Best *soft* forward groove girth?

[Shiaway]

They suggested the county logic, which has helped a bit but it’s just a quite hard girth.

Some confounding things are that the other straight girth he seemed to be less girthy with was both soft but also slightly thinner and had elastic. So it’s possible that it’s not the softness that made a difference but how wide the county girth is or not having elastic.

I could try getting a cover for the logic but my bullets are too short and I think I’d need a new girth in order to fit a thick fleece pad under it.

[blue_heron]

Here’s an infographic that shows the body types they recommend: https://shop.mattes-equestrian.us/girth-shapes-and-how-to-measure-correctly

The girth will always slide to the smallest part of the abdomen (girth groove), so if you have a horse with well-sprung ribs or a large stomach, the girth will slide forward, right behind the elbow. Essentially the crescent girth curves forward so it’s already sitting in the girth groove behind the elbow, while the buckles stay in line with the billets. Because the girth is already sitting where it wants to, it doesn’t pull the saddle forward. These horses also usually need a point billet.

[Sue_B]

The one Mattes calls “crescent” is what I use on my well-sprung ribbed, ultra-short backed, massive shouldered, huge withered horse. Works perfectly!

[Shiaway]

We had discussed installing a point billet but I got nervous it would mess up the saddle somehow. Maybe it would have been fine but I chickened out

[Shiaway]

Is it leather? It’s hard to tell from the pics and I’m hesitant to pay $$$ for something that might not last. Thanks

[blue_heron]

The Mattes girth is sheepskin on top of a quilted piece. Mine has been going for years with no issue and it’s certainly soft.

Why would the point billet mess up your saddle? Most saddles have a little tab attached to the tree where the point billet is sewn on. If you can’t trust your saddler to install a point billet, which people do all the time even to saddles that didn’t come with one, I think I’d be looking for a new saddler. Saddle fitters deal with this stuff all the time.

[Shiaway]

It probably wouldn’t mess it up. But my saddle is a Spirig and they’re a bit different. Anyway the county logic girth has seemed to help so i felt the issue was resolved. It had nothing to do with my trust in my saddle fitter.

[Pico_Banana]

Does the Mattes crescent girth have elastic? One side or both sides?

[Shiaway]

Ugh. So the sore opened up again. I think it might be a melanoma bc he’s a grey. So I definitely need to find a softer girth and I guess keeping the saddle back will have to come second. I might check out the mattes except everything seems to say the creasent girths are for high withered horse to prevent the saddle slipping back which is the opposite of what he needs

[IPEsq]

I think that’s the Athletico shape, to fix sliding back, not the Crescent.

[lorilu]

that’s the one I have used, and the Ovation Crescent girth. BOth soft all over; my concern is always how stiff most girths are under the buckles. Those two girths are soft and have no hard “edges” at the ends.

[lorilu]

Crescent is good for horses with forward girth grooves AND well sprung ribs. Takes in account that those horses are much wider just behind the forward girth groove, and a traditional straight or “anatomic” girth would draw the saddle forward. Mattes has a great educational age.

In my case, narrower shoulders, very forward girth groove, and very sprung ribs - crescent works. Anatomic doesnt.

[lorilu]

no. the crescent curves “back” - its shape takes into account the extra width of the belly.