Girth too tight?

Equisgurl

Equisgurl

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Aug 20, 2003
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It never bothered me too much, but lately I've become really horse concious, I'm worried how they feel and their well being..etc
but back to the topic, the horse I currently ride for my lessons has a stiff leather girth plus standing martingale, when its time to tightening the girth, I always to it on hole at a time, walk the horse around then check again, but for some reason I think I might be hurting the horse because it feels tight against the skin, right where the martingale loop is, but it feels ok on the sides. I can fit at least 3 fingers in and Sox usually doesent mind. But still I dont know.... I just feel bad about it, since he also has to use pelham and curb chain(dont like those).
Is there a sure way to tell if the girth fits well? especially old leather ones.
thank you~:)
 
There was a top Portugese trainer who always rode with a loose girth.....because his balance was SO GOOD. When one of his pupils pointed out that there was enough room for another horse in his girth he took it off and rode around without one at all....doing high school moves!
The girth will feel tighter at the lowest part, if you are an average sized woman you'd have trouble doing up the girth too tight, however if your saddle isn't slipping and you have done it as tight as you can then you'll probably be oaky and so will the horse. If you are very strong then you need to exercise caution and not go as tight as you possibley can. I tend not to haul it up so tight as I can , but I do it up tighter for novice riders whose balance might not be as good.

A hard lether girth will not help, girths should be of soft leather, if it is a 3 fold girth there should be a strip of felt inside which should be soaked in oil to kep the girth soft.
 
Ditto to what Wally said - if you have a really secure seat, it doesn't need to be super-tight. 3 fingers under it is fine. Also, if you're riding a "squiggly" horse that may spook, you'll want to have it tighter than usual; this way your saddle won't slide if they booger sideways and throw your balance off :)
 
I have pretty good balance, but the horse I ride is headstrong and a bit hyper, sometimes in those cases if I'm unsure about something, I usually ask my instructor to check, just in case:rolleyes:
 
Is Sox a pretty narrow horse?

My horse is quite narrow in the ribcage. The girth doesn't tighten well all the way around; it's usually much tighter across the sternum (center of the ribcage at the bottom) than around the sides, much as you describe. Because so much pressure is concentrated on the sternum (it's tight there but not elsewhere) I try to ride with my girth as loose as I can manage. Since my saddle fits well, I can leave it decently loose and not worry about it slipping.

This is also the horse on whom the Wintec elastic-in-the-middle girth simply did not WORK. It would not get to a decent level of tightness; either it was much too loose, or it was insanely tight. I think it had to do with the shape of her ribcage.
 
Well, hes actually quite big, not sure what breed, but possibly qh/wb cross, he has very stocky body. But what is the general rule for fitting girth, is the whole hand supposed to fit in, cause I have pretty big hands, and as I already mentioned like 3-4 fingers usually fit in(excluding the thumb), but it still feels quite tight.
 
Well...on a horse where the girth has pretty even contact all around, I like to be able to put my hand in flat against the horse, then turn it so it's horizontal. If it's too tight for me to turn my hand all the way, then I usually think it's too tight.

With a horse like my Kat, where the girth is pressing much harder at the sternum, I like to have it a little looser, even--but that's not always practical, of course.

Your mileage may very. If the saddle fits badly, then it may roll around with a girth at that level of tightness (hopefully the saddle fits well, of course). If the rider is leans to one side, forward, or back, then the rider may displace a saddle that is fitted more loosely.

If the girth is one that allows a little stretch after tightened (some cotton girths I've used relax a little with a bit of use), then they should be tightened after riding for a few minutes.

Be sure that when you fasten the girth on, you've got the girth placed about a hand or even two hand widths behind the elbow--not directly behind. The horse's body should be broader there.
 
Originally posted by galadriel
Well...on a horse where the girth has pretty even contact all around, I like to be able to put my hand in flat against the horse, then turn it so it's horizontal. If it's too tight for me to turn my hand all the way, then I usually think it's too tight.
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Really? I'd be pretty scared to ride with my girth that loose! But I'm very far from being balanced!! :D
 
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