By Savannah Magoteaux

Walk past the horse trailers after a summer jackpot, ranch rodeo or trail ride, and you’ll probably see the same thing: saddle pads draped over gates, fences and trailer doors, drying in the afternoon sun. Some are soaked through with sweat. Others are already stiff with dried salt, caked hair and arena dust.

It’s easy to think of a saddle pad as one more piece of tack, but it has one of the hardest jobs on your horse. On every ride, it cushions the saddle, helps spread pressure across your horse’s back, absorbs sweat and lets heat escape.

A quality saddle pad can last for years if you take care of it.

Built-up sweat, dirt and hair shorten the life of a pad. Over time, they also compress the fibers, reduce the pad’s ability to wick moisture and create stiff spots that can rub your horse’s back. Even the best-made pad can’t do its job once it’s hard as a board.

One of the simplest habits you can develop is cleaning the pad after every ride. Knock off loose dirt, brush away hair and let the pad dry completely before putting it back in the tack room or trailer. Storing a damp pad invites mildew, odors and bacteria and breaks down many materials over time.

Every saddle pad serves the same basic purpose, but the material determines both how it performs and how you should care for it.

For many western riders, wool felt remains the standard. One of its greatest advantages is that it gradually conforms to the horse’s back without losing its structure. To care for a wool felt pad, remove hair with a curry comb or stiff brush after each ride and let it dry thoroughly. When it needs a deeper cleaning, use cool water and a mild wool-safe detergent if the manufacturer recommends one. High-pressure washers, harsh detergents and excessive heat can damage the wool fibers and reduce the pad’s performance.

Traditional woven wool blankets are still popular, particularly beneath ranch saddles or as a top blanket over a felt pad. Shake them out regularly, brush them clean and wash them gently when necessary. Most should air dry, since a dryer can shrink natural fibers.

Neoprene pads have become common because they’re durable, lightweight and easy to clean. Unlike wool, neoprene doesn’t absorb moisture. Many neoprene pads have textured or waffle-patterned surfaces that help move sweat away from the horse while letting air flow beneath the saddle.

You can rinse most neoprene pads with a hose after riding and wash them with mild soap now and then. Let them dry completely before storage, and keep them out of intense heat and direct sunlight, since neoprene can turn brittle over time.

Foam, gel and memory foam inserts show up in many performance pads designed to add shock absorption or relieve pressure points. These materials can cushion well, but many hold more heat than wool. Care varies considerably from one manufacturer to another, so follow the cleaning instructions that came with the pad instead of assuming all synthetic materials wash the same way.

Synthetic fleece pads are another common option, particularly for everyday riding. They are generally easier to clean than natural wool, and many can go through a washing machine on a gentle cycle before air drying. Regular brushing between washings keeps the fleece from matting and packing with hair.

Whatever type of saddle pad you choose, no pad can make up for a saddle that doesn’t fit. Even the thickest pad cannot eliminate pressure points created by a poorly fitting saddle. Think of the pad as a partner to proper saddle fit, helping protect your horse while the saddle does its job.

Before your next ride, flip your saddle pad over and run your hand across the side that rests against your horse. If it feels rough, stiff or crusted with dried sweat and hair, imagine how it feels after an hour in the saddle.

A few minutes spent cleaning and drying your pad after each ride will help it last longer, protect your investment and keep your horse more comfortable every time you swing a leg over.

By NTFR Staff

Every summer, as lawn mowers start making their rounds, the same warning comes up among horse owners: “Don’t throw those grass clippings over the fence.” For many people, the explanation has always been that fresh grass clippings will cause an impaction. Like a lot of horse barn wisdom, the advice is sound, but the reason behind it isn’t quite what most people think.

Veterinarians and equine nutritionists generally agree that you should never intentionally feed horses lawn clippings. Their main worry isn’t impaction. Grass is highly digestible and holds a lot of moisture. Impaction colic is more commonly tied to dehydration, poor-quality forage, low water intake or other factors that slow the movement of feed through the intestines.

The bigger problem is how fast horses eat clippings. A grazing horse spends hours taking small bites of forage throughout the day. A pile of freshly cut grass lets a horse eat a large amount in minutes. That sudden intake can upset the balance of microbes in the horse’s hindgut, raising the risk of digestive upset, gas colic and, in some horses, laminitis.

Choke is another concern. Because clippings are already chopped short, horses often gulp them without chewing as thoroughly as they would in a pasture. If a large mouthful lodges in the esophagus, the horse can choke, and that needs prompt veterinary attention.

Grass clippings also start to change quickly once they are piled together. Heat builds as the clippings begin to ferment, and mold can develop fast, particularly in warm, humid weather. Never feed spoiled or moldy forage, and grass clippings are no exception.

One easy-to-miss hazard has nothing to do with the grass itself. Many residential lawns have been treated with herbicides, insecticides, fertilizers or other lawn care products that are not meant for grazing animals. Even if the grass looks healthy, chemical residues can remain on the clippings. A well-meaning neighbor tossing extra clippings over the fence may have no idea he is putting a dangerous substance into a horse’s diet.

Mowing a horse pasture is different from dumping a pile of lawn clippings into a pen. When you clip a pasture, the small pieces spread across the field, and horses keep grazing normally. They eat only small amounts of the clipped grass along with the standing forage. The concentrated pile creates the greatest risk, not the fact that someone cut the grass.

Rapid eating, digestive upset, spoilage and possible chemical contamination together make grass clippings a risk not worth taking. If your lawn needs mowing, keep the clippings out of the horse pasture. Compost them, bag them or dispose of them another way, but don’t treat them as a free snack.

Some horse advice gets passed from one generation to the next for good reason, and this old warning still deserves a place around every barn.

By Savannah Magoteaux, Editor

Before Landry Layton became Miss Rodeo Oklahoma, she learned to speak for agriculture in an FFA jacket and to carry its values from the back of a horse. FFA taught her how to advocate for the ranching life she was raised in, and rodeo gave her a way to share it with rodeo fans, schoolchildren and strangers across the country. Now, those two parts of her life come together in her year as Miss Rodeo Oklahoma 2026 and in the platform she chose to guide it: “Leave a Legacy.”

For Layton, those words tie back to her family, her cattle, her hometown and the people who came before her. The 22-year-old from Welch, Oklahoma, was raised in a family where ranching was part of everyday life, and her work began long before she had cattle of her own.

“I grew up on a fifth-generation cattle ranch in northeast Oklahoma,” Layton said. “It was my dad and my grandpa. I’ve been around cattle as long as I can remember. They have Charolais and Angus and some cross cattle.”

That family operation gave Layton her first lessons in responsibility, but in seventh grade, she decided to build something of her own. In 2016, she bought 14 head of registered Red Angus cattle and began showing through FFA and at county fairs. That small project has grown into a herd of close to 50 head.

“I started showing them through FFA and at our county fairs, and it kind of just spiraled from there,” she said.

She had success in the show ring, including winning the Bred and Owned Red Angus Heifer Show at the Tulsa State Fair and earning reserve honors at the Oklahoma Youth Expo. Those wins meant more because she had raised the cattle herself.

“That was something I had raised and bred and taken care of as long as it was on the ground,” Layton said.

Red Angus were not the expected choice in her area, which was part of the reason she chose them. Few were being shown at her county fair, and Layton liked the idea of doing something different. She also believed the breed’s traits could work well for both show projects and future production.

“They were super pretty, and there weren’t a whole lot of them in the area,” she said. “I knew they had that Angus side for meat production, but I also knew they would have really good growth genetics. I really liked the red color, and I knew they would be a good set of cattle.”

After high school, Layton stepped away from showing but stayed in the cattle business. Today, she runs her herd for local ranchers instead of the show ring. She keeps bull calves through weaning and yearling age, grows them out, and sells to buyers looking for bulls to use in their own herds.

“It’s really kind of local buyers,” she said. “If they’re looking for something to put on their herd, or if they’re looking for something they know is going to do well and perform well, that’s more what I do now.”

Cattle came through her dad’s side of the family. Rodeo came through her mom’s side. Her grandfather brought rodeo into the family, and the next generation followed in different ways.

“My grandfather was a PRCA steer wrestler, and he had his Gold Card through the PRCA, so that was a big accomplishment of his,” Layton said. “He was really the first one that got into rodeo. My mom barrel raced, and my siblings and I all did rodeo in junior high and early high school.”

Layton ran barrels and poles and tied goats, but once she was old enough to join FFA, agriculture became her focus. She joined at the first chance, in eighth grade, and stayed involved through her senior year. She showed pigs and cattle and competed in livestock judging, public speaking and agricultural communications. In 2023, she received the American FFA Degree.

The honor was a milestone for her chapter, too.

“I was the very first female from my FFA chapter to ever get her American Degree,” Layton said. “I was also the first student to get it since, I want to say, 1975. It had been quite a while, so that was a really big deal in my chapter and in my hometown.”

The accomplishment has already made an impact close to home. Layton said her cousin is set to receive the degree, too, which makes the achievement even more meaningful to her.

“It’s kind of full circle,” Layton said. “Not that I was the first one to do it, but it kind of started that trend of other kids in the chapter seeing that it can be done. That was really great.”

Looking back, Layton sees FFA as one of the strongest foundations for her current role. The contests, interviews and public speaking all prepared her to represent agriculture and rodeo on a larger stage.

“FFA was such a great stepping stone,” she said. “Combining that with being a rodeo queen has really helped me a lot since high school.”

Rodeo queening, however, was never part of Layton’s childhood plans. She laughs about how it began. A local pageant in Vinita for the Will Rogers Memorial Rodeo caught her attention for a practical reason.

“I had never really even considered being a rodeo queen,” she said. “I didn’t have a single clue about anything on the rodeo queen side of things. They had a local pageant in Vinita, and I entered it simply because they were giving away a new saddle. I was like, ‘This is a really nice saddle. I can use this a lot.’”

The saddle got her in the door. Once there, Layton realized rodeo queening gave her a way to combine agriculture, public speaking and the Western lifestyle she had always known.

“I didn’t realize that I could combine agriculture and everything I had always grown up with and take it onto a stage of a sort,” she said. “I could really show everyone what agriculture meant to me, how it shaped me, and promote what I’ve always loved and what I’ve always done.”

From there, she entered more local pageants. She held the title of Miss Interstate Fair and Rodeo in Coffeyville, Kansas, then was named Miss American Cowboys Rodeo Association in 2024. She later competed for Miss Rodeo Oklahoma and won the 2026 title.

“It really all started from that first one,” she said. “I had a great time, realized what a rodeo queen was, and wanted to get more into it.”

The Miss Rodeo Oklahoma pageant ran a full week, and it was more intense than a casual observer might realize. Contestants gave up their phones and all outside contact, so Layton could not check in with family or ask how something looked from the outside. She and the other contestant for Miss Rodeo Oklahoma roomed together all week, and instead of letting the pressure take over, they enjoyed the experience.

“We watched the Hallmark Channel every morning while we were getting ready,” Layton said. “We’d turn on Golden Girls. By the end of the week, I think we were both more so thinking about how much fun we had during it. We got to go to the rodeo every night. It was just great.”

When coronation came, neither of them knew what to expect.

“We were both like, whoever wins, we’re obviously going to be happy for the other one, and we know either one of us would do a great job,” Layton said. “It was such a fun week, and I think that’s what it’s all about. You go there to have fun, and you go there to promote what you know and what you do.”

Since her coronation, Layton’s year has been busy, and it has taken her to places and conversations she might never have experienced otherwise. She has traveled to Colorado, South Dakota, Florida, Wyoming and beyond, representing Oklahoma and the sport of rodeo.

“The crown really takes you places you never would have thought you could go,” she said.

One of those moments came over the Fourth of July in Cody, Wyoming. Layton noticed how many people in the crowd had traveled from other countries to experience American rodeo and Western tradition for themselves.

“There were so many people there from out of the country, and that really surprised me,” she said. “So many people cared enough about American rodeo and how we do things here, and they wanted to experience it for themselves over the Fourth of July.”

As she rode in the parade down Cody’s Main Street, past thousands of spectators, she thought about why the work matters.

“You see people that maybe don’t have a clue about it, but they’re interested in learning about it,” Layton said. “That’s really what we do as rodeo queens, promoting and sharing it with people. I get to share it with people who didn’t grow up the way I grew up, but now I still get to include them in on it and showcase where I grew up and how I grew up.”

That connection with people is part of what makes the Miss Rodeo Oklahoma title meaningful to Layton. She knows the crown may open doors, but what happens next depends on the person wearing it. She wants to do more than appear at rodeos and pose for pictures. Her goal is to help people understand the values, history and work behind the Western way of life.

Her platform, “Leave a Legacy,” grew from that same idea. The phrase matched her initials, LL, and it also connected to the land and family history that shaped her.

“I really liked ‘leave’ and ‘legacy’ because it matched my initials,” she said. “But obviously I’m from a very rural part of Oklahoma, and you get to meet so many people out here who have done things a certain way for a certain period of time.”

Layton’s family ranch sits on land with deep history. She said the original place traces back to her grandfather’s great-great-grandmother and an original Cherokee land allotment. That history gives her a personal connection to the idea of carrying traditions forward.

“There’s a whole lot of history here, and I really love learning about it,” Layton said. “That’s kind of where that came from. I want everyone to remember where they came from. That’s what I want to promote, the rural values and Western traditions, and not only the way I grew up, but how you can make a difference in your own community.”

For Layton, leaving a legacy means understanding the work, sacrifices and values that built rural communities, then carrying them forward while leaving room to grow. As she travels, she has seen how traditions vary from state to state and how much they share.

“There’s so much history in not only rural Oklahoma, but everywhere,” she said. “I think it’s really great to share those traditions and what you grew up with. As Miss Rodeo Oklahoma, it helps to be a relatable person if you have personal stories to share. It’s easier to understand it on the level of just having a conversation.”

This year also brought a major personal milestone. In May, Layton graduated from Oklahoma State University with a degree in Animal Science Pre-Veterinary Medicine. At OSU, she spent two years on the Spirit Rider team, helping with Bullet, the university’s American Quarter Horse mascot.

Game days on the field gave Layton another kind of ambassador experience, one that mixed horsemanship, school pride and a loud stadium full of people.

“I got to experience game day from down on the field with Bullet, and it was a very cool experience,” she said.

Bullet’s calm in that atmosphere impressed her.

“You never know how anything is going to take that environment,” Layton said. “There are so many people there, and it’s so loud, and there’s so much going on. You’re like, how can anything handle this? And he stood in the corner and napped. It was really funny to see how much he truly loves it and likes being there.”

After her year as Miss Rodeo Oklahoma, Layton hopes to compete for Miss Rodeo America. The pageant takes place the first week of December in Las Vegas alongside the National Finals Rodeo. As at the state pageant, contestants spend the week without phones or outside contact, moving through interviews, horsemanship, speeches and knowledge-based portions of the competition.

“It’s the same setup,” Layton said. “You have chaperones that take you everywhere you need to go all week. You don’t have your phones. You don’t have contact with the outside world. It’s just you and the other state queens and the judges.”

The preparation is demanding. Contestants ride draw horses they have never seen before and complete their patterns with no warm-up. They sit for personality and horsemanship interviews, take a written test over the PRCA rule book and study current events. Layton has been preparing by riding horses from other families, studying the rule book and media guide, and practicing extemporaneous speaking.

“Current events, the PRCA rule book and the media guide have become my best friends,” she said. “There is so much to keep up with, but it’s really making sure you are that well-rounded person Miss Rodeo America has to be.”

Her animal science degree helps, especially in the horsemanship interview, but the competition also tests confidence, adaptability and communication under pressure. To practice extemporaneous speaking, Layton picks a random inspirational topic, gives herself 10 minutes to prepare, then delivers a speech.

“It’s a lot of studying and a lot of practicing,” she said. “It’s kind of how I did the same thing for Oklahoma, just on a much higher level.”

If she is chosen as Miss Rodeo America, Layton would love to spend another year traveling and promoting rodeo, agriculture and the Western lifestyle. After that, she plans to return to Oklahoma State and apply to veterinary school. She hopes to practice large animal medicine in the kind of rural community that raised her.

“In Oklahoma, and really all over, there’s such a shortage of large animal vets,” Layton said. “We see a lot of small animals, but the large animal side of everything is kind of dying down. Where I’m from, it’s such a rural area that I would love to go to school and then bring that back and have my own practice where I grew up.”

That goal fits the rest of Layton’s story. The cattle, FFA, rodeo, OSU and the Miss Rodeo Oklahoma title have each given her a way to serve the same world. She wants to give back to the people who taught her, represent the communities that shaped her and show the next generation that their own background can take them farther than they may realize.

“I would love to come back to my hometown and really help out there,” she said.

For now, Layton is traveling the state and the country with a crown on her hat, a lifetime of rural Oklahoma behind her and a platform that asks people to think about what they are leaving for those who come next. She knows legacy can live in a family ranch, a cattle herd started by a seventh grader, an FFA chapter inspired to reach higher, a rodeo queen stopping to answer a child’s questions or a future veterinarian choosing to come home.

For Landry Layton, leaving a legacy starts with remembering where she came from.