Two pieces of tack have been on my mind lately, so we’ll start with the girth. I’ve used the Ovation body form gel girth and a Mattes asymmetrical girth on my young horse and he’s still quite girthy. Moreso with the Mattes, which is weird. I do the girth up in a very slow and multi-step process. He’s remained this way through treatment with omeprazole (the only symptom he has is being girthy). We didn’t scope initially, but I’ll be speaking with my vet about that today. He does not have the ability to scope, so we will have to haul to a clinic further away.
On the off chance that it’s not ulcer related, what other girths should I try for a sensitive horse? The Mattes is really wide at the part where the buckles are at, which I don’t love. It is their slimline version. He does have a round barrel, somewhat forward girth groove, and seemingly not much space between his shoulder/elbow and wide barrel. He’s actually no longer fat, but seems to have a well sprung rib cage. I’m wondering if mohair would be a decent idea? The Stubben Equisoft seems interesting too.
On another tack related note, I cannot find reins that I like. I’d basically like the Thinline reins, but thinner. They’re too fat. I don’t like stops, and I don’t like rubber/texture. I had calfskin wrapped or covered thin reins ages ago, but they eventually broke, and are no longer made. I was somewhat ok with my PS of Sweden reins that just had rubber on the inside, and they were thin. Anyone have any ideas on what might be suitable?
but if it’s really just a matter of a different girth…
