Seat savers in the show ring

[claired]

Currently riding with my gel out seat saver on my saddle as its making my bad back a bit more bearable but got a few shows coming up and just wondering if it's acceptable to use in the show ring. Can't see anything in the rule books so does anyone know. As I show a horse I will have a ride judge to consider I suppose. What do you think ?

[pipandwill]

I used to ride one who had a seat saver on, only one ride judge asked if they could ride without it, most of the others commented on how comfortable it was

[claired]

Interesting, thanks. Can't say I've ever seen one in the ring but having said that it's not that obvious if you are sat on it. I think I will email SHB and ask. The saddle itself is very comfy but the seat saver just gives my back a bit of extra shock absorbsion at the moment. And it's easily removed if a ride judge didn't want to use it. It's brown and discrete so can't see if spoiling the overall picture.

[flee]

I have the seat bones of a princess ( ! ) and always ride with a Heather Moffat seat saver whether at home or competing ( dressage and showing ) .They are very unobtrusive and I have them in black and brown to match various saddles , even a rather faded brown one that matches my suede Haydon perfectly . I have M+M 's so they're not ridden by the judge very often but the ride judge at the Southern Highland a few years back did comment on how comfy mine was and wanted details of the make .
BD rules say ' a gel pad/memory foam seat saver is permitted provided that it is unobtrusive and matches the colour of the saddle .'
I am not aware any rule banning them in the societies that I compete under .

[claired]

Just had a nice email from SHB to say its perfectly acceptable but suggesting that it needs to be easily removed should the ride judge not want to use it.
So, that's very useful to know.