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Leather girth without elastic?

I am on the hunt for a long leather girth WITHOUT elastic on either end to use on my sidesdddle. Can anyone recommend a maker or shop that carries this unicorn (without having to pay shipping from the UK/EU)? TIA.

Bartville will make you a trifold girth for a sidesaddle, even if they’re not in their catalog. They made mine for me :slight_smile:

If you’re on any of the FB sidesaddle groups, ask around there, often folks have some in various sizes available. I don’t know if Black Diamond Designs will do any more, but I think the woman with the ASA was sourcing some in the US as well.

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Thanks for the lead—my mare is a midget (52”), so haven’t been able to find a used one in the last 8 weeks! Will check out Bartville. :slight_smile:

The President of the American Sidesaddle Association should be able to get you pointed in the right direction. I think it is her husband that makes them if they aren’t super backed up in repairs to saddles.

Wait, are side saddle girths different than astride girths? Because in my world, 52’’ is pretty normal, and my large WB wears a 54’’… He’d love to believe he’s considered just slightly larger than a midget :rofl:.

@Pokerface…my mare is short, but not svelte! :wink: I ended up paying for the crazy shipping from the UK. The saddle has outside girthing, so I wanted keepers on the off-side.

Sidesaddle girths often have to be a bit longer than the length that would regularly fit the horse with an astride saddle, based on very big panels under the seat (compared to a regular H/J saddle) and the location of the billets. They often need extra keepers too, to hold the ends of the billets in place (especially if “outside girthing” is on the saddle), and for the balance strap to stay in place over top of the girth.

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