anybody tried ovation girth backwards?

[tollertwins]

So I’ve been just poking around on the 'net today 'cause I don’t feel well enough to do anything else.

I saw that Mattes is making a girth that they call ‘athletico’ for saddles that slide BACK.

I have this issue in spades - even tho the saddle appears to be a correct fit. And the pony loves it if it stays where it belongs.

The girth kinda looks like the Body Form girth put on wrong way round. I thot I had seen a thread some time back where somebody was using the girth that way so I thot I’d check before I end up with a horribly expensive experiment.

Bodyform girth:
http://www.victorycanter.com/images/P/19-33.jpg
on this girth, bulge goes towards front

Mattes girth:
http://www.fourstarbrand.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/mattes-athletico-girth-short.jpg
On this one, the bulge apparently goes towards the back.

I was wondering if they looked similar enough to try the body form one backwards?

[milestogo]

I use a body form girth with the curve towards the back to keep the girth away from my horse’s elbows. She was getting rubs. It seems to work just fine that way.

[tollertwins]

thanks!

[2tempe]

[QUOTE=milestogo;8424494]
I use a body form girth with the curve towards the back to keep the girth away from my horse’s elbows. She was getting rubs. It seems to work just fine that way.[/QUOTE]

If this worked keeping saddle BACK from elbows, it doesn’t seem that it would work to keep your saddle from moving back…But then it costs nothing to try if you have access to a girth!

[KarenRO]

FWIW, I was told by Ovation that the bodyform girth is for horses with a forward girth groove and that the ‘bulge’ faces the back. A straight girth on a horse with a forward girth groove pulls the saddle forward, which shifts the pressure of the tree points onto the shoulder.

On a related issue, folks concerned with their horse’s elbows hitting the girth buckles need to get a longer girth! The buckles should rest 1 or 2 inches max from bottom of the saddle flap. Many people use too short of a girth.

[tollertwins]

[QUOTE=KarenRO;8426559]
FWIW, I was told by Ovation that the bodyform girth is for horses with a forward girth groove and that the ‘bulge’ faces the back.
.[/QUOTE]

oh…not obvious on casual inspection…

[2tempe]

@KarenRO;8426559

FWIW, I was told by Ovation that the bodyform girth is for horses with a forward girth groove and that the ‘bulge’ faces the back.

Interesting - and completely opposite of the County Logic and similar girths, where the bulge faces forward

[Lusoluv]

Maybe the Ovation person you spoke to got it wrong, because I had one and was told the bulge to be to the front. I know these things can get confusing, but think if it this way:
If the girth groove on the horse is too forward, it pulls the girth & saddle forward. If the girth’s bulge were turned to the back, natural girth groove of the horse will still draw it forward, and with the girth buckles curved more forward the whole apparatus would be even more forward!
So point the girth bulge forward (buckles pointed slightly back) already placing the girth in the horse’s forward girth groove, and theoretically the buckles/billet placement connects the girth 1-2" farther back than where it’d be with a straight girth. Clear as mud?

[KarenRO]

“Clear as mud?” LOL! I have tried the girth several times with the bulge facing forward and it pulls the saddle forward and makes horse unhappy. Bulge backwards seems to work for my guy.

[KarenRO]

2012 Thread on this issue

"Apr. 16, 2012, 03:54 PM
#5

mickeydoodle

I asked this question here a few months ago, and I called the company as there were several answers here.

The company has made the girth so that the hollow, concave side goes toward the front of the horse: horse butt (( horse chest "

[tollertwins]

That sounds like mattes ‘crescent shaped’ girth - which they DO advert for forward girth grooves…So the wrong way round might keep the saddle forward.

Saddler is changing my billets this weekend, so hopefully I won’t need to experiment.

[Lady_Eboshi]

The sudden proliferation of “shaped” girths is just further proof that TONS of people can’t WAIT to throw bucketfuls of money at a non-problem just because of slick marketing.

Girths used to come in 3-fold, balding, and string styles and that’s about it. Whaddya know, they worked on ALL the horses! The string ones were used on horses with low withers on whom saddles tended to slip back or roll. Easy-peasy!

Of course, back then we weren’t putting the equivalent of a Tempur-Pedic between the saddle and the horse, nor did the girths come with elastic on both ends leading to never REALLY being properly tight.

I’d estimate there’s only 2 horses out of 100 whose conformation is SO WEIRD they really need a “shaped” or “contoured” or otherwise $250 girth.

Somehow the USET’s of the Golden Age managed to win at Aachen and The Garden and Mexico City, etc., without ANY of this suddenly-invented “stuff.” That’s 'cause they rode BETTER than us–much, MUCH BETTER!
Goes double for freaky bits and patent gadgety bridles, too! :rolleyes:

[tollertwins]

i apparently have one of the 2%…even the saddle maker thinks he is a strange build.