Reviews of Wow Free Space girth?

MagicMelon said:
I just find it such a shame that they're so expensive, means a lot us poor folk cant afford one which is a shame if ultimately they are kinder and comfier for the horse which all of us want obviously. They cant cost much to make considering they're not even leather...
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WOW have never been a bargain brand but they are technologically advanced. The saddles are about £3k new now. With this girth, they have to recoup all their design and testing costs, which won't have been small. They are very well made and they take a lot of work to make, which is done in Kent not in the Far East. The material can't be just any old plastic, the way it isn't showing signs of wear.
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ycbm said:
I check it just at the bottom of the sale flap but I've never done my girth up as tight as others like it.

I'm glad you brought the thread back, it saves me searching to update it.
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Thanks. Ill check beneath the saddle flap when I ride in it today (I do have the girth done up as near to the flap as possible). I don’t like tight girths, but equally as this is on a youngster I want to ensure saddle stays put with any unpredictable silliness.
 
MagicMelon said:
Good to hear how its gone ycbm. I just find it such a shame that they're so expensive, means a lot us poor folk cant afford one which is a shame if ultimately they are kinder and comfier for the horse which all of us want obviously. They cant cost much to make considering they're not even leather...
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They are priced similarly to all the other modern girths such as the Scharf and Stubben equisoft. I was going to buy a Fairfax girth as that is what my others wear, but since I bought those there has been even more research and development into girths. The fairfax is just as expensive, and now I have the Freespace I do think the quality of the material, even though it isn’t leather is far superior to the Fairfax leather. I’ve had the Fairfax girths for 10 years and they are still going strong, so if the Freespace lasts that long then I do think it’s money well spent.
 
Still not convinced I’ve got the tightness right, but this morning was the first time ridden with it so think it’ll be a bit of trial and error. I’m also not sure whether the single straps work for my horse, but I did buy the double strap holder too so I’ll change it and try that tomorrow. It is a little annoying that there aren’t stirrup leather holders further down the straps as I have a lot of leather flapping around - might have to bodge that with a few plating bands.

I didn’t notice much difference lunging yesterday, but then he was being a bit of a prat so I was preoccupied with just getting him doing loads of transitions and listening, rather than watching for any obvious improvements.

As a young horse who is built uphill and has a lot of movement naturally, I wasn’t expecting to feel much difference today, but right from the start he felt more relaxed in the walk and much more through over his back. I didn’t think he could move much bigger than he already does, but there was a noticeable difference. The canter was interesting - he has a big canter to balance and where he’s still weak in this area he has a tendency to fix a bit through the poll and withers, sucks back a bit and blocks the shoulders coming forward (which in turn doesn’t allow his hind to come under enough), but today he was so much more supple through the front end he didn’t seem to know what to do with this new found feeling and we had all sorts of head/ neck positions and varying degrees of contact. So the canter is still a work in progress, but in a positive way.
 
Further update on mine on a rotund cob: I've dumped it and gone back to my usual string girth.

I honestly couldn't see any difference in how she went, and it was so much more faff to deal with than the string girth, that I didn't see the point. It also felt less stable, especially when mounting.

I'll be putting it up on Preloved when I get round to wiping it down and taking photos. (Brown, 50", if anybody wants to save me the hassle of listing it.)

I think the effects are probably very dependent on shape, and my horse just isn't the right shape for it to work.
 
For what it's worth I'll add my update too?

I still love my 2 wows, the change in shape, strength and balance have been amazing and it is the only change i have made. His base of neck and wither have popped, he has filled out the gaps around the girth.

My instructor's daughter saw him for the first time since changing girths and she was shocked at the change.

Obviously, judging by other's reviews it doesn't suit every horse (what does?!) And it's an expensive gamble but it has given me the horse i thought should be underneath me
 
Is there Anywhere that this girth can be trialled now ?

I’m interested but it’s so pricey just to see no difference and it sounds very fiddly.

But he sounds fairly similar to YCBMs horse, so there might be a glimmer of hope that this might help a bit.
 
I'll be giving mine another go. It rubbed him just before his holiday but I've bought a sheepskin sleeve for each side so we will se if he prefers that.

I am back lightly riding, but the saddler is coming in 2 weeks and after that he will be starting back in work proper.
 
My update: still like it and still using it! I didn’t find it completely revolutionised his way of going, but I do think it has been one of the pieces in the puzzle of getting him to where he is now on the flat.

I haven’t found it makes such a difference in his jumping, but maybe the adrenaline and love of the job in that area overrode any discomfort from a standard girth. Or maybe because we don’t jump very often I’ve not had many opportunities to notice. Either way, I’ll carry on using it there too because I have it, and if he’s more comfortable on the flat, it must be more comfortable for jumping too…
 
Think it is very "marmite". I tried one, and my horse hated it.

The first time I tried it, he took a while to start going forward properly, took slightly longer the second time, and resolutely refused to go forward at all on the third occasion. So I immediately put on his original girth, sigh of relief and forward straight away.
 
I'm giving up on mine - neither horse seems to react to it in any way and I find it a faff. How much would I expect to get second hand? Lightly used, perfect condition brown 54 inch (if anyone is looking!).
 
Hi there, have always read this thread with interest and actually purchased the long version. Now however as hsve dressage saddle and bought short version, i have a 56‘ wow long freespace girth for sale if anyone interested? My horse def seems more free moving in it…
 
Out of interest how are people finding the girth now?

Do you reckon it’s worth trying and if so does anyone know if there’s a way of trialling them?
 
I had to stop riding my horse a week or two after my last post. I will be using it on my new horse but not immediately as changing to a full size saddle from a tiny race saddle will be enough to start with. I'll come back and update whether the new boy likes it.
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Thanks for the updates. It sounds like it could well be worth a go. I’d far rather find somewhere to trial it as it still seems a lot of money but haven’t been able to find anywhere else yet.
 
Squeak said:
Thanks for the updates. It sounds like it could well be worth a go. I’d far rather find somewhere to trial it as it still seems a lot of money but haven’t been able to find anywhere else yet.
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If you are close to me at Somerford then I'd be happy to let you try mine on. They are horribly expensive to go into a purchase blind.
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ycbm said:
If you are close to me at Somerford then I'd be happy to let you try mine on. They are horribly expensive to go into a purchase blind.
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Thank you so much for such a kind offer. Unfortunately I'm a couple of hours from Somerford otherwise that would have been amazing. I've sent Wow an email to ask if they do trials or know if anyone does just in case.
 
I've sold mine - it didn't make any difference to either horse. I've actually moved them both to the Venn Tech girths (well, one of those and one rip-off cheaper version). They have elastic at both ends which I planned never to have. The horses like them - on one it seems to help keep the saddle from slipping back (which was part of the reason for trying the Wow girth) and the other just seems to like the stretchy feel.
 
An update.

I've now been using the girth on Charlie for four months and I've not been sure whether it was doing any good or not. I hate how difficult they are to put on level. I'm about to try an elasticated curved one one him as a test because he will always have had elasticated girths and might prefer them. I'll report back on that soon.

But there's absolutely no doubt in the last two or three weeks that he's filling up the gaps, just as happened with Ludo. I used to get my hands in them without the strap touching me and now my hand is being slightly squeezed. I don't know if this would have happened without the space to move into.

Of course he's completely changing in shape due to the training he's getting after coming off the track, so I've no idea what changes would have happened anyway.
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Thanks for the update, @ycbm - funnily enough, I'd been reading through this post about an hour before you'd posted the update, as I'm still wondering whether to get one of these girths. Mine is just a bit less expressive in front under saddle than loose or lungeing, plus she's getting a few bumps under the girth from the Le Tixerant, so I will have to change. I just don't have a lot of spare cash and can't commit!

No one has heard of these girths in France so not much chance of making any of my money back if she hates it!
 
JGC said:
Thanks for the update, @ycbm - funnily enough, I'd been reading through this post about an hour before you'd posted the update, as I'm still wondering whether to get one of these girths. Mine is just a bit less expressive in front under saddle than loose or lungeing, plus she's getting a few bumps under the girth from the Le Tixerant, so I will have to change. I just don't have a lot of spare cash and can't commit!

No one has heard of these girths in France so not much chance of making any of my money back if she hates it!
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What shape is her girth area? If she's a "box" with fairly obvious "corners", and especially if your current girth feels tighter on the corners than on the sides, then I'd say you have a good chance of it causing her to lift more out of her shoulders. If she's round with no tighter spots I'd probably advise you not to risk it.
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The bit I forgot to update is how it's wearing. I don't know what high tech plastic it's made out or, but if I scrubbed it clean it would pass as brand new.
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ycbm said:
What shape is her girth area? If she's a "box" with fairly obvious "corners", and especially if your current girth feels tighter on the corners than on the sides, then I'd say you have a good chance of it causing her to lift more out of her shoulders. If she's round with no tighter spots I'd probably advise you not to risk it.
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She's a bit angular in her girth groove but not really boxy, no
 
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