Numpty dresage saddle / girth post...

JFTDWS

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I've just bought a dressage saddle :D However, I've never had a dr saddle before so I'm looking at girths. I gather from using the search function on here, and google (see, I use my own advice :D) that the general rule is to subtract 20" from the usual girth length.

However, F's usual girth length is 38" - giving me a dr size of 18" - which sounds implausible? :confused:

I also note that most makes (well ok, an ebay search, a google search and a look on the Jeffries website) don't seem to make them below 20(+)" :eek:

He's a highand, for heavens sake, not a little arab x :eek:

So - anyone with any experience / is there a flaw in my logic (or my maths?!)? Or if not, I might need shopping help :cool:

Cheers :)
 

Paris1

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I have a 24 and a 20 inch and they both fit as dressage saddle have those lovely long girth straps. I would think yours is bigger around the girth than mine, he's an Irish cob of 14hh
 

ThePony

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These ones come smaller
http://www.thesaddleryshop.co.uk/P/HyCOMFORT_Waffle_Dressage_Girth-(2562).aspx
http://www.thesaddleryshop.co.uk/P/...e_dressage_Girth_atherstone_girth-(2135).aspx
http://www.thesaddleryshop.co.uk/P/...rth_stud_girth_for_jumping_saddle-(1842).aspx

I found it a real pain getting a dressage girth of the right size. Mare is in a 50 inch long girth and a 24 inch dressage girth (had to return the 26 one as it overlapped the panels when done up!). Does anyone on the yard have one you could try out? Although the buckle to buckle length is given, I found the overall length of girth varied hugely!
 

Paris1

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You could put saddle in and measure with a tape where you want the buckles to come to and where you want the girth padding to go to, plus note where the elbows are in case you want a shaped girth.
That's lateral thinking for you!
 

JFTDWS

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I have a 24 and a 20 inch and they both fit as dressage saddle have those lovely long girth straps. I would think yours is bigger around the girth than mine, he's an Irish cob of 14hh

I'm reasonably certain a 24" will be too long - unless the minus20" is wildly inaccurate... Fergs is 14,1 and not carrying any excess weight, so it depends how heavyweight your cobby is ;)

These ones come smaller
http://www.thesaddleryshop.co.uk/P/HyCOMFORT_Waffle_Dressage_Girth-(2562).aspx
http://www.thesaddleryshop.co.uk/P/...e_dressage_Girth_atherstone_girth-(2135).aspx
http://www.thesaddleryshop.co.uk/P/...rth_stud_girth_for_jumping_saddle-(1842).aspx

I found it a real pain getting a dressage girth of the right size. Mare is in a 50 inch long girth and a 24 inch dressage girth (had to return the 26 one as it overlapped the panels when done up!). Does anyone on the yard have one you could try out? Although the buckle to buckle length is given, I found the overall length of girth varied hugely!

Thanks - the MT leather one looks nice! Shame it costs almost as much as the saddle :mad:

I'm not on a yard so no one's to try :cool: I've ridden Fergs in dafthoss's saddle (same make/size as mine) though her girth was rather too long (top hole and still looe iirc and he's hairy at the moment!) so I will ask what size Rob's is (didn't think to at the time!).

It wouldn't surprise me if it varied massively, tbh between makes. Just to make it more complicated!
 
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JFTDWS

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-12" from normal girth, normally gets you pretty close, but really varies between saddles.

Interesting - t'internet tells me 20" - but 12" would put me in a more "normal" size for a dr girth! Ta:)

You could put saddle in and measure with a tape where you want the buckles to come to and where you want the girth padding to go to, plus note where the elbows are in case you want a shaped girth.
That's lateral thinking for you!

I could... If I had the saddle :cool: Ideally I'd like to have them both ordered online so I shouldn't have to wait ages to ride in saddle and make sure it fits etc! Although that may be a tall order from how this thread's turning out :D
 

Paris1

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Jftd he's big barrelled, his gp girth is 44". Hmm, I'm surprised he's bigger than a highland. I'm still getting one ;)
 

JFTDWS

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Jftd he's big barrelled, his gp girth is 44". Hmm, I'm surprised he's bigger than a highland. I'm still getting one ;)

It depends on the highland ;) Fergs is a slightly sportier model than some :eek:

I roils wait for saddle to arrive then measure from the straps. My GP saddle needs a 38" girth but new dressage saddle with short girth straps takes a 34" girth! It's all really confusing! X

now that IS confusing. I'm going to have a brain melt here :eek:
 

JFTDWS

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A sporty highland?! Fabulous!

He does his best ;) I think, by next year, a spot of hunting, some xc schooling and some serious jazzing up, he'll be as sporty as they come :D I however, will remain one of the fat, wheezy girls, on the sidelines with matron :D

I know it's a pain but I'd honestly wait to be on the safe side

Yes, that would be the sensible thing to do :cool: thanks anyway... :)
 

dafthoss

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Yellow po has a 20" girth. His is one of the thorowgood cub girths mainly as they were cheap and they had a 16" one in ingatestone when I was looking :).
 

JFTDWS

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What saddle you getting?

It's an Albion... The finer details are lost on me :eek: :D

Yellow po has a 20" girth. His is one of the thorowgood cub girths mainly as they were cheap and they had a 16" one in ingatestone when I was looking :).

Ahh, that makes an 18" sound plausible then... I want a leather one though :cool: *stamps feet* Maybe I'll get a cub one from ISC - I can take it back if it doesn't fit and keep it as a spare and get a leather one when I know it fits :D
 

JFTDWS

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Tattie had a 20" one on his saddle, and it was a wee bit too long if anything :eek: couldn't find a smaller one lol!

Seriously? That just goes to show how hard it is to just girth lengths! I would've thought, given that Tattie was bigger than Fergs and not a skinny TB type like Claude, he would be a bit bigger than that!
 

dafthoss

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Ahh, that makes an 18" sound plausible then... I want a leather one though :cool: *stamps feet* Maybe I'll get a cub one from ISC - I can take it back if it doesn't fit and keep it as a spare and get a leather one when I know it fits :D

Yep thats my plan I'm keeping an eye on ebay for a nice leather one to come up and then I will just keep it as a spare. But I think it was only about £8 so you cant go wrong really.
 

gillianclaude

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Seriously? That just goes to show how hard it is to just girth lengths! I would've thought, given that Tattie was bigger than Fergs and not a skinny TB type like Claude, he would be a bit bigger than that!

He was only 16.1hh, but he was really.. petite? Haha! He wasn't chunky in the slightest. Claude is a lot chunkier that what Tattie was, believe it or not :p

Hope you find a girth that fits the monkey soon! We need pictures of said dressage saddle very soon though! :D
 

JFTDWS

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Yep thats my plan I'm keeping an eye on ebay for a nice leather one to come up and then I will just keep it as a spare. But I think it was only about £8 so you cant go wrong really.

At that price, I shall wing it :D

He was only 16.1hh, but he was really.. petite? Haha! He wasn't chunky in the slightest. Claude is a lot chunkier that what Tattie was, believe it or not :p

Hope you find a girth that fits the monkey soon! We need pictures of said dressage saddle very soon though! :D

Bless him, he wasn't big built, but I didn't think Claude would be chunkier - shows how deceptive photos / pre-conceptions can be :D

Don't worry - there'll be no shortage of photos when I get it all sorted... As if there was any doubt about that, since I have a camera addiction :eek:
 
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