I’m riding my OTTB fairly consistently now, and fairly consistently he is snarky when he is girthed.
Backstory - I know most of his on-track history, and he was not to my knowledge a difficult horse to saddle; didn’t need to be saddled on the walk or with a pony.
I’ve had him for two years now…last year he had some episodes of rearing once he was saddled, including one overreaction at a show that ended up with him going over backwards (he was cranked right up from the different setting). Hasn’t offered to rear lately, though he does try to bite half-heartedly and / or toss his head. My pattern with saddling is to snug it gently, put his boots on, snug a bit more, bridle, etc. If I walk him around a bit, chances are I can snug it firmly and he doesn’t even blink.
He’s been treated by the chiro, who found nothing exceptional wrong - he felt that his back is fine.
I am considering ulcers as another thing to explore, though he is pretty darn mellow, shinyfatdappled (he has been mistaken for a QH), and a good doer with his feed - never misses an oat, to use an old expression. Is not reactive to leg cues - responsive, but no crankiness or ear pinning even with a firm leg applied. I don’t ride in spurs as he doesn’t need them.
The girth I’m using is a soft Classic Equine neoprene cinch - wide at the middle, tapering at the latigoes. It is very cushiony, kept spotlessly clean.
Any recommendations about other options - felt, string/mohair, fleece?
Thanks in advance,
D.
I would go back a bit further than you are with tacking.
What you are doing is giving time for him to warm up to the saddle and girth.
So catch with halter and only brush saddle and girth. Put on saddle blanket and saddle. Put the girth down several holes on the offside and do the girth up loosely.
Now continue to groom the horse, remove mud, pick out hooves, put on boots, brush mane, etc. Bridle. Put the girth up a hole on both side every now and then.
By the time you walk to the mounting block the girth is tight enough for you to mount. Noone around you has noticed you doing anything different to them and you have been just as quick as them - if not quicker.
Do you tie him up? I’d tack him and tie him up for a half hour, then ride, then tie again for at least 20 minutes with tack still on, if it is not too hot out. You also said he was “cranked right up” at the show where he reared. Maybe work on his manners? Just because he is away from home does not mean he can do whatever he wants.
Tying up a horse is a very nonstressful way to give them a “job.” It increases the time when they are not free to move around at will, but it does not increase their fitness or wear on their bodies like lunging would. Most of the time they learn to just cock a leg and go to sleep. It kind of increases their tolerance for situations.
Girthy + OTTB would be an automatic ulcer treatment from me.
If that doesn’t make a difference, then I’d be exploring other options (saddle fit, behavioural issues, etc).
Besides treating for ulcers, with the good stuff not the often ineffective cheaper options, use the protocol for a “cold backed” horse.
Avoid the pull out of stall, slap saddle on and hop on impression we often give to horses without meaning to. Maybe we are in a hurry, anxious to ride or nervous before a lesson or show, whatever. SLOW DOWN everything in the groom and tack up routine.
I’ve had several that benefitted greatly from a leisurely grooming session, gentle saddle placement with loose girth, more leisurely grooming and just standing for awhile in the saddle. Then you slightly tighten the girth, stand some more, rinse, repeat.
If you really want to get him to relax? Stop there. Reverse the process and put him up for the day.
Next day, repeat the groom/tack up but take him to the round pen and lunge in the tack. Then put him up for the day, they can get to dread the rider getting on and you need to disassociate the saddle from you getting on.
Third day do the same things and just get on after you lunge. Don’t school hard or anything. Just build on that and ride more each day. Get him to not dread the process. Have to remember that with race horses it’s 100% work that must be done on a tight schedule , that saddle goes on, get ready to go. But that can be trained out with time and patience one your part plus understanding how he sees things.
This really, really works with them but most don’t have the time to devote to it. Uf OP dies nit, sending the hirse out to a “cowboy/NH” tyoe trainer would be a good choice, this is the kind of stuff they do and they have all the time in the world.
Great that your chiro thinks he’s fine, are they required to pass certain courses and be certified by your state? Is your vet familiar with Kissing Spines? That will make them girthy as well as behave erratically, even rear. Would look into that.
I agree with findeight. I have a sensitive guy and reeeally taking time with him is paying off (he came back from a month at a trainer’s girthy last year). I also use treats occasionally (I don’t mind using treats occasionally) to change his perception of being girthed. Both of those things, taking time and occasional treats, have changed him immensely.
He also gets fairly regular chiro so I’m pretty confident about pain.
I have a gelding that could be down right dangerous to saddle…was always snugged up in at least a dozen small increments, tried many different saddle and pad combos, did chiro/muscle work, treated for ulcers, etc with no difference. Nothing could be found in his back, had various amounts of time off…we thought we had tried everything…but forgot to change one thing…had always used a neoprene girth…after an off handed remark during a body work session we tried a fleece lined roper string girth and he has been a 100% different horse since. Best we can figure the neoprene was too grippy and causing him pain or discomfort.
Thanks for the input, folks - going to try different combinations of what you’ve suggested 
Just to add in a bit more info - yes, his chiro is a human Doctor of Chiropractic who is also certified for equine chiro as well 
Oddly enough, once he’s got it reasonably snug he doesn’t often object to have it “working tight” - meaning where the saddle won’t slip during an active ride. I wonder if some of it is anticipation of past “this is going to hurt” rather than real pain now - but am going to explore the options you’ve suggested. Thanks!
My mare did this when her saddle didn’t fit correctly. She was never sore either. When I got a saddle she liked she stopped being girthy. Part of the problem I was having was due to pulling it too snugly to keep the saddle from slipping. My new saddle can be less snug and she doesn’t anticipate pain now.
How tight are you pulling it when it is all done? That makes a difference too.
Where the girth sits on the horse’s body matters a lot.
www.equipedic.com/Measure_Cinches_Girths.htm
www.artcords.com/public/110823Cinch_Fit.pdf
these explain proper cinch length and width.
I will say that quick cinching will make nearly any horse grumpy. It sounds like you’re doing a good job of taking your time. My horse definitely gets angry if I just crank it right from the get-go. He’s a professional puffer-fish too. I do it loosely in the cross ties, then again after I walk into the arena, then I’ll lead him another lap or so and tighten it again. I always check it one more time after I lunge him before I get on. If your horse is ok after he walks out a bit to tighten it and he isn’t showing any other signs of ulcers/pain, I wouldn’t be too concerned.
As a saddle fitter, I often see this kind of behavior. Then I fix the saddle, and it goes away!
My horse Petey is girthy. He is now 12 years old and I live by his rules when saddling.
- Petey HATES neoprene. Rubber shall never touch his body. He is OK with fleece or leather, but neoprine? never.
- Petey used to hate elastic on the ends of the girth. So I cut a tube sock in half and put it over the elastic ends. It made a big difference.
- I get the girth comfortably tight (alternately raising left right sides of the girth). Then I jog him 20 steps. Then raise the girth another 2 holes. Jog him again. Raise it to final tightness and get on and walk away immediately.
He will still squeal and hump his back, but the dangerous part of girthing him is over.
Those are his rules and I live by them. If he is in work every day, then I can eliminate the jogging. But as soon as he has 3 - 4 days off, we are back to doing the whole procedure.
[QUOTE=sahqueen;8226858]
I have a gelding that could be down right dangerous to saddle…was always snugged up in at least a dozen small increments, tried many different saddle and pad combos, did chiro/muscle work, treated for ulcers, etc with no difference. Nothing could be found in his back, had various amounts of time off…we thought we had tried everything…but forgot to change one thing…had always used a neoprene girth…after an off handed remark during a body work session we tried a fleece lined roper string girth and he has been a 100% different horse since. Best we can figure the neoprene was too grippy and causing him pain or discomfort.[/QUOTE]
My mare started snapping while cinching. Culprit was the new neoprene girth. I switched to a mohair string cinch and problem solved. Some horses just can’t tolerate neoprene.
Ask you chiropractor to check his ribs! Ribs can be “out” and are painful if they are. I had a horse come to me for training who would buckle his front legs and drop to the floor when led forward after being saddled. Once his ribs were adjusted, the behavior stopped for good.
Also, are you sure your saddle fits him well.
IMHO any horse who is cranky when saddled is uncomfortable and is trying to tell you so.
Ditto on the neoprene. It also gets very hot!
I have a “cold backed horse” and I saddle with the girth loose. I walk down to the ring, and tighten a little, I lunge at a walk and his slow trot and tighten again and then canter ( I don’t lunge to make them run around, just a slow warm up for a minute or so) That usually takes care of it. It has never gone away but is 100 % managed this way.
I broke my filly and she was very girthy in the beginning. She had a bad start in life so I assumed she had ulcers. The girthy behavior eventually went away for good. I just took it slow with her and also lunged her for a min. or so with the saddle before I got on. LIke I said - it went away for good.
I brought the pony back into work a couple of years ago specifically trying to get him to be less cinchy. He would reach around and bite you if you touched him in the girth area as a matter of course. I did give him a course of the over the counter ulcer guard, but mostly it was as mentioned in many posts above.
Saddle went on, cinch loose, he was walked around the arena with saddle on only or lunged or ground driven, gradually cinch tightened over time, this took several days. I began to ride him, saddle went on, cinch loose, he was walked, cinch tightened, walked again, cinch tightened, ridden with a fairly loose cinch AND at the time he was losing weight.
For him, he has a fat pad that the cinch ring sits right on top of and when he is overweight, a lot of the time, I think it bruises there, so taking my time lets it not bruise and be sore. And I think that he’s afraid it’s going to hurt, too, so there are a lot of factors playing into that.
He’d probably be a lot more comfortable in an English girth with no pinching rings, or I could try a shorter cinch, but he doesn’t have a lot of ribcage to play with due to his size. We used a basic old style string cinch.
So he is not a horse that I would consider just taking out of a field and out for a trail ride without a lot of negative consequences, he needs to be in work all the time, conditioned, have “all his calluses” and then he’s a pretty fun horse to ride.
ETA I looked up some modern Western cinches and there are some fleece ones that might suit his issue nicely, if I could fit him properly, on Schneider’s website, so since I like the fleece for English, never had a problem with it, that might be a way to go.
www.ridingwarehouse.com/Straps_Leather_Goods/catpage-ENDSTRAPS.html
Scroll down to just before the latigos, there are 2 styles of converters that make it possible to use an english girth with a western saddle. Somewhere I have seen a pad that wraps around the ring on a western cinch to cushion it, I think Cashel makes it.
PS… Riding Warehouse has a big sale this weekend.
