Does anyone elses horse hate short girths?

[LEC]

My horse hates having the girth done up on his dressage saddle. He pulls horrible faces and I keep having to inch it up slowly over a period of ten minutes in order to avoid the faces.
He never does this with his jumping saddle which is long girth and both saddles have been regularly checked and fit him well so only thing I can put it down to is the short girth. Just wondering if this is unusual or others have noticed something similar.
Once riding him you can not notice any difference.

 

[KatB]

Mine does exactly the same on the rare occasions he has had a short girth on. Someone said that its becasue with a dressaeg saddle girthing system, the saddle gets pull down on to them more, so some don't like it??!! Something along those lines anyway!

 

[Tangaroo]

My boy does exactly the same and i had been wondering why. Both his saddles fit and he wears a prolite and a numnah so nothing is pinching. Its interesting to hear that other peoples do it too.

 

[monica123]

i hate them as i cant reach them - i hate being short

 

[druid]

Short girths can cause pressure points on the girth groove - soemthign to do with the billeting system. The best way to prevent it is to make sure your "short" girth touches or comes as close as possible to the flaps on both sides..the shorter it is the more chance there is of pinching and presure points

 

[seabiscuit]

Owen does the same,as druid says try a longer girth.Its cos the stomach muscles are right where the girth ends go.

Also is your dressage girth leather or neoprene/plastic and does it have elastic?I have realised now that Owen finds a plastic girth with no elastic much more comfty than his leather girth.As he hated his long leather girth for his GP I found him a long Wintec girth which was very shaped with no elastic, and the Dee ring Human girth buckles and he absolutely loves that,neither Owen or Forrest even had a hint of pulling faces with this girth.they were the most comftable I have ever seen...I am now trying to get exactly the same design in a dressage girth format and am convinced that he wont mind it....those girths are the answer!! Its exactly the same material/style of girth that you had on R at Aldon, but without the elastic and the D ring figure of 8 Humane girth buckles(like they have on a balding girth). Owen has the humane Albion leather dressage girth at the moment and cannot stand it. Wintec is best!

 

[Thistle]

There is a nerve bundle which lies right under where the buckles lie on some short girths. Use the longest possible girth but a long enough numnah so it doesn't pinch.

 

[LEC]

It is interesting you are advocating longer as I have a long girth for the saddle - 28 inch one and was considering going shorter as I have had to put extra holes in my girth straps. He currently has a wintec ergonomic doodah girth. I am not too worried but it has put me off going single flap for jumping as I do all my hacking/hunting etc in my jumping saddle.

 

[Tangaroo]

My dressage girth is as long as it could be, reaching the flaps both sides. I am now using a sheepskin girth cover as well and that seems to help slightly.

 

[Moggy in Manolos]

Mmmm interesting, my girl doesnt appreciate her short girth either, have nothing to compare it too of recent as she always wears the treeless, i will have to see, and try invest in a slightly longer one too and see how she reacts

 

[Bert&Maud]

I have only recently bought a dressage saddle for my horse, before that I used a VSD which had a long girth. Since I had the saddle I have had a lot of problems with him (have had saddle re-checked and it fits him beautifully). Basically not wanting to bend or accept engagement. Finally diagnosed with kissing spines in thoracic spine, but as he has also been very grumpy about having his short girth done up, I have been wondering if the positioning of the girth (the front strap is attached to the head) has been making the problem worse. This is certainly a subject that needs further debate!

 

[Thistle]

my saddler has removed the point strap from both my dressage saddles and added another normal strap. Result 2 happier horses.