Fairfax Girth Trial

[Sol]

I have a FF girth on a 7 day trial. I've ended up with a standard gauge despite Dan being super super narrow, as saddler thought that with the issue I had been having, it might actually work out ok, and would mean no waiting.
Tried it on ponio this morning, no real problems. It would be interesting to see how the narrow gauge looked on him though tbh, but I do like the width of the standard.


We then went for a hack/canter around the field nearby. I didn't fancy schooling, and we can't really use the field in the week so I have to make the most of the opportunity!
Girth didn't budge, saddle didn't budge (but then it never does, weirdly). Pony actually went for a gallop which normally he is reluctant to do. Hmm.
Only thing I did find odd was after a little while, Dan started to feel very one sided. He wasn't tired, we hadn't been lhooning around in an uncontrolled fashion, amazingly, & we were only out there for about 30-40mins total. I asked Rob to trot him up afterwards and he was sound, but appeared to be throwing his left hind out to the side a little in the air When I took the girth off, I also noticed that there were white grease marks on the left side of the girth by his elbow (on outside), but not the right.

So, not too many thoughts on the girth yet, but think my pony is quite wonky! Will keep an eye on him & see how he is.

Pics:







And... because you might all find it hilarious... I rode THIS little creature at weekend! hehe! He's a Shetland x Exmoor, and adorable. Certainly didn't have an issue carrying me

 

[Ilovefoals]

No idea about the girth or the wonkiness but I love the 3rd riding pic!

 

[Ruby2]

I've had the fairfax girth for about 4 weeks now. My horse is quite sensitive around the girth and had a couple of dry patches from some old sores. Since using the girth the dry patches have all but disappeared.

Not noticed much difference on the flat, however, since using the girth she has only touched one pole jumping and from the videos we have taken she is clearing 1m fences by a mile.

 

[ann-jen]

I've had exactly the same experience as Ruby re the skin in my mares girth area :1)

 

[Sol]

I really wish I could try jumping in it! Sadly, I have no jumps (yet!) so unless we find some odds & ends, I wont get to see how that goes :/ Shame, as he's a bloody clumsy jumper usually! Although this girth costs half of my saddle money eek.

 

[Worried1]

CP hates it so gone back to the Albion

 

[Sol]

CP hates it so gone back to the Albion

I do love the albions, they're soooo soft! So far, Dan seems to be pretty neutral towards it. It's not made any magical improvements in his way of going (schooled in it tonight), but he isn't being worse at least! And it hasn't ended up around his belly either yet, thankfully, unlike the wintec! My plan is to school in it again tomorrow, and see how he is, then possibly consider whether I want to try the narrow one instead, as it does at least sit very nicely.

 

[Stroppy Mare]

Where are you trialling them from? I'd love to have a trial to see whether they'd make any difference to my horse, she's a little, shall we say, difficult at the best of times!

 

[VRIN]

crewe saddlery do a trial offer

 

[PoppyAnderson]

crewe saddlery do a trial offer

Sooooo wish I'd done a trial. It's at least a £100 overpriced IMHO and is a case of the emperors new clothes as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Sol]

Where are you trialling them from? I'd love to have a trial to see whether they'd make any difference to my horse, she's a little, shall we say, difficult at the best of times!

I trialled mine from Crewe, they were quite helpful

Sooooo wish I'd done a trial. It's at least a £100 overpriced IMHO and is a case of the emperors new clothes as far as I'm concerned.

I do think they're overpriced, I do think that the 'testing' methods had issues, BUT I have to say I think that the shape is very good. For the price, I'd expect better leather... but what can you do? I have to agree, there isn't really another girth AS shaped (yes, there are similar shapes, but not as dramatic) so I'm not sure really. I do resent paying so much for a girth, but even the Passier I had wasn't as well shaped, it was realistically too wide for Dante across the centre, given how narrow he is, and too close to his elbows as he has lots of loose skin there :/

 

[PortwayPaddy]

I have invested in a Fairfax girth - the short eventing one with D ring and strapping. For use with with an Albion Kontact saddle.

I could feel the difference and so could my boy.

I was sceptical at first, but let my boy do the talking. It did not budge and really allowed him to move.

So as the season goes on, we shall see if it lives up to the claims.

Paddy

 

[Spookywood]

I have just received mine and it feels lovely and soft but s*ds law and the horse has come in with a bit of heat in her leg so no trying out tonight for me.

However One question for those that have bought one - did you get anything with it? Mine came stuffed in a plastic courier bag. No nice fairfax bag and no leather feed and no invoice, when one of my friends got the bag and leather balm. Both ordered from different saddlers. Was a little disappointed considering the cost!! Did anyone else get it nicely packaged with bag and balm?

 

[oldie48]

My horse loves his, no longer tries to bite me when I do the girth up, saddle has stopped slipping to the right and generally the horse feels much more free and is working more consistently.

 

[PoppyAnderson]

No spookywood, I got nada.

 

[McW]

Does anyone have the stud version? Is it wide enough you could get away without a stud version if you jump in studs?

 

[Ruby2]

Spookywood - received balm but no bag.

 

[Goldenstar]

Only three weeks and three days till mine is due !

 

[ann-jen]

I got leather balm but no bag

 

[Spookywood]

Hmm, seems like some get and some don't. What kind/brand of balm is it? I feel hard done by

 

[Spookywood]

For info for those that got nothing with their girth, I just got a reply from Fairfax to say that all girths should come with leather balm and a guarantee card. Away to see what supplier says...

I clearly I have too much time on my hands....

 

[Goldenstar]

For info for those that got nothing with their girth, I just got a reply from Fairfax to say that all girths should come with leather balm and a guarantee card. Away to see what supplier says...

I clearly I have too much time on my hands....

I'll remember that in three weeks and two days when mine comes.

 

[Sol]

For info for those that got nothing with their girth, I just got a reply from Fairfax to say that all girths should come with leather balm and a guarantee card. Away to see what supplier says...

I clearly I have too much time on my hands....

Ooh. Had no laptop charger for nearly a week so just seen this, but very interesting to read! I didn't actually purchase in the end as want to try the narrow gauge as well, and all my money has just had to go on the bloody car But still very tempted as it did seem to help his canter & girthyness especially.

 

[Spookywood]

I've had mine for about a week now and I'm giving it a big thumbs up. However I love it because it doesn't rub the big horses elbows, which for a while I didn't think I would ever find a girth that didn't rub her elbows! Chicken and egg scenario as the girths had probably started rubbing because she got a little too fat during her winter off but couldnt ride for long enough to help reduce the belly due to girths rubbing, so this is a big plus point for me.

She is also now starting to carry herself properly, stride out better and not rush along like a giraffe. Now, this could purely be because the girth is not rubbing her and therefore any other girth that is shaped like this would of done the same job or it could be as amazing as they claim! I think the quality is great, especially the softness of the leather that is on the horse and I really like the prolite edges and can see how it would be more comfortable for the horse. Have tried quite a few of the other girths, Amerigo, Prestige etc and I would say the Fairfax is by far the softest most flexible leather and I like that there is no elastic.

My only concern when I did first try it on her was that it was tighter at the back of the girth that the front, however by the end of our rides where she had been working properly and using her stomach muscles more this uneveness appeared to have disappeared. Could the uneveness be caused by her rather round tummy and therefore as she gets fitter it should not be a problem?

Unfortunately I've not had much chance to try it out on my youngster as she has found an enemy in the field and various small injuries are resulting in us being very stop start with our work I was hoping that one size would fit both which would save me buying another, but i'm not convinced its not too long for the wee one. She has just turned 4 and is still a little bum high but the girth is on the 4/5th holes up on her GP - do you think this is too long? For reference 50" Stubben leather, no elastic is on holes 1/2, Fairfax is a 52".

 

[Sol]

I've had mine for about a week now and I'm giving it a big thumbs up. However I love it because it doesn't rub the big horses elbows, which for a while I didn't think I would ever find a girth that didn't rub her elbows! Chicken and egg scenario as the girths had probably started rubbing because she got a little too fat during her winter off but couldnt ride for long enough to help reduce the belly due to girths rubbing, so this is a big plus point for me.

She is also now starting to carry herself properly, stride out better and not rush along like a giraffe. Now, this could purely be because the girth is not rubbing her and therefore any other girth that is shaped like this would of done the same job or it could be as amazing as they claim! I think the quality is great, especially the softness of the leather that is on the horse and I really like the prolite edges and can see how it would be more comfortable for the horse. Have tried quite a few of the other girths, Amerigo, Prestige etc and I would say the Fairfax is by far the softest most flexible leather and I like that there is no elastic.

My only concern when I did first try it on her was that it was tighter at the back of the girth that the front, however by the end of our rides where she had been working properly and using her stomach muscles more this uneveness appeared to have disappeared. Could the uneveness be caused by her rather round tummy and therefore as she gets fitter it should not be a problem?

Unfortunately I've not had much chance to try it out on my youngster as she has found an enemy in the field and various small injuries are resulting in us being very stop start with our work I was hoping that one size would fit both which would save me buying another, but i'm not convinced its not too long for the wee one. She has just turned 4 and is still a little bum high but the girth is on the 4/5th holes up on her GP - do you think this is too long? For reference 50" Stubben leather, no elastic is on holes 1/2, Fairfax is a 52".

To be honest, I think that the fact that it's tighter at the back is a part of the design If you think about it, one of their selling points is that it allows the muscles to move under the front of the girth, without sort of, hitting the girth or bunching up? Well, if the girth was flat, that would be a tad difficult, but by being marginally more snug at the back, it allows a small amount of space at the front so to allow the muscle movement. A bit like saddles - fit a saddle to a static horse, and the second it starts moving, surely it doesn't fit any more? Because muscles move & have to have space to do so, otherwise well, they can't Although I imagine a big tummy will exaggerate it Dan's passier fit the same in that way, and it never caused an issue, he had that for over a year. Saddlery also pretty much said this too me so I can only presume that they agree!

 

[TPO]

No idea about the girth but based only on the photos posted it appears that you have more weight in your right rein and I'd imagine that would be impacting on what you are feeling/ seeing with near hind. If possible try him on a straight line with a very even contact ( put both hands together over wither if it helps) and really focus on equal weight in seat bones and down through your legs. You should get a better idea then as to what's horse, what's rider and what could be girth.

 

[Sol]

No idea about the girth but based only on the photos posted it appears that you have more weight in your right rein and I'd imagine that would be impacting on what you are feeling/ seeing with near hind. If possible try him on a straight line with a very even contact ( put both hands together over wither if it helps) and really focus on equal weight in seat bones and down through your legs. You should get a better idea then as to what's horse, what's rider and what could be girth.

Oddly, he's actually heavier in my left rein than my right, has always been He tends to take more left leg & have to be pushed up into the right rein to encourage him to bend left, otherwise he'll put his left hind out - although it's most evident in halt transitions I guess! He's been fine schooling since so I presume he was just having a bizarre day (or fancied venturing out into the middle of the field, which he's not allowed to do!).
The girth definitely improved his canter, but made little difference to his walk & trot that I could feel. Video would have been ideal but couldn't get any. I have a few physical issues myself though which is why I'm always so aware of how he feels physically, although it *does* tend to make me a bit paranoid! (well, as do the tablets I'm on currently, which is a tad unhelpful).

 

[cheeryplatypus]

Can you please pot a pic of he between front leg measurement and the standard size girth in that area?
My boy measures exactly 22cm if I measure up to the midline and then back to the other side, however if I measure directly across he's about 19cm so wondering if I need the narrow size girth ???
Thank you

 

[Sol]

Can you please pot a pic of he between front leg measurement and the standard size girth in that area?
My boy measures exactly 22cm if I measure up to the midline and then back to the other side, however if I measure directly across he's about 19cm so wondering if I need the narrow size girth ???
Thank you

Probably best contacting Crewe saddlery or Fairfax themselves - my boy has approximately 12-15cm between his forelegs, but the standard didn't seem too bad on him. I'm still waiting to trial the narrow gauge as had to have some work done on my car instead

 

[Aspire]

Any updates from those of you who have got Fairfax girths? I have heard some reports that prolonged use has caused pressure issues on the sternum?