Are you guilty of doing up your horse’s girth as tight as you can in the belief it gives your saddle and you the best security? Well Australian researchers have found that a girth done up too tightly can have a negative effect on your horse’s performance.
The usual tension applied to a saddle girth to keep a saddle on a Thoroughbred racehorse is around 13kg but researchers found anything over 10kg could alter the horses performance.
Although they still have to work out why, it’s thought that it may force the horse to adopt different breathing patterns involving a greater use of the diaphragm which in turn affects performance. Alternatively, the soft tissue and fluid in the thoracic wall (the part between the neck and abdomen, enclosed by the ribs) could be displaced during exercise.
As yet, no-one knows for sure. Some horses don’t seem particularly affected by girth tightness but others do. Saddle placement also played a part, so more research is needed. Whatever the effects of your saddle girth just make sure you don’t leave your girth too loose.
If you haven't seen this guy before then you've gotta see this video.
Apologies, as it's on our main site, (wouldn't run in the blog), on the Equestrian Chat page.
Just scroll down the page a little to see it. There's also a couple of other good videos worth watching. Especially the Party Animals one.
Two show stallions are arguing over who should take best of breed.
The first one says, “I’ll agree you are the closest I have ever seen to my equal, but my legs are just a bit straighter than yours, and you know, the legs are of prime importance: no foot, no horse!”
The second horse says, “I’ll allow your legs are just a bit better than mine, but mine are the legs I was born with, and I know for a fact that you've spent thousands on corrective work. Your foals will inherit your natural legs, not your genius farriers work.”
The first horse mulls this over for a moment; then says, “You’re right. I stand corrected…”
Hi this is Fidgit my stunning welch section D cross Arab, she's 15hh and 14 years old.
She's a very pretty elegant mare with a great presence and spirit about her, which I'm often been told by people as she really knows how to show off.
Although she's now 14 she thinks shes about 6, as when i got her she was nearly 10, unbacked and still in the field with her mum, i've now become mum and we've formed an amazing bond and trust between the two of us.
She's an absolute joy to own and i would'nt swap her for the world, i've owned other horses in the past and know what we have together is somthing very special.
We both love hacking out, alone or with lots of friends. She thinks schoolings way too boring unless there's jumps involved, this is were Fidgit really excels herself.
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She loves jumping, especially cross country and totally trusts me, never refusers and will have a go at anything. We have the perfect partnership as i love jumping and she defenatly sences this.
As you can see in the picture she has a powerful, big, bold, jump.
The middle photo is Fidgit ( "Welch Diva" show name ) and i after winning the novice show jumping which was Fidgits first ever show.
You can watch Fidgits winning round on this video. It was a very windy day which unfortunatly can be heard on the video (sorry).
Thank you for reading about my super little mare Fidgit. Please let me know what you think of her. Regards Sheila.
Winnie is my big warmblood thoroughbred cross, who's rising six and standing 16.3hh.
She's the cheekiest, nicest, full of character horse who, because of her size, scares everyone else around her. A real gentle giant.
Winnie loves other horses and is always up for some fun.
She's still just a baby but is coming on really well.
We've done some dressage, some jumping and some showing and Winnie loves to jump, although she also likes to get dressed up.
As you can clearly see she is the most beautiful horse in the whole world.
Like most big horses she loves children and has lots of little friends like Elizabeth who give her far too many treats.
You can see more photos of Winnie in the Lincolnshire Image Gallery where Jodie rides her in the showjumping and I ride her in the showing and dressage classes.
I'd love to know what other riders think of her or what you think she'd be best suited to ?
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Equestrian Eventing
Modern equestrian eventing has two main competition formats, the one day event (ODE) and the three day event (3DE). Equestrian eventing has also been known as Militaire, Horse Trials, or Combined Training.
Showjumping Tips & Techniques
Showjumping is a relatively new equestrian sport and was a further development of cross country jumping, which was initially brought indoors to allow spectators to view all the jumps without trapsing across muddy fields.
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