Elastic Girth

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I've been looking at girths because, well does anyone really need a reason to look at such things? I noticed an increasing amount of 'humane elastic girths'. Does anyone have experience with them? I was looking up a brand that has the elastic in the middle of the girth and they were talking about how the elastic keeps the saddle from never moving even when you mount (OK I know this sounds like an ad but bear with me);

I'm dubious that it would actually work, does anyone have experience with elastic girths? Do they make a difference? I would be worried that the elastic would stretch out or fray and breakdown faster than other kinds of girths. Are they secure?

I've never experienced them going through riding schools when i was younger, so I'm not too confident that they will last the test of time.
 
If you get one make sure it's on both ends. I have got a lot of them and he elastic is no problem other than you mustn't over tighten it. I have some shires fleece lined ones. Really handy. Saddler recommended elasticated girths for keeping the saddle in place on my natives. It does.
 
I'm personally not a fan - have yet to find an elastic girth that actually holds the saddle still (they have, in my experience, a tendency to give at inopportune moments) on my very barrel-shaped Highland. That said, I do know several people who are great advocates of elasticated girths; so I suspect it depends rather on what suits you and your horse.
 
I've got one. It's elasticated at only one side. It works well. I've had it for five years. It wasn't expensive. It's not showing any signs of disrepair just looking a bit old.
 
thank you for the advice! I'll keep an eye on them and give them a go :)

How do you know if you've overtightened it? That was a concern because with the non elastic ones it's quite easy, no fingers in and can't go up any more? maybe take it down a hole. But the elastic is quite stretchy so is it any trickier to tell if you've been too tight?
 
I recommend double ended or centre elastic girths as a rule and I fit wide and round horses as a speciality. They give when the horse moves which helps a well fitting saddle find its place, it can even make a difference mounting from the ground - a customer had her saddle spin round once when mounting from the ground with a single ended elasticated girth, but it's never happened with double ended and this is a very flat backed XXXW Welsh D.

You should never simply see if you CAN tighten a girth, always fel it before and after. You can replicate everything standing on the ground - tighten the girth until it's firm over the sternum, you don't want it cutting the horse in half. Then feel the girth at the side. Once you are on you will need to tighten a hole or two but you want the same feel in the girth. Check before and after tightening, every time. It is simple user error to overtighten girths. I see too many non-elasticated girths tightened to the point of asphyxiation (sp?) as people simple shove their leg forward and haul on the girth to tighten it. And you really want to be around hole 3 - a girth is much more effective if the buckles are at or below the widest point of the horse.
 
sbloom said:
You should never simply see if you CAN tighten a girth, always fel it before and after. You can replicate everything standing on the ground - tighten the girth until it's firm over the sternum, you don't want it cutting the horse in half. Then feel the girth at the side. Once you are on you will need to tighten a hole or two but you want the same feel in the girth. Check before and after tightening, every time. It is simple user error to overtighten girths. I see too many non-elasticated girths tightened to the point of asphyxiation (sp?) as people simple shove their leg forward and haul on the girth to tighten it. And you really want to be around hole 3 - a girth is much more effective if the buckles are at or below the widest point of the horse.
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Aware this is a old post, but been reading about girths. My mare has 2 AH Saddles (fitted by Andera Hicks) she is a 2x Wide and 'barrel' shaped. Her long girth is a Shires faux sheepskin girth with elastic both sides, her dressage girth is a non elastic sheepskin Christ Fammfelle. She is extremely sensitive over the girth area, not when girthing up but in general to touch her muscles are tight. No back soreness, saddles recently checked.

Embarrassingly I do get on, shove my leg forward and just pull the girth up without thinking. Problem is the saddles slip so easily if it isn't tight.. how tight is tight enough? I'm assuming the soreness is due to me over tightening, it goes if she has a few days off 'ridden' work the soreness massively improves. Seems worse after using the non elastic dressage girth. Bad owner.
 
Feel the girth when you're on the ground, tighten it and feel right around her whole ribcage, then try and feel the very top under the buckles mimicking how you'd check it from on board. It should become easier to work out how tight it should be when you ALWAYS check it before tightening. If you're going beyond that point to keep stability you need a saddle check, and if it's rolling to one side you absolutely must look at why - horse and rider, not just saddle. And yes, IMO non-elasticated girths (with the likely exception of the Stubben cord girth, maybe there are others) cause more harm as they're still overtightened. Do check the buckle location and any potential pinch points (such as the back edge on a Prolite) before assuming. Where does she get sore?

Do beware stretchy elastic, it needs to be strong enough to need a lot of effort to stretch it. If too soft then you're going to be tightening it beyond the "range" of the elastic, and it's not effectively non-elasticated.
 
sbloom said:
Do beware stretchy elastic, it needs to be strong enough to need a lot of effort to stretch it. If too soft then you're going to be tightening it beyond the "range" of the elastic, and it's not effectively non-elasticated.
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I had a Shires double elastic and I felt that the elastic had too much give - it was particularly noticeable when my horse was rounder in Summer and I felt I had to over tighten it. It was a shame as the shape really suited
 
mini-eventer said:
I had a Shires double elastic and I felt that the elastic had too much give - it was particularly noticeable when my horse was rounder in Summer and I felt I had to over tighten it. It was a shame as the shape really suited
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Exactly, the the Professional Choice one can be similar (though I think they've improved recently) and IMO stays in place because it's grippy rather than because of the overall designs and the pressure/tension thereof.
 
sbloom said:
o check the buckle location and any potential pinch points (such as the back edge on a Prolite) before assuming. Where does she get sore?

Do beware stretchy elastic, it needs to be strong enough to need a lot of effort to stretch it. If too soft then you're going to be tightening it beyond the "range" of the elastic, and it's not effectively non-elasticated.
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Thanks sbloom. She gets sore where the girth sits basically.. both sides, sternum, between her front legs. She also moves much more forward and freely on the lunge.

The Shires Faux sheepskin has very loose, stretchy elastic as I looked last night. :( Is there a girth you recommend? I moved to sheepskin/Faux sheepskin girths because I thought she was sensitive due to that but maybe its the fact I always over tighten it, she has a proper sheepskin half pad. The non elastic sheepskin Christ Fammfelle girth she reacts to sometimes even when tacking up, assumed that was because there is no give but it looks the best 'fit'

I've bought 6 girths in the last year. I saw there is a offer on Sharf Freedom girth at the moment.
 
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