What could cause a horse to be girthy...

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wench

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On the assumption that:

the saddle fits
no problem with the girth (different ones tried)
no muscle spasm along back
no KS

Any more suggestions gratefully received...
 
Does/has anyone else ridden the horse?? Only ask as the girthy mare I knew had got a stirrup leather caught on a gate and pulled back and frightened herself and was always awkward after that
 
With my mare its psycological totally. She had an ill fittin saddle in the past, I know because she has white hair on the withers exactly where the saddle sits. So she does things like if I girth her up she gets grumpy but if shes distracted by something going on in the yard then she doesnt even notice. If someone unexpected girths her up then shes fine, doesnt notice. If I take her to the patch of grass on the yard and let her eat whilst girthing she ios also fine. If I tie her up at the standard place she will move her butt backwards and forwards and make a big song and dance. For a long time I thought it was a pain thing until my friend girthed her and she didnt move a muscle so Ive been experimenting with what works for her and Id rather do one of the above and let her be settled and happy duiring the experience than keep faffing and trying to make her stand whilst she is tied up. Try diff things and see what happens. You never know you find somethings that work like we have:)
 
Muscular pain or fascia pain around the girth area, chest, pectorals or shoulders :) Would want a great osteopath to look at this, chiros don't really get into that area. Getting this sorted made a massive difference to my horse whose girthiness didn't shift despite getting her ulcers cleared. She had the area worked on by an osteopath and it flicked off like a switch.
Ulcers.
Hind gut discomfort (is horse reactive if you stroke up from udder / sheath area up the flank?)
 
May just have sensitive skin mine is a wee bit girthy nothing wrong i just put in one notch and leave a few seconds before doing up problem solved. I would point out she is also quite reactive to fly bites around the girth area, must be thin skinned.
 
I was a rep for Balance saddles for a while. I regularly saw horses that were very upset when their own saddle was put on - tails swishing, making intention to bite movements, throwing head around. When the Balance saddle went on, they absolutely invariably acted as if nothing was happening. Have a look at the Balance International page - their saddling philosophy is a lot different to that of most companies, and I would be very wary of saying that your saddle definitely suits the horse if that is the reaction to it that you're getting.
 
My mare is very grumpy having girth done up, my saddle fits and she has a wide stubben cord girth, also lives out 24/7 so should have no problem with ulcers. I put saddle on then on do up girth on bottom hole and leave while I put bridle on then i slowly do up girth but she still makes a fuss, she is pretty grumpy about various things so i put it down to the fact she is a dominant mare in the field and likes to make her feelings known. Once Im on and riding shes fine.
 
The basic is doing up the girth slowly - one hole at a time....but I did read an article somewhere some years ago that talked about a rib problem causing 'girthyness'....stemming from the birth of the foal if I remember correctly....
 
My gelding often grumbles, during the winter (when he is clipped) I run the girth through a fleece sleeve which seems to solve the problem. I guess I wouldn't like a cold slab of leather against my skin either!:D
 
soloequestrian said:
I was a rep for Balance saddles for a while. I regularly saw horses that were very upset when their own saddle was put on - tails swishing, making intention to bite movements, throwing head around. When the Balance saddle went on, they absolutely invariably acted as if nothing was happening. Have a look at the Balance International page - their saddling philosophy is a lot different to that of most companies, and I would be very wary of saying that your saddle definitely suits the horse if that is the reaction to it that you're getting.
Click to expand...

I've looked on the Balance Saddles Website... what makes them different to other saddles?
 
My gelding has always been girthy - I was told when I bought him that he was cold back and that was the reason but I've never been sure.

He'll try to nip when you girth up - he does this with saddle, roller and also sometimes the surcingles on his rug.

I've had him for over 5 years and this behaviour has been pretty constant but there have never been any other signs that would help identify the cause of it.

I have sometimes wondered about ulcers - is this something that you would automatically go to the vet to confirm or are there some supplements that can treat/prevent ulcers and promote gastric health without having to get the vet involved?
 
You can possibly try them on some sort of supplement to see if it gets better, but IMO you may as well pay for a scope to be done, as after you have spent £40 on a pot of stuff that may or may not work, you would be better off putting that towards the scoping.

My horse is due to go in for a scoping in the next couple of weeks, so it will be interesting what it shows up. In some ways it would be good to know that she has got something thats causing the girthiness... on the other hand I dont really want anything wrong with her!
 
I can think of a few.
  • Someone has yanked the girth up and pinched horses skin without pulling legs forward
  • hair has been caught and pulled when horse moves
  • liver problems (horse gets touchy round this area)
  • in season (mare only)
  • girthgall underneath
  • clumps of mud or hair or sweat chaffing
  • stomac ulcers
  • uneven lumps in numnah or saddle causing pressure when girth tightened
  • over tightened girth in the past
  • misc lump under the skin or on the skin
  • Lyme Disease
 
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Leviathan said:
I can think of a few.
  • Someone has yanked the girth up and pinched horses skin without pulling legs forward
  • hair has been caught and pulled when horse moves
  • liver problems (horse gets touchy round this area)
  • in season (mare only)
  • girthgall underneath
  • clumps of mud or hair or sweat chaffing
  • stomac ulcers
  • uneven lumps in numnah or saddle causing pressure when girth tightened
  • over tightened girth in the past
  • misc lump under the skin or on the skin
  • Lyme Disease
Click to expand...

thanks for that list...

I dont believe she's always done it - certainly didnt when I first got her (8 months ago), and does it in different saddle/girth combinations, so pretty confident that saddling arrangements are not causing it

As far as I am aware there has never been anyone yanking the girth up tightly, or doing anything painful in the area, tightened girth up to much.

She does have a mild case of KS which has been treated (which I am aware could cause the problem)

As above she is going in for scoping in next couple of weeks which should give me an answer on that one. I have also requested a full blood test, to see if any liver/kidney problems

Osteo has been to see her, nothing wrong, phys coming out next week

I am going to have a good prod around her this evening to see if I can find any lumpy bits/uncomfy bits

Will look into lyme disease thanks
 
Thanks for the link... very informative.

Trying to identify where the problem is coming from is the hard thing...
 
I have one that was girthy from Kissing Spine & depressed sacrum & other horsey girthy from Ulcers so could be either or a number of other things..
 
She has been on a general anti-acidic supplement in the past. It hasnt made any difference to the girthiness though I dont think - however, this is why she is being scoped to see if there is anything in there causing problems. Current yard generally dont put supplements into feed, hence pretty pointless me trying one first!
 
They can't be 100% diagnosed tbh. A certain supplement company pushes you to do a faecal blood test but this isn't as reliable as they imply.

Diagnosis is through symptoms and trying treatment, so quite long winded. Symptoms include sensitivity to palpation, sometimes but not nec frequent colics, sometimes but not nec acidic / sloppy / erratic poos, sometimes but not nec horse seems sensitive to diet changes / acidic or higher sugar foods or grass, sometimes but not nec lots of wind, sometimes but not nec difficulty striking off onto correct canter lead (more commonly right side), sometimes but not nec horse "resents" one leg or the other being put on strongly (again, more commonly right side), sometimes but not nec muscle tightness over SI area from tension during work...

Would be good if they could invent some kind of mile-long scope so we could just have a look!! :D

ETA It's my view that there are various types and causes of hind gut discomfort which are not nec ulceration, hence the huge variety of symptoms...
 
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wench said:
I've looked on the Balance Saddles Website... what makes them different to other saddles?
Click to expand...

They are designed specifically not to fit in a traditional manner, which tends to be 'like a glove'. The saddles are much wider than traditional saddles, so that a layer of deformable material can be used between the horse and the saddle. This means that as the horse lifts an rounds into an outline, the deformable material can be squashed out of the way and the muscles allowed to work properly. Many traditional saddles don't allow that to happen, which is why muscle, particularly in the area just behind the top of the shoulder blade, atrophies. My TB, who would probably be classified as a medium fit in traditional terms, wears a Balance Horizon, which is roughly 9X (XXXXXXXXX wide) and he loves it.
 
Well that's interesting about the right hand side... She certainly doesn't like that leg been put on her.

However had a good poke prod and feel all along her back ribs, and underneath where the girth goes, no reaction any where.

Get saddle out and on and she started getting snappy. Tried a new girth tonight, and she was better with this. Not got access to many other saddles but got a dressage one I can try next week.

Physio is coming out next week, will see what she thinks. horse also has a fair amount of muscle tension in back end...
 
Also just thought of... I'm not currently able to ride... But she seemed pretty much fine after lunged for ten mins. Leaky my weight over her and no reaction. Got a sandbag over the saddle, no problems. Bag is about 15kg, not overly heavy but still feelable! She didn't flinch when I plonked it on her bag. Walked round a little bit with it on.
 
Well slight update. Tried a different saddle on... Grumpy when saddle put on. Didnt try with a girth.

Had a good grovel about underneath her. Kicked out with hinds if I put my hands underneath her towards hind legs. Got grumpy when I put my hands around where the girth would go... Although oddly enough doesn't seem to bother when she was groomed in this area.

She is going to the vets next week to be scoped for gastric ullcers. There is obviuosly some internal discomfort somewhere. Is it worth trying any supplements before going to vets ie for hind gut ulcers
 
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