Girths for Forward Girth Grooves?

[khemo]

Hey,

My horse has a forward girth groove, and a big round belly. Even well-fitted saddles slip forward on him.

(I’ve tried a number of “no slip” pads, only to return them because they slip up to six inches in the first half hour of riding. So, I’m trying to find the right girth.)

Can anyone recommend an inexpensive anatomic/ergonomic/curved dressage girth?

Prestige 's girth runs $144, so I’m looking into that.

I can’t seem to find any Ronja girths in Dressage length, which is too bad since they are/were cheaper than the Prestige when I looked last summer.

The Ovation Alfa Gel Body Form Dressage Girth is cheap, but it’s shape makes me wonder how effective it is. http://www.adamshorsesupply.com/browse.cfm/4,4997.html

The County guy told me that a benefit of the Logic is the billets are straight up and down vertically, not angled by either the saddle or the girth. The Ovation is so angled I wonder if it will pull the saddle forward.

The County Logic is $225, pricey in my book, and I tried one, but it was rock hard, and the buckles and billets bulged exactly where his elbow passes the girth when he walks. He was so uncomfortable, that’s how I realized the problem. In the Logic, there’s so much extra girth past the end of the buckles
that I’m afraid that a larger size (to get the bulk above the elbow) would be so long that it’s overlapping the bottom of the saddle. (So I’m going to call some of the companies and find out the total girth length.)

Finally…

Is there a term for the girth leather past the end of the buckles, that the part that either has a keeper or a slot for the billets to pass through?

Ok, that’s all the questions I can think of in one night

[iownapaint]

Here is the Ronja in dressage length… https://www.ravenwoodtack.com/cart/product_info.php?products_id=590

I have the logic and I’ve been very happy with it. Mine is about a year old, has held up well (despite my lack of tack cleaning frequency) and does the job on a horse with a very forward girth groove. I have heard nothing but good things about the Ronja and would have gotten that if it came in brown, which it does not.

[yaya]

@khemo;2942863

Hey,

I can’t seem to find any Ronja girths in Dressage length, which is too bad since they are/were cheaper than the Prestige when I looked last summer.

Um, you mean this one?

https://www.ravenwoodtack.com/cart/product_info.php?products_id=590&osCsid=8edada48a0bbc5298a878a6b60657721

[khemo]

Thank you!

Thank you, Iownapaint and yaya!

I’ve contacted them and am waiting to hear back from them to find out if the 26" (their shortest) is too long, end to end, for my horse.

(BTW, how do you guys recommended checking length?

I took a measuring tape around his belly with the saddle on. From bottom of saddle around belly to bottom of saddle looks like 32". His current girth is a 20" and it stretches to 22" and it’s total length is 24".

I think if I got a 24 or 26, with a total length of like no more than 30, then maybe it would be long enough to have the bulk of the buckles and billets above his elbow yet still have the girth end below the bottom of the saddle… I hope?)

The photo makes the Ronja look shorter, from end of buckle to end of girth, than the Prestige or Logic.
One company has said the Prestige length is:
girth size 24" = 32.5" total length
girth size 26" = 34.5" total length

The other says this, and that the Prestige girths tend to run short:
girth size 24" = 30.5" total length
girth size 26" = 32.5" total length

[Pony_Fixer]

I have a County Logic, and while it works as intended and is a godsend for the saddle not slipping, the quality is suspect. It has many fine cracks in the leather on the inside, and is hard. I took it back and they said I don’t condition it enough. True, but I do wipe it down after every ride, and none of my other girths have ever done this. I have a County saddle that has great leather, so I suspect that even though the tack shop said it was me, I probably got a bad batch of leather.

Even so, the Prestige girths (not out when I got mine) are softer, nicer, and cheaper, and I will get one of those when my current one finally gives out (and it’s only 1.5 years old!). I also do not like the design with all the extra leather above the buckles, but unfortunately I think that helps keep it stable to keep the saddle back (ie, it’s part of the functional design, not just for looks).

Good luck!

[bcjb]

I also have a horse with a very forward girth groove and a well-sprung barrel. I also experimented with non-slip pads to no avail. The girth is going to go where it is going to go and all we can do is try to have the girth attached to the saddle in a way that lets the saddle sit where it should. I still think my saddle is not quite right in the way it moves into the shoulder area, but it seems to be as good as I can manage for now, certainly better than my previous saddle.

I have the Schumacher girth very similar to this: http://www.doversaddlery.com/product.asp?pn=X1-02026&bhcd2=1200678882

It is padded all around the edges, but not in the area underneath the buckles. It isn’t bulky and I bought it long enough that the unpadded part sits higher than my horses’s elbow. I still have rubbing problems during coat change season when the hair is brittle.

[khemo]

[QUOTE=Pony Fixer;2946348]
I also do not like the design with all the extra leather above the buckles, but unfortunately I think that helps keep it stable to keep the saddle back (ie, it’s part of the functional design, not just for looks).

Good luck![/QUOTE]

Hey Pony Fixer,
Does the Logic girth’s ends fit through your saddle pad’s keeper? Or do you not need to use the pad’s keepers? How far up the saddle does it end up? Do you notice it under your leg at all?

[Pony_Fixer]

It makes it "almost to the bottom of my pad, but not that extra inch to make it to the keepers. FWIW, my horses girth is so forward, I only run the back billet through the keeper anyway. I am the “princess and the pea” when it comes to stuff under my leg (use the non buckle leathers, etc) and have never felt the girth be a problem.

[tollertwins]

endurance shaped mohair girth

So FWIW…

I put EVERY shaped girth at the barn on my little guy, and a couple I ordered to boot.

He’s little enuf that ALL of them would have ended up pinching the skin behind the elbow.

Went out on a limb a little and bought an endurance styled mohair girth (the ones that look like roper girths) and damned if it doesn’t look like it’s gonna work.

When I girth it up the back edge is vertically in line w/ the rear billet - but the FORWARD edge goes WAY forward to the end of his ‘natural girth area’…Unfortunately - I just can’t figure out WHY it does that…

[coloredhorse]

khemo, give the folks at ravenswood tack a call. My round-bodied, forward-girth-spot gal is little, too, and they were able to accommodate her. It took a few extra days for the special order in a smaller size, but no extra cost.

That said, after trying umpteen-million girths, pads and combinations thereof, the BEST solution has been a twice-yearly saddle fitting, plain ol’ cheapie Wintec girth and crossing the billets.

[stolensilver]

I’ve got one of these off ebay so it wasn’t too expensive.

http://www.tds-equestrian.co.uk/equestrian/Jaguar-Dressage-Girth.shtml

The leather is fantastic, it is cut away behind the elbows so doesn’t rub but it is angled forwards so sits in a forward girth groove. I love it.

[tollertwins]

I tried one of the jaguars and it didn’t sit forward enuf…was really, really, bummed 'cause the leather is SOOOOO SOFT!

[KarenRO]

Khemo,

Many folks use dressage girths that are too short. When the girth is adjusted snugly, the buckles should be no less than 2 inches from the bottom of the saddle flap. My trainer prefers the buckles of the girth to almost touch the bottom edge of the flap.

I too have a 14.3H, round-barreled, forward girth groove horse. My saddle is a Thornhill and I use a Wintec girth (28"). The Thornhill must have slightly forward set billets as I have not noticed the angle being too far forward when girthed . You might also look at the string girths.

KarenRO

[khemo]

Ok, I confirmed that the Ronja only adds an extra 2" on each side instead of 4" on each side (like the Logic and the Prestige) so I’m now trying a 26".

It comes to the bottom of the pad on each side so there’s about an inch between the top of the girth and the bottom of the saddle on each side, so the size is great. Long enough to go as far as it can, without overlapping the bottom of the saddle.

The saddle does not appear to slip with it, so that’s also great. (see second post)

The girth is still right up against his elbow area, unfortunately.

And, he bites at the girth! He seems uncomfortable with it.
But, it’s MUCH softer leather than the Logic I tried last fall.

I had the saddle fitter look at it and he was happy that it helped the saddle and also noticed how close it is to the horse’s elbows and that he was uncomfortable with it. He didn’t know of any non-leather girths of this type to recommend.

I am trying the girth with a cotton cover so that it says clean and new. I did not think to ask if the girth cover would make any impact on his comfort with it.

The only other leather girths I have tried with him give him sores.

tollertwins, Where can I find mohair girths in black? I grew up riding a hunter pony with a mohair and she seemed to love it.

stolensilver & tollertwins: does the Jaguar girth line up with the billets so they fall/stay straight up and down vertically, or are the billets angled forward? That’s something I was told by the County guy, that the Logic makes/helps the billets be straight, and that the billets end up slightly angled on others, thus pulling the saddle. the Jaguar and the Ovation girths look like they would meet the billets at an angle. (I hope this is clear).

KarenRO, you make a good point, this saddle does not have point billets, and I think adding them would make a difference so the first billet is forward more. It costs a bit, and the saddle front has to be opened up to drill the attachment holes for it, and it takes a while.

The saddle fitter is a very knowledgeable person and did not think this horse should “need” point billets. But, I do wonder if somehow getting the billets more forward would help.

coloredhorse, yes my saddle fitter has me cross the billets with this saddle, it makes a big difference! Doesn’t solve it 100%, but I think every little bit helps.

I’m crossing billets, using a thin baby pad with billet keepers, and trying to find a girth that helps. I tried wet leather shammies and that helped some, but I think the girth needs figured out before I add “non-slip” layers.

Pony Fixer, that fit sounds like where this girth fits now.

Thanks for the help, suggestions, and words of wisdom and experience. I’m getting closer.

[khemo]

Oh, and the Ronja girth leaves marks on him… indents his winter coat so you can see an exact outline of the girth. Don’t know if that makes any difference.

And, when I take the saddle off, he has patches of hair that have been rubbed forward, about 2-4" squares, located below where the twist of the saddle was. The second ride the hair was all rubbed straight down, along the tree’s points area (I think that’s what it’s called).

Again, I don’t know if that makes any difference.

[OnCue]

String.

I’ve tried them all, spent a fortune, nothing worked so I finally tried a good old fashioned string girth and haven’t had a problem since. I tried the $25 version first, and it works well. When I’m feeling fancy, I use the mohair one from Montana Cincha, but it shrunk a little since I don’t follow washing instructions very well.

[khemo]

Where did you find your string girth?

The one I had years ago, I don’t know if it was synthetic string or not, but it would shrink a lot each time I washed it. It would stretch back out after a few rides, no problem. Does yours not re-stretch after riding?

[OnCue]

Well, in the interest of full disclosure, my girth actually shrunk, ahem, a lot. But that was the mohair one that says specifically not to machine wash. Doh. I bought if from Montana Cincha - my only complaint was that I thought the natural colored girth came with black leather buckle guards, but they are brown. I can’t see why they wouldn’t be able to use the black from the striped girth combo, though.

I’ve purchased synthetic ones at both horseloverz.com and Dressage Extensions. I think they are identical. With DE, just confirm with them that they have keepers, because some of their batches don’t. They clean up nicely with a bucket soak and a little scrubbing with a hoof pick brush. I don’t suggest machine washing them along with velcro brushing boots. What can I say, laundry was never my strong suit.

[khemo]

Ok, good to know, OnCue! LOL

Did the non-mohair ones stretch much from normal riding use?

I want to know so I can guess what size to order… you know, for girths with elastic I’d get a smaller size and for girths without I’d go a size larger, so I’m wondering if the string/cord girths stretch much or if they run small/large.

[tollertwins]

If you’re remotely interested in a 26" montana cincha one - let me know…

El stupido here bought one that wasn’t obviously too big till after we got girthed up and rode my little mutant!