The Equestrian Blog

Saddle Girth – How tight is too tight?

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.

Fidgit my amazing little mare

Posted by idex7 | Filed under Showcase Your Horse

Fidgit in the ribbons after winning the novice showjumping at her first show 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.

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.