Horse being funny about tightening the girth

Polos

Polos

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Hi,

Recently my horse has been a bit funny about tightening his girth, my instructor says am not over tightening his girth. When I go to first do it up he is fine but when I do it up by another hole he arches his back, throws his head in the air and tenses up. If I tighten it on the yard and then walk down to the mounting block by the school he will walk a couple of strides before stopping and tensing up again and then walk another couple of strides before doing it again. His teeth are fine and he is not unsound and nothing has changed in his routine, his feed has stayed exactly the same all the time we have had him. His saddle is starting to slip again so I have booked the farrier for the 5th June which is the earliest I could get. I'm not quite sure what it could be, i'll see what the saddler says when he comes, but I am not sure if I need to invest in a girth sleeve or a different girth. The girth I currently use is a wintec pro elastic girth.

Thank you
 
Polos said:
Hi,

Recently my horse has been a bit funny about tightening his girth, my instructor says am not over tightening his girth. When I go to first do it up he is fine but when I do it up by another hole he arches his back, throws his head in the air and tenses up. If I tighten it on the yard and then walk down to the mounting block by the school he will walk a couple of strides before stopping and tensing up again and then walk another couple of strides before doing it again. His teeth are fine and he is not unsound and nothing has changed in his routine, his feed has stayed exactly the same all the time we have had him. His saddle is starting to slip again so I have booked the farrier for the 5th June which is the earliest I could get. I'm not quite sure what it could be, i'll see what the saddler says when he comes, but I am not sure if I need to invest in a girth sleeve or a different girth. The girth I currently use is a wintec pro elastic girth.

Thank you
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I would be looking into ill fitting saddle, or possibility of gastric ulcers as the symptoms you describe are classic signs.
 
the saddler is coming to check the saddle on 5th of june so should I stop riding him and just lunge him (without a roller) until then? If its any help he also does it with a lunge roller, this has a girth sleeve on it.

Do you know any good websites I can get information on ulcers? My friends horse had to scoped for ulcers would it be worth speaking to her?

I will ring the vet later
 
Sounds like my boy, but he is much worse. Sometimes he is fine, sometimes he's like your boy and tenses up and doesn't want to walk forwards. But sometimes he explodes, rearing, spinning and humping. I think that he has some kind of nerve damage in his girth area that sometimes gets stimulated and sets him off. The girth does not have to be at all tight when he does it. He sometimes does it with the lunge roller too. Also, he would do it under saddle if I tighten the girth whilst mounted. Not good! He has had severe kissing spines which were operated on. He is a TB. I am currently keeping a diary of when he freaks out, and investigating different girths and girthing procedures.
 
Wagtail said:
Sounds like my boy, but he is much worse. Sometimes he is fine, sometimes he's like your boy and tenses up and doesn't want to walk forwards. But sometimes he explodes, rearing, spinning and humping. I think that he has some kind of nerve damage in his girth area that sometimes gets stimulated and sets him off. The girth does not have to be at all tight when he does it. He sometimes does it with the lunge roller too. Also, he would do it under saddle if I tighten the girth whilst mounted. Not good! He has had severe kissing spines which were operated on. He is a TB. I am currently keeping a diary of when he freaks out, and investigating different girths and girthing procedures.
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I hope I get to the bottom of it, i don't want him to be in pain :(

Just out of interest, what girths have you used/tried?
 
Polos said:
I hope I get to the bottom of it, i don't want him to be in pain :(

Just out of interest, what girths have you used/tried?
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Wintec elastic girth, leather humane girth , thorowgood humane girth, webbing humane girth, H girth with elastic in the centre section. Various girth sleeves. I would love to try the Fairfax performance girth but at nearly £250, it's an expensive risk if it doesn't work. I have ordered the Teckna ergonomic girth and am waiting to receive it.
 
Wagtail said:
Wintec elastic girth, leather humane girth , thorowgood humane girth, webbing humane girth, H girth with elastic in the centre section. Various girth sleeves. I would love to try the Fairfax performance girth but at nearly £250, it's an expensive risk if it doesn't work. I have ordered the Teckna ergonomic girth and am waiting to receive it.
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I'm not really a fan of the humane girths but I suppose I could try one to see if it makes any difference. Could you let me know how you get on with the tekna girth if that is ok? Unless I come into a bit of money there is no way I could afford a fairfax girth so I think that is probably out of the question :(
 
Polos said:
sorry to sound stupid, but is that in his back?

Would the vet be able to check this out or will I need a chiropractor?
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No, where the girth runs under his chest. Horses can injure them and obviously it would be very painful to have a girth on if that was the case.

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I would get a Vet and tell them the symptoms, then they can investigate back pain/ulcers/sternum pain as possibilities.

Getting the saddler is the right thing. If the saddle fits, it's not a waste of money as you can then rule it out as the cause.
 
Faracat said:
No, where the girth runs under his chest. Horses can injure them and obviously it would be very painful to have a girth on if that was the case.

skeleton%201.gif


I would get a Vet and tell them the symptoms, then they can investigate back pain/ulcers/sternum pain as possibilities.

Getting the saddler is the right thing. If the saddle fits, it's not a waste of money as you can then rule it out as the cause.
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thank you, the picture is very helpful :)

should I try and book an appointment for before or after the saddler? My vet does free visit days on Wednesday so I could try for the Wednesday coming.

I don't think the saddler will be waste of time or money, His saddle hasn't been checked since January so it has been a while.
 
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