How to Make Wool Saddle Pads

A saddle pad is an integral part of the riding experience, for both you and your horse. You can make your own wool saddle pad using burlap and wool roving. The burlap you should use is fine quality, having 12 strands of burlap per inch of fabric, rather than the more coarse burlap of a potato sack. Wool roving is soft fluffy wool fibers in bundles, which have not been spun into yarn.

Things You'll Need

  • Burlap
  • Scissors
  • Sewing machine
  • 5 lbs. wool roving
  • Latch hook
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Instructions

    • 1

      Cut a piece of burlap to 34-by-34 inches with scissors and make a 2-inch folded hem on each edge with a sewing machine. Make a folded hem by folding the material up 1 inch and then folding it up another inch, hiding the raw edge of the burlap inside the hem.

    • 2

      Tear a length of wool roving into three equal lengths, so each piece is a third as wide as the original roving. Do this for all of the roving.

    • 3

      Hold a few strands of roving in your hands and pull them until they are all the same length. Continue to do this for all of the strands.

    • 4

      Insert the end of a latch hook through a hole at the edge of the burlap and pull through a 3/4-inch loop of roving. Keep the end of the latch hook through the hoop.

    • 5

      Insert the hook into a hole 1/2 inch away from the first loop and pull another 3/4-inch loop of roving through the first loop. The hook should stay through the second loop.

    • 6

      Continue to insert the hook 1/2 inch away from each loop, pulling the newer loop through the previous one until the pad is covered with roving.

    • 7

      Knot the roving at the end of the pad so the wool doesn’t unravel.