Random Maker

Impact Gel

 

Competitive Saddle Pads

 

Matt Kriesel is an idea man. In the late ‘80s and ‘90s, he sold wine and healthcare products in his home state of Wisconsin. But he had questions about how things worked, and decided to invent some answers.

 

For example, back in 2000, he developed a seat cooling system for NASCAR—and found that it had another use.  That year, Jeff Bodine flipped his car at Daytona; the special seat helped cushion the impact of the wreck.  Kriesel saw a new opportunity and jumped on it.

 

In 2002—with the help of NASCAR owner Richard Childress and country singer George Strait, he formed Impact Gel.  Kriesel wasn’t into horses, but his partners were and suggested that the special pads, which had worked so well in the racecars, could be used in a different type of horsepower.  The first product: Horsetracks, a pad inserted between the shoe and foot of the animal.
From there, they started making saddle pads.

 

It’s a pretty simple product, when it comes down to it.  A gel envelope is inserted between two layers of wool.  It’s about the same weight and size as a regular pad, but Kriesel says, “Impact Gel spreads the weight of the rider and the saddle across the tree, so it doesn’t create pressure points on the horse.”

 

“You also don’t have to cinch the saddle up so tight because the pad prevents pinching,” he says.  “ That allows the animal to breathe better and be faster.” 

 

A lot of people agree.  Some 21,000 Impact Gel saddle pads were sold last year.  And about 70% of the riders at the National Finals Rodeo used them.

 

But Impact Gel has gone beyond the horse world.  Pro basketball star Shaquille O’Neal has Impact Gel inserts in his shoes.  Pro football legend Brett Favre wears a flak jacket made of Impact Gel.  And the military is looking at using the product to armor combat vehicles.

 

We told you Matt Kriesel is an idea man.

 

And his Impact Gel saddle pads are an idea whose time has come

Related posts:

1. Saddle Pad Choices   Between the Saddle and Your Horse   If...
2. Nettles Stirrups   A Step Up in the Saddle   Nettles...
3. Silver Lining Herbs   How a little herbal  treatment can help your...
4. Your Horse   Gearing Your Horse For Better Performance   Perhaps...
5. Not Just Another Pretty Mouthpiece   Tom Balding Bits & Spurs   Back in...
6. Random Maker   Gordy Alderson. Bit maker comes by his trade...
7. Double J Saddle   Made for Mounted Shooting Competition   Back in...
8. The Saddle That Built A Nation   It was a saddle that tamed the Outback...
9. Sawtooth Saddle Company   CREATING QUALITY SADDLES FOR GENERATIONS TO COME  ...