Pulled wool pads have been making a comeback recently! And for good reason. Wool is one of the best materials you can put on your horses back. It's thermoregulating, shock absorbing, moisture wicking, and very hard wearing. These pads are made of wool roving latched onto canvas. They take about 10-12 hours to make and have around 3,500 loops per pad. These loops are created by pulling the roving through the canvas holes one by one. It's a tedious task, but building your first pad is actually very simple. The hardest part is getting started.
There are many pad makers out there who sell what they refer to as "starter kits". You can find these by googling terms like "pulled wool saddle pad starter kit" or "diy pulled wool saddle pad kit". The kits come with everything you need to make your first pad - wool roving, canvas, a rug hook, and a measuring tape.
Here's the thing - most, if not all, pad kit sellers are buying canvas in bulk from Color Crazy and buying wool roving in bulk from overseas. There are even some sellers who claim to be selling wool sourced from US based fiber shops, but the fiber shop they bought from actually originally sourced the wool from overseas. In addition to being very overpriced, these kits often take up to six weeks to arrive to you and often don't contain enough wool for a first pad. While most pads on the market are anywhere in the 6-10lb range, it's not uncommon at all for a first pad to be heavier as beginners will often make larger loops until they gain experience making them smaller and all similar on size. You also want some extra wool in case you mess up and want to take a bit out and start over. The occasional mess up is part of the learning process! If buying a kit, look for one that has at least 10lbs of wool. Be cautious of kits that look "cheap" but actually only include 5-6lbs of wool. Or better yes, source the materials yourself! They can be found with a simple Google search and you can actually get all of these materials for a fraction of the cost of a kit. Plus, learning where to buy materials is part of the learning process if you intend to make more than one pad!
Here's the breakdown:
Color Crazy is my favorite canvas to use. It's the only canvas on the market in the US that is 100% cotton. You can buy it from their site directly or from Amazon. You can also buy other brands of canvas at Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Amazon, etc. You can get a measuring tape and latch hook at any of these places. too.
The 10lbs of wool roving can be sourced from tons of different stores in both the US and abroad. RH Lindsay is a great US based wool mill selling roving from both the US and abroad. They are very open about where their wool is sourced from. Other great options are Laughing Lamb Fibers, World Of Wool, or Etsy
Let's look at the math. The canvas from Color Crazy runs about $20. A latch hook under $5. RH Lindsay sells an off white 56 blend of wool for around $10/lb or a dyed corriedale wool for around $20/lb. Colored wool is more expensive because of the dying process but both are great for pad making. I've used both these wools from RH Lindsay myself to make many pads and can personally recommend them. Their brown and white merino wool tops are also quite nice. Spur & Skein sells a how to make pulled wool pads PDF with photos, detailed instructions, and links to tons more wool sources so you can easily follow along and make your first pad. It typically sells for $15 but new customers can get $10 off when signing up for emails! There are also free videos on YouTube and this free Word Press article to help you out. You can also read my other blog article on this topic here.
All this comes to $130 for a solid white pad, $230 for a solid colored pad, or $180 for a pad that's half white and half colored. This is much more economical than spending $300-400 on a "starter kit" that is really just materials purchased wholesale from abroad and then marked up and resold to you. These pads originated with working cowboys who made them from coffee sacks, burlap, or whatever type of "canvas" they had on hand. And they very didn't have access to Google or YouTube! The concept of a "starter kit" is merely a marketing tactic that was launched once these pads started making a resurgence so those selling them could make a quick buck. Cut out the middle mad and buy direct!
Have questions about making your first pad? I'm happy to help! Feel free to send us a message on our Facebook or reach out via email.
