How To Personalize Your Saddle Pads – So Easy!

How To Personalize Your Saddle Pads

I have thought about trying this for so long. And now I can say that I’ve done it! I have always wanted to have a personalized saddle pad. For me, it’s just because I have wanted one. But if you keep your horse at a boarding facility, you may want to personalize your stuff out of necessity. Let’s face it, people are much less likely to ‘borrow’ your stuff if your name is on it, right?

It is pretty easy to add your initials, or a monogram to a saddle pad. It is even easier if said saddle pad isn’t quilted. The quilting does provide some challenges, but it can be done.

You won’t need a lot of materials; a saddle pad, some stencils, fabric paint, paint brushes, paper towels or napkins, and your imagination.

I found these stencils on decoart.com. They were affordable, and they have a big selection to choose from. Or you could try Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby, or your local craft store.

You will want to make sure the paint you choose is fabric paint. This means it will stay on when you wash your saddle pad. The paint I used was also deco art, fabric paint. They have a lot of fun colors to choose from and even have shiny metallic colors too.

For the paint brushes, I bought stencil paint brushes, again from decoart.com, but then I found these stencil brushes on Amazon for less than $4.00!

I wish I would have checked Amazon first! This set has 8 brushes, and the ones I got only came with 4, for about 3 times the cost. And I had a hard time using them. So after I tried them out, I switched back to my traditional art style paint brushes. I found it easier to work with the softer bristles than the firm ones. But if you are an experienced stencil-er, feel free to use the stencil brushes.

Practice Makes Perfect

I did have pretty good luck when I used the stencil brush like a paint brush. I just brushed the paint on, covering as much of the open space as I could. Then I pulled the stencil away, and did the touch up, or fine work with just a very small brush.

Then, choose the design or stencil you want to use for your saddle pad, and secure the stencil with some masking tape. And then slowly add some paint. Keep in mind when you are painting the fabric, the color may bleed a little bit. This can make the lines not be very crisp and sharp. But if you are slow and methodical, you should be able to get a pretty straight line.

If you are doing multiple stencils, initials, etc. do each part and allow to dry before moving on to the next part of your project. If the paint isn’t dry, and you place the stencil over the non-dry paint, you can end up with a mess, so just try and be patient and allow each letter, or part of your design time to dry before moving on.

To make this a little easier, I worked on two saddle pads at a time. This way I had something to do while allowing drying time for the paint.

Overall I am very happy with how my personalization turned out. Yes, if you get close up on them, they aren’t perfect. But they are perfect enough for me, and now I have my very own personalized saddle pads!

This was such a fun project to do on a rainy Saturday afternoon. It didn’t cost a lot of money, and it was relatively simple to do.

So if you have ever wanted to buy your own personalized saddle pad, but couldn’t justify the investment, why not just do it yourself? I am willing to bet you have an extra saddle pad (or two) that you could easily personalize in an afternoon!