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5 Star Saddle Pads

5 Star Equine, the makers of 5 Star saddle pads, use only 100% pure virgin wool in their pads.

Unlike pads made with synthetic materials, 5 Star pads breathe, and so don't trap heat on your horse's back. They also reduce heat by wicking away moisture: High-quality wool is so efficient at wicking moisture it often removes sweat even before the skin feels wet.

5 Star pads are made in the USA by 5 Star Equine Products. They are available in a variety of styles, colors, and thicknesses for both the Western and English rider. Below are 5 Star pads for sale.

Below: A 5 Star saddle pad on a roping horse. This pad is 5 Star's "natural" color.

From eBay, HorseSaddleShop, and Amazon

NOTE: The saddles pads below are mostly from 5 Star, but other brands sometimes show up in the results.

See more 5 Star pads on eBay

5 Star Pad Thicknesses

5 Star pads come in several thicknesses. Below is a direct description of the thicknesses from the 5StarEquineProducts.com website:

1/2″ Pad
Great for showing reining, cutting or pleasure horses when you still need protection yet want to put a colorful blanket over the under pad for show purposes.
3/4″ Regular Pad
An excellent all-around saddle pad for those that need a daily exercise training pad and may also need to throw a blanket over it for the show ring.
7/8″ Thick Pad
The best all-around use saddle pad recommended for trail riding, team penning, cutting, reining, and barrel racing.
1″ Extra Thick Pad
Designed with ranch work in mind, for roping, performance, colt starting or heading to the mountains with lots of gear.
1-1/8″ Supreme Roper Pad
Specially engineered for team roping, calf roping, steer stopping and performance.

5 Star Pads and Felt

As mentioned above 5 Star Equine Products uses high quality pressed, 100% wool felt. So, what is felt, and what is pressed felt?

Felt - Felt is a dense collection of short, single fibers interlocked together. This creates a fabric that is much stronger than woven fabrics because woven fabrics are made from fibers that are twisted into threads, not interlocked. Woven fabrics are more fragile and can be torn apart in a (more or less) straight line. Each fiber of felt, however, is interlocked with other fibers in several different directions; it is therefore much harder to tear or damage.

Pressed Felt - Pressed felt is made by pressing individual fibers together with heat, moisture (hot water/steam), agitation, and pressure so that they interlock. This technique can produce a thick, strong, dense felt that is still soft to the touch as well as supple.

Pressed felt can be contrasted to "needled" felt. Needled felt is made by machines using thousands of needles moving up and down to mechanically force an interlocking of the fibers. Needled felts are usually made entirely of synthetic fibers, or a blend of synthetic and natural fibers. Needled felts cannot be made as thick as pressed felts. Also, because of their synthetic content they are not as soft or supple as 100% wool, and lack other important benefits of wool such as the ability to absorb moisture and heat and wick it away from the body.

Below: A brand new 5 Star 1 inch thick pad in the "natural" color. 5 Star recommends this thickness for ranch work and roping.

Below: A 5 Star saddle pad being awarded as a prize. In this photo you can see that the pad is contoured to fit the shape of a horse's back.

A trophy roping 5 Star Pad

Below: A 5 Star sponge for cleaning saddle pads. Simply rub the dry sponge in small, counter-clockwise circles on the bottom of the pad to remove hair, dirt, and dried sweat. A rubber curry comb also works well.

A sponge for cleaning saddle pads