A Dotstream Review; Christ Lammfelle Half Pad w/ Shims

Here it is folks! The Christ Lammfelle half pad.
Yeah, I have never heard of it either... then I did some research.

Surprise, surprise, apparently for those who are actually on the up and up in the world of equine products, this pad/brand has a pretty good rap. (Speaking of which I tend to avoid 'nice' tack stores because there is nothing worse than getting your heart set and getting a solid 'No' from your pare... husband).

Seeing as I still like 'nice' things and I will not compromise, I contacted my tack dealer,*gives shady eyes*, to see what she had in the realm of half pads to help prevent the cantle of my saddle flipping up over fences.
Within a couple days she got back to me letting me know her selection of available products. One of which was the Christ Lammfelle half pad with or without shims.

At first I had no idea what she was talking about but trusting that Google knows all, I got to Googling.
I found many websites in the UK and USA selling the pad, great reviews from those who own it and a whopping $285(cdn) price tag. Mmm yup, not in my budget!

One quirk of my tack dealer... she never gives you the price until you ask. Afraid to ask but dying to know, I figured I would just find out, for curiosity sake. Plus, Christmas was coming up after all and my DH was stumped.
Low and behold I ended up scoring the pad for $70 because the velcro straps were sewn on backwards so that the you have to twist the strap to get it to adhere to itself. Who cares! Sign me up!

______________________________________________________________

DH ended up purchasing the pad for me as a Christmas present, so I am only a few rides in with this pad and aside from wanting to sleep with it every night I have to say this thing is fantastically made and truly solved my saddle fit issue.

I chose the model with the shims and size large. Trust me the medium, which I would normally chosen based on experience with other half pads was WAY too small for the Bates saddles I have.
The shims, both back and front, included a memory foam type and a gel type and are added by pulling the luscious sheepskin (bottom), away from the fabric top which Velcros back together.

At first I used the rear shims and while I am thinking I may, in future, have to put them back in IF the sheepskin compresses some, I ended up needing to remove them because the sheepskin is extremely dense and plush. Not sparse and loose like many pads I have seen.



As far as horse's experience... Paloma was instantly softer and floatier, reaching down almost right away rather than 20 minutes into our rides as usual. I even noticed a vast improvement in the saddle's seat stability.
It felt much more secure and still. Hence pony happiness!

Overall, this pad is a great buy, if I had known what a difference it would have made before I would have happily forked out a couple hundred bucks.... but at almost $300.... eh.... I don't know.  But hey, I am known to be very frugal.


FYI. The pad typically includes it's own sheepskin wash by BR