Unless I've been doing it wrong for the last ten years (quite possible! =P), each side gets hooked on the billet of the saddle to keep the pad from slipping backward. Some saddles just have pre-sewn loops that you slide on. So in the picture, you'd just unvelcro the two straps from one another, then hook each one under a billet on each side and back onto itself.
Yep! But just in case I'm describing it the wrong way, I found a video that shows you. It's simple, but for some reason kind of hard to describe. It's at about 45-50 seconds
I use mine because in hard work, the pad will slip back. Even if you use the girth hooks. I've had pads half off right before I go into the dressage ring because I didn't use the billet straps and we had a last minute tack emergency :P So don't cut them off!
^ Depends on your saddle and your horse - I've never had a saddle blanket slip and I never use them, yet some people lose saddle pads out the back. And yes we do hard work :]
I had issues with slipping on Wintec I got while back. The pad somehow used to slip back under the saddle and nothing helped. I sold it after like 5 tries, because it definitely didn't fit my horse.
I've never had a slipping saddle blanket with any of the 8 or so saddle i've used, from cheap Wintec 500's to an imported County Dressage saddle to my custom made stock saddle.
Some horses are shaped in a way that makes them slip, or as SR said some saddles don't fit or some riders aren't balanced.
I just ignore them if I don't need them, but you never know when you might need to ride a horse that does need them to keep that pad in place. I figure it can't hurt to have them hanging there. Would be worse to need them and not have them, than to have them and not need them.
I find that slightly offensive SR. I have a friend who competes in 2* events, and he definatly isn't a noob rider, but his saddle pads slip. And his saddle is a custom Devacoux. I'm not an unbalanced rider most of the time, and my saddle pads might slip here or there. It's just the way the horse moves. It might also be that XC is alot more demanding then most other sports and the horse is moving alot more.
^ I've ridden lots of cross country and I have never had a slipping pad.
It can be many things causing it, but it isn't the sport.
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