Mattes FTW? (I hope?)

Okay, so I don't TOTALLY want to jinx this, but P1 sorta needs a correction/shin pad and right now with the terrible-awful fit of the Prestige on P2... so does P2.  Sadly I have only one shim-shimmy half pad.  In theory this would be just fine if my two horses were anywhere near each other.  But hiring a bike messenger to constantly ferry (literally) my shim pad to and from the mare's respective homes is, well.. cost prohibitive. 

So I took to the interwebs. 

I love my Thinline Saddle Fitter Pad.  It works great for what I want, and even though it doesn't have full sheepskin trim, since I use it on a daily basis, I don't mind.  I think less fuzz helps keep the thing a bit cleaner..

Thinline Saddle Fitter Pad

 Anyway. It does the trick and at $159(ish) it's a helluva lot cheaper than the Mattes (ooooh ahhhhhh) version at $290(ish).

As such my search started with for the Thinline pad, which is (sadly) out of stock most places, either it's gotten wildly popular, or I'm guessing they've discontinued it.  I did find a few Saddle Fitter pads lingering in random off name tack websites, but it's absence at the mainstays (or eBay) meant that people are getting their shim pad needs met with another product...

I think that product is the Mattes version.

Mattes Correction Pad

 It looks almost identical, but instead of thinline shims, they have their own foam/rubber/whatever bits to stack in the pockets.  Brilliant.  But I'm not paying $300 for it.

Then I stumbled onto a random website that had the Mattes pad listed at $209.  Interesting.  Maybe worth it for comparison? Wouldn't be horrible to have one Thinline and one Mattes... maybe they'd fit slightly different.. or at the very least it would satisfy the comparison-shopping-tack-whore part of my brain.  But I wasn't sure I could swallow a $50 premium just in the name of curiosity...

I popped the Mattes pad into my cart while I got distracted in other areas of the site. Show coats... fun normal pads... ooooh.  Then because I was also trying to get some work done, and because I have the attention span of  a confused hamster I wandered off and did something. 

When I came back I noticed at the top of the page it said "your cart contains one item: $164.96"

Having clicked on, ohhhh about thirty different tack sites, I had sorta forgotten who had what pad for what price, but I assumed I must have added the Thinline pad to my cart before I got distracted. 

The practical "get-something-done-today" me told myself to just buy the damn pad and stop wasting time.  If it's not on eBay for cheaper, stop looking. 

So I did.  But imagine my surprise when my order confirmation showed the $290 Mattes pad bought and paid for not at the already awesome price of $209, but the ridiculous, unlisted price of $164.96. 

Oh yeah, and FREE SHIPPING.

So, through the magic of delusion and mind games I have now totally flipping succeeded in getting P1 her own shim pad, and feel that (even though I spent a few dollars more than I would have for the Thinline) I somehow magically made $125.04 (plus S&H) in the process.

Mattes Pad.  FTW.

Comparison review to follow shortly.  (Assuming this is a legit purchase and not some unfortunate internet scam...because there's a 20% chance this is a scam..)

For those interested, the site I ended up purchasing at is Borne Saddlery. I'm not familiar with the name, but they appear to primarily be a custom saddle shop (with some very happy customers) with some closeout-super-deal stuff on the side.  I was tempted by their dressage coats, but sizing was really limited and not.. um... busty? enough for this girl.