Dont shoot me down, but...

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ILikeThemHairy

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.. Ok I have a feeling this is going to cause a few reactions as it is what I have come across so far so please dont shoot me down, but I just wondered what other people thought...

When I was younger I learnt to ride in a school that were firm believers in not over-tightening a girth. You should be able to comfortably slip two fingers in at the tightest point of the girth without too much trouble, and if you fell off from saddle slipping then you needed to work on your balance. If you are able to ride then you should be able to balance without the saddle needing to be tied to your pony...

People would often come and try to 'over-tighten' the girth, experienced riders who thought that the centre were barmy.

Now, I understand if you are competing in something like jumping or games where there may be a lot of tight turns, high speed and movement, but otherwise I just dont like to have a tight girth.

Saturday I rode my new pony (who I know really well, but just in different surroundings) and he was playing up a bit after I mounted. I was also using a new girth (a Wintec Elastic, although they dont feel very elastic to me). He was previously ridden in a girth with elastic both sides so with a lot more flexibility. Before I got on i tightened the girth to a reasonable level without feeling like I was forcing it up the straps, but it needed tightening after I mounted. He was prancing about and being a bit silly so I decided I would rather walk him on until he settled than tighten the girth and fiddle about any more. People around me looked genuinely shocked that I would dare to ride off without it being super tight.

We carried on with our ride, not really thinking about the girth. I felt as balanced as usual, we did walk / trot / canter and some riding up and down gentle slopes.

I came back to horrified exclamations of 'oh my god you can see daylight through your girth!! do it up quick!'. To which I replied 'im getting off in five minutes, its alright'. They looked disgusted and shocked that I managed a whole hours ride without the girth skin-tight.

Now, am I right in thinking that if I am balanced enough then in casual work it shouldnt be an issue, or are they right in thinking I am actually insane?

Views please! And sorry for the essay...!
 
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ive done this...show jumping rounds.....dressage tests! as long as you and the saddle stay in place whats the problem????? one of my horses - has kissing spine - wont have his girths done up tight...otherwise you get bucked off! so saddles stuck with superglue and i either stay on or slip off!
 
Old school here too. My girths are not tightened to within an inch of their lives either. I have never been one for tightening my girths except when I'm about to go into a showjumping round but then immediately I loosen it off afterwards. For regular riding, no I don't ride with a tight girth.

I have wondered if H&S has a lot to do with the change in what we used to do and what is done nowadays. IE I still ride bareback a fair bit and I rode bareback a huge amount as a kid too. There doesn't seem to be such a lot of people these days who ride bareback with regularity and there seems to be a lot of people who simply cannot balance without stirrups. I do think riding skills standards have gone downhill a bit which is sad :(
 
Mine is kinda round... Although not as round as the cob I used to ride and did the same... But again, this is hacking and light schooling and not anything particularly exciting or with lots of tight turns. We did open a lot of gates like it though (now that is when you need to balance!!!) x
 
windand rain said:
Guess it depends on how round the pony is you wouldnt get on a round pony with a loose girth you would be under its belly
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Agree; it depends on the shape of your horse more than the balance of the rider. I have one with no withers at all - if she shakes herself the saddle falls off! So she, poor lass, has to have a VERY tight girth. I have another, with prominent withers, that I have actually ridden with a broken girth before someone pointed out that the girth was trailling on the ground. Prefer to ride with a snug but not overtightened girth, but must admit that one of my (few) terrors is having the saddle slip whilst having a 'moment'. Not happened yet, but I do worry more about the consequences than the 'moment' itself....
 
I think its fine, my mare always puffs up when I'm going the girth up and I often forget to check it after I've mounted so it's quite often loose. My instructor's been able to fit both his arms in on a couple of occasions and it hasn't caused any problems!
 
I think it is very unsafe to ride with a lose girth.

Horses are flight animals by instinct and can give a start at the most normal looking things. This can be enough to throw you off balance and there goes your saddle, putting you out the side door.

Also, a lose girth will allow the saddle to slip back so it is sitting on an unsuitable part of the horse's back and may cause him discomfort.

You don't have to crank the girth up as tight as you can possibly get it, but you should have it tight enough to stabalise the saddle at least. Also, if it is so lose that there is visible daylight, how can you do any canter work or circles or jumping?

I'm sure far more knowledgable people than me will have much better logic to offer you.
 
I like a tight girth, not over done but tighter than you, OH is the same as you and I sometimes thing he leaves them a bit too loose. You are right of course, if you are balanced enough the saddle shouldn't slip, I have just never thought of it like that, I suppose what I was taught 40+ years ago has stuck. I am going to try it and test my balance, has to be more comfortable for the horse.
 
Dolcé;11314573 said:
I like a tight girth, not over done but tighter than you, OH is the same as you and I sometimes thing he leaves them a bit too loose. You are right of course, if you are balanced enough the saddle shouldn't slip, I have just never thought of it like that, I suppose what I was taught 40+ years ago has stuck. I am going to try it and test my balance, has to be more comfortable for the horse.
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The one benefit that I did notice, in 20 years of working / riding at the same centre which had probably 150 horses pass through the doors in that time and 45 horses in ridden work at any one time I didnt see one single horse who was 'girthy', not a single horse who would nip or bite you when you do up their girth. That has to say a lot! There were a few who came to the school who would be funny about it but within just a few weeks wouldn't bat an eyelid x
 
Agree totally with Spring Feather.

I was out for a hack with a neighbour who was all agitated tightening her lads girth 'til he was about cut in two...and she was fussing about mine. I was on my new horse and his saddle has been correctly fitted so his girth really just gently secures things. Perhaps if I am doing XC or SJ I will go marginally tighter but not so I bust their guts. I hate tight stuff on my middle.

I also ride bareback..it does secure your seat. Improves your balance and feel xx
 
Mine is tight when I was playing horseball... I did watch a team mate end up in "disaster zone" when her saddle slipped while her horse was being a knob (possibly as a result of picking the ball up with a loose girth, nto sure, didn't quiz her about it!). Would not like to be in that situation!

That said, you can still get a hand in it, it's just tight enough.
 
When I was younger I learnt to ride in a school that were firm believers in not over-tightening a girth. You should be able to comfortably slip two fingers in at the tightest point of the girth without too much trouble, and if you fell off from saddle slipping then you needed to work on your balance. If you are able to ride then you should be able to balance without the saddle needing to be tied to your pony...



I learned to ride at a school similar to yours. My current horse came to me very girthy and she isn't now.
 
Not shooting you down but just how do you get on then. If a small child tried to mount my round pony without the girth done up to hand tight she falls off the mounting block and the saddle goes under her belly. A very agile rider the same the girth has to be done up tightish to get on I am not saying a good rider wouldnt be able to then loosen it but no way would you mount either from a block or the floor with it loose. There is not always someone around to leg up every rider in the world
 
I don't over tighten the girth either. I get lot of grief about it too but if a saddle slips it is because I am not sitting correctly. I see lots of people off centre but completely unaware of it.
 
windand rain said:
Not shooting you down but just how do you get on then. If a small child tried to mount my round pony without the girth done up to hand tight she falls off the mounting block and the saddle goes under her belly. A very agile rider the same the girth has to be done up tightish to get on I am not saying a good rider wouldnt be able to then loosen it but no way would you mount either from a block or the floor with it loose. There is not always someone around to leg up every rider in the world
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Children are a little different, the same as beginners. I would tighten the girth more than I would for myself as you cant expect them to have the balance yet, but once someone has some experience then it just seems unfair...

As for mounting, I have always mounted from the floor (my current horse is 14.3). I dont 'pull' the saddle around to mount up, my left hand is on the horse (not the saddle) and my right hand is pressing 'down' on the cantle of the saddle, not pulling myself up using it. If I was on a larger horse I would either ask someone to hold the opposite stirrup or use a mounting block using the same technique. A post like that just infuriates me (sorry!!) to wonder if people are pulling themselves into the saddle?? that should never be the case, irrelevant of how tight the girth is, as it would only cause undue strain on the horses muscles and their back, surely??
 
Now I was always taught to tighten the girth as much as you possibly can. Half the time I forget. I have been known to fasten it on the first hole when tacking up and forget about it altogether until my instructor spies daylight through it whilst I'm flying over a jump. Our school is quite small so there's always a tight turn at the end and so far the saddle has never slipped sideways.
 
Mythical said:
Now I was always taught to tighten the girth as much as you possibly can.
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:( :( :'( poor poor ponies!! I'm not saying that this is your fault but think how you would feel with a belt tied as tight as someone could get it, and then being made to exercise with a heavy weight on your back to top it off? Just reading that makes me really really sad...

I understand that there will be others - with varying reasons - who dont believe in loose girths and like them to be snugly fitting. But 'as tight as you possibly can' is just animal cruelty to me :(
 
Sorry but the simple act of putting your foot in the stirrup is unbalancing the saddle your weight has to be in the stirrup whether you like it or not. That weight is therefore pulling the saddle over to that side unless of course you are so light you can fly. There isnt always someone to leg up or hold the other stirrup. I dont agree with over tightening the girth either and quite often loosen it once I am on but now way could I get on without the saddle ending up under the ponies belly no matter how lightly I mounted her if it wasnt done up fairly tight.
The only view I can see is when you mount the saddle does slip over and then you straighten it standing in the other stirrup once on or your horse had a backbone and wither which is holding the saddle in position so the spine takes the pressure not the saddle
 
Ok well I'm not going to argue with you Wind and Rain. If your saddle slips when you get on then you are mounting in a totally different fashion to me. I ride many different shaped horses and have done for what seems like millenia and I've never had a saddle slip on me :confused:
 
I had a lesson at a riding school and a spectator pointed out half way how loose my girth was. Oh yeah, its really loose even for me! Girth is up top hole both sides. I shrugged and carried on. Not jumping high 2'6. Two jumps on each quarter line in canter. Saddle didn't move once. I can't abide girths being tied so horse can't breathe.


IF I was agile, my saddle wouldn't slip when I get on but due to a bad hip I can't get on from ground. I always use a mounting block (or a log if I get off out hacking) and my pony can spin and take off with me half on and saddle doesn't slip. This is with me being able to get 3 hand widths in the space. Pony hates it remotely tight when I get on so I warm her up and then tighten it (still fairly loose though). We Show jump/dressage/hack/XC and saddle doesn't ever slip.

If pony is fresh, she comes out and does a funny hop going into canter = saddle going up her neck. Sit it out until she gets the tickle out from under her feet > Get off and re-adjust saddle > Get back on > warm up /walk/trot/jump and saddle doesn't move.

Does anyone have any ideas? Her back has been checked/saddle has been checked. It only happens when she's extra fresh.
 
Whenever I've warmed up/worked in for a while..I always re-loosen my girth off a hole or two, especially if I'm schooling or about to do a show class or dressage test. Always been under the belief as a pro once said you get a few inches more movement out of it, in comparison to it cranked up tight.
 
I do agree that girths shouldnt be too tight I have said that all along if you can get on your horse without pulling on its back or without help from someone you have my admiration I have seen gymnasts not able to mount my very round pony without someone holding the stirrup. But I dont want to argue either. The only comment I will make is that no one should be made to fee inadequate just because they cant ride without a girth holding the saddle onto their horse. I dont over tighten the girth and regularly loosen it when warming down the pony I dont profess to have the best balance in the world nor do I expect anyone to follow my views dogmatically unlike some posters on here I was just making my point
 
This is fine until your horse is spooked by a phesant and does a 90 degree dash round a tree, followed by the saddle falling down the side of the horse taking you with it, then the loose horse gallops onto a near by road and straight into the path of an oncoming artic.
 
orionchristmas_star said:
This is fine until your horse is spooked by a phesant and does a 90 degree dash round a tree, followed by the saddle falling down the side of the horse taking you with it, then the loose horse gallops onto a near by road and straight into the path of an oncoming artic.
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Can't speak for anyone else but my horse used to regularly spin and I've never come off yet.
She seems to have stopped this but we seemed to go through a regular phase of marching along and then spinning and dashing off towards home. She'd then stop and watch her companion horse to see what he did. The first few times he flew off after her and then he stopped reacting to her.

I've come off many times but not due to my saddle slipping.
 
just do it up so theres not daylight through it up soo that the saddke doesnt slip when u mount and if the horse spooks sideways like mine
 
On my horse with high withers I would often ride with it loose. Got told off for jumping in it too loose at one yard. One new one with big shoulders but no wither it has to be a bit tighter. Can still get my hand underneath thou.
 
orionchristmas_star said:
This is fine until your horse is spooked by a phesant and does a 90 degree dash round a tree, followed by the saddle falling down the side of the horse taking you with it, then the loose horse gallops onto a near by road and straight into the path of an oncoming artic.
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But that's no different to when you're riding bareback :confused: which I do very frequently; you either stay on or you come off. I haven't come off a horse in a great many years and don't intend to now I'm much older lol! My seat is still well balanced and tbh if you're using your stirrups as your only means of balance then you're not riding correctly. Maybe riding without stirrups would help because in the scenario you mention above I think you'd have had much more chance of staying on without stirrups there to encumber your own natural balance.
 
I'm with spring feather. I always leave my girth so I can get my hand in flat. Even hunting or jumping bigger fences, after warming up I'd tighten it only so I could still get my fingers under. Often its actually looser than fitting a hand in. Once I was having a lovely gallop out hacking with clear view, when a dog appeared from the adjacent fields hedge & gave chase. We did a very rapid transistion from gallop to canter on a sudden very small circle, my idea to slow down quickly. Saddle ended up sideways, however my initial reaction was to kick my feet free & stay on top. And nearly gave the idiot trespassing dog owner heart failure when he popped out of the hedge further up. As for kids, I'm clearly just evil as my daughter rode bareback before she earnt the right to saddle or stirrups. Her pony has no withers whatsoever, to the point that unless I spend a fortune, saddles slip forwards, so only use one for shows. So she rides in a pony pad with a girth loose enough to fit her hand in. Doesn't seem to prevent her galloping & jumping. Or doing very quick sudden turns playing gymkhana games.
 
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