My welsh/stock horse is very girthy. Meaning she somehow puffs out her chest when saddling and there is no way I can do up the girth. The saddle is left very loose and I won't ride like this as it is dangerous. I've tried everything. I do up the girth in little steps ie gradually and walk her around in between tightening it up. I have tried saddling while she is occupied eating hay. Still the same. Is this air she is sucking in or is she tensing her muscles? What had caused this? She does it every time. She is just under 14hh and I have had to buy a 52" girth with extenders just to get the girth to fit her!! Once I have struggled doing up a few holes I can take the extenders off, but what a hassle. She stands quietly and does not fuss. She does not seem bothered. She could have been treated badly before I got her. I don't know alot about her. Does anyone have ideas on what I can do to make saddling successful and a pleasurable experience?
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Hi, it's very possible that she was girthed up tightly too quickly when she was backed,she's tightening her muscles to protect herself; she could have been pinched by the girth or the saddle probably wasn't fitted to her causing excessive movement & she was rubbed sore, the girth could have been rough or hard & made her sore, there are many reasons regarding tack, but another reason can be that they are uncomfortable in their gut too; I've recently started mine in Equimins Fibre Digester which contains good bacteria for their gut & she has become a lot better about having her girth done up, she's not biting like she did.
Is she the same if you use a roller on her?
Have you had the saddle fit checked by a good saddle fitter?
You could, after checking out the above put a pure wool girth sleeve over the girth in future as the skin in that area is very soft & there are many nerves there too.
hope some of that helps
I haven't tried a roller but have been considering purchasing a soft fleecy cover for the girth. I fear now though it is a habit with her but a cover is worth a try. Thanks for your input.
no problem, but make sure it's a pure wool cover, not a man made fleece one as that may cause more problems than it solves.
It's worth getting the vet to check for gastric ulcers as it does sound quite an extreme reaction.
You may consider buying a new girth if you feel a fleece cover would benefit. There are some wonderful softer girths on the market and some have elasticised strips ne'er the buckle which really helps with these horses. One of mine puffs out and I often have to tighten the girth once I am in the saddle.
A soft girth is a must, but a fleece cover can burn the skin, that's why i said pure wool.
Girths with elastic ends are not meant for that purpose, many people wrongly put the elasticated end on the side they do up the girth, that is not correct; the elastic end belongs to the horse & should be on the off side of the saddle, not used to pull it up tight for the following reasons:
a; you can easily over tighten it
b; it pulls the saddle off centre
c; the girth can overtighten on that one side causing excess pressure on the opposite side.
If you want to use an elasticated girth, the best for the horse is where the elastic is in the centre so it does actually expand with the horses breathing evenly over both sides.
A pure wool girth sleeve helps because it can absorb a lot of sweat while still remaining soft & being able to move between the horse & the girth so lessening the friction between the two - a man made fleece sleeve however, doesn't have those properties, it'll flatten & get hot.
You need to take a lot of time to do up the girth a hole at a time, in between, walk away & do something else for a couple of minutes, come back, make a fuss of the horse after doing up another hole & walk away again.
Hi qld_montyblue,
To all good advice above I'd like to add, that you can stretch your mare's forlegs, to make sure all skin is straight under the girth and to relax eventual tension she built up while girthing. Small babysteps are essential, one hole at a time to girth up.
The idea of having the vet check for gastric ulcers is very important, so many horses have them without anyone noticing!
Remember that only natural materials should touch the skin of the horse, so make sure your girthsleeve is made from pure wool or sheepskin.
Let us know how you progress!
Miriam