Advice needed - dressage saddles and shoes!

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mizzbiz

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Hi all,

I've just bought a horse who came with no tack. As such I picked up a second hand dressage saddle for £40. How imperative is it that I buy a proper dressage girth to go with it? I'm only intending on using the saddle for gentle schooling and hacking whilst my finances recover from the shock and then will buy a decent one in a few months... I was thinking I could just trim the girth straps, use a leather punch to punch holes higher up and use a normal girth with it but someone up my yard said I shouldn't do this as the saddle will be uncomfortable for him? Apparently they are built in a way that needs the short girth but then someone else said it shouldn't matter. I'm really not worried about ruining the saddle as for £40 i will chuck it once i get another one but I don't want it to negatively affect him or hurt him. I haven't even tried it on him yet so can't say how it fits yet regardless of girth.

Also, I'm wondering about taking his shoes off. He's currently shod all 4s and has been for years. Where we are we won't be doing any roadwork for at least a few months especially as he is fairly green with it all and hasn't done a lot. His feet look good not at all flat like most tbs and i'm continuing his diet of happy hoof to maintain them. I want to at least try him in just fronts to see how he goes? Whats the general consensus on here re taking shoes off? I will ask farrier when he comes but just wondered what people on here think.

Thanks for reading...
 
Re the dressage saddle: what type of girth strap arrangement is it? If the straps are some sort of 'Y' girth then it's probable that it will need a short girth so that the girthing works as intended to keep the saddle balanced. If so, a good little starter girth to try is the Aerborn waffle girth which will cost you about 20 quid.
If the saddle has 'straight' straps then you can usually use either short or long girths without messing up the balance - some may even have a second set of holes and a third short strap for this very reason (I've had two saddles built like this). The choice of long or short girth in these cases is often horse dependent - whatever suits them best.
If you're not sure then ask the saddler when you get it checked/reflocked.
 
Hi many thanks for taking the time to respond.
It is a straight strap arrangement (2 straps) but for normal girth i need to punch holes further up. Your answer agrees with my thinking on it, having the girth sit further up shouldn't make a difference balance or comfort wise - I will try saddle on him tonight and punch holes according to the girth i've already got and see how it goes. Will leave trimming the length of it for now so I can always get a dressage girth if it doesn't work.
Thanks again :-)
 
wintec dressage girths are £20ish.... cover is £3 (fake sheepskin)... job done

i used that on my barnsby dressage saddle.... now have a proper girth for my youngster (leather) but stilla nice put me on :)

definately get a qualified saddler out asap tho :)
 
You will probably find the girth buckles will be uncomfortable for you.

Happy hoof is not the best feed for a barefoot horse. Plenty of threads on here about barefoot diets you can use the search facility for.
 
Just buy a dressage girth of eBay cheap, there is some on there for £11

Regarding shoes the horse may not appreciate just pulling his shoes off so you can save a few quid, maybe ask your farrier for just fronts or something
 
IMO shoes off is best. :) I do lots of roadwork too, but I do have to watch my horses diets. Despite the name, Happy hoof is not BF/unshod friendly. You need to look for unmolassed feed and put the horse on a good vit and min supplement (many people love Pro Hoof and I'm considering swapping to it myself as there are so many good reports about it).

Read some of the posts in the Vet/Hoof section of this forum as there's lots of good advice RE going BF/unshod.
 
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