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glenatronIn today's Mythbusters we explore whether it is possible to replicate the performance of an impression pad ( used for testing saddle fit ) using only simple ingredients found around the home...
There isn't actually a whole lot of science here, maybe there should have been - probably some maths about viscosity and optimum pressure distribution, but basically the way it works is that a pressure pad consists of a couple of panels that contain a clay like material. The pad goes underneath the saddle and then as the rider sits on it, the clay is displaced by the weight of saddle and rider, indicating any pressure points, bridging and other potential problems.
Rather than studying pressure differentials, we thought we could just try bodging something together from some playdough and an old feed sack and find out if that works...
Start out by taking your bedding bag and cutting off both ends, so you are left with a rectangular tube of polythene. Fold and tape one end, creating a flat polythene bag.
The playdough recipe we used was Flour, water, salt and vegetable oil. Put the flour and salt in the bowl together and then add water slowly to make it as thick as possible.
Once you have enough dough to put a decent thickness in the bag ( this took about 2 1/2 bags of flour for us ) roll it out evenly to ensure it is the same thickness across the pad. Roll from the sealed end up to push out as much air as possible.
Fold over the top of the bag and tape that exactly as you did the bottom, making sure all possible air has been squeezed out.
You will need to have your rolling pin ( or something similar ) with you at the yard ( we always have an emergency bottle of wine on hand there, just in case ) so that you can roll out the dough immediately before putting it on the horse.
Then simply put it on, cinch up your saddle before the dough has time to slip down the sides too much and hey presto:
You wouldn't know this pony was covered in dough!
After a short bit of riding it was time for the moment of truth...
It was always likely to be a problem that the dough was too soft and was just totally displaced by the weight of saddle and rider. Turns out this concern was founded. However, the way the dough was pushed shows firstly that the saddle is making even contact with Zorro's back across the bars - there doesn't appear to be any bridging going on - and secondly there isn't too much squeeze on the front of the saddle- I was concerned about it pinching the shoulder, but this doesn't appear to be happening. A clear ridge shows it was well off the spine.
The saddle was certainly dropping left a little- I think a decent pad and cinching up with greater care will help here ( I was kind of in a hurry to get everything in place so the dough wasn't too rapidly displaced by everything going on ) but Zorro is a little unevenly muscled to the right, so it's something we can also work on improving.
So the experiment was a general success- I think I can safely use this saddle without worrying too much about causing my horse discomfort, in fact if I understand the science involved it should be more comfortable for him because it should be displacing my weight better. I shall persist in obtaining a proper saddle pad and larger stirrup irons.
As a control I shall try putting it under my regular saddle tomorrow and see how that works out.
If I was to do this over again I might leave the oil out of the dough recipe because some of it escaped and I now have a couple of oily patches on my pony, although I don't think he really minds.
The Science Bit
There isn't actually a whole lot of science here, maybe there should have been - probably some maths about viscosity and optimum pressure distribution, but basically the way it works is that a pressure pad consists of a couple of panels that contain a clay like material. The pad goes underneath the saddle and then as the rider sits on it, the clay is displaced by the weight of saddle and rider, indicating any pressure points, bridging and other potential problems.
Rather than studying pressure differentials, we thought we could just try bodging something together from some playdough and an old feed sack and find out if that works...
Building The Pad
Start out by taking your bedding bag and cutting off both ends, so you are left with a rectangular tube of polythene. Fold and tape one end, creating a flat polythene bag.
The playdough recipe we used was Flour, water, salt and vegetable oil. Put the flour and salt in the bowl together and then add water slowly to make it as thick as possible.
Once you have enough dough to put a decent thickness in the bag ( this took about 2 1/2 bags of flour for us ) roll it out evenly to ensure it is the same thickness across the pad. Roll from the sealed end up to push out as much air as possible.
Fold over the top of the bag and tape that exactly as you did the bottom, making sure all possible air has been squeezed out.
You will need to have your rolling pin ( or something similar ) with you at the yard ( we always have an emergency bottle of wine on hand there, just in case ) so that you can roll out the dough immediately before putting it on the horse.
Then simply put it on, cinch up your saddle before the dough has time to slip down the sides too much and hey presto:
You wouldn't know this pony was covered in dough!
After a short bit of riding it was time for the moment of truth...
Results
It was always likely to be a problem that the dough was too soft and was just totally displaced by the weight of saddle and rider. Turns out this concern was founded. However, the way the dough was pushed shows firstly that the saddle is making even contact with Zorro's back across the bars - there doesn't appear to be any bridging going on - and secondly there isn't too much squeeze on the front of the saddle- I was concerned about it pinching the shoulder, but this doesn't appear to be happening. A clear ridge shows it was well off the spine.
The saddle was certainly dropping left a little- I think a decent pad and cinching up with greater care will help here ( I was kind of in a hurry to get everything in place so the dough wasn't too rapidly displaced by everything going on ) but Zorro is a little unevenly muscled to the right, so it's something we can also work on improving.
So the experiment was a general success- I think I can safely use this saddle without worrying too much about causing my horse discomfort, in fact if I understand the science involved it should be more comfortable for him because it should be displacing my weight better. I shall persist in obtaining a proper saddle pad and larger stirrup irons.
As a control I shall try putting it under my regular saddle tomorrow and see how that works out.
If I was to do this over again I might leave the oil out of the dough recipe because some of it escaped and I now have a couple of oily patches on my pony, although I don't think he really minds.
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no subject
Date: 10 May 2009 22:38 (UTC)no subject
Date: 11 May 2009 02:32 (UTC)no subject
Date: 11 May 2009 12:08 (UTC)I hope so, anyways...