Review by Christa from piaffestyle.com.
Disclaimer: Christa received the Kavallerie Half Gel Pad in exchange of an honest unbiased review.
I received the Shock Absorbing Ant-Slip Kavallerie Half Gel Pad within a few days of shipping, and it came a lot sooner than I had expected.
I tried the pad on a dressage horse, Dolly, and I was extremely pleased with it.
The pad came nicely packaged. I opened it and noticed that the pad is very gel-like and sticky, so I was sure it would stay nicely in place and not slip.
The pad fit perfectly and as I had figured, it sat nicely under the saddle because of its gel-like and sticky surface.
Dolly and I rode a full hour outdoors. We practiced a second level dressage test with extensions, simple changes, shoulder-ins and serpentines.
The day was pretty warm and our practice tough, so Dolly was definitely sweating a lot, as did I. Dolly felt great to ride, relaxed and willing to work.
This is how the pad looked after an hour of riding. Our saddle pad slipped a little bit, but the gel-pad didn’t move an inch.
I was extremely pleased with this gel-pad. It proved to be non-slip, the gel padding provided a shock absorbing ability, and I could feel the difference sitting on Dolly compared to our regular gel-pad.
I love that this pad has holes in it to let the perspiration out, keeping Dolly’s back a bit dryer than normal.
The pad got a bit dirty with dust and horse hair, and it stuck to it because the surface is so sticky and gel-like, however it was easy to wipe clean with a damp cloth and it dried quickly.
I will definitely keep using the Shock Absorbing Ant-Slip Kavallerie Half Gel Pad, as it has been the best I have tried so far.
It doesn’t slip, it’s great for Dolly, easy to keep clean and I’m glad it has been designed keeping in mind the horse’s well-being.
Have you tried a Kavallerie Half Gel Pad? What did you think?
Christa is a professional dressage rider and a full-time writer. She has trained with Olympic riders such as Terhi Stegars and Piia Pantsu, and worked as a rider and groom all over the world. Christa grew up in Finland, but now lives in New York City. After 5 years break from horseback riding due to an accident, she’s finally back on track and aiming to get back to international competitions as soon as possible! Read more about Christa and her journey on www.piaffestyle.com and follow her on Instagram @piaffestyle and Twitter @ piaffe_style.
I used to have a gel pad, but ditched it after it was causing too much heat build up. I would be interested to read a follow up in a few months.Thanks,Featherhttp://fitwoutdoors.com
i want one of those pads the one i had someone stole
This gel pad sounds amazing – will have to get some for our lot!