Reviews of Wow Free Space girth?

ycbm said:
I'm reasonably sure a string girth wouldn't do the trick on this horse, but it does occur to me than he has very definite "corners" in the shape of his chest where the girth turns to come upwards. On a horse of a rounder shape it's quite possible the effect would be less marked or even non existant.
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Yes, I wasn't thinking it would be a solution in every case, but as both of mine seem relatively good in the string girth. I will do the test about putting your hand under the girth. One of mine, in her old saddle, had a Le Tixerant girth and I always ended up doing the back strap one hole looser as it seemed wrong otherwise.
 
I tried it at 8pm last night when it had cooled off a bit. I really like it, horse was very relaxed straight away and worked lower than he usually does. The clincher for me was the rein back, we’re just starting to learn it and he offered it without hesitation. I’ll try it over the weekend to make sure that wasn’t a blip though!
 
The head carriage is probably the most notable thing with mine, if you ride on a loose rein.

I did 45 minutes hacking today and he did the whole thing with his head 9-12 inches lower than normal unless we were galloping :) He's also completely stopped spooking at noises and rustling bushes. Head down, back up, totally relaxed and swinging along, feeling fab. He's also now on girth holes 10,10,10,10. (LF, LB, RF, RB). We started on 10,10,11,11 and quickly went to 10,10,11,10. I can still easily feel his ribs, it doesn't seem likely to be increased fat that's caused this.
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ycbm said:
The head carriage is probably the most notable thing with mine, if you ride on a loose rein.

I did 45 minutes hacking today and he did the whole thing with his head 9-12 inches lower than normal unless we were galloping :) He's also completely stopped spooking at noises and rustling bushes. Head down, back up, totally relaxed and swinging along, feeling fab. He's also now on girth holes 10,10,10,10. (LF, LB, RF, RB). We started on 10,10,11,11 and quickly went to 10,10,11,10. I can still easily feel his ribs, it doesn't seem likely to be increased fat that's caused this.
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Can you give me a suggestion on fit? Blue's a 50" in her string girth but needs a 52" in a more rigid girth like the Prolite. Any idea which side of the divide the wow is likely to be on?
 
I have a horse with a forward girth groove, normal girths moves back on him ( but not the saddle) I’ve got a curved girth but that moves back as well, does anyone know if this wow girth would be ok .
 
ameeyal said:
I have a horse with a forward girth groove, normal girths moves back on him ( but not the saddle) I’ve got a curved girth but that moves back as well, does anyone know if this wow girth would be ok .
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I used to use an H for saddle slippage. I think because this is an H, the ability to do up the back strap tighter independently of the front will help. It's a lot of money to spend to try though, can you try an H girth anywhere?
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Pippity said:
Can you give me a suggestion on fit? Blue's a 50" in her string girth but needs a 52" in a more rigid girth like the Prolite. Any idea which side of the divide the wow is likely to be on?
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Ooh, tough one. I used to use a fairly stiff Harry Dabbs waffle curved girth on long girth straps and this one fitted exactly the same holes for the same size girth.
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ycbm said:
I used to use an H for saddle slippage. I think because this is an H, the ability to do up the back strap tighter independently of the front will help. It's a lot of money to spend to try though, can you try an H girth anywhere?
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The saddle doesn’t slip , it’s the girth that slips back ,
 
JGC said:
Yes, I wasn't thinking it would be a solution in every case, but as both of mine seem relatively good in the string girth. I will do the test about putting your hand under the girth. One of mine, in her old saddle, had a Le Tixerant girth and I always ended up doing the back strap one hole looser as it seemed wrong otherwise.
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Really common and not much to do with girth design, all to do with girth groove placement and ribcage shape as well as girth strap placement on the saddle.

ycbm said:
I used to use an H for saddle slippage. I think because this is an H, the ability to do up the back strap tighter independently of the front will help. It's a lot of money to spend to try though, can you try an H girth anywhere?
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Any girth with a decent split at the ends can be done up to different heights, I always advise feeling to tension, not worrying about which number hole each strap is on.

ameeyal said:
The saddle doesn’t slip , it’s the girth that slips back ,
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Interesting. Do you have photos?
 
ameeyal said:
The saddle doesn’t slip , it’s the girth that slips back ,
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I know. I was explaining why I used an H girth so you understood that I can't comment on whether it will stop your girth slipping back, as it's not why I used one.
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Mine has arrived. Lottie HATES being girthed up. I already do one hole at a time on each side just to ease her into it gently. So that is not a problem. Initially she tensed and bit at air as I began to tighten, then she seemed to realise it was not pressing on her pecs and she relaxed. I took my time but there was a massive improvement in her reaction to being girthed. She then seemed freeer in her movement and more steady in her head contact but the real test will be tomorrow when I have a dressage lesson. I will report back.
 
Ambers Echo said:
Mine has arrived. Lottie HATES being girthed up. I already do one hole at a time on each side just to ease her into it gently. So that is not a problem. Initially she tensed and bit at air as I began to tighten, then she seemed to realise it was not pressing on her pecs and she relaxed. I took my time but there was a massive improvement in her reaction to being girthed. She then seemed freeer in her movement and more steady in her head contact but the real test will be tomorrow when I have a dressage lesson. I will report back.
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Very promising start AE.
 
I had a complete fail today. Tense, wouldn't stay forward, not happy to hack. But I identified a pretty serious, sudden onset, sensitivity to UV light last week, so I took a short route back to the barn and put his turnout hood on. Then took him out again, which should have been a cue for a "that's not fair!" moment, but it didn't happen, his back was instantly relaxed and swinging.

Memo to self, different causes can create the same apparent problems!

A pair of UV eliminating goggles are arriving Tuesday. Pricey but I think better than trying to use a full hood all the time. I was so tempted to get the rainbow reflective ones, but went for clear sensible ones in the end. I hope speccy four-eyes will like them ?
 
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So had my dressage lesson. RI rode first and said she was feeling happier and not rushing as much. I then rode and she felt freer in her movement. I took some video and then compared it to last lesson. I think she’s reaching more into the contact and that foreleg is stretching more. So I’m not kidding myself I won’t say which pic is which! What do people reckon? C4618E93-43AF-492A-9C71-372005FF87D4.jpg5F32B019-CA01-4182-99BF-DF51BC8C0348.jpg
 
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Never have I ever wished so hard for disposable income (and a horse that would justify me spending that amount).
 
Top pic has a lot more reach forward and down into the act but she's also letting you sit "into" the saddle, which is what I have found too.

The stretch of her neck out into the contact is a picture of what i am feeling.
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The top picture is with the Wow girth. I felt she was reaching forward into the contact more in that picture so there’s a longer length of rein but I also think she is reaching that front leg further forward. The angle between the 2 front legs looks wider? She felt steadier in the contact too. I won’t be getting rid of it, I’m pretty sure she is more comfortable in it x
 
So the saddle fitter is coming on 16 August so I am going to have to sit on my hands until then, in case I end up with a saddle needing a short girth. Must save up in the mean time!
 
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