How to tighten the girth on an english saddle more?
Aug.28, 2010 in
English Horse Saddles
I ride english and have just started riding a walker. He is unusually tall though and I am short. I cannot get the leverabe to tighten his saddle as much as needed and twice now have been riding and the saddle slide sideways. Has anyone used the Belly Buster girth tighteners or anything similar. I need to find something other than standing on a bucket cause that obviously isn't working.
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August 28th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
I don’t know about the Belly Buster you mentioned but….you can get it a little tighter if you tighten all you can then lift the front leg way up on the side you are buckling on. It straightens the skin under the girth, and you can usually get another inch or two tighter with little effort.
August 28th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
do you tighten the girth from the ground or when your in the saddle, its best done from the saddle….(put your leg in front of the saddle, lift flap up and pull girth strap up towards you using your index finger to push the buckle into the hole)
saddles shouldn’t be done up really tight as soon as you put the saddle on, let the horse warm up first for a few mins then tighten it, and never too tight ie not as tight as you can do it up (unless the horse is really round) as this can cause sores under the girth, and its not a great feeling for the horse.
August 28th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
Also, once you mount the horse it might help to move your leg forward (off the saddle flap) and tighten the girth from there! I used to do that on a horse who bloated when I tightened the girth. Just be careful not to fall off the side of the horse!
August 28th, 2010 at 2:32 pm
You can tighten the girth while you are sitting on the horse.
Before mounting, do the girth up as tight as you can, hop on, and then lift the flap of the saddle on the left and tighten. It sounds harder than it is, but get your trainer to give you a hand.
August 28th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
It might not just be you – I have tightened girths on horses much taller than myself with no problem.
You might want to check to see if he’s holding his breath when you tighten the girth. Some horses suck in their breath and expand their girth. You tighten the girth and they exhale, let their girth line contract again and the girth is suddenly loose. If you tighten the girth as much as you can and do not check it before you ride, he might be doing this.
You can tighten the girth when you are tacking up, then check it halfway to the arena and again just before you get on.
August 28th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
Maybe you need to build a little bit larger(portable) platform to stand on, rather than just standing on a bucket while saddling up Taller horses. Your not getting the “footing” you need to get the leverage to really cinch that girth up. Also, Some horses will hold their breath while cinching. My horse “skippy” did that.(16.2hands Quarterhorse) I used a platform also. He also needed to be in cross ties for tacking up or he would not let you do anything to him.(throwing his head and goin through) he put up a fuss to say the least, but IF you can get him all ready to ride he was a dream to ride.
August 28th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
you can hop up on the horse and pull the flap back and pull the billets up. the only other thing is to get a smaller girth… im not sure if this helps
August 28th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
you can tighten the girth once you’re on. Have the horse stand still and throw your leg forward off the saddle so it’s in front of the withers then you can lift the saddle flap and tighten the girth one handed. It takes a little practice but once you’re used to it it’s easy. It’s similar to adjusting your stirrups once on.
August 28th, 2010 at 4:18 pm
it could be that he is holding in his breath when you tighten his girth… horses are smart and a lot of the ones i ride do that to make themselves extra fat… after you get on you should ask someone to tighten it while you’re in the saddle… if it really is the height issue then you can try standing on a mounting block