I have a typical coke-bottle shaped Arab with small girth (cinch) area. My trouble is, when I use my western saddle (normally ride with dressage saddle) on her, the girth rubs the hair from right behind her elbows in the girth groove. I have tried neoprene and mohair, with mohair doing the least rubbing. But I feel like this is a saddle fit or girth length or something else issue that my lack of western saddle experience is causing. It never rubs enough to make a sore spot , just thins the hair out. Any thoughts or guidance are appreciated!
Does your western saddle fit? If it’s pushing the saddle that far forward, I would wonder if it doesn’t fit.
Can you post pictures of your western saddle on your horse? (No pad, not cinched)
Definitely evaluate saddle fit first.
But some horses are just shaped in a way that the cinch/billets will angle forward. I’ve got a tank of a QH mare like that–she’s got a custom fit saddle but the cinch winds up in her elbows.
I have had good luck with the TSF Shoulder Relief Cinch to help keep the cinch out fat girl’s elbows
I’ve had this problem with some classicly-shaped arabians. Typically it’s in conjunction with a wide, mutton, flat, short back. First, make sure your gullet is wide enough and that saddle is not too long or bridging. Second, you can extra pad the girth at the elbow, either with a girth cover or fold a cheap, thin leg quilt in that area to pad.
You can use some Body Glide in the elbow area to help prevent rubs.
I use leather girths that are not as wide and it helps.
What I wrote may have been confusing… it’s not her elbows that are getting rubbed, it’s her girth groove at the height of her elbows. In the past I used sheepskin covers on the girth buckles and that helped - need to dig those out and give then a try. The saddle is an Arab tree with a very wide gullet and the points are well behind the top of her shoulder blades. So I think the saddle fits. That said, I wondered if my girth was too short and hitting her too low. Is there a standard for where it should fit? Thank you all so much for your input and help!!
Definitely try a larger girth! That could be an easy fix!
I have this for my half-Arab mare who has a very forward girth groove. I haven’t put a lot of miles on it so can’t give it a great review yet. I wish it came in something other than neoprene. I paid $40 for it though, so if it ends up not working that well I’m not out much money.
I’ve had this problem with all of my Arabs. I solved it with a multi-pronged approach:
(1) Make sure your saddle REALLY fits - mine have all needed full QH, U-shaped bars. Most “Arab tree” saddles are much too narrow for actual Arabs, in my experience.
(2) Use a string/mohair girth. Synthetic and leather girths are too abrasive for sensitive Arab skin, in my experience, and the string also tends not to slip as much.
(3) Non-slip saddle pad. I’m partial to ThinLine myself.
(4) Use a PROPERLY (i.e. snugly) tightened back girth. This seems to help stabilize the rear half of the saddle a bit, reducing the forward slip.
(5) Make sure you aren’t placing your saddle too far forward. The weight-bearing surface should be behind the scapula. This is more commonly a problem with close contact saddles, but I do see it with Western saddles sometimes, too.
I’ll second the Total Saddle Fit cinch recommendation! My very round, no withered, down-hill QH was prone to his professionally fitted western saddle sliding forward during work and had elbow callouses from the straight felt cinch rubbing. The TSF cinch keeps the saddle where it belongs, and his elbow callouses are gone.
Thanks for all of the help and input. I’ve ordered longer girths by Toklat (the sheepskin/memory foam) and a Total Saddle Fit with sheepskin. So will give them a whirl and see if it stops the rubbing and makes her more comfortable all around.
Appreciate it!!
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