29/05/2026
People often ask me how I pattern my pads out... what's my process of designing something.
Well, it's pretty organic.. and nothing flash.
For the spines, I cut, sew, try. Then re-cut, re-sew and re-try - multiple times, on multiple horses.
For shaping, I start from a blank canvas and quite literally sketch the patterns by hand while they're on a horse with a saddle - with a builders pencil! I try each one with three or four different saddles I own - they're all different sizes and made by different saddlers. It's important to me that the saddle pad isn't the hero - we spend a fortune on saddles and my pads just need to compliment them, not determine how a saddle sits. The multiple lines in my drawings is me finding that 'happy medium' to suit the shape of a range of saddles.
I've never cut a pad from someone else's. For starters, I'd get bu**er all joy out of that and secondly, it's just not the right thing to do.
Every piece of wool felt is hand cut from giant rolls and I make sure the felt runs a particular way too. There is nothing 'quick' about what I do. It all takes time and is all handmade.
Once I'm happy with how they look, I test the feel. In paddocks mustering (I own a farm, so they always start there), to sand arenas and draft arenas. On breakers, young ones, competition horses and our older horses. It starts with me because I am my own worst critic and know what I like, am pretty strong about what I don't like, and have 27 horses here that are all different shapes and don't have the ability to tell lies.
Once I've given them a once over, my husband gets them (he can't tell a lie to save himself and is a damn good rider), my kids flog them around the paddock, and then our friends and riders we love get passed the torch to see how well they stand up to them. Have I ever ditched a design? You bet! The buck always starts and stops with me. It's my way of working and one I'm proud of. If I won't use it, I don't expect anyone else to.
Do others do it differently? Probably. I've never worked for anyone else, never visited another saddle pad maker's workshop and never asked. My process is based on what works for me and my horses.
Anyway, this was the beginning of the MBH fender shaped contour spine pad.
Enjoy!
