Does anyone have a better knowledge of this? From skimming their website (http://totalsaddlefit.com/) it seems like another type of ergonomic girth. I was interested until I scrolled down to the pictures comparing the dressage saddle on a horse, next to the blue marking tape. The before and after pictures just look like they took the too-forward saddle and slid it back? then scroll down, and you will see similar examples in drawing form. “Ouch” vs “Correct” but the drawing doesn’t even have a girth attached…again, seems like saddle placement more than girth benefits. Might be a really fantastic product, but it had me a little hesitant. Thoughts? Educate me if I’m wrong?
I’m not affiliated with the product, but I do recommend it in certain situations. If you have a horse whose shoulders interfere with saddle placement, try it. Also, if their groove for the girth seems further forward than you think your girth should be, try it. I like it on a horse with large shoulders and a prominent wither. I have noticed much more freedom of movement through the shoulder, and am easier lifting of the back.
Lastly, if you don’t like it, they will refund your money, no questions asked. They are very easy to deal with also!
Hope this helps!
I thought the same thing re: the pictures, but got one regardless due to my mare’s forward girth groove. I love it. She loves it. The bottom (against the belly) is super soft; leather on top isn’t quite as nice, but you can’t tell without putting your hands on it.
I didn’t think my saddle was moving at all with the old girths, but the girth would slip forward and irritate her. Turns out the saddle was moving after all, and I had no idea until I switched from the TSF girth back to a normal girth after forgetting TSFG at home (oops).
Also, they sent me a free hat with my awesomest girth.
I’ve responded to a couple threads about this girth. I have the girth and one of their half pads.
The girth works great on my high withered, large shouldered, draft cross that has a forward girth groove. their customer service and return policy have also been fantastic! What other product can you try for up to 30 days and return if your not happy!?
I love mine. It has worked better for my mare than any of the other anatomic girths I’ve tried… and I’ve tried many.
I have a short backed, round barreled mare and no matter how many saddle fittings and adjustments we’ve endured, it has been an ongoing struggle to keep the saddle from sliding up on her shoulders. She just plain hates the County girth. I tried the Nunn Finer piaffe girth, which is so highly recommended here, but it doesn’t sit on her quite right. There was some other “great” girth that I tried, but ended up selling to another person at my barn. In the midst of all these girth experiments, my main girth was the Barnsby anatomic girth. It’s cushy and comfy for the mare, but the saddle still slid forward. I bought my TSF last spring and it has worked better than any girth I’ve tried to date. I even did a back to back comparison with a friend’s Fairfa$$$ girth. The TSF worked better.
It hasn’t been a magic bullet. I still sometimes have to get off and move the saddle back during my ride, but the TSF has worked better than anything I’ve tried so far. You can’t beat the price and it even comes with a 30 day return policy. Woohoo! Give it a try.
The pictures look like with their girth, the saddle will sit where it is supposed to (behind the scapula so it’s not interfering). The pictures below just show where the saddle would sit if it ended up being too far forward and where it ideally should sit from an anatomical standpoint (thus their girth will keep it in place). They could have added a bit more of an explanation rather than just “Ouch” and “pain free.”
I like the design, my TB has a long shoulder and fairly high withers coupled with a forward girth groove. I’d tried various leather girths, but he was only happy with a fleece girth. However, those always seem to wear out and get ratty fairly quickly. So far he has been happy with the Shoulder Relief girth.
My only complaints are the leather quality is not as nice as I’d hoped: the soft bottom leather was very crinkly after shipping rolled up in the small box (yes, it’s very flexible and less expensive to ship) but even after working it with Stubben Hammanol and glycerine soap and using it for a couple weeks, the crinkly appearance of the leather hasn’t really relaxed. I hope it doesn’t end up cracking in the long run. I also feel like, while it is soft, there isn’t much give since the elastic is so short on the buckles. Unfortunately, I was only able to use it for about two weeks during the first month to some poorly placed insect bites, so that age into my trial month time. On the whole though, I’ve been pleased with how my horse likes it.
I have one and I’m not a big fan. The girth is extremely wide and bulky and I can feel it under my leg, which drives me crazy.
From a horse perspective, I have several County Logics and it was no different on any of my horses than my Counties…the only difference being that my Counties are slimmer and thinner and I don’t notice them at all when I’m riding.
But with all of that being said, I don’t have any horses where the saddle slips forward. All of my horses have sharkfin withers and big shoulders and so my saddles all want to go backwards (if anywhere).
I had to laugh at the "Ouch " and “Pain Free”. Someone recently sent me a link to a saddle fitting article from this guy’s website, and it was so incredibly simplistic and dumbed-down that it may as well have been written by a 13y/o on e-How.
I have the long brown shoulder relief girth and I quite like it. My horse has big shoulders, high withers, and is built downhill so inevitably the saddle would end up on his shoulders by the end of a ride. With this girth, I put the saddle where it should be and it does.not.move.
The leather on mine hasn’t crinkled at all and I really like how soft it is compared to other leather girths. It’s quite a bit less expensive than comparable anatomic girths and customer service was very helpful before I ordered mine. There is a 30-day money back guarantee, so if you’re curious there’s not much risk in trying it out 
