New Girth and Sheepskin Girth Cover: Do I need to break them in?

[16x16sellefrancais]

Dear All:

I recently returned to riding. I rode for about 10 years in my 20s, but always on school horses. Now I'm back after a 17-year hiatus and leasing a horse for the first time. I am slowly buying tack to use in place of the riding club's tack, and my first purchases were Eqyss marigold spray (flies are bad in California!) and a girth and girth cover.

I've got the fly spray thing under control. http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif

As for the girth and cover, I bought a new Tory Leather Contour Girth with elastic on one end and a new sheepskin girth cover. My question is can I just put them on my horse or should I break in the girth in in some fashion and wash the girth cover (I bought the special laundry soap for the purpose)? I purposely bought the girth that felt softest and most pliable and the sheepskin rather than wool because of its softness.

Thanks in advance for your help as I learn the ropes.

 

[Shay]

You can just put them on. The girth will srtetch slightly over the next few weeks so it needs to start off a tiny bit on the short side. Whether you wash your girth sleeve every time or every couple of times will depend on how much your horse sweats and what you do with him. We ended up buying 3 girth sleeves - one on, one off, and one in the wash!

 

[Ella19]

When you wash it, only wash it on cool and lather on some human hair conditioner to keep it fluffy!

 

[16x16sellefrancais]

Thank you so much for your help!