They had a really interesting video where they pressure tested girths and showed that the best were there own ( of course) and the Jeremy Rudge girth. Unfortunately the makers of one of the girths, I think it was the Scharf, sued as the said the girth had not been fitted correctly. As a result the video was taken down. Jeremy Rudge do give a hire option but this is possibly only in the UK.
ETA info on the law case here:
Have you had another horseman, a trainer, or someone who can see what is going on suggest anything to do? Did prior owner have a girth that worked? Was he girthy when you first got him?
I know you said that girthing slowly doesnāt seem to help, but apparently neither does a new/different girth. If you are willing to pursue new girth, but why not revisit the going slow method? I know you said you did this while he was on stall rest ā did he change at all when he realized he wasnāt going to be ridden?
Does he ride okay once girthed and mounted? If so, that would tell me it isnāt the equipment, but the process. But if he is a little cranky riding, maybe it isnāt the girth at all, but the saddle?
Lastly, does he object to being cinched up with a western saddle?
The prior owner was not in this country (he was imported) and I have no idea what he was like for then - I have no contact with the owner. Heās been like this as long as I can remember,
While on stall rest he was not ridden, and there have been one or two other periods when he was not ridden, once for 11 months. His sensitivity on his underside and sides did not change during this time, and the moment I put a saddle on him his girthiness and reactiveness returned same as before
As Iāve said, he rides fine once mounted, and does not object to the saddle being tightened once under saddle.
Iāve never ridden him in a western saddle and donāt even know anyone who owns one.
Okay, forgive me for not following. I thought when he was on stall rest you were continuing to practice āslow girthingā and then just removed the saddle. That is something I would try when I said ārevist slow girthingā ā girthing him slowly and then simply not riding. Kind of like trailer loading, where you practice loading before you need it and being loaded doesnāt always mean you are going for a ride.
Given that you have spent some time surprising him by girthing him up quickly, it might be hard to extinguish that behavior. It only takes a couple of what he thinks are bad experiences for it to set you both back a couple months. For my horse, I think if someone girthed him up tightly all at once, or twisted his ear, weād be back at square one for awhile.
Youāve got a tough one, and the only thing I can guess from afar is it is something about the process. He apparently doesnāt mind the girth and being ridden once he is there ā it is just getting there.
I am finding all these girths very interesting, and I hope one becomes THE ONE for you both!
Since he doesnāt seem to mind things once saddled, does that make you think that the girth isnāt the problem?
Wow I think I really failed to communicate!
First I never girth him up tightly all at once. When I talked about ātrickingā him, I was referring to the last hole or two. Sometimes I just canāt get those tightened, because no matter how slowly Iāve gone or how relaxed heās gotten since the last hole, the moment I get my hands near the girth he tenses up, expands his muscles against me, and makes it impossible to tighten the girth the last one or two holes. But there is actually plenty of room to do it if heās relaxed - Iām not overtightening.
So I distract him so he doesnāt realize what Iām about to do and then very quickly tighten the girth instead. I find that heās less unhappy when I do this - itās over before he has time to register, and he doesnāt seem to get that upset about it.
As for ātwisting his earsā - it is a positive thing. He absolutely loves having his ears handled, rubbed, twisted, pulled, massaged, etc. Even clipped with the biggest corded clippers! So again, it is a distraction, kind of like a treat but to relax him beforehand rather than as a reward. I scratch his withers or pull his ears a little so heās not thinking about the girth.
Finally your last question - yes, given that he doesnāt mind once we are under saddle, it has certainly occurred to me more than once that the girth is not the issue. But considering that Iāve addressed the other obvious possibilities - ulcers, saddle fit/back pain - I donāt know what else it could be at this point, though Iām open to suggestions, at least one of which Iāve received here (sternum pain). I still thought it was at least worth trying a little harder with the girths, since I really havenāt tried that many different types.
It may be that his skin is a little sensitive around the belly / sides. My boy is girthy but also can be intolerant of having his sides touched. Heās no different if he gets gut support feed, but I have found that he is better with slow grooming using first a brush with soft bristles (Haas Groovy brush), then harder but progressively finer bristles (Haas for bay brushes). Iāve just started him on a herbal supplement (nettle) to see if it helps, and am thinking of one of the herbal mixtures for itchy skin as a next try.
The girth Iām using is a Shires Arma suprafleece girth which has elasticated ends, heās improved but still not totally comfortable with being girthed. I use the slow steady tightening that others have mentioned.
You said he tenses up when you get to his side when he knows you are going to tighten the girth. What happens if you just stand there with a hand on a billet, waiting? Will he eventually relax?
I have a horse who will go rigid at the sight of a spray bottle. I have no idea what happened to him in the past, but you would think someone sprayed him with acid from how he acted. He was so tense that he wouldnāt even TAKE a cookie held up to his mouth if the bottle was in the stall with him to begin with (and normally is all about anything resembling food). It took me a lot of standing around and waiting over multiple sessions, but heās now to the point that he tenses up but almost immediately relaxes when he sees the bottle now.
The fact your horse is fine once the girth is on and has no issue with it being tightened from the saddle is really a head-scratcher for me. Makes me think he is anticipating pain when someone is beside him messing with the girth - like maybe someone routinely kneed him in the gut every time they saddled him.
This is why I think it may be sensitive skin, because once pressure is applied to an area that is sensitive the sensitivity diminishes.
It could be sensitive skin. He does not like being groomed along his sides or underside either, even with the gentlest softest brushes or most nubby-fingered brushes or curries. But I feel like I wouldnāt get such an angry reaction - biting at things, etc, from sensitive skin.
I wonder about the kneeing in the gut! Iāve had him since he was coming 6, but he was obviously ridden before that. He was imported from Spain, where he was a (virgin) stallion before I bought him. I really have almost no information about how he was treated. It couldnāt have been too badly, as he has a great temperament without any meanness or distrust of people. He has no passive aggressiveness - he never had a feeling he didnāt immediately express lol! - so I doubt he was punished much in general. But how he was handled with regard to being saddled in particular I have no idea - maybe it was a struggle and he still has bad associations.
Iāve had to dodge teeth from my boy just whilst gently grooming. Ears flat back and a real donāt touch me there attitude, and this is from a boy who really appreciates being groomed in other areas. I donāt tie up to groom.
I keep seeing ālast holeā as if it were the finish line or the main objective.
Can you just not tighten it that much? It doesnāt matter that YOU donāt think itās tight - he does.
Iāve forgotten to tighten my girth on XC rides and galloped through the finish flags with daylight between my girth (oops!). If you are a balanced rider and are comfortable, why not try making the āfinish flagsā the second to last ālast holeā instead of trying so hard to get to the last hole?
Given all the things youāve tried already, Iād start thinking thereās some soundness component at play - KS, SI, who knows.
Youāve had a lot of suggestions but it kind of sounds like at this point the thread serves more as a frustration/vent than a source of solutions. Nothing wrong with that, but the tone might offset future suggestions.
So after reading reviews, watching videos, looking at websites, etc, Iāve decided to try the Prestige RP (donut) girth. I appreciate all the discussion in this thread about possible reasons for my guyās behavior! There is a really big question whether the girth is the source of his issues. It could be learned behavior, e.g. due to associations with past bad experiences. Or discomfort in the sternum, pectoral muscles, or even skin. Or something else I havenāt identified. In light of how he acts, I really canāt be confident that heās objecting to the girth itself.
Nonetheless, itās something I can experiment with, and now that I know a little more, I am interested in trying in the donut girth in particular because of the way it lifts the girth strap off the pectoral muscles on either side of the sternum. I want to test whether relieving the pressure a girth usually exerts in that area causes him to object less. This is something Iāve never tried - the Stubben Equisoft does this a little, but not nearly to the same extent. (I am also intrigued by the way the RP allows the girth strap a bit more mobility while the center donut sternum pad maintains stability, but I donāt think that has anything to do with his girthiness).
The other girth with a very similar concept is the WOW FreeSpace. It has a thick, soft, cushy sternum pad on top of which is a completely rigid plate to which the girth straps are attached. The sternum pad keeps the plate away from the sternum, and thus the girth straps donāt touch the pectoral muscles on either side of the sternum. (It also allows the saddle a little mobility, not by allowing the girth straps to slide like the Prestige but via the compressibility of the sternum pad in every direction as the girth straps pull on the plate over the pad.)
I seriously considered this but ultimately decided to try the Prestige, for now at least, mostly because the WOW has to be shipped from the UK so returning would be difficult if I get the wrong size or donāt like it when I see it. Also, the WOW has 2 separate girth straps on each side (like the Stubben Equisoft), and I feel like that just canāt be as comfortable for the horse. If your billets are close together, wonāt there be a risk of pinching? And I just feel like the Prestige RP girth has been around a little longer and is more widely used and user-tested.
I ordered the smaller donut (āPonyā) for my horse who is most definitely not a pony, based on a video I watched. If I understand correctly, this one is better suited for horses with forward girth grooves and less space between girth and elbow. And I took a guess on sizing. Iād normally use a 28-30 on this horse. The video said to add 10cm; other sources said 5-10. I went with 80cm, since 85 is special order. No idea if it will work.
Anyway, I will update when I get it, for any future COTHer who wants more info about this girth!
Iām actually not venting at all. I donāt really feel like this is an issue Iād need to vent about? Itās one that Iām trying to address for the welfare and well-being of my horse, frustrating because I want to do whatās best for him but simply canāt figure it out. But not a āventingā type of issue. And in fact I consider this thread a success - Iāve actually gotten quite a lot out it, if not what I actually asked about (girth trials). I may not have found solutions to his issue, but since the horse canāt talk to me (and it seems not to be a vet issue), people chiming in with experiences and suggestions and brainstorming and other ways of looking at the problem than my own is super helpful in trying to decipher his cues!
As for soundness - oh thatās a bucket of worms! SI issues and KS are about all he doesnāt have! No thatās not fair. But he is anā¦accident-prone horse. He does not have back issues. Processes have nice big gaps between them. But he flings his front legs around with abandon and has had (too) many injuries. Currently heās at the tail end of healing from a RF coffin bone fracture. Heās had a ābone bruiseā (bone injury with edema etc) to LF P2. LF suspensory and SDFT. Could those issues have caused or contributed to his girthiness?
So have you been able to address or improve his skin sensitivity in any successful way? This does sound very similar to what I face! Numbing cream lol?
Iāve just started experimenting with adding nettle as a herbal supplement, he already gets Marigold & Clivers for stocking up. Although I only started him on nettle four days ago, today his sensitive point shifted back from his girth area to his flank. Iām thinking this is too soon for the nettle to have kicked in and since it was his rest day I didnāt girth him so who knows 
correlation doesnāt mean causation of course.
I bought him 6 months ago so still experimenting with what he likes. Just for background: he donated semen as a stallion, and Iām not sure when he was gelded.
As far as sensitive skin some horses just donāt like some kinds of touch. My chestnut paint mare is very picky about what brushes she tolerates, but is fine with getting a professional massage. I find that if I give her fairly firm pats on her belly and girth area she doesnāt mind that even when sheās pissy about girth or brush. I finally did Gastrogard this past winter. When I started with her 13 years ago she had crazy hard pectorals and was very angry if touched there. Anyhow I think they can stay reactive to things that used to be uncomfortable and also that some horses just like their space.
My horse also hates being girthed, brushed, touched, etc on her more sensitive areas (belly, girth) and will bite the air and pin her ears. I read the introduction in the Masterson Method book (havenāt read the whole thing yet) but on a whim I adapted the concepts I read there and itās slowly working. The intro is free on the Amazon ālook insideā book feature.
Basically I lightly brush/curry/touch a sensitive spot and just keep at it with the lightest pressure to elicit the reaction (he says hovering over the skin even works) and wait for the horse to release tension - yawn, eye roll, etc. If the horse moves, keep the same pressure and move with the horse. Sheās allowing me to brush her with no complaints now although the girth and blanketing are still a problem, but itās only been a few weeks still.
Iāve worked with a couple of horses that had difficulty with girthing despite well fitted tack and no physical issue. The best I could describe it would be claustrophobia and/or a good memory and a bad prior experience. They would be walked while tightening the girth and they did well with that.
Iāve also heard mixed reviews about the Prestige girth. If it doesnāt solve your problems, Iād try mohair. They expand with heat and are sometimes the solution to rubs or sensitive skin. Iād also give each girth a few sessions (assuming he doesnāt react more poorly) in case he is remembering pain and reacting out of habit.
My horse is not a fan of girthing. So when I girth up, I start on the cross ties with it loose enough that the saddle isnāt going to fall off, so its just touching his skin, then walk to the arena and finish tightening in a couple of goes once we get there. All stages involve a sugar lump. This way, no drama and no show of discomfort.
And I have the Bliss Saddlery girth. Lots of elbow room and very soft.
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