Girths and girthing

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yethersgill

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One of our ponies has had a slight rub on either side near her elbows from her girth, so was wondering if changing the girth might help.

Am using a Professional Choice girth, with a sheepskin sleeve, BUT I don't pull her legs forward after girthing up.......

So, questions for you helpfull HHO peeps
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What girth do you use?
Do you use a sleeve and if so what type?
Finally do you stretch legs forward after girthing?

OOh another thought
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do you wash girth area after riding and if so how thoroughly?

Thank you
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Both of mine have neoprone sleeves built onto their dressage girths and i 99% of the time pull their legs b4 i get on and absolutely always wash down with just a plain sponge and water after ive ridden if they are particularly hot i use a wash down cooling solution also to be sure ive done a thorough job - even if its only a little bit of sweat they can get sores really easily and then u cant get a saddle on for ages! Hope that helps x
 
i use cottage craft girths on there own at home and stud girths at most shows with sheep skin cover
i stretch legs foward on sensitive TB and WB not welsh pony tho
i sponge if really hot and sweaty and brush off quickly if not thoroghly as in a rush!
if rubbing her elbows i would have thought the saddle was too far forwards but hard to tell withouht seeing hope that helps!
 
I have a Thorogood synthetic leather shaped girth with a nuumed furry sleeve.

On my dressage saddle I have a material girth with no sleeve, but after this week might change that! Horse developed flaking skin after one schooling session and the area became a bit lumpy and swollen, although after a couple of days of not wearing a girth and hosing off and washing, its back to normal
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I always stretch his legs after girthing (and when tightening it up), although now he will do this on voice command so I don't actually stretch them, he does it himself
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I use a Professionals Choice neoprene on my jumping saddle, and shaped leather girth on my dressage saddle.

No sleeve on either.

Almost always stretch (gently) with both, and always wash girth area off after riding, usually just with water. I've had my mare 5 years and so far, so good with this arrangement
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ah good my area of expertise that I may have finally cracked.

I suspect she has a forward girth groove like my boy who has been very prone to rubs, particualarly when changing his coat. It has been trial and error, the worst trial was one of those zig zag type girths. I cannot use and unshaped girth on my boy, I assume yours isn't as I don't think PC do them?

His leather atherstone didn't rub his elbows, but was a bit too narrow and caused pressure bumps, likewise a thorogood one with elastic one end caused problems.

I now use this aerborn girth (with elastic both ends),
http://www.4dobbin.com/productDetail.aspx?product_id=1584
to start with I continued to use it with a nuumed girth sleeve, I am just trying it without (when it was hot!) and it has been fine so far, I will prob put it back on while he changes his coat.- I have several so they are clean and use a long one.

Because of the balance/point straps on his dr saddle I find that girth fits better, it is basically a thorogood version of the above with elastic both ends.

I have used a wintec elastic but didn't get on with it at all from an elbows point of view.

I do stretch legs, I have tried not stretching but found it worse.

I always wash girth area with water after work, if he hasn't sweated much just with a damp sponge, if he has sweated lots (which he does if jumping of proper schooling) the hose comes out.
 
Okay, looks like I need to stretch her then
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and give her a good wash!

littlespritz, the areas are a few inches back from her elbows (should have made that clear
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) but in line with them, if you can see what I mean.

Thanks Stencilface. Hair has grown back but they went very flakey and bumpy for a while, so sounds very similar to your horse! Did you just use water to wash or a shampoo too?

Thanks again.
 
Thanks ester. She does have a fiorward girth groove, but thought we had solved it by using the Pro Choice girth!!! Will have a look at the Aerbourn one. The Pro Choice girth is double elasticated too though.

Think I may just have a sensitive Dales
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yethersgill, the skin round the elbows can be very moveable, are the marks under the girth as you see it? I only ask as frank sometimes gets them under the girth but also gets them on the point of elbow where you kind of think how did he manage that but it is only when you see the skin moving you can see how it happened.

In the meantime I have found best to not girth for a week- lunge if req (if I try and carry on they get bigger and spread, normally back towards the girth)

I have also tried many lotions and potions for accelerated healing and have found either naf msm cream of sudocrem to be the best (I have had him 4 years now- proper hardy cob obviously!)
 
oh and the aerborn one is cheap and in the past I have sometimes switched girths about as they then don't put pressure in the same place.

I do know quite few people on here have the aerborn one and get on with it really well. I only bought it as a stop gap as I was prepared to buy him a really expensive one but it has been great!
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Hmmmm, have a look at the picture below. Vet originally thought they were the start of sarcoids, but with a month off they grew hair back!

Rose-girth.jpg



She does have a lot of what I would agree is moveable skin in that area
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What do you think?

Thanks.
 
I had this same problem with Hattie as she has a forward girth groove.

I started using surgical spirit at the girth area (thanks to the adivce of peeps here!) and changed my girth for my astride saddle to a curved one from Better Saddles: http://www.bettersaddles.co.uk/acatalog/Special_Offers.html
and for my side saddle changed from a thick and stiff 3" three fold girth to a 4" super soft leather three fold girth from Rob Jenkins (you could use this girth on a normal saddle and just have him make you one without the side saddle keeper on it).

So far, no rubs!
 
I used some medicated shampoo stuff, can't remember the branding (the gold label stuff I think?) but anything like that should be fine.

I am pretty good with washing/brushing off after riding, but I think this time maybe the girth needed a wash (which again, I am normally good at doing!) He is fine though, lumps all gone, and skin back to to normal - hacked this morning and no probs. He had bad skin sun, was still lumpy on monday so I lunged him, had a day off yesterday and was fine today.

Got the BRC horse trials this wkd, so glad its cleared up, I was worried that I broken him!
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hmm that is further back than I thought it might be, though Frank has had a few in that area too.

he also has a couple of bumps which initially could have been construed as the start of sarcoids but I think they are just scar tissue.

Is there a rub on the far right of pic too?

In comparison to mums anglo frank does have a lot of skin in that area. (baggy elbows I call them)

It can be very frustrating which is why I am so pleased to have several months with no problems. I have had times when I have been careful not to over do the girth as thankfully he is a native with withers, recently it has had to be tight though (I am wonky due to ankle injury) and it has still been fine.

How long has that been there? plenty of hair has come back through

What I tend to do if he gets a bit with no hair left is I will sudocrem it morning and night, leave the girth off until some new hair is just sprouting and then go back to riding but creaming morning and night. This seems to work for me.

Frank is however a bit of a scabby pony anyway, he tends to get randoms that we have never really identified that true cause despite investigation but sudocrem clears them up. I know some would say that too much creaming would soften the skin but I have found it works for us.
 
I use a leather atherstone, never stretch and hose off the sweat afterwards
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When I use the stud guard, I always stretch as too much skin can get caught in the guard and rub them
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I dont like riding in furry sleeves - I think they can sometimes make things worse as grit/sand could get in between the fur and rub them.
 
Yes, there is one on her elbow too but not on the other side. Think her leg may be a bit forward so the scabby bit lies directly under her girth.

It started earlier this year. We were doing lots of miles (endurnace stuff). Had her clipped at the start and she was a little scurffy but no rubs, then these areas appeared
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Treated them with Malaseb shampoo from the vet but no change.

Other than the one on her elbow they are not obvious, you have to dig in the hair for them.......


Only after the month off have they gone, so really think I need to chenge girth and wash her down better
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Have got a pot of sudocreme so can put that on her

Thanks again!
 
frank012-1-1.jpg


photobucket not playing very well and seems to have lost some definition from my comp, this is where his girth groove is, if you look closely you can see 2 little lumps close together just up from the bottom. A bit higher and to the left there is another odd looking patch, another of his infamous scabbies! and was not girth related. at the very far left there is a white patch- old, healed scabby!
 
I put sudocreme on mine, and not sure if it actually made it worse? As its quite warm again at the moment (and even though mine is clipped) he tends to get warm, damp armpits just standing in the field. I thought sudocreme would prob just make it moister and sweatier?
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I have very similar problems with my cob, he has a very forward girth groove and lots of moveable skin in the area.

He loves sheepskin, but I don't like sleeves because they move around and are difficult to keep clean. So I use a Kentaur Aachen girth. It's lovely, a leather girth with stiff elastic at both ends and a detachable skeepskin lining, I brush the lining each time and wash it regularly. You can get neoprene linings for the same girth too. They're not cheap, but I haven't had any problems since I got mine.

I wash off if he's sweaty, but don't stretch the front legs. He's got enough loose skin to stretch his front legs without moving the skin under the girth. Instead I just run my hand round the inside to smooth the skin.
 
did they appear as her clip was growing out a bit then?

Frank was clipped 5 times last winter for this very reason, He is much better with shorter hair and his hair grows quick. When he looses it right on his elbows which I hope you can see in above pic would rub past the girth as his leg moves under him it is normally when the hair is long (I don't clip legs).

I have in the past used imaverol on franks but no change. His general scabbys I think start off as either fly bites or heat bumps (if over rugged in winter or has waterproof on too much now) which then get a low grade bacterial infection in them.

I hope I am being helpful and not just waffling!
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Rose's scabby bits are certainly further back than Frank's, but wonder how much her girth moves when we are out. Have got my saddler coming out tomorrow so can have a chat with him too.
Not sure about worse when hair is longer to be honest. Noticed it last time after a competitive ride as I thought it was a huge fly bite! She had a bump that then turned into the flakey area in the photo I posted.

Have ordered one of those Aerborn girths
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and have had a dig for one of my Thorogood ones too, so will give them both a try along with a good wash
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Any advice is much appreciated ester
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Oh and we are not FEI grade endurance by any stretch of the imagination
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we just chase grey arabs for the fun of it and the look of surprise when they see a hairy black pony keeping up
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just thought as well I am a bit anal about checking (due to his general scabbiness). anything is best caught as early as poss. I run the flat of my hand over all of him as the very first bumps aren't that easy to see.

trial and error to a certain extent to find what works for her (it took quite a lot for ours, so I am hoping to get him through his next coat change).

Fab image of worried grey arabs now!
 
I have to say I love the pro choice girths, BUT they do make them quite sweaty which can cause the flakiness/bumpiness
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Wintec girths are excellent too!!
 
I has similar issues with my pony who has a very forward girth grove and is also cold backed after much trial and error I now use an Aerborn humane girth as I can girth up really slowly due to it's design and because it has roller buckles.

The material doesn't make her sweat (like the pro choice/wintec/thorowgood girths did) and as long as I use a Numed girth sleeve when she's moulting and always stretch her legs and brush or wash her off after being ridden she doesn't get any rubs.
 
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