Oh no, I would cancel that ASAP. That’s a marketing gimmick that has been known to cause serious back issue in horses. Not to mention the creator owner of the girth is unhinged. Seriously, don’t put that on your horse.
Second the Mattes girths, they make different shapes dependant on your horses shape. Also TSF girths can work wonders.
Link? When I google I find positive reviews (some appear to be paid but still lots of positive reviews).
Link for which?
Mattes girths
As for the other girth, lots of testimony from friends who bought and tried. All who ended up with back issues.
I’m sorry. I am still getting used to the new format of the board. Where can I find the derrogatory reviews/information about the tapestry girths?
Eh, that type of girth, with the elastic on the sides and not on the ends, even down to the way they cross the straps, has been around forever. I used to have one, I have no idea what happened to it. I don’t think that it’s something you should nix without trying, give it a whirl, every horse is different.
This is first hand damage I have seen myself.
Why risk it on an already cold backed horse? This wasn’t a one off, it was multiple people.
Weird thought but have front feet been imaged?
Were any of those horses OPs horse?
Then it’s worth a try.
Once mounted, how long does the horse walk before being asked to trot? Are there any suppling excercises done at the walk? A little light/easy lateral work might also help limber up the back.
I usually try to walk for at least 10 minutes after I climb on. And this is after pre-mounting lunging. I always try to incorporate some sort of bending (cloverleafs, shoulder in, turn on the haunches, leg yield, etc) as part of my walking warm-up.
Ridiculous thought process. So you don’t listen to advice or take recommendations until you’ve done it to your own horse first?
Trying to help OP not sure why you’re fighting that.
OK, I hate to be that person, and I swear I read your post and all subsequent posts, but what you describe sounds very much like hind-gut ulcers. I’m not sure what your ulcer treatment entailed, but if it was just Gastro, you’re not going to heal hind-gut issues, so it could be worth trying Succeed or something along those lines.
I didn’t say (I meant to). She was treated with both omperazole and sucralfate
Everything else has pretty much been what I would say, especially the heating pad (I know someone that used one to great success). My only addition, and sorry if you did it or it was already said and I missed it, is repro stuff. Have the vets checked her ovaries or anything like that? I’ve noticed that, like human doctors, vets often seem to forget about that with mares.
I find some horses respond better to different meds. Ranitidine works WAY better for my mare than Omeprazole (cue tears here, I hope it becomes available again by the time my stores run out 
)
I had a dressage trainer who spent multiple lessons insisting my saddle was too far forward. I’d get off, she’d put it where she wanted it, I’d get back on, and mare would NOT have it. She’d balk, tail swish, just be generally pissy. After a few laps at the walk or trot she’d chill out - because the saddle had slipped forward to where I had originally put it, where it was comfortable for her.
Possibly the saddle is being placed too far forward or back, and eventually settles to where the mare is happy?
The sticky/sluggish initial trot followed by a willing partner sounds very much like my PSSM horse before I changed his diet.
The girthy behaviour and initial grumpy under saddle sounds like my other horse. He must be kept warmer than any other horse I’ve had. Not 450+gm at 0C warmer, but he wears a full neck and his increases in insulation occur about 5 degrees higher. My rainsheet required point is 10C with rain. His rainsheet point is 15C with rain (without the neck, which gets added at the 10C + rain point). The neck makes a huge difference to his comfort. I can tell at 2pm if he wasn’t warm enough the night before and I’ve learned to warm him up on the longe first on those days. He’s a total sweetheart when he’s warm enough and a pill when he’s not. By his standards. All the methods I know to check if a horse is cold say he’s not - I think the muscle effort involved in keeping him warm makes his muscles uncomfortable in some way.
His girthy issues were greatly reduced with a Total Saddle Fit leather girth, and almost completely eliminated when I got him a TSF StretchTec. He has a very short back, well sprung ribs, a very forward girth groove, and a hair trigger ejector button. I ride him with a quarter sheet all winter (which is below freezing for months).
Friend of has a lovely young horse with almost exactly this scenario. Took a muscle biopsy to confirm an unusual condition related to Vitamin E deficiency. Repleted and behavior melted away.
Definitely try natural Vit E. Santa Cruz makes a natural Vit E pellet that’s 4000 iu per scoop. Also the original BOT saddle pads and a mesh sheet while grooming.
Have you had her reproductive track checked for cysts ect? Mare parts cleaned?
How is she with her hind feet for the farrier?
How is her canter? Same both directions? Lead changes?
It could be that previously someone was too rigorous with saddling (cranked as girthed up) and heaved themselves aboard. Possible? Horses don’t forget discomfort.
Obviously it is good to check the physical stuff, although it sounds like you are on top of this. On the other hand, horses can get cold-backed in the winter and it’s really just that and nothing else. Warming up the muscles properly and well can sometimes take longer than we might think.
A friend’s winter-time tight-backed mare always benefited from her Back on Track quarter sheet thing; she had a long one and a shorter one and used them as the saddle pad itself. There was a marked difference for her if she just used a regular pad. My friend also sometimes just got on and did stretchy trot from the get go. This seemed to unstick the back and once the mare had snorted a few times, she went back to walk and started her ride from there.
My old man, before I retired him, started his rides with his nose on the ground. Bigger and bigger steps, long and low, until he was swinging and very free in his back. He was off the track and nearly always needed a huge amount of this type of stretching before we could ask him for even mild lateral or any collected work. Sometimes he just needed a few laps of canter before anything else, but that’s an OTTB thing, I think!
Even my jumper, who is a stereotypical WB and has about as much sensitivity in him as a grapefruit, can get cold-backed in the winter. While I’m grooming I throw his BoT sheet on, give him a fat flake of alfalfa to munch on, and I use a square pad lined with sheepskin as my saddle pad all winter. He dislikes quarter sheets, but when it’s really cold I use one and this seems to help.
Type 2 PSSM or MFM could be a thing with that breeding. But considering she is best if she can just start off with a couple of canter laps, to me that says 100% a back issue. Back pain could of course be related to GI pain and repro pain, but since she seems to get over it so fast, it sounds more like back as a primary issue. They don’t always palpate sore. But you may want to run your hands over her at different times and see if there are any patterns. Before riding, after riding, after turnout, when it’s cold, note where she is in her cycle.
I do like the BoT back pad and will put it on before grooming. Last winter my new horse was also just a bit spazzy and hollow when you’d first get on (his version of cold backed), and I found if i blanketed him heavier than I thought he really needed overnight he was much better for a ride the next morning. In CO he wouldn’t get sweaty, but of course watch out for that if you experiment with mire blanketing.
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