Cob Jockey

Just in case anyone has some Christmas money burning a hole in their pocket later this week, I thought I'd write up a proper review on the least adult thing I bought in 2020.

Hi yes I'm a 33 year old adult with a successful professional career, why do you ask?

Mary may have started something when she bought me that Punk Ponies pad. I've never been a wild colors or sparkles on horses person before, but when I saw these new Majyk Equipe Estrella pads, my brain was like "Look man, it's been a long, hard year of being an extra adulty adult and doing lots of things you don't want to. Life's too short to take yourself too seriously. Buyyyyy the paddddd."

So, YOLO. And teal sparkles look amazing on both ponies.

Bonus color and size reference, here's the pad on my barnmate's 16hh geriatric palomino QH Zippy, who has been filling in on pony ride duties for baby Annie while Connor is at school <3

But let's step away from the obvious fabulousness of the color and glitter. How is it as a pad? Honestly - it's my new favorite jump pad. It has great structure, doesn't slide down and bind the withers, and is nice and thick but still seems breathable. This doesn't feel like a cheap pad at all; they took the word 'luxury' seriously when they named it that.

I mean, please keep in mind we mostly keep one foot on the ground at all times now so I don't have an extensive collection of jump pads. But it's the nicest one I own for sure.

Like most saddle pads, it would be nice if it came in a slightly smaller size for my slightly smaller equine, but honestly, even with my postage-stamp sized 16.5" CWD 1C flap SE02 on it, it doesn't look massively out of proportion.

My biggest question with the glitter pads was how do they hold up? I'm happy to report that so far, they seem to hold up pretty well. I rode that jump lesson with my Back on Track nylon quarter sheet over the pad the entire time, and a fairly minimal amount of glitter transfer occurred.

I've also washed it once, and couldn't tell any difference in sparkliness before and after. There's obviously some top-dressed glitter on there that came off, but I think it also incorporates sparkly thread maybe? Either way, I think it'll stay glittery for a long long time (FWIW, same goes for my Punk Ponies pad as well). If you buy into the idea that glitter is the herpes of craft supplies, you're going to come away with only a very mild case if you own this pad 😂

It matches my...four? year old? turquoise Majyk Equipe Dressage Sport Boots

My only complaint is that there's one place where the braiding has started fraying, but I'm hesitant to call that out because it's such a clean cut, I'm not sure if I accidentally sliced it on something or what. Overall, the braiding and binding are very high quality and solidly attached. I'll update this review later if the fraying starts to occur in more places.

(My other complaint is that these don't come in Dressage cut - hello, Dressage queens and sparkles are like peanut butter and jelly! Do it, Majyk Equipe!)

Bottom Line: If you're in the market for a great quality pad that makes you giggle like a little kid every time you see it, this pad is for you. And I might have also ordered a purple one...

What: Majyk Equipe Estrella Sparkle Luxury Close Contact Saddle Pad

Sizes: Full

Colors: Turquoise, purple, black and silver

Price: $74.99

Disclaimer: I bought this pad with my own hard-earned money, and opinions are my own.