Fairfax girth is this right?

I'm not a Fairfax user, but I don't understand how the girth on a monoflap saddle, where the girth straps are inside the flap, can impact on the bearing surface of the saddle?

I use monoflap saddles and I like the girth to almost meet the bottom of the flap, so there isn't a pinch of skin between the girth straps and the buckles can't possibly touch the elbow.
 
You buy the girth to be as long as possible I think they seem to be small in use so our horses who are 28 inches have thirties.
Of course you don't want the girth buckles in way when you use your leg but the testing on the girths the longer you have your short girths the better it was.
 
I'm trying (and failing) to load a photo.

My horse is tiny and has a 22" fairfax..
There is about 1-2cm gap between the saddle and girth when done up.
If anything stretches then it will be too big.

I was always led to believe with monoflaps the girth should merely sit under the horse (like a dressage girth)

Am I wrong?
 
Well I wouldn't say that you are wrong, because it's normal. But I've never liked seeing two girth straps below the flap because of the potential there is for them to pinch the horse. I've also seen a lot of horses knocking their elbows on the buckles.

I'm interested that Goldenstar says Fairfax testing was done on a longer girth. I wonder just how much of the improvement they recorded was due to a longer girth, as opposed to a Fairfax girth.
 
Even with a dressage saddle I like the girth as long as possible. Buckles above the elbow line and as little girth strap as possible.
 
ycbm said:
Well I wouldn't say that you are wrong, because it's normal. But I've never liked seeing two girth straps below the flap because of the potential there is for them to pinch the horse. I've also seen a lot of horses knocking their elbows on the buckles.

I'm interested that Goldenstar says Fairfax testing was done on a longer girth. I wonder just how much of the improvement they recorded was due to a longer girth, as opposed to a Fairfax girth.
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No you misunderstand me what I was trying to say is they found the further up the horses sides the short (dressage )girth buckles sat the more acceptable the horses found the pressure .
 
I don't know if this helps, but my girth and saddle were fitted by a master saddler, so assume this is correct (seems it to me). There is more than a couple of cm between girth and saddle, but girth is long enough that my saddle cloth tucks under it, so the straps do not touch the horse at all. I have had no rubbing etc, and she seems comfortable.

12375049_632184863587211_7401174331439231878_o.jpg
 
Goldenstar said:
No you misunderstand me what I was trying to say is they found the further up the horses sides the short (dressage )girth buckles sat the more acceptable the horses found the pressure .
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That's what I understood you to say, unless I've misunderstood you again. I can't see how they can tell whether that was because the buckles were on a different pressure point or whether it was because their skin wasn't being pinched between two girth straps, or both.

Either way, it still makes me wonder whether they tested the Fairfax girth against a girth with the buckles in the same place, or only against where dressage riders normally put the buckles. The Fairfax costs an awful lot of money if it only achieves its good effects because it's fitted longer.

I'm going to go and look up the testing now.
 
nikicb said:
I don't know if this helps, but my girth and saddle were fitted by a master saddler, so assume this is correct (seems it to me). There is more than a couple of cm between girth and saddle, but girth is long enough that my saddle cloth tucks under it, so the straps do not touch the horse at all. I have had no rubbing etc, and she seems comfortable.

12375049_632184863587211_7401174331439231878_o.jpg
Click to expand...

Photos are easy to misinterpret, so forgive me if I am about to. It looks to me in your photo that if your mare produces some slightly more extravagant paces, the point of her elbow will hit the buckle?

I've seen a master saddle fitter fit a curved girth back to front!
 
ycbm said:
Photos are easy to misinterpret, so forgive me if I am about to. It looks to me in your photo that if your mare produces some slightly more extravagant paces, the point of her elbow will hit the buckle?

I've seen a master saddle fitter fit a curved girth back to front!
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Does this look better, see I even put my lower leg in the wrong place to help the picture? I am happy to be corrected. Yes I know being a master saddler isn't necessarily the be all and end all. ;)

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I fit my short girths (Fairfax and Amerigo Protector) so that the buckles are well above the elbows (higher up than in nikicb's photo). I like then to be at least an inch above the bottom of the saddle cloth so that there is no chance of pinching.
 
I've checked up the testing and there are a number of problems with it from a scientist's point of view.

It was done on a very small sample of horses.

It was tested against the horse's normal girth and no other girth. We don't therefore know if the horse is just liking the change to a properly curved girth (as opposed to most 'curved' and 'anatomic' girths which are basically straight with a kink in them). Or even if the horse would have been temporarily freer with ANY significant change of feel in the girth.

It was tested after the horses own girth was tested, therefore always further into the training session.

I'm an absolute devotee of properly curved girths, and use nothing else since I discovered them, but nothing in their claims would make me pay out for a Fairfax over a Marlowe anatomic girth from eBay. But I've always been a cheapskate :D
 
As long as possible is always the best way with a dressage girth, the muscles lower down are more sensitive and in most cases going longer takes the buckles away from the elbow. Wider on the sternum is always a good idea but it still has to be well shaped for elbows etc. I personally find that curved girths aren't needed to keep saddles back but if your horse is more comfy in one go for it, the Fairfax is horribly expensive though and certainly doesn't work for all horses.

Close contact is about keeping the panel slimline so you don't sit up above the horse, monoflap means that you have less under your leg too, though it can be too "sensitive" for some horses and some riders. I predict that we'll move back to two flaps being the norm and monoflaps being a little rarer, they're very fashionable right now but don't suit all.
 
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