Fairfax girth cheap test

cptrayes

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I have seen several threads with people wanting to know if Fairfax girths work before they spend all that money on them. I have just bought my new cob one of these for twenty five quid including postage.

It is genuinely curved, double padded on the middle part, beautifully soft. If a horse does not go better in this girth, then I would think it very unlikely that it would go better in a Fairfax, (because they say the benefits come from the softness and the curved shape) and it would be a cheap way to find out.

I'm so pleased with it I'll be postponing buying the leather that one I was going to get as soon as he finished this spring growth phase.

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/251411559471?nav=SEARCH&sbk=1
 
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A Fairfax is a very different shape to that girth .

Well that does depend which one you are comparing it with, I agree. Fairfax seem to claim, though, that the major of the benefit comes from the clearance at the elbow and the softness at the elbow, and this girth has both.

I find all my horses are happier in curved girths, though I do notice that the Fairfax doesn't now look as curved to me as the original ones, if you look at how the buckles point. I wonder if they have changed then as they added to the range.
 
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There are two types regular and one designed for horses who are narrow .between the forelegs .
Tatts is narrow he did not go an inch in J's regular one he hated it .
 
A Fairfax is a rip off.

I have some sympathy with this point of view :)

I would like to know what girths they tested it against to get the improvement they claim in the horses' performances.

I don't think I'm ever going to be competing in a way that a girth that expensive would make the slightest difference to my scores :D
 
They have a lot of research showing where and when extra pressure is applied to the horse by the girth .
And where in the horse gait the maximum pressure occurs ,my saddler went down to them for a day to see what all the fuss was about she a sceptical cany scot and came back very impressed by want she had seen.
She is of the view a better understanding of girthing will be the next big jump forward in tack design and lots of innovations in this area will appear over the next few years .
 
Hey cptrayes, this is one of the many I tried with my boy. It was a great shape, very soft, but when we worked hard the ends moved and came out of line with the girth, and then were not comfortable.

It went on ebay secondhand like my Frank Bains sheepskin lined, my Stubben string, my Barrie Swain soft as butter shaped, my sheepskin sleeve.......

In the end it would just have been cheaper to buy the Fairfax in the first place!!!

Crisritch, this is what I thought too, it was when I saw on HHO forum someone saying that it stopped the little callous on their horse that I took the plunge. I don't know that it has changed the Jaystar into a sudden champ, but I have dispensed with the dead sheep, he now has unbroken skin and is going very well.
 
I bought a much cheaper Fairfax copy off eBay for one of my horses - no noticeable difference. Bought a Fairfax regular dressage girth which I am using on three of my horses and there is a definite improvement. So much so that I am going to buy another. Other horse is in the more expensive Amerigo Protector which he is fab in (it is too short for the other three).
 
Eggs I am buying more too I am selling a couple of saddles and will use that to fund them.

Funny you should say that. I'm going to be putting my Albion Sl dressage, Barrie Swain semiflex dressage, ideal Jessica dressage and Amerigo Vega dressage up for sale soon. I've also been converted to Equipe Emporio saddles!
 
If you lay a Fairfax girth on a flat surface you will see that it is doesn't lie flat, so it is curved across two "planes" (if you get my drift). I had an anatomical Prestige girth that I thought was great and swore I would never spend over £200 on a girth - then I tried a narrow gauge Fairfax and the rest as they say is history :/.
 
Hey cptrayes, this is one of the many I tried with my boy. It was a great shape, very soft, but when we worked hard the ends moved and came out of line with the girth, and then were not comfortable.

It went on ebay secondhand like my Frank Bains sheepskin lined, my Stubben string, my Barrie Swain soft as butter shaped, my sheepskin sleeve.......

In the end it would just have been cheaper to buy the Fairfax in the first place!!!

I noticed when I saw my friend's older one today that there has been quite a big design change recently. The ends are bigger, the whole girth is wider, and the middle is double padded with gel. I don't know how much difference that will make. Your experience is interesting, thanks..

Small my ponios also like cair girths, though they aren't stable on one of mine, and on his I have taken out the air bag and it's a great shape and works well.

I'm really convinced that most horses prefer properly curved girths.
 
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