the black dye does stain the cotton blanket when wet. I'm sure they come in white also. I will post more about this product as i ride through out the endurance season so stay tuned. So far, I am very impressed!Thanks Michelle!
 To purchase or find out more find out more.... 
http://www.trailwisetack.com//index.cfm?Action=ViewCategory&Category=171