A trainer in Redmond told me to never use pads on a horse with thin soles... I think he's wrong.

That's the same kind of rigid rule that makes people miss the real problem.

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Wait, what's the logic there? I've seen pads help a lot of thin-soled horses on soft ground, like in a sandy arena, to prevent bruising. It sounds like @barbaramurphy is onto something about rigid rules missing the point. Isn't it more about the specific situation, like what surface the horse is working on, rather than a flat ban?

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haydenp955mo ago

Hold on, you're using pads on a sandy arena? That's the part that gets me. Sand is already soft and giving. Putting a pad on top of that just creates a weird, unstable squish layer. It's like walking on a mattress. No wonder people are seeing problems.

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