How tight should the girth be done up before you get on?

Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins

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Oct 10, 2004
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At my old riding school I was always told to do the girth up tightly before I got on. I used to do it up in stages (i.e. in the stable, when I got to the school and then just before the mounting block). However, I was riding a new horse last night who tried to kick out when I attempted to do my 3rd girth check. My instructor explained that the girth shouldn't be over tightened before I get on as this is cruel to the horse. He explained that the horse is an oval shape and if the girth is tightened too tightly without a rider than this puts undue pressure on the saddle area and underneth of a horse - this is why horses puff out and make a fuss as it does actually hurt them. As we use a mounting block - if we mount correctly then the saddle shouldn't move, even if the girth was totally lose. The girth should then be tightened when on board.

So my question is, how tightly do you do your girth up before you get on and how tightly do you do it up when you ride? He explained that you should be able to fit a full hand inbetween the girth when ridden and it should not be any tighter than this. I feel really bad as I think that I have been over tightening my girth for all these years.
 
I probably have aswell then! We dont use mounting blocks, so its gotta be tight else it will slip! Also it normally slackens off after a couple of minutes riding so i'd be under the belly!?

be interested in the replies!
 
I know its really bad, bu i do ride with my grith quite loose. I get told off, but i do do it up before showjumping, or galloping etc. But if im just schooling or hacking, i have its loose, i dont like it when people do it to tight.
 
My horse blows out so its always loose when I get on. I prefer to then tighten it gradually when I'm on as I think it must be more comfortable for the horse than tightening it straight away. When I'm riding in the school, I have been known to forget and ride with it quite loose :eek:
 
A novice rider will need a bit more tension than a more experienced rider. ust to make sure their balance or lack of it does not start the saddle slipping to the point of no return.

We tend to get on with a block, and then do the girth up in stages enough to hold it in place for each rider.

I was once out on a hack, and was riding a rather fresh Welsh D who, for some reason was bouncing all over the place with excitement. We'd just been for a gallop and the horse was much happer, when Frances swore at me and called me all the pillocks under the sun and drew my attention to my girth......which quite frankly you could have fitted another horse in. OOPS! Did it up about 4 holes and went on our merry way. Luck was with me that day. :eek: A well fitting saddle does help though.
 
Wally said:
A novice rider will need a bit more tension than a more experienced rider. ust to make sure their balance or lack of it does not start the saddle slipping to the point of no return.

We tend to get on with a block, and then do the girth up in stages enough to hold it in place for each rider.

I was once out on a hack, and was riding a rather fresh Welsh D who, for some reason was bouncing all over the place with excitement. We'd just been for a gallop and the horse was much happer, when Frances swore at me and called me all the pillocks under the sun and drew my attention to my girth......which quite frankly you could have fitted another horse in. OOPS! Did it up about 4 holes and went on our merry way. Luck was with me that day. :eek: A well fitting saddle does help though.
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inless your horse has no withers (mine has really high withers so it doesnt matter)
 
yep i agree you should be able to fit your hand between the horse and the girth, but you should always give it a check every now and then when riding as it may need tightening.
i normally do Finn's girth up on one hole when i first tack him up then i put my chaps on, do another hole, put my hi viz gear on and do another hole, then i walk him to the mounting block and go another hole (sometimes 2 if he's ok with that!) then i get on and check it again. i don't like doing it up tight too quick as he obviously doesn't like it!
 
Wally said:
We tend to get on with a block, and then do the girth up in stages enough to hold it in place for each rider.
Click to expand...

So exactly how tight would do it up for an experienced, balanced rider (which I sometimes am!)? Would you alter the tightness for jumping/flatwork/hacking?
 
As a rule, do it up so you are starting to get resistence, it could go up another hole if you shove hard, but keep it at the hole that it easy to do it up onto.

Non of my horses have withers, what are withers?......do horses that have ribs also have withers? ;)
 
Too tight? It helps if you do it up at all - my old share horse was only up for share as his owner has completely neglected to do up the girth, gone to mount (from a plastic patio chair :rolleyes:) saddle slipped, she fell and she shattered her ankle into many many pieces :eek:.
Just because you work with them everyday never forget their importance!
 
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i only do mine up on the first holes, and then hop on from a mounting block. (ok, old rabbit hutch that i stand on, lol!) As we walk on a bit I gradually put it up til its on the 4th hole! I lways undo it gradually as we warm down as well....
 
i do mine up loosely in the stable and then another hole before i get on but onc eim on i do it up slowly. if you can get it up easily to a hole but it hards to get to the next hole then you ar on the correct hole say its easy to put it on the 3rd hole but hard to put it on the 4th then you will probably be alright on the 3rd. if you do it oo tight you can give the horse a heamatoma (sp?)
 
Having a bit of a transition problem at the moment :eek:

Having ridden with a dressage saddle and girth for the last two and a half years, I've got used to doing up girth to proper tightness before mounting (from a block... horse is too big and my legs too short to do anything else...). To tighten the dressage girth further once mounted, you need to be a contortionist and able to hang sideways off your horse... with orangutan length arms.

I am now trying to start riding in a GP saddle. I have done the usual, trotted off and been horrified about 20 minutes later after a brisk canter to find the saddle slipping... (it's mainly gone forward :eek:).

So I guess I have to start a new routine of tightening in stages and adding a final check once mounted. I do the GP girth up to the same tightness as the dressage one, and they're similar type of girth (one's an Aerborn elasticated, one's a Wintec elasticated). What's going on?

ETA the tightness I aim for is the last hole I can get with my hand under the girth - with the dressage girth, because the girth ends and the girth straps are over "horse", I like to make sure the ends aren't catching any skin or fur, so I slip my hand underneath and tighten over it with the other hand. Hmm, that's really hard to explain in English :)
 
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I fasten the girth loosely in the stable and tighten it fully in the school before I get on, to the point where I can fit my hand under it.

After warming up in walk I check the girth and pop it up another hole if needed and do the same again after about 10 minutes of riding in walk and trot.

I tend to check yet again before I do any fast work. The first time I went for a gallop on my pony I had a rather embarrassing involuntary dismount because my saddle slipped almost under her belly as soon as I came back to walk :eek::p

As a general rule if I meet too much resistance in going to the next hole I don't tighten it and the strap stays in the hole it's already in.

Hope that makes sense...
 
I tend to do it up before i get on, then by another hole when i am on, and then if she needs it one more time whilst walking up the road.
 
I do it quite tightly before I get on and check when I get to the block, then it's left-probably wrong, as he blows out and it can be a bit loose.

When I was Western riding, the girth was left loose enough that I could step into a stirrup if the saddle slipped-doesn't bother me as long as I don't go flying off the minute I put weight in the stirrup to mount!
 
When I rode as a kid, we mounted from the ground and the girth should feel snug but you could still get your whole hand in between it and the horse. I always checked it again after walking around for a few minutes.

Now, after returning to riding, my new RS does everything for you. You basically get on, have your lesson and get off again. They even do your stirrups! So have no idea how tight they do my girth as I haven't checked it. Trouble is, when I eventually get my own horse, I know that I'm going to forget about the girth as I'm now not in the habit of doing it myself....:)
 
For Cosmo he can be quite a brat when you do the girth up. He shakes his head and grinds his teeth. So when I'm getting him ready, I usually put it on the first or second hole, then do something else; like pick his feet out or put his bridle on. Then I put it up another hole before we start walking to the ring. And I put it up once more before I get on. And then my RI tightens it only if it needs to be before we start jumping. So by the time we're done getting it tightened all the way it's usually on the 5th hole on both sides because the girths are always big at the RS.
 
i do my girth up as much as possible on the yard, then check its still tight enough when i get on, then start warming up and check it before i start trotting. Not that RS horses care as they know its going to either be tighten by only a hole or 2 by me miss weak or RI will spot its to loose and it goes to like the highest hole:eek:

not trying to tighten the girth just before you get on sound rather stupid tbh imo. Poeple get told that then don't tighten it go to get on and saddle slips under the horses belly:rolleyes:
 
I do it up as much as I can without really struggling and then when I get on check I can fit 3 fingers in. I always re-check it after the first canter too and before jumping.

I should think a loose girth would do far more harm than good!
 
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