I do know people who have put temp sensors under a woolback pad and a
supracor (cool grip) under the same saddle (SR). The results were
intresting. One person in particular put one under the woolback, it got
hot and the faster she rode the hotter it got. Then she put it under a
supracor, it was cooler at all gaits but only slightly at a walk. She
was on the same trails at the same time of the year - actually only a
couple days apart - under the same climatic conditions. When she
trotted the temp under the supracor was between 3 to 5 degrees cooler
than under the woolback. This was in the high humidity of FL. I suspect
in dry climates you'd see even a greater drop. The rider reported that
the back temp actually decreased when she spead up from a slow trot to
a faster trot.
The supracor acts as a bellows dispelling warm humid air betweem the
saddle and the back when it is compressed - and cooler and dryer air
replaces it when it expands.. This would allow evaporate cooling to
function on the back even with a saddle and rider present. That is
mosture from the back evaporates in to the cooler dryer air and hence
removing heat from the blood. The cycle starts over at the next
compression/expansion cycle.
While I haven't put a temp sensor under one. I might get one from Roger
and try it sometime, I did notice a drop in heart rate when I got mine.
In my one rat experiment. I did one day of a 3 day ride. Rested the
next day - actually we got caught in a horrific hail storm and had to
let everything dry. I bought a supracor while I was in camp the second
day. The third day over the same trails as the first, the horses
working heart rate at a slightly faster speed was actually noticeably
lower. I suspect it was better heat dissipation.
Karen Sullivan wrote:
Again, on all this.....and
discussion of breathability of pads......breathable foam and
fabrics.....I guess what keeps stumping me is how the heck does the pad
"breathe" when the saddle and rider are sitting on top of it?
One thing that seems LOGICAL about
all this. If you use a Dixie Midnight pad.....the sweat does tend to
run down the side
of the horse and the pad above stays
dry. If you don't use one.....your pad gets soggy with sweat. This
does not seem like a good thing.....I even remember rides where the
sweat went all the way through a skito pad, made the top wet and the
bottom fleece of the saddle wet.....
Karen
-- "It is necessary to be noble, and yet take humility as a basis
"It
is necessary to be noble, and yet
take humility as a basis.
It is necessary
to be exalted, and yet take modesty as a foundation."
