Do you leave your girth buckled onto your saddle?

I always take it off both sides every time as my horse breaths out when putting it on so i would have to change it from the last ride anyway
 
I cannot bear to see girths folded back over the saddle, it ruins the saddle and looks awful. They always laughed at me when I worked on a yard as I took everyones girths off, if I untacked theri horses, I wasn't quite bossy enough to do it to ones in the tack room!
 
I've got a lovely brand new saddle with a suede seat, so YES, I deffo make sure I take the girth off!

I'm a bit anal about this I have to say, I just cannot abide mucky girths just slung up over the seat of the saddle to soil the leather and make it all greasy and mucky. Yuck. Plus the fact that it marks the straps if you don't take off the girth.
 
9tails said:
I loosen the off side and undo on the near side but leave it attached. Not had an issue in years.
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This. The saddle pad flap on the far side ends up tucked under as you lift the saddle back on otherwise and you have to prat about with trying to get it straight again. I can't do the assembling saddle pad on the saddle on the horse thing though, because its a panel saddle with weird pads split in two halves which have to be on the panels before the saddle goes on the horse. I do usually put a saddle cover on and off, on the horse for the girth to go on top of.
 
teddypops said:
I'm amazed by this! I have never, or seen anyone else completely remove the girth! I always use a clean numnah though, can't stand to see dirty numnahs used repeatedly
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I used to ride 3 horses every day and had 4 mins to tack up, I always took the rug off [belly straps first]and then ran my hands over the skin to ensure there ws no problems. Both sides. Spine to underbelly.
Undo rug on LHS. go to off side remove rug, pop saddle on, check girths are straight, go to near side. tack up.
 
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Oh dear.
Girth undone both sides, hosed if necessary, and put up to dry.
Numnah never left attached to the saddle, hung to dry.
Saddle always wiped and covered.
Bit taken off the bridle to be washed.
Bridle wiped, bit re-attached, hung covered with old pillow case.

I like my tack. It cost a lot.
 
I'm lazy - I flip the girth over my saddle. It gets cleaned when it's dirty, as does my saddlecloth. I have two horses on DIY and work full time - I really don't have time to be washing my saddlecloth or girth every time that they're used. That said, I never ride them hard enough to make them sweat (unless it's pre clipping time in which case my girth ill get wiped over, saddle cloth isn't affected). I do dunk my bit in water every time I ride though. Can't remember the last time I cleaned my saddle, though it's only a synthetic inbetween one so I'm not especially precious about it.
 
NZJenny said:
Oh dear.
Girth undone both sides, hosed if necessary, and put up to dry.
Numnah never left attached to the saddle, hung to dry.
Saddle always wiped and covered.
Bit taken off the bridle to be washed.
Bridle wiped, bit re-attached, hung covered with old pillow case.

I like my tack. It cost a lot.
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Similar to you except - I don't use a numnah and I wash the bit on the bridle.
 
*sigh* I have a similar problem to you, OP. My sharer leaves the girth on, but it's such a small thing I don't want to say anything as it's not doing any harm, just not my preference!

I take girth off both sides, saddle cover on, girth on top. I change the saddle cloth every 2 or 3 rides, unless he has got sweaty then it's changed immediately.

Bridle comes off, bit dunked in water bucket or rinsed at the tap. Reins are looped through the throat-lash then noseband done up around it (buckles only, don't bother with keepers! :D ) then hung neatly by the headpiece :) if using martingale, this all gets looped through with the reins. Stops anything haging/dragging/getting caught up and hangs nice and neatly.

I don't have expensive tack (yet!) but I like to look after my equipment as best I can. Plus I like all things to be neat and tidy, so this is an extension of that.
 
Mine is always left on unless dirty :p. and even after wading through the mud yesterday (and we are quite low down :p) it was fine. Sometimes comes off for cleaning.
Numnahs come off easily enough without taking girth off when they need to - they have all velcro attachments!

When I am rushing off to work in the morning so long as both the horse and the saddle end up being put away in the right sort of place everything is good.
 
Girth, saddle cloth and stirrups removed every time . Cover put back on and Saddlecloth washed after every ride.

I never used to be like this, but spent an arm and a leg on new tack, and need it to last forever
 
I use a stock saddle, with a dressage girth, so I do take it off, I also take the saddle cloth off as well & leave it on top to dry.
The tack room is often left unlocked so I put a bike lock & chain around the saddle so it can't be removed from the saddle rack - they might not care about their stuff being nicked but I do!
I also wash the bit, I know the horse daoes care but I think it look horrible
 
I leave my girths on, but rather than throw them over the top, I thread them through my stirrup and then let the other end drop down from there. This has 2 benefits - 1: no muddy girth over top of saddle and 2: it doesn't pull the saddle flap or girth out of shape as it doesn't have to be pulled up so far.

Saddle cloths get changed when they're too sweaty /greasy on the underside. Maybe every ride in the summer , less in the winter. I don't worry if they're muddy/dirty on the outside (unless I'm going somewhere of course) as this won't affect the horse.
 
Always removed the girth and the numnah . . . didn't always wash the numnah but did leave it to air - they were washed/replaced when needed - once a week or so in the winter - more often in the summer. Also, always put a cover on the saddle, rinsed the bit and put something underneath the saddle so that the bars on the saddle rack didn't mark it. Tack was properly cleaned about once a week. But then I'm funny about all my stuff - rugs have always been regularly aired, washed, repaired and reproofed - same with bandages and gamgee. I'm the same with equipment and tools - regular maintenance and upkeep means it all lasts longer. I probably sound like a right priss . . . but it all costs money and I'd rather make it last than have to keep replacing.

P
 
HGA-12 said:
Yes most often leave buckled one side, I do and always done, also been known to tuck the girth into the stirrup on the same side it is buckled up. Done it 35+ years with no problem.
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And me. Numnah is never fastened to the saddle (doesn't slip if the saddle fits well) and gets laid across the top, underside up, to air. Riding time is too precious to spend faffing about with saddle unless necessary and I've never had any problems. Last (second hand) saddle lasted me 20 years, despite being carted to and fro the yard and is currently sitting next to me on a saddle horse for sentimental reasons - still looks good!
 
see on most of my standing racks my numnahs air just as well from the underneath as on top as there isn't anything underneath them.

I don't anticipate getting any fewer years out of my saddle for leaving my girths and numnahs on it. :p
 
I don't undo the girth but who said I put a dirty girth over the saddle? It goes underneath but if it was dirty it would be cleaned!!! As I said previously, just because you don't undo the girth, doesn't mean you don't look after your tack!!! It's just a different way to do it!
 
But my girth doesn't get dirty enough to need more than a wipe over most rides :p Our hacking is mainly on road and our arena is well draining. The ponies are fit for the work asked (only light work really, 4-5 rides a week but all pretty casual, not further than 9 miles hacking and schooling no more than 45 min) so don't sweat up.
 
I take the saddle cloth and girth off every time I ride. I also wash the bit and clean my tack after every rode too! Saddo alert!
 
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