Favorite Anatomic Girth?

[evntr95]

I know this has been asked before but I wasn’t making significant headway through searching/sifting old posts. I think there are more options available in the past and unfortunately some of the old posts would recommend a girth with just a link that is no longer valid.

I’m looking for recommendations on anatomic dressage girths for two TBs with no particular special needs. They seem to like my County Logic girth, but the leather is unfortunately starting to crack and show signs of wear. I’m not opposed to synthetic, but was worried the Collegiate one is too plastic-y looking for something that is pretending to be leather. Right now I’m considering a new County Logic, the Ventech (which doesn’t offend me because it’s not pretending to be leather), Fairfax, Le Mieux, and WOW. I also don’t know if there’s anything I’m missing and if there’s any pros/cons on what I’ve already found? I refuse to go with a Total Saddle Fit girth- I bought one before and it was hard as a brick (I had been hoping it’d be at least slightly cushioned), subpar leather, and fell apart quickly.

[GreyDes]

A bit of it depends on what shape your horse needs. My top two are the Fairfax and County logic.

Of the two, Fairfax has a slightly more forward curve and more padding. I have a mare that strongly prefers the Fairfax.

Heads up that the Fairfax is more delicate leather and needs to be maintained well. Also it does not have elastic and the County does.

I’ve tried the Ventech and it’s a good option if the shape works and your horse is okay with neoprene. It’s not nearly as curved as most of the other options.

I agree with you on the TSF girth and am not a fan of the Ovation leather.

Another one to look at is Prestige. It’s similar to the County logic and slightly more padded but less curved. Nunn Finer has one as well that’s a Fairfax knockoff. I believe it’s the Belladonna?

I haven’t tried the Lemieux.

[J-Lu]

My experience with Fairfax:

I purchased the original maybe…7 years ago? I was one of the first in the area to buy one through a local store and their independent saddle fitter. My horse was 4, I think, and went in a 28 narrow. He was on the cust po narrow or regular and the fitter thought a narrow would work best. I took care of it pretty well- the side towards the horse is very soft leather. It started to crack about a year ago. and then cracked really bad (in the center of the girth in the soft leather, that became very hard over time.

I talked to the manager at the talk store I purchased it from and long story short, Faifax agreed to sell me another girth at cost. I purchased it.

The girth works very well for my horse, who has a narrow girth groove. At 4, his shoulders were narrow and the saddle rode forward. Now, his shoulders filled out but his rib cage is built like an apple. The girth works well for him so I opted to buy it again. Currently, I am rather anal about the care. If this girth cracks, I’ll likely have it and/or the first girth repaired and put a LeMieux Fairfax girth cover on it. I can’t get Fairfax to approve the product for use with their girths.

The girth takes constant care. You have to wipe it with a damp cloth after every ride and apply Rapide leather conditioner. It’s not actually a huge deal and becomes a part of your routine. It encourages me to wipe the bridle down also. Fairfax says that horse sweat will make the very soft leather harder over time and we have a lot of horse sweat where I live. It seems counter-productive to sell a girth with leather that can’t handle sweat over time but…here we are.

So, my horse seems to like the girth and it helped keep saddles off of his shoulders. The narrow worked/works for him because of his build. The regular might work for him now but no saddle fitter/trainer has since complained that the girth seems to narrow so I keep what I know works.

[Roni4444]

Mattes real sheepskin - several different shapes to fit various body types

[Unfforgettable]

I have the LeMieux, and it is lovely and soft.

[ExpialidociousOTTB]

Also have the LeMieux Gel-Tek, it’s great. Very soft leather, nicely padded - I had to size up for both of my horses, my TB wears a 30” and my large pony wears a 26”.

[ExpialidociousOTTB]

Stubben also makes one that might be worth looking at, the Equisoft. And Fairfax makes a synthetic version if the leather maintenance is too much a pain, I’ve not seen that one in person but I’d like to.

[Nous]

Have a look at the Christ sheepskin girths, I managed to convert my saddler from Lemieux to Christ .

[Arlomine]

I’ve opted for inexpensive and washable real sheepskin. I’ve used these girths for years. I wash them on gentle with my mattes pads, and brush them out with a pin brush after every use. They have a little stretch throughout. They are an excellent value.
They’ve lasted MANY years and have never galled a horse.

[Smthn_Like_Olivia]

I have the Stubben Equi-soft for my very particular TB. LOVE it. I got lucky and purchased it in 2020 during the Covid shutdown period when Stubben was letting them go for half price. It has held up well with regular use and is fairly easy to clean. Originally I had the sheepskin bottom, but recently purchased the leather bottom to accommodate the hotter, summer weather. My horse has massive shoulders and got nasty rubs in the Total Saddle Fit. Have yet to see a rub in his equi-soft and I love the flexibility of it and the way it can expand with the horse.

[outerbanks77]

I really like the LeMieux on my chonky Appendix QH mare, though I usually use it with a sheepskin cover and the new LeMieux girth covers are crap (they went from real sheepskin to wool in a fabric backing).

With my big WB, we finally settled on the Mikmar girth. I think she likes the elastic setup and wide sternum part.

As a result of lots of testing with the WB, I’ve got several nice 30" girths available for sale in case you’re looking for something in that size.

[SolarFlare]

My TB needs a somewhat curved but not TOO curved girth and I have the Prestige short girth for my dressage saddle and the Ventech contoured long girth for my jump saddle. The Prestige softened up pretty well, and I LOVE the Ventech girth. My saddle fitter also loves it. I would not hesitate to get the short Ventech girth.

I tried a TSF long girth and my horse actually went rein lame in it. I think the shape was too extreme for him and was hitting the vagus nerve so it was a no-go.

[atlatl]

County logic fan here.

[Cowgirl]

Because my horses have a more forward and narrow girth groove, the Fairfax fit them so much better than the County Logic. Both girths have stitching around the edge that causes a little groove next to the horse, so I use a sheepskin liner with it. The County has elastic on the ends; the Fairfax does not, but I do a slow girth up anyway so it’s fine. I have a Stubben Equisoft and I’ve had the Mattes anatomic girths before, but I keep coming back to the Fairfax…

[BlueDrifter]

The Stubben Equi-Soft requires the purchase of a top and bottom?

[george]

I too like the Mikmar on a number of horses. It’s also important to pair the flexibility of the girth to your saddle. For instance, WOW saddles move too much for a squishy girth but County and Custom Saddles are improved in my opinion when paired with a girth with stretch. Personally, I do not like the County girth, it does not have enough stretch for me. You also need to match the amount of curvature in the girth to your horse. One of my student’s horses loves the total saddle fit girth. Another voted for Mikmar, another is in a string girth, they all have individual preferences.

[exvet]

I too am a county logic and fairfax fan, depends on the horse.

[Samondel]

I just got one of these: https://hypostore.com/topfit-dressage-grith-anatomic-fit-deluxe.html
I really like it… soft leather, nice padding, nice leather to cover the buckles. The wide sternum pad seems to work well for us, and my horse seems quite happy in it.

[evntr95]

I think I’m even more lost in options than I was before! So- dumb question, which I feel like I ought to know as a rider of what feels like umpteen million years, who is relatively competent at assessing saddle fit and self managing the care and training of my two horses. But… how the heck do I tell what type of girth groove my horse has and then decide what I think he’d like, as per some of the recommendations here?

My older Stackhouse fits the horses pretty well and doesn’t have an appreciable amount of forward or backward slide while I ride. I’ve only been using the Logic girth with it, but they jump in normal long girths with no major complaints.

[Smthn_Like_Olivia]

They just give you the option to purchase them separate if needed. You select which bottom you want when you purchase the girth. The bottom piece attaches with a strong velcro. My first one (sheepskin), I’ve removed countless times and popped in the wash. Now I have a leather bottom as well for the hotter months.