Horse hates being girthed up?

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el_Snowflakes

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Hi all,

My mare gets very frustrated when i fasten her girth. I have owned her for a year and a half and she is now 15. She will shake her head, scrape her teeth along the stable door (!), stamp repeatedly etc..... I NEVER over tighten the girth and I always do i up a bit at a time. Her saddle has been checked -no problems, back done last week by chiro who did a couple of minor adjustments but nothing major. She stands well to have her bridle put on but as soon as i attempt to do uo her girth she tries to get away which is very frustrating! Once we are tacked up and ready for a ride she looks very grumpy and walks at snails pace to the mounting block looking extremely unenthused! Once Im on board she fine and spritely. She makes me feel so guilty but i know her saddle fits etc so theres not much I can do is there??
 
No it doesnt appear to be. I sometimes pull her front legs up to iron our any creases in the skin but she still snail paces it out to the mounting block!
 
If its no obvious pain responce it could be the start of stomach ulcers? Or it could just be that she doesnt like the type of girth etc used, my boy is an arse to girth up in anything other than a material girth - Makes me look like an idiot at shows but oh well :p
 
Thats interesting. Never thought of ulcers before. I will mention to the vet next time he's out to do vaccinations. I use a material padded girth as its the only one i find that doesnt slip! No, she isnt thin skinned at all- girth sleeve is a good idea tho!
 
My beastie is even worse - lashes out with back legs, stamps front legs, grunts and makes a right old fuss.

He is being scoped for ulcers next Wednesday so will see what happens then...

My instructor thinks he is just the Victor Meldrew of the horse world, we will see...
 
Try looking at Balance saddles (Balance International). They have a very horse friendly, non-traditional saddling system (don't worry, it looks very normal!). Many people have found that, once they've tried Balance, it has become clear that whatever their previous saddle fitter said, their saddle didn't actually fit their horse at all. I've repeatedly put Balance saddles on horses that normally react badly to their saddle and had them show no reaction (I sometimes even think I see a look of relief.....).
 
elsazzo said:
Thats interesting. Never thought of ulcers before. I will mention to the vet next time he's out to do vaccinations. I use a material padded girth as its the only one i find that doesnt slip! No, she isnt thin skinned at all- girth sleeve is a good idea tho!
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Try giving her a high fibre feed just before you ride and see it that makes a difference. If it does she may have ulcers
 
YasandCrystal said:
Try giving her a high fibre feed just before you ride and see it that makes a difference. If it does she may have ulcers
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I would be surprised if she had ulcers (although, not saying its impossible) as she gets no hard feed at all. She has a good appetite (loves her haylage!) and gets lots of turnout. Has anyone had any experience with ulcers in horses who dont get hard feed?
 
My horse is the same, but he is also the same with his rugs or if you brush his coat the wrong way, so I don't think he's in pain, he can be a grumpy little git sometimes, he's very dominant if you let him! and is the same in the field with his mates, always top of the pecking order, so I think it's just him telling he off, he's got far too much attitude! Interestingly if we are at a show or there's something interesting/exciting going on at the yard, he doesn't do it! So it can't be that bad.
 
elsazzo said:
Hi all,

My mare gets very frustrated when i fasten her girth. I have owned her for a year and a half and she is now 15. She will shake her head, scrape her teeth along the stable door (!), stamp repeatedly etc..... I NEVER over tighten the girth and I always do i up a bit at a time. Her saddle has been checked -no problems, back done last week by chiro who did a couple of minor adjustments but nothing major. She stands well to have her bridle put on but as soon as i attempt to do uo her girth she tries to get away which is very frustrating! Once we are tacked up and ready for a ride she looks very grumpy and walks at snails pace to the mounting block looking extremely unenthused! Once Im on board she fine and spritely. She makes me feel so guilty but i know her saddle fits etc so theres not much I can do is there??
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My boy hates being girthed up too. In fact, he completely panics if it is done up too fast. He too had had his back checked by the vet, the chiro and the physio and everything was fine. No tenderness anywhere. However, due to his reluctance to work I asked for him to be xrayed and have found that he has kissing spine in NINE places! Poor boy. It is a wonder he never threw me off as he must be in so much pain when ridden. :(
 
elsazzo said:
I would be surprised if she had ulcers (although, not saying its impossible) as she gets no hard feed at all. She has a good appetite (loves her haylage!) and gets lots of turnout. Has anyone had any experience with ulcers in horses who dont get hard feed?
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Hard feed is not the cause of ulcers. Horses can get ulcers because they have been left with an empty stomach for periods of time - like racehorses who are not fed adlib forage. Ulcers are often stress related. My horses suffered with ulcers through stress.
 
Mine has an ulcer problem because of a slight abnormality in her stomach and the best I can do is keep it sub clinical - it's never going to go away. She only get's Alpha-A, hay and grass.

She has been girthy all her life, making faces etc., however since getting her ulcer problem under control she is no longer bothered about the girth being done up.

If you can get hold of some Sucralfate you could try a test for 10 days see if it made any difference. Or scoping will cost about £200-£250.
 
Are you sure you saddle fits? I've had a saddle in the past that although it technically fits, horse hated it. Now have a saddle that fits and he likes, so is fine to tack/girth up.

Also worth thinking about a different type of girth. I've found that mine will only tolerate the Thorowgood type girths, he hates anything else (and I'm not about to spend £150 on a posh leather girth to find out if he likes those ;) ).
 
BH is a grumpy sod about having his girth done even though everything is fine. Miraculously he is ok if I let him eat his hay net whilst I do it up. The conclusion I draw from this is that he is just a mard arse who doesn't like being taken away from his food. He doesn't really ever want his bridle on either. Lazy tyke!
 
I'd be looking at the muscle fascia behind the right elbow. Run your fingers over the girth area there and see if you get a reaction. Press gently and see if you can feel a hole or tear in the fascia just under the skin.

Horses tend to carry treed saddles over to the right by bending themselves to the left to minimise the pressure they feel from the tree points. This causes the girth to pull in the area behind the right elbow (imagine wearing an uncomfortable rucksack with a waist cinch and what you would feel if you shifted it over to the right and held your shoulders unlevel).

~The behaviour you describe is typical of a horse that is expecting the experience to be uncomfortable or painful.
 
YasandCrystal said:
Hard feed is not the cause of ulcers. Horses can get ulcers because they have been left with an empty stomach for periods of time - like racehorses who are not fed adlib forage. Ulcers are often stress related. My horses suffered with ulcers through stress.
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Yes, the other reason I think its unlikely is my horse always has access to ad-lib hay/haylage and is never left without any. (Im obsessed with making sure she has enough over night if shes in!) Shes not a stressy horse and she is not worked heavily.
 
Mine also - but he really is a very grumpy horse. I know his history covering years, he's always been the same. He is 15 now and I don't think he will change. Maybe something happened when he was young. I don't think there is anything wrong with him.

He snaps when the girth is done up, but he does the same when groomed, when clipped, when rugged up and is much worse when stabled - he's positively jolly when turned out and only snaps and stamps his feet occasionally.

Strangely he is fine when being bathed and can be scrubbed and washed all over without making a fuss at all - so I don't think he's uncomfortable.

He hasn't actually ever bitten or kicked, but he has got hold of my coat on the odd occasion when I have my back to him. Whenever I turn round, though, the ears go forward and an innocent look is put on.

If you have had everything checked then I would just assume it's a habit.
 
The horse has probably been overcharged in the past, and now associates being saddled up with pain, even though there is none. One of my old clients wb was the same, really mean and cranky when he saw the saddle coming, obviously someone had been rough doing his girth up in the past.
 
My exracer is slightly cold backed and not too keen on girth being tightened. I use a sheepskin girth sleeve and walk him around half way of doing it up. I finish doing it up when I'm out of stable and he's not as bad, think looking around at things takes his mind off things!!!
 
elsazzo said:
Yes, the other reason I think its unlikely is my horse always has access to ad-lib hay/haylage and is never left without any. (Im obsessed with making sure she has enough over night if shes in!) Shes not a stressy horse and she is not worked heavily.
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I agree it doesn't sound like ulcers.

Is she worse when she is in season? Mares can be sensitive souls. We have one that is ever so slightly coldbacked. She blows out when you put her saddle on and we have to be really patient with her and just walk her to the manege with a loose girth and then start to slowly tighten it, then she is fine.
 
A mare at my old yard (going back several years) had the same problem, similar feeding routine and workload etc. Turned out she had a really bad case of redworm (was PTS) and the vet said he thought that was what caused it.
 
So I spoke to my RI today who pointed out that my girth is a bit passed it & has a couple of worn bits which could be trapping hairs. She recommended I try a Wintec one as she rates them highly-as does my YO. I dont its a physiological problem, shes in great health and you would never think she was 15! She has always 'pawed' when being girthed up but has started kicking out so hopefully this will resolve it. Thanks for all your replies :D
 
I know this sounds odd but have you tried doing up the girth whilst walking them? I used to own a horse who had all the checks etc and it was the only thing that worked?? No idea why??!!??
 
Is she grumpy having her sides groomed and rug straps being done up .My mare was testy with all of the above and putting leg on sent her into orbit.She had marble fitted after tests with vet .Poor thing was suffering with her ovaries.She is so much happier and easier to ride now she isnt hormonal.
 
My gelding has always made faces when doing the girth up and that's been 7 years now. He has been thoroughly checked, different girths have been tried. I just think he's got into the habit of it, and its like tightening your jeans up with a belt! I do the softly softly approach and lots of patting and praise, doing the girth up one at a time, one hole at a time.
 
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