Let’s just say that I have not owned a suitable saddle pad for the hunter ring since, like, 1999. The 2017 options are staggering and widely range in price and quality. But I had to start somewhere …

I looked at the Ogilvy show hunter pads with memory foam, but for ~$280 they were a bit more than I wanted to spend on experimenting in the hunter ring. So I started looking at other options.

I knew I wanted some kind of sheepskin or wool for the properties–it’s kind of like nature’s memory foam and sheepskin is anti-bacterial because of the lanolin. I started looking at Fleeceworks products and found a good price at Riding Warehouse for the Therawool™ Show Hunter.

In our first try in the hunter ring, I used the saddle pad with no inserts or shims and I was very satisfied with its performance. Eli seemed quite comfortable and didn’t develop any back soreness. But, I did notice the saddle sat a bit low in front, more than I am really comfortable with, so I got the Ecofelt inserts .

Once I had the inserts, they looked a bit big and I thought I might have to cut them down a bit. I decided to try shoving them into the shim pockets before trimming to estimate how much I’d have to alter them, and as it turns out, they fit in very snugly and perfectly–no room for shifting around but not too big, either.

For our next attempt at hunters, I used the saddle pad with shims in place, and I was even more pleased with the performance of the pad than before, and Eli had no objections. I felt like with the Ecofelt, the saddle was more balanced on Eli, with pressure more evenly distributed along the panels.

Size Large fits my 17″ Bruno Delgrange PJ.

One of the nice features about the Therawool™ is that it is machine washable. After the first show, I did wash it in the machine and hung it up to dry, and brushed out the Therawool™ with the wire brush that came with the saddle pad. It definitely shed a bit that first wash, but that’s what lint rollers are for. After the second show, the saddle pad was hardly even dirty, so instead of washing it I just hung it up to air out a bit and after it had dried completely I brushed the Therawool™ again with the wire brush, and the loft recovers quite well.

This is an extremely nice, well-made saddle pad and for less that $150 I think it’s a great deal.

The running martingale is a fairly common piece of tack for the jumper ring. But just because it’s the jumper ring doesn’t mean it can’t be raised and fancy-stitched. The Lund running martingale shares added features and classic touches as the rest of the Lund line of strap goods. It means taking a little extra time to break in because of the Sedgwick leather, but ultimately it is another piece of tack that can last you a decade or longer.

As you can see, the fancy stitching on the yoke of the running looks lovely. Obviously appearance is not a consideration in the judging of jumper rounds, but to say that jumper riders don’t want to look good would be a blatant lie. The Lund running also comes with a clip for the girth dee and the rubber stopper to hold the neck strap in place and prevent the yoke from slipping.

Shown here are the Lund running martingale and Lund 4-point.

I don’t always even use a running when schooling my horse at home, but it’s an essential for shows. Just that little extra bit of control that only kicks in when necessary helps and the Lund running martingale does the job perfectly.

I have noticed over the years that there is a wide variety of how people fit running martingales. I learned that a running fitted too tightly can exert a great deal of downward force leverage against the mouth bars of a horse and possibly cause issues related to that. When jumping, a horse must be able to use his head freely, and I learned as a guide that when fitting a running, the yoke must reach the horse’s chin while the horse is standing relaxed. Obviously every horse is different–this is just the way that works for Eli the best.

You can see the fit in the above pictures–no broken line in the reins from bit to elbow caused by the running. (Just kind of a loopy rein, though, oops.)

As far as running martingales go, the Lund running martingale is a fantastic piece of tack, especially for the jumper ring, and comes in cob and full to fit a variety of horses. It retails for 135 CD or around $102 US. I can recommend it to anyone looking to show in the jumpers without reservations.