dressage girths?

[jaysh]

I had to hack my horse out in her dressage saddle, it was only for a hour & half hack but she has now got a really nasty girth rub right on her elbow.
I have been using a really expensive leather padded dressage girth. its not the buckle area, its lower down, blood & hair stuck to it, poor horse must have been in so much pain.
Obviously wont ride her now until it heals but i tried the saddle on today with a much thinner dressage girth to see how that would sit with her and the cream i put on her wound touched the girth when i walked her a couple of strides. The saddle is in the correct place, it wont go back but the girth is rubbing the wound when her leg comes back.
Where exactly should the dressage girth sit? How high should the buckles be up her side?

Ive looked at some photos on google and they all vary, some sit with the buckle right at the elbow, others higher up.

Also, where do you measure dressage girths from?....i measure mine at 26" from buckle to buckle, but the padded leather comes past that, and measures at 29". I think i need to get a longer one when i do find one suitable.

 

[jenz87]

The same happened with my mare, we hack in the dressage as its our only saddle. The buckles rubbed when her leg went back, and the girth was right up on the very top hole at that time so couldnt have been any more out of the way.

I have since invested in a sheepskin girth sleeve from le mieux and a shorter girth and so far no problems!

As for the healing you will have to wait for the wounds to heal before you can really girth up unless your gp girth/ saddle combination works. We had to wait for the wounds to heal as they were quite nasty. Never again!