Fairfax or Prestige girth? Opinions please.

[becca1305]

Sorry if this topic has been done before, I searched and although found links to both couldn't really find any comparing the differences between the two girths!

I'm looking for a new dressage girth for my two girls since my current one has just started to rub one slightly behind the elbow. I've seen the fairfax in the flesh but not the prestige anatomic girth. I wondered if anyone has seen both to know how they compare in shape? Or tried both and seen/felt an improvement when using one over the other?

The only real difference I can see online is that the Prestige Anatomic girth is elasticated at the ends, and the Fairfax is not. Is it really important whether or not the girth is elasticated? (providing elasticated ends are on both sides).

I know the Fairfax also has a Prolite 'floater' edge, but from the picture the Prestige also seems to have a similar kind of edge although I believe all leather?

Further I'm sure I remember reading a couple of negative reports regarding the leather quality on the Fairfax - those that have had them a while how are you finding them please?

So to sum up is it worth paying out on the Fairfax? (I would have to try before buy to check it suits my two mares at that price!), or does the Prestige do just as good a job for half the money? My other option is to go super saver and buy a KenTaur Geneva girth which looks a similar shape too, but doesn't appear to have the same style edge to the girth as the other two!

Opinions and first hand experience much appreciated .

 

[Cortez]

Hello,

In my opinion the Fairfax is over-priced and the Prestige does almost exactly the same thing. I'm not sure that there is any miraculous improvement as a result of using the girth, but I like the idea of not pinching the elbow.

 

[Wheels]

I have seen both of these girths together in the same shop. They are both lovely but I really don't think the fairfax is worth almost twice the amount of the prestige

The prestige is slightly less shapely (but not much) it is lovely quality soft leather. The difference is in the padding, the prolite does feel much nicer but unfortunately the prolite also makes the fairfax extremely heavy, so much so that it has put me off buying one.

Evison equine were also making a shaped girth but I haven't seen one of these in real life

 

[speedbird]

I tried the Fairfax girth for two weeks on trial for £20. I found out that I needed the narrow gauge girth as my boy wasn't wide enough for the normal Fairfax which is quite chunky . Then came the problem that the narrow gauge girth only went up to 48 inches and I needed one a tad longer. I sent it back as I really wanted it to be exactly as I wanted , for that price. I would of bought it though, had it been longer. My horse stopped trying to eat me when I did the girth up and that alone must of meant he was more comfortable .

 

[Wheels]

So what girth are you using now speedbird? And is your nipping horse still nipping?

 

[Stoxx]

So I have the Fairfax girths and also the Prestige.

You do need to check that you don't need the narrow version of the Fairfax. I had the standard on my boy but when I swapped him into the narrow one there was a noticeable difference, it sits better on him and he is definitely more comfortable.

To the eye the Prestige is a very similar shape to the standard Fairfax. However, personally for me, I would have to argue is the Prestige worth half the value of the Fairfax when absolutely no testing has gone into it? Likewise with the Amerigo Protector girth, that's actually more expensive than the Fairfax!

The Fairfax is the price it is because it is the only girth available on the market that has had time and money invested in the testing phase. This included the positioning and angle of the buckles - slight little adjustments that the eye wouldn't necessarily see when comparing the Prestige and the Fairfax.

The Fairfax girths won't suit every horse as they are all so different. I know some people that have had bad experiences with them, however it's like everything else... not every saddle fits every horse and in the same way you can't expect every girth to be right for every horse either.

The Prestige is a nice leather girth when you compare it to other leather girths. However if you are going to go for a cheaper option I would suggest the Kieffer neoprene girth. It came out as being one of best 'of the rest' when the testing was done.

ETA: As for the horses being girthy. Mine is, he actually gradually got a bit worse when I went from the Kieffer to the standard Fairfax but now in the narrow he was much better within the second day of using it. (Just as girthy in the Prestige as in the standard Fairfax)

 

[becca1305]

Thank you all . Seems to be some mixed opinions so far. I will measure in between the girls legs today as if they are too narrow for regular fairfax they would be too narrow for Prestige so would need narrow Fairfax. However if they are both regular gauge then I am still a little torn tbh!

Further I would still want to trial Fairfax if I decided to go for that one, does anyone know any stockists that hire them out please?

 

[dieseldog]

A genuine question. How much does your saddle affect the performance of the girth? In the post above it says about the buckles being at the right angle etc, but girth straps on saddles are never in the same place so surely that would change the action/benefit of the girth and maybe why it works for some horses and not others?

 

[Stoxx]

On both dressage saddles I have all three straps still on. On the mare I am girthing up on 2nd and 3rd as opposed to 1st and 3rd with her old girth. At the moment, the gelding is still on 1st and 3rd.

So yes I agree, this could definitely play a part.

I would also question whether the girths that caused problems were kept clean (runs and hides!)

 

[becca1305]

Thats a very interesting point dieseldog. I have a monoflap DR saddle so only 2 straps, but now I think about it the small rub from current girth appeared after removing halfpad that she had previously worn (she changed shape slightly and removed on saddle fitter's advice). I always keep my girths clean so it can't be that causing the rub, but I can see it possibly being the change in the saddle set up changing the girth fit slightly.