Humane Dressage Girth...or not?

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Sunflowers

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Looking to get a nice comfortable dressage girth for boy with sensitive tummy!!

I like the look of the Albion shaped ones... but is the legend style (elastic inserts) or humane style (pully on both sides) best?

Has anyone had good/bad experiences of these?

(Currently we have a Wintec synthetic, which he doesn't seem to be a big fan of!!)
 
As long as you only do the girth up one hole at a time I really don't think they are enormously different. I have both and horse doesnt react differently whichever one I use.
 
Not had good experiences with the humane ones. Best in my view are the ones with elastic on both sides, then they're even. There is a particular make that has no seams against the horse at all but the name eludes me at the moment.
 
The Albion legend even with a sheepskin sleeve gave my horse bloody girth galls after one schooling session :eek:. But he's very prone to galls. I'm now using the Kieffer Neoprene and it is the only girth that doesn't seem to rub and doesn't need a dead sheep attached to it.
 
i really like my the jeffreis one with elastic in the middle....
i go for elastic both sides or middle - but not one side
i have a barsnby version of the humane one for showing and love it
only girth my horse reascted to was a no elastic one - tried it once when i had to borrow a girth becuase i fotgot one... she nearly had me off with protest bronks! (this horse is v v over sensitive to saddles/girths etc due to coming to me broken frmo badly fitting saddles ;))
 
the problem with humane girths (dressage or normal) is that if you let go of one strap (when doing it up) your girth can then end up very loose. Know of someone who had a very nasty fall (using a normal humane girth, not a dressage one) after her horse spooked whilst she was doing it up. She let go to regain her balance, horse shot forwards, girth now loose and saddle slipped, nasty fall. I know one top SJ trainer who refuses to teach you if you have one on as he considers them dangerous for that reason. Also should a girth strap break (as they will do on rare occasions) again you are stuck with a loose girth.


My mare who is very sensitive loves the professional choice girth.
 
I think the humane girths are far from it. If you look at where the pressure is, it is concentrated down a very narrow strip through the middle. The girth even bunches up and goes thin either side of the pressure. You are therefore holding the weight of the saddle and rider over a very narrow area, which cannot be good for the horse.

The wider the girth the better, to spread the pressure. Think boot rather than stiletto.
 
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