K S SWIGART katswig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Not everybody has a perfect experience with the No Sweat Vent Pad.
I bought one a couple of years ago, and sold it (easily) about
a year ago.
On the first horse that I used it on at a ride, it slipped back incessantly
and I was constantly having to reset it during the ride. This was
enough of an irritant that I took it off at the vet check and
inished the ride without it.
On the second horse that I used it on at a ride, my horse had a sore back
after the first day of the 2001 XP (figured it would be a good
choice, since cleaning pads was the last thing I wanted to be
doing on that ride). She had the second day off, to get over
the mild back soreness; I rode her the third day without out
it (only tack change) and didn't have any problems with her
back being sore..I haven't put it back on her since and I haven't
had any problems with back sorness since either.
I have no idea if the pad caused the back soreness and cannot
imagine why it would have. I just know that I had never had the
problem before and I have never had it since.
On the third horse that I used it on at a ride, the horse got
a really nasty girth gall, to the extent that I had to pull her
at 77 miles (of the VC100), and a week later big flakes of skin
flaked off her back.
I have no idea if the pad caused the girth gall or the skin flaking
(although in this instance I can imagine how it might have); I
just know that I have never had the problem with this horse before,
and I have never had it since (although I haven't done an actual
ride with this horse since...so I may yet).
It didn't cause the same problems with different horses; in fact,
I am not even sure that the pad was the cause of the problems that
I had.
However, what I did find is that I didn't notice any benefits from
it. I didn't notice any difference in the temperature under the
saddle (although I didn't use a thermometer so I have no firm data),
and I didn't find it any easier to hose off than my regular saddle
pads (although it did dry faster...however, I have never had a problem
with putting a wet saddle pad on a horse and I don't live in a place
where they freeze or where they get mouldy). And sweat runs out from
underneath my saddle pad and down the side
of my horse no matter what kind of pad I use.
I am not sorry I bought it or tried it, and I had no trouble selling
it when I decided that I didn't want to put forth the effort to
discover if it was the cause of my problems or if it were coincidence.
It never even occurred to me to "return" the pad under it's
guarantee; I just put an ad in the EnduranceNet classified and
had 10 people who wanted to buy it from me by the end of the day.
It didn't work for me, but I didn't try ALL that hard to make it
work for me, because the best it might do is solve a problem that
I don't really have.
What HAS worked for me and my horses' backs is sheepskin.
..but those are more expensive and do require a great deal more
care.
However, I have found the money and effort of a sheepskin pad
to be well worth both;
..and if I don't want to put out the money and the effort, I
have found that cheapy cotton quilted pads are more than adequate
and as long as I don't care whether they "look" clean, they
can be kept just as functionally clean by hosing them off in the
same way that I hosed off the NoSweat vent pad.
kat
Orange County, Calif.
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