Problems Girthing up...HELP PLEASE NEEDED

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EquestrianFairy

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My friend has a big problem with her horse not liking being girthed up.. shes a sweet mare but has had a badly fitting saddle at some point in her life (shes 12yo and has been with my friend for around 6 months) shes always been this way but its not easy when trying to girth up alone.

Shes had a new saddle fitted and a physio and vet out to check her over as suggested and thats all ok...
Teeth were also done when she arrived

My friend has tried 5 different girths and none have made any difference- the mare wont stand still (walks back and forth, side to side as much as she can do being tied up)
Turns to bite the person girthing up (although never actually takes a bite, more of missed nip) When girthing up alone, and believe me i have tried its almost impossible and very difficult.

Shes tried having someone feeding treats when girthing up but the horse snatches at the food almost taking off the persons hand, tried giving it a carrot to play with but it still figits and turns to bite...

Im out of ideas for her... anyone else please?!
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Ok, ruling out back, tack, health issues (girth galls, ulcers etc) I would take the girth off the saddle. Put saddle on. Put the girth on one side, on the bottom hole. Then put it on the other side, on the bottom hole. At this point, the girth is barely touching. Then gradually put the girth up by one hole on each side.

I hate seeing a girth on the 4th or 5th hole on one side as the rider is pulling it up onto the first hole on the other side. It really ought to be tightened evenly on both sides. Make sure it is either elasticated on both ends/middle or not at all. And that she doesnt over girth.

When she has been good girthing up, treat her. I wouldnt feed at the same time as girthing up.

Does she behave the same way with a roller?
 
Never tried a roller (I dont think, but she never mentioned it)
I suggested doing one hole at a time and this is what she does always making sure its even on both sides.. the current girth is not elasticated at all (its a shires padded fabric one)

Hmmm now girth galls/ulcers... how would we know about them? (sorry, this dislike of being girthed is new to me)
 
If your friend can do this without getting attacked by her horse, get her to feel the girth area behind the right elbow - if she feels gently with her fingers she may be able to feel tears or holes in the muscle fascia.

If the mare has previously had an ill-fitting saddle, she will have tried to avoid tree point pressure by turning herself slightly to the left as she moves. This has the effect of making the left tree point press downwards behind the left shoulder, the right tree point press inwards behind the right shoulder, and cause a torque point from girth pressure behind the right elbow.

Has she tried a Wintec elasticated girth do you know? This girth is softly padded but has the elastic, which is very strong, in the centre of the girth so it lies over the horse's sternum, and thus allows for flexibility and expansion as the horse works and breathes, without the rider being able to overtighten it or tighten it unevenly.

Hope this helps, I feel for this poor horse
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Pm me if you want to ask anything
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Yes shes tried the Wintec Chafless one- is that the one you mean?

The next ones in line are the big expensive padded ones, like the Treadstone comforts and Barnsby Comforts which shes happy to try but if these dont work then its very much a 'what next' worry.

She can feel without the mare attacking her, its never ever done viciously- its more of a warning type/I dont like that type.

If she can feel the tear in the muscle your on about- does she call the vet or is it a case of letting it heal?!
 
No point in getting the vet really. If the tears are there, there is a limit to how much healing the tissue will be able to do - much of the damage will be permanent. It then becomes a case of removing or relieving the cause, which means good saddle fitting. Generally with really "girthy" cases I would recommend trying a treeless saddle (thus removing the need for the horse to try and avoid the tree point pressure). Horses usually become less girthy in treeless, although once the horse associates being tacked up with discomfort, it may always be a little bit girthy.
 
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Poor thing, my friend has an amazing bond with this mare and i think the mare knows shes trying her best but i will get her to check.. she checks for any sores etc regulary but there are none of them.
 
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If she wants to get in touch and ask anything just pm me.
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Thankyou.

Thankyou Cotswolds.. does it say when they may be available in the Uk?
 
The other place to check for damage is in the muscles under the girth and leading up into the chest. These are part of the horse's propulsion system - the flipside of the muscles everyone knows to worry about in the horse's back - and can be very badly damaged by too quickly tightened or ill fitting girths. Did the physio check these areas as well as the back?

The basic approaches have been outlined above - very slow, step at a time, retraining. I cannot tell you how many horses I see go into their ridden work already tense/frightened/unwilling because the rider has yanked the girth up too tight right off the bat. It's not unknown for horses to literally panic or even drop to the floor from that sort of approach, leaving them permanently leery.

One thing that can help is a sheepskin or girth sleeve. I find the real sheepskin ones a bit bulky and you have to keep checking for wrinkles, but there is also a kind of tightfitting elastic "sock" that fits over the girth. It's not a solution - those have been touched on by posters above - but it can make the process less uncomfortable, especially when the weather is cold.
 
I think they are available this month (Nov 08). At least that's what I have seen on the Elevation saddle which is being released.

Who knows whether they have arrived in WB Banbury warehouse though!! Could well be on a ship somewhere!
 
I agree with Rowreach. when girthing up with a treed saddle the tree digs into the back, and this horse has obviously been in a lot of pain. My horse was bad being girthed, but now have a treeless and he is much better, but still remembers how it felt before and can still be touchy about it. The wintec elastic girth is the best one for performance and comfort.
 
Had the same issues with my mare, she had major problems when i bought her to rebreak. the first time I put a roller on her her threw herself to the floor, very alarming!

Had everything checked then did as follows.

Used a prolite pad under her newly fitted saddle, and a prolite girth guard over a soft shaped elasticated leather girth.

Did girth up on bottom hole and held the girth around her for a few mins before doing it up on bottom hole on the other side. This allowed the guard to warm up a little.

Took up to 15mins to do the girth to a correct tension, but walked her around the stable between each tightening, she would pull back and throw herself around quite often during this process. Never raised my voice, was always calm and made sure I never rushed this process.

Took about 3 mths before I realised that it was becoming quicker to girth up.

I never rush when tacking her up but now it doesnt take much longer than my other horses to get ready.

If she has a day off I have to take things slowly the first time I want to tack up again.

Good luck hope things get better soon
 
Sorry to hijack post but what are your thoughts on getting your horses to breath once girthed up? I have a rescue pony who must have been girthed badly in the past as while we girth and for upto a minute afterwards he holds his breath. He is so bad, his chest looks like all the air is sucked out and he goes wobbly on his legs. We are taking things very slowly with him but anyone experienced similar? How did you get yours to relax and breathe?
 
If she gets tense when you first go to fasten the girth, try and make sure that you start from the right first. We had a mare who had 'issues' with anything done from the 'correct' side, she was much more relaxed if we did everything from the right.
 
QR - it may have already been tried but one thing I do with the ones that have come to me with problems is to spend some time stroking and scratching round the girth area, ending up with quite firm slaps all round.

Then I do the girth up one hole at a time on alternate sides.
 
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