Advice Needed - Horse Sensitive When Having Girth Done Up

tonitot

tonitot

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Hi all,

My horse is quite sensitive when I'm doing up her girth. I do it slowly, one hole at a time over about 10 minutes and stretch out her front legs to make sure it doesn't pinch. Despite this she still gets upset and will swing her head round at me and occasionally tries to bite me, although this isn't always the case. Some days she'll be fine with it being done up, others she gets very aggitated.
She did gets girth galls about a year and a half ago due to the girth being done up too tight and the person riding her using girth sleeves that were wet as they had been used on other horses they had exercised (this is what I was told caused it anywayhe'She has had a long time off since then but could that be the reason? Is it something to ask a vet about? She's not bothered about her girth area being touched or brushed.
Any help will be appreciated :)
 
I've found that if you put the saddle on with no girth, then give good firm pats all round the girth area before doing the girth up it can take away some of the sensitivity.

Do check your saddle is correctly fitted though and that you've not altered the fit but shoving a thick numnah under it when it was fitted with a thin one or other such basic errors.
 
Thanks Jemima, I'll try that one tomorrow. I doubt it would be the saddle, I ride her in a racing saddle as currently can't afford to pay out for saddle so just use my saddle from work. She also does it when having her roller done up.
 
My TB does it to, lot;s of tail swishing and kicking, but i don't really know why. I've never over tightened it and like you stretch his legs out etc, previous to me he raced so i wander whether it's come from his racing days.
 
Check out the area behind her shoulders, and her withers, where the roller and the tree of the saddle go. A racing exercise saddle can cause some serious problems as they are not fitted to individual horses. And the roller will pull tight into the same area.
 
If she has suffered previous girth galls, it could be a memory pain, as in she remembers how much it hurt last time. What sort of girth do you use? Do you use a girth sleeve?
I think Prolite do a girth or a girth sleeve that is the same as their pads.
the horse I ride hates her girth being done up and often goes for a nibble. I just ignore her, but the problem is as she is not mine, there is not much I can do, other than do it up gradually and never yank it up.
 
Okay thanks, she never raced but was in training for a short time. I'm planning on getting someone out to check her back for other reasons so maybe if they find something then perhaps it could solve this problem.
 
I might be making this up, but I think I remember reading something about ulcers being able to cause this kind of reaction?:confused:

Just thinking, if your girl was a racer or in training, ulcers are not outside of the bounds of possibility.

Like I said, might be making that up though, I just seem to recall reading it somewhere:o
 
Lippy - i don't know which girth it is I use, it's the one on my racing exercise saddle, I do use a girth sleeve but admittedly it's not very good, it's quite thin.
It could well be memory pain, the galls were huge and very sore when she had them, pretty much jumped in the air when even lightly touched. She isn't fussed when the girth area is touched by hand or brushed, it's just when having the girth done up.
 
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