Summer riding comes with a specific problem that most half pad marketing conveniently ignores: heat and sweat. Your horse’s back is generating warmth, you are generating warmth, the sun is doing its part, and whatever sits between saddle and horse is right in the middle of all of it. The question of whether sheepskin or memory foam handles that environment better is a real one — and the answer is not as simple as “sheepskin breathes, foam doesn’t.” Both materials do something different, both have trade-offs in heat, and which one belongs on your horse depends on what you are actually asking the pad to do.
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The Core Comparison: What Each Construction Actually Does in Heat
Before getting into specific products, it helps to understand what you are working with at the material level.
Memory foam — the kind Ogilvy uses in their half pads — is a pressure-distributing material. It conforms to the horse’s back, spreads load across a wider surface area, and reduces concentrated pressure points. The trade-off in summer is that memory foam itself is not a breathable material. It does not wick. It does not pull sweat away from skin. What it does is sit relatively close to the horse’s back and let air move around it, but the foam itself is not doing any moisture management. In moderate heat, this is a non-issue. In sustained high-humidity summer work, you will notice the horse’s back comes out wetter under a foam pad than under sheepskin — not because the foam traps more sweat, but because sheepskin is actively moving it.
Sheepskin — natural fleece — functions as a wick and a buffer simultaneously. The fiber structure pulls moisture away from the skin surface and allows it to evaporate through the pile. On a hot day, this means the horse’s back runs measurably drier under sheepskin than under foam or cotton. There is also a thermal buffering effect: sheepskin is naturally insulating in cold and naturally moderating in heat, which sounds contradictory until you understand that the fiber structure traps air rather than heat. That said, sheepskin is a premium material that comes with premium price points and care requirements. It is not maintenance-free, and in very heavy sweat conditions — a horse that soaks through a pad in forty-five minutes of work — sheepskin needs to dry properly between uses or it will retain odor and degrade faster than foam equivalents.
The honest framing is this: if your summer priority is moisture management and back comfort in heat, sheepskin has a functional advantage. If your priority is even pressure distribution and your horse is not a heavy sweater in warm conditions, memory foam at a lower price point does that job well. For many horses, the answer is a sheepskin pad that combines both.
Ogilvy Memory Foam Half Pad: The Summer Workhorse at $125
If you are schooling through summer heat and want reliable pressure distribution without crossing into premium territory, the Ogilvy Memory Foam Half Pad is the honest starting point.
The Custom Jump Memory Foam Half Pad runs $125 and the Classic Jump Memory Foam Half Pad starts at the same price point, with the Custom version giving you color and binding options. On the flat, the Classic Dressage Memory Foam Half Pad and Custom Dressage Memory Foam Half Pad are the equivalent pick.
What you get at this price point is Ogilvy’s core foam insert system — the pockets of memory foam that sit strategically under the panels rather than across the full surface, which is part of why the pad is thinner than it looks. Thinner matters in summer. There is less material mass to trap heat against the horse’s back, and the cotton outer layer does a reasonable job of allowing surface air movement.
The memory foam half pad is not trying to be a sheepskin. It is not wicking moisture or buffering heat the way fleece does. But it is doing genuine pressure-distribution work at roughly half the cost of the sheepskin options, it dries faster after washing than natural fleece, and it is lower-maintenance through a summer show schedule when you are laundering frequently.
Fit notes: Ogilvy’s memory foam pads run true to size. If your horse has a broader, flatter back or a tendency toward panel pressure — especially post-winter when topline is still rebuilding — this pad earns its place in the rotation even if you also own a sheepskin version. The pressure-distribution function does not diminish in summer; the question is purely whether the material comfort layer is adequate for your horse’s sensitivity.
Who this is for: The horse that is not a heavy sweater, the budget-conscious summer schooling setup, or the rider who already has a quality baby pad doing the moisture-wicking work underneath and needs the half pad primarily for cushion and fit.
Who this is not for: The horse that comes out from a summer ride with a saturated back, the horse that shows heat-sensitive skin reactions, or the horse that is working long enough in high humidity that sustained moisture against the back becomes a skin or comfort issue. For those horses, the sheepskin pads below are worth the price difference.
If you want to go deeper on how pressure distribution relates to back tightness and topline development, I have covered the biomechanics side of this conversation on the podcast — it is relevant background for anyone who is choosing between pads based on more than comfort alone.
Ogilvy Sheepskin Memory Foam Half Pad: The Summer Upgrade at $299
This is the pad that resolves the tension between breathability and pressure distribution, and it is the one I would reach for first if budget is not the deciding factor.
The Custom Jump Sheepskin Memory Foam Half Pad and the Classic Jump Sheepskin Memory Foam Half Pad both run $299. The dressage equivalents are the Custom Dressage Sheepskin Memory Foam Half Pad and Classic Dressage Sheepskin Memory Foam Half Pad, also at $299.
What Ogilvy has done here is layer the memory foam pressure-distribution system underneath a natural sheepskin top. You get both functions working simultaneously: the foam is distributing load across the panels, the sheepskin is wicking moisture away from the horse’s back and managing the thermal environment at the skin surface. In summer heat, that combination is meaningfully better than either material alone. The horse’s back runs drier, the skin contact layer is temperature-moderating rather than passive, and the pressure distribution is not sacrificed to get there.
The summer case for sheepskin specifically: Natural fleece does something that synthetic materials and foam cannot replicate, which is actively pull moisture away from the skin and allow it to migrate outward through the pile where it can evaporate. On a horse working in humid heat for forty-five minutes to an hour, this is not a trivial difference. It is the difference between a back that finishes work damp and one that finishes work wet. For horses with heat-sensitive skin, horses prone to fungal issues in summer, or horses that show back tightness correlating with sustained moisture and heat, the sheepskin layer has a practical therapeutic argument, not just a comfort one.
Care in summer: This is where honesty is required. Sheepskin in summer means more care, not less. After every ride, the pad needs to be removed promptly, shaken out, and allowed to dry fully before the next use — ideally hung where air can circulate through both sides. If it goes back on the horse or into a bag while still damp, you will get odor and eventually fiber degradation. In a show environment where you are doing multiple rides a day, you may want two sheepskin pads in rotation rather than one. At $299 per pad, that is a real cost consideration to weigh against the comfort and skin-health benefit.
Fit notes: The sheepskin version runs slightly thicker than the standard memory foam pad because of the fleece layer. If your saddle fits snugly as-is, account for that added height at the panels. For most horses this is not an issue, but it is worth knowing before you order, particularly if your saddle is already at the outer edge of its tree fit for your horse’s back width.
Who this is for: The horse that sweats heavily in summer work, the horse with heat-sensitive or reactive skin, the horse doing extended rides in high humidity, or the rider who wants the best all-around half pad and is willing to maintain it properly.
Who this is not for: The rider who needs easy, fast, throw-it-in-the-machine laundry after every ride. Memory foam at $125 cleans faster and simpler. If your summer schedule means pads get washed multiple times a week and you cannot reliably allow a sheepskin to dry between uses, the standard memory foam half pad is the more sustainable choice.
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Quick-Reference Comparison
| Memory Foam Half Pad | Sheepskin Memory Foam Half Pad | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $125 | $299 |
| Pressure distribution | Yes | Yes |
| Moisture wicking | No | Yes — sheepskin actively wicks |
| Thermal buffering | Minimal | Yes — sheepskin moderates heat |
| Summer suitability | Good for light-to-moderate sweaters | Best for heavy sweaters and sensitive skin |
| Care | Machine washable, dries fast | Hand or gentle machine wash, must dry fully |
| Thickness | Thinner profile | Slightly thicker at panels |
| Best for | Budget-conscious summer schooling | Premium summer comfort and skin management |
One More Option Worth Knowing: The Sheepskin Quilted Half Pad
If your horse does not need the pressure-distribution function of memory foam — if the saddle is fitting well and the issue is purely summer comfort and breathability — the Sheepskin Quilted Half Pad is the third option in this tier.
The Custom Jump Sheepskin Quilted Half Pad and Classic Jump Sheepskin Quilted Half Pad also run $299, as do the dressage versions — the Custom Dressage Sheepskin Quilted Half Pad and Classic Dressage Sheepskin Quilted Half Pad.
The quilted construction underneath the sheepskin top is softer and more traditional in feel than memory foam — some horses and riders prefer the way it moves. What it does not deliver is the targeted pressure-distribution function that foam pocket inserts provide. If your horse has any history of uneven panel pressure, a saddle that fits 80% but not perfectly, or back sensitivity correlating with load distribution rather than moisture, the Sheepskin Memory Foam version is the stronger pick. If the fit is genuinely good and you want sheepskin breathability in a slightly softer, more traditional package, the quilted version is a legitimate alternative at the same price.
The Bottom Line
In summer heat, sheepskin has a functional advantage over memory foam for moisture management and thermal buffering — and that advantage is real, not marketing. The Ogilvy Sheepskin Memory Foam Half Pad is the pick that gives you both functions at once, and it is the pad I would recommend first for horses working in sustained heat and humidity who need their back environment actively managed.
The Ogilvy Memory Foam Half Pad at $125 is the honest, capable, lower-maintenance answer for the horse that does not have a heavy-sweat or skin-sensitivity problem — or for the rider who needs easy laundering to be part of the equation. It does the pressure-distribution job well without the sheepskin premium or the sheepskin care requirements.
Neither pad is wrong. The right one is the one that matches what your specific horse needs from the material sitting against its back on a hot day.
Ready to shop Ogilvy half pads for summer? Use code SAMANTHABAER10 for 10% off your order → https://ogilvyequestrian.com/samanthabaer
