Girth covers

[StarPattern]

Hello! My mare has decided her skin is far too sensitive for a girth and she has presented me with a nasty girth gall. Of course, she won’t be ridden until it’s completely healed and I’ve been doctoring it with disinfectant and wound salve. However, I’m wondering about girth covers to prevent a occurrence in the future.

For a horse that is ridden maybe twice a week for under an hour each time, would a simple girth “sock” do, or should I spring for the sheepskin? Is one vastly better than the other? She is only ridden on the flat, mostly at a walk and occasionally a trot. I’ve already determined that her skin is too sensitive for the neoprene girth and I’m shopping around for a good priced leather one, but in the mean time, I do want to protect her skin from further galling.

Thank you!

[IPEsq]

A fleece slip on kind should work. I believe I also have a sheepskin “sock” kind (versus sheepskin attached to the girth), and it has seen much lighter use but hasn’t held up as well. To get the benefit of either, you need to clean them frequently so they don’t get crusty with sweat. Sheepskin is more delicate to clean.

[saffire_100]

It really depends on the horse. I didn’t have any luck with the girth sock but have had much success with multiple horses with sheepskin.

[Highflyer]

I’ve had pretty good luck with the cheap fleece girths. I find the covers more of a pain to keep in place.

[quietann]

Side question: does anyone know where to get a sheepskin girth for a Pro-lite or Fairfax girth? I’ve asked Hastilow USA, where I bought my Pro-lite girth, and am not getting anywhere.

[StarPattern]

Awesome, thank you! I’ll go hunting for a fleece one to give it a try. They’re probably easy enough to sew, so I can make myself a whole bunch and just swap them out to ensure they’re all clean before I take a load home to wash. haha.

[Wayside]

[QUOTE=saffire_100;8798610]
It really depends on the horse. I didn’t have any luck with the girth sock but have had much success with multiple horses with sheepskin.[/QUOTE]

That’s been my experience as well. It cost me a small fortune to keep my Arab gelding in girth covers, since he also needed them to be extremely clean and I rode him almost every day. So I needed several of them.

Many of my horses have been fine with other sorts of girths, but the ones that really needed a girth cover really needed it to be sheepskin, unfortunately.

I hope your horse does well with a cheaper option!

[Garythesquirrel]

I like sheepskin covers but like mohair string girths even more. I have them for both of my horses and have retired my sheepskin covers.

[RedHorses]

I used to use quilted cotton girth covers. Inexpensive and easy to wash in the machine.

[StarPattern]

[QUOTE=Garythesquirrel;8798902]
I like sheepskin covers but like mohair string girths even more. I have them for both of my horses and have retired my sheepskin covers.[/QUOTE]

They make string girths for english saddles? I know she enjoyed the mohair girth from my western saddle.

[IPEsq]

[QUOTE=StarPattern;8799101]
They make string girths for english saddles? I know she enjoyed the mohair girth from my western saddle.[/QUOTE]

yes

[demidq]

My sensitive skinned gray mare has done really well in the Toklat shaped fleece girth. The girth socks didn’t work. This is padded, not expensive and can be easily washed. I do have a shaped sheepskin cover but I am concerned about keeping it clean so that is for shows!

[demidq]

My sensitive skinned gray mare has done really well in the Toklat contoured Passport fleece girth. The girth socks didn’t work. This is padded, not expensive and can be easily washed. I do have a shaped sheepskin cover but I am concerned about keeping it clean so that is for shows!

[Garythesquirrel]

[QUOTE=StarPattern;8799101]
They make string girths for english saddles? I know she enjoyed the mohair girth from my western saddle.[/QUOTE]

I bought mine at Riding Warehouse.

http://www.ridingwarehouse.com/searchresults.html?search=products&searchtext=mohair+girth

[Trails]

All I have ever used is the ‘sock’ type girth cover and find them perfect. I make sure when I do up the girth the sock covers all the way to the buckles so no part of the girth touches my mares. The one mare has never had a rub so I use it more as a just in case, but the other mare is prone and has had girth gulls. Since she started wearing the sock, (about 15 yrs now) she has been rub and sore free.

[AKB]

My guy usually does well with a girth sock. Occasionally, that doesn’t work. Then, I pull out the expensive sheepskin for a few rides.

[Mango20]

If she likes mohair, that might be your best bet. I have mohair for a pony since I could find it in size 34. He seems comfy in it. There are some string girths out there that are mohair and some are synthetic, so pay attention to the description if you want mohair. It feels softer to me, but I’m not sure if it feels different to the horse.

I had a cheap, fleecy girth for my mare like this: http://www.doversaddlery.com/toklat-contoured-synthetic-girth/p/X1-02175/ . It gave her a sore. Too much bulk, I think. She is happy in a synthetic girth like this: http://www.doversaddlery.com/ovation-airfoam-chafeless-girth/p/X1-02177/

[Angela_Freda]

I love the girth socks as well. They are easy to put on and they hold their shape well, so no bunching. And they wash well. I always had 2 or 3 so I could rotate them and always use a clean one.

[StarPattern]

I managed to find a sheepskin girth cover for the diva mare on a random trip to Greenhawk. Not only that, but it was also on sale. If she likes it and it works, awesome. If not, I’ll hunt down a mohair girth for her instead. I looked and mohair girths in her size (52") aren’t exactly common, so I’d have to get one custom made to the tune of something like $150+ CDN. Right now, that’s a little out of my price range for a horse that is only ridden once or twice a week for maybe 30-40 minutes each time.

I also picked her up a fuzzy poll guard as well, just because she’s THAT spoiled and for $5, I couldn’t go wrong. I shave her mane off and I wouldn’t put it past her just to somehow develop a gall on her crown. haha.

[StarPattern]

[QUOTE=Mango20;8803717]
She is happy in a synthetic girth like this: http://www.doversaddlery.com/ovation-airfoam-chafeless-girth/p/X1-02177/[/QUOTE]

That’s the girth she currently has (or a very similar one) that galled her pretty bad. I’ll see what she thinks of the sheepskin girth cover once her gall is all healed. It’s healing alright, but I don’t want to risk opening it up by riding before it’s 100% healed.