I have a girthy OTTB. The horse has been off the track for two years, but has mostly had that time as turnout (due to my schedule) and is now coming back to work. Even if I am slow and careful about tightening his girth to avoid a big reaction (explosion in crossties), he still starts his undersaddle work very short and tense. I have always thought of I didn’t get the initial reaction then the tension undersaddle was just general riding anxiety. However, my jumper trainer thinks this is girthiness. I usually let the horse warm up very slowly, as much as 20 min of walking, if necessary, until he is more relaxed and has a bigger step. Trainer thinks would be better if I put horse on longe for 5 min and tightened girth after each circle or two and then get on with the riding. I am curious about how other people recognize and address symptoms of girthiness.
I lunge or handwalk for a few minutes. IME if they feel tense like that there’s always the potential for an explosion especially away from home. Using a fleece girth with elastic on both sides also really helped (I would put it on very very loosely and go for a walk, stopping every few minutes to tighten it a hole.)
[QUOTE=Highflyer;8369769]
I lunge or handwalk for a few minutes. IME if they feel tense like that there’s always the potential for an explosion especially away from home. Using a fleece girth with elastic on both sides also really helped (I would put it on very very loosely and go for a walk, stopping every few minutes to tighten it a hole.)[/QUOTE]
This. Once the girth is at riding tightness I’ll stretch out front legs and hand walk one more lap, then hop on.
Elastic girth for sure, as well as walking and tightening slowly.
Also be sure to check the girth carefully and make sure it isn’t pinching anywhere. My experience with a “girthy” horse was that he had lots of excess skin behind the shoulders and was very sensitive to it being pinched.
When you first do it up try this - reach under and pull the girth straight down, slowly bring it across (but NOT up) and pull it tight - think of making a right angle on the off side of the horse. Now without letting up on the pressure, bring up the end to the billets.
This helped my mare a lot - I think the combination of it being slow and deliberate, and not just pulling up around her belly, but rather distributing the pressure one side, belly, other side was more comfortable.
And then walk. And then tighten, then get on and tighten again before walking off. Or lunge and tighten. As to what gait, let the horse tell you how best to loosen up.
Some horses don’t find the stretching of legs helpful but most do.
I tighten my girth very slowly. Usually about three times before I get on, and usually at least once more 10-15 minutes after getting on (before I pick up a trot). I use a soft leather girth with elastic on both ends, and have also used a fleece girth.
The other big thing I do, which is more for a tight backed OTTB, and less about girth ones, is when I get on at the mounting block, I land in my knees instead of on my butt, and stand up in the stirrups as we walk. I try to stay up for a minute or two (or longer if I’m feeling ambitious). Doing that seems to help a lot. Also, my guy’s tightness is better or worse depending on whether he’s doing out of the field or the stall. So a little lunge might not be a bad idea.
I do the same, its a habit I picked up while riding a girthy/cold backed horse and I now do it all the time. I feel its good practice for most horses.
As for a particularly girthy horse, I know one that was turned out with a surcingle on for a few days. I believe it was winter, so the surcingle went under a turnout blanket and lowered the risk of getting caught up on anything. Horse was also in very safe field and wasn’t a loon. It worked VERY well and horse got over his issues quite quickly and was no longer reactive/tense.
Elastic girth, fleece, tighten slowly. Walk, tighten some more… etc.
Some may disagree, but treating during girthing helped me through this issue along with the multi-step tightening process. Each time I raise the girth a hole, horsie gets a SMALL treat. This made him look forward to girthing in about 4 days. It took a few months to totally get over the anxiety, but that seemed relatively quick looking back. As the horse got more relaxed I did more intermittent treating until he only got 1 at the very end. Girthing and bridling horses can be such a negative experience whether due to rushed grooms at the track or rushed/uneducated students in the riding school. IMO it’s SO common that most of the horse’s I handle are grumpy about both…obviously some to a much greater degree than others, but sadly it is common. My personal horses reach for the bit and stand very passively for girthing, though they didn’t come to me that way 
Good luck!
I do the treats,too.
After ruling out ulcers,poor saddle fit and poor blanket fit,plus back or neck pain.
I have recently started using the shoulder relief girth and had resounding success with several horses. They’re expensive but worth it in my opinion!
This is often related to back pain, a saddle that doesn’t fit and tightness in the shoulder area. I do TTouch and can often receive this problem.
Also, a chiropractor can help. A rib out of place can make the horse really sore and sensitive in this area. I had a horse that came to me for training who would drop to his knees after saddling when asked to walk forward. The owner was told he was “lazy.” I had a osteopathic vet work on him. She put the rib back, end of story, the horse never had a problem again.
From here, your horse sounds like he is in pain to me.
It could be pain but I did have one who it was more mental. I did pretty much all of the above. Saddle fit is critical. Soft girths. Always stay off their back when first on them…but the most helpful was doing what your jumper trainer suggested.
I also treated for ulcers, chiro and did treats. Plus groundwork ( lots of disengaging the hq etc.) before getting on.
He is so much better now but I’m always super slow and ready to address it on any given day.
Awesome advice, thanks for all the replies. I don’t think we’re dealing with ulcers. I have had saddle fit assessed and flocking adjusted and I’m using a Mattes pad w a shoulder shim. I’m going to try the fuzzy girth. I have been pretty good about tightening girth slowly, but could improve. Last night I tried shifting my routine from ground work before tacking to ground work after tacking so I could tighten girth one hole at a time as we worked on the halter. Seemed to help!
[QUOTE=yellowbritches;8369935]
I tighten my girth very slowly. Usually about three times before I get on, and usually at least once more 10-15 minutes after getting on (before I pick up a trot). I use a soft leather girth with elastic on both ends, and have also used a fleece girth.
The other big thing I do, which is more for a tight backed OTTB, and less about girth ones, is when I get on at the mounting block, I land in my knees instead of on my butt, and stand up in the stirrups as we walk. I try to stay up for a minute or two (or longer if I’m feeling ambitious). Doing that seems to help a lot. Also, my guy’s tightness is better or worse depending on whether he’s doing out of the field or the stall. So a little lunge might not be a bad idea.[/QUOTE]
I do this as well.
One other thing though OP you’ve probably thought of this - might be a little tummy/ulcery thing?
I ride early in the am, I always give them 15 minutes to munch some hay so not starting on empty stomach.
Good luck!
[QUOTE=Lusoluv;8370322]
Some may disagree, but treating during girthing helped me through this issue along with the multi-step tightening process. Each time I raise the girth a hole, horsie gets a SMALL treat. This made him look forward to girthing in about 4 days. It took a few months to totally get over the anxiety, but that seemed relatively quick looking back. As the horse got more relaxed I did more intermittent treating until he only got 1 at the very end. Girthing and bridling horses can be such a negative experience whether due to rushed grooms at the track or rushed/uneducated students in the riding school. IMO it’s SO common that most of the horse’s I handle are grumpy about both…obviously some to a much greater degree than others, but sadly it is common. My personal horses reach for the bit and stand very passively for girthing, though they didn’t come to me that way Good luck![/QUOTE]
I do the same thing. Once we ruled out pain, I began giving a small treat right as I was tightening the girth. Now I have a horse that nickers at me as I’m putting the girth on :lol:
Things that worked for me:
Neoprine will ever touch his body again. Only those $50 fleece girths
I bought a package of tube socks at Walmart. Cut in 1/2 and then cut the toe off so you have 2 “tubes”. One was slid over each side of the elastic on the girth so there was nothing pinching him.
I would do up the girth one hole at a time AS HE WAS WALKING IN A CIRCLE, and every 3rd hole I would jog him ‘down and back’.
If he was fresh he got lunged with lots of transitions. When he could break into the canter smoothly it was ok to get on.
After years of this he is fine when he is in full work. But give him a week off and you have to be very careful again.
I would also take the shims out and use a full pad to see if that helped. Shims, IMO, press harder on the skin and create pressure points. Better to not have to worry about pressure points. And 1/2 pads leave a large gap between the pad and the tight part of the girth. Try riding in just a plan flat pad for a week to see if that is nicer for him.
I got an Equilibrium Massage Pad for my fellow, after trying all the techniques listed above. It seems to really help. http://horse-journal.com/article/we-recommend-these-massage-products-6509
