No matter what girth I use on my 27 yr. old pony she is getting rubbed raw. I have tried neoprene, leather, fleece(synthetic and real)and very soft string. Not mohair though as I haven’t been able to find one her size in my price range. I have also tried different saddles, but they all seem to be rigged in the same position, english and western. I’ve had this pony for 17 years now and never had a problem until last year. The other problem is that she needs a 24’’ girth and finding one that has center rings for a breastcollar has proved difficult. I haven’t ever tried centerfire style rigging and was wondering if anybody hes ever improvised that on a BMSS? I make sure she is clean and the hair is lying flat (as much as possible ) when I tack up. It only takes a short ride to rub and this is the type of pony that would try to go even if her leg was broken. With better weather coming I want her to be comfy when we ride. Any help is much appreciated!!
Have you tried an elastic girth? If you’re talking about cinches, there are a few elastic cinches out there as well.
How about a different shape of girth? Anatomical vs straight in english, roper cinches in western, etc. 
I’ve had good luck with this style girth on sensitive skinned horses
http://www.onestopequineshop.com/products/Fleece_Girth-34485-0.html
You don’t have to find a cinch with a center ring. You can buy a girth loop with attached ring that just slips over the cinch or girth. I made myself one from leather and a D ring, nylon or biothane with a D ring works well.
Yes, it’s not hard to set a BMSS up for centerfire rigging. My neighbors do it, they had the local harness shop make then 2 biothane straps with a simple buckle at one end and holes put into the biothane with a soldering iron. the straps go thru the read flank cinch D ring then thru the cinch ring and buckle. tighten the cinch a bit and tighten the rear strap a bit.
It may help to ride with a looser cinch and really well fitted “english” style breastplate. Many people don’t really adjust their breastplate well or snug enough to actually do anything. You want the Y on the chest to be quite low so the horse can lower their head to drink/graze without choking, take the breast strap up quite short, usually means adding holes and trimming the strap shorter. You will probaly have to let the shoulder straps out to lower the Y on the chest. Adding a well fitter crupper will give more stability to the saddle while riding with a looser cinch.
I’m so glad that I’ve never had a horse with tight elbows which leads to girth galls. My BMSS stays in place on both of my SOUND horses really well without a breastplate or crupper. I’ve only ridden one place where I broke down and used a crupper. It was at Patti’s SUAR ride!!
Bonnie S.
chicamuxen
I have one very tender skinned guy.
The only thing I ever found to fix it was to get a real sheepskin girth cover for him, and then secure it very very well to the buckles after I saddle him. I ended up punching some holes and using leather thongs to tie the ends of the cover up onto D rings- which is a bit awkward, but any kind of slippage causes an issue with him.
The other thing that might be causing it, it saddle slippage, she’s getting older, her topline may have changed and causes the saddle to slip either side to side or back and forth due to terrain, just enough to cause her girth to move against her skin.
So a breastcollar, or crupper might be more useful to.
Thanks for all the replies. Luckily, even though she is 27 her topline remains great. She is constantly mistaken for a 12-14 year old. I already use a breastplate adjusted down a bit lower and that did help some.Have never used a crupper, but will be looking into that option as we live in the mountains. I have the loop to attach the BP to, but Pony is smallish (dainty) and it adds length to the BP, I’ve punched as many holes in it as possible (plus it is easily lost/stolen, been through 2 already)however, may have no choice:sigh:. I also leave the saddle as loose as I dare to here in the hills. Would love a girth with some give , but size is against me (24" is best, might eek by with a 26")
As far as the rigging on the BMSS, I would like to try that. I’ve only had the treeless saddle a couple of months and wondered if it would cause problems. This is also my first treeless saddle.
Has anybody tried the wintec elastic waffle girths? They come small enough, but I haven’t seen one in person yet. Thanks so much!!
Do the sheepskin covers collect alot of debris? How often do you wash it and how? Have tried straight west., roping (prefer) ,contour-chaffeless eng. Best has been the fleece dressage w/ elastic ends or straight west. fleece. both kept clean (no detergent, just water) and ''brushed" to keep the pile soft without pilling.
Is the rigging western or english?
For western, this can add some give: http://www.jeffersequine.com/ssc/product.asp?CID=1&pf_id=0031347
I’ve always heard that mohair is the absolute best for reducing galling.
Here’s a 100% mohair that has rings and is stocked as small as 20" for $40.
http://www.longridersgear.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=79_28&products_id=464
Dressage version: http://www.longridersgear.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=493
There was recently a discussion about cruppers and it was suggested that britching is more comfortable for the horse.
http://www.horse.com/Gunderson-Sunrise-Felt-Lined-Saddle-Breeching-HDT07.html
Thanks Leather,
Those are the first mohair cinches I’ve seen that are made small enough. It’s great that they have west. and dressage styles and the dressage even has the rings :D. We do everything from dressage to barrel racing so both styles would be possibilities. It’s too bad the eng. one costs so much more than the west. one.
Am not sure about britching, never used it. I’m trying to keep tack to a minimum so hoping I don’t have to go that far. Thanks and Happy Trails
It’s too bad the eng. one costs so much more than the west. one
If the sizes are close, try a girth converter and use the western for both.
http://www.american-flex.com/hardware%20&%20rigging.htm (scroll down to girth converter)
Prefer english. Just bought the west.to eng. converters. They are great at least for trail riding, don’t think I’ll barrel race with them- might get laughed out of the ring:winkgrin:! I like to be able to tighten/ loosen on the horse. Plus they are better with the BMSS, they go up a little higher.
I have the western-english convertors on my BMSS also. I use either the Wintec PVC (waffle-weave) type girths or this one http://www.sporthorseproducts.com/Neoprene-Dressage-Girth.html
which is from the same material as the wintec but much much easier to girth. The equalizer girth has buckle mounted on a sliding strap. It allows for much better adjustments. My suggestion is to use one of these, use the longest length that you possibly can to get the buckles above the elbow area. Adjust the buckle that is closest to the elbow higher than the back one, again it gets the buckle away from the elbow area. Usually horses rub down low, closer to the level of the elbows and this is where a lot of people have cinch/girth buckles placed. Use the thinest most flexible girth that you can and have the buckles as high up as you can.
I just love these equalizer girths and use them now on my BMSS and my Sensation.
Bonnie S.
That is a cool girth. I like the double elastic and the neoprene looks cushy. The main reason Ilike dressage girths is because they usually have good padding under the buckles. I do adjust everything so the buckles aren’t near the elbow area. Thanks!!
when you tack up do you stretch her leg out, so the skin isnt pinching undernearth then re do her girth up plus you say this problem started only last year and you have had a treeless saddle for a couple of months which to me would be same sort of time frame judging by what your saying so it could be and more likely to be the saddle doesnt fit, the girth buckle is surpose to go onto the girth straps bewteen the skirt of the saddle and underneath the panal on an english saddle aand they should have grith guards sounds like you girth is to small and your doing it up near her elbows ,my 11.2hh has a 34 inch grith so well clear of elbows and in the correct place to do up dressage girths are meant fgor dressage saddles as the girths straps are longer becuase the saddle is longer and hs longer panals they arnt meant for gsp or simular saddles my surgestion would be chnage your girth for a longer one so the buckles can lay in the correct place therefore not creating girth galls as for a breast plate some have loop the bottom of the Y over your girth
sounds like you are on the right road to solving this situation. My only reason for adding in a post, was to share that for the ‘suprize’ once in awhile gall, I found one time a blessing of a ‘fixer’…we were at a show once, and for an unknown reason, the mare had a pink, galled spot she had never had before. trying to pad the area, protect it, proved impossible. Then, I went out, and purchased the ‘spray bandage’ stuff…coated the area, and voila (!) showing continued, without incident. Yes, its a one time fix…and yes, you’ll need to re coat area frequently if you’re riding awhile after initial application.
but, now, it stays in our groombox…it saved that day.
The other ‘cure’ is a product called Bickmores Gall Salve. Doesn’t solve the cause of the problem, but will ‘get you through’ until you do. It was developed long ago for use on working horses. Put the salve on the horse, then harness (or saddle) and go to work. Seems to heal while you work. Looks like green clay with grit on it, but got us back from a long- distance camping trip when my horse developed a gall days and miles from camp.
I do stretch her legs every time before a ride and my treeless saddle fits well with the girth buckle far enough away from the elbow area. Ive had this problem with 5 different saddles, english and western, and at least 7 different girths. The best “quick fix” I’ve used so far is a handful of vaseline rubbed on both pony and (leather or smooth neoprene) girth. Only for short rides and cleaned the skin and girth well before application.
Since she is a paint with pink skin in the elbow areas, I think she had built up some callous or something when I was riding her more. We went from riding 3-5 days a week to… well much less. But, I wonder how long it might take for improvement if that is the case. I’ve had this pony for a little over 16 years now and when I got her at 10 (me not her) I don’t remember anything like this. At that time she hadn’t been ridden in a loooong time since she had foundered. As soon as we got her founder issues taken care of, I started riding her almost every day and that continued into my late teens and I don’t remember any girth problems.
Just agreeing on the Bickmore’s Gall Salve. It works miracles, and yes, it seems like the healing takes place even while the horse continues to work under saddle. Amazing stuff. I carry it all the time when trail riding.
