Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Girth Puzzle

Over the winter I purchased the TSF shoulder relief dressage girth to try to alleviate Q's girthing issues that have cropped up since last fall.

I'm not quite sure why the issue has arisen now. My tack has not changed in a few years and we've had multiple completions in this tack with no girthing issues prior. But my hypothesis is that it's got something to do with finally going downhill with more speed, which with a lot of rides is something you just have to do to make up time - especially the OD rides. The "move out" sections are often on the gravel roads and those sections are commonly slightly downhill in nature. You wind up technical, rocky single track to climb the mountains, and then zip down gravel roads to descend.

I discussed the girth problem with seasoned endurance riders in October after it presented at the LD (mildly, we still completed, but Dr. Nick pointed out that I may want to pay mind to the issue and resolve it, so I am!) Those I talked to at the ride all recommended a centerfire rigging system. Well that's well and good, except that it would require a new saddle which I don't have budgeted in the slightest right now. Additionally, this saddle has done really well for us for the past few years and I really don't want to reinvent the wheel when a new spoke may be the answer, y'know?

And so I decided to look into new girth options.

I had asked for recommendations on this blog after the LD and received several recommendations from y'all including: apply baby powder at the start and at every hold to the girth, use body glide in the girth area, try contoured girths, try mohair, tighten her crupper and/or breastplate, tighten the girth.

From experience with Q and other girths I know the following: neoprene seems to give her heat/friction rash/galls quicker and easier than anything else; where mohair transitions to neoprene or another material where the buckles are gives her galls faster and worse than anything. So contoured girths that were anything other than wool were probably out, as well as mohair. I decided I could stand to tighten my breastplate and crupper regardless of what girth I ended up with, and baby powder/body glide would probably be added at some point regardless of the girth.

In the last year, I read quite a few wonderful reviews by friends for the TSF shoulder relief girths. I hadn't read a negative comment, in fact! I was leaning that way really strongly as those girths have an optional sheepskin cover, too, and then Saiph told me that it was what fixed Gracie's galling issues. Well, I'd witnessed Gracie's issue first hand and knew how much worse it was than anything Q had had up to that point. If this girth (with the sheepskin cover) could fix Gracie, I was sold!

I've tested it out for a few months now, though our rides haven't been too crazy in the grand scheme of things (you know, as they compare to the actual OD trails) until this past weekend. I figured I'd have a really good idea of how things were going to be during competition after riding in Canaan some; Dolly Sods especially is relentless.

IMG_20160315_074651
Not the greatest photo because her front leg is back and the saddle cover is misleading on saddle position,
but it's the only one I have of Q in the saddle...but you can STILL see how the saddle now positioned thanks
to the girth.


From the rides I had done prior to the past weekend, I can say that I'm REALLY pleased with what this girth has done with my saddle position. The saddle is back further than it's been before while the girth is still right where it needs to be. Q's range of motion through her shoulder isn't impeded by the saddle at all - just what TSF advertised. I'm so pleased. Hell, maybe this girth is factoring into Q's confidence increases because she's more comfortable!

So, onto the real testing: this past weekend's rides.

Friday's ride had very little elevation gain/loss over the 14 miles (+1700'/-1700'; I'm really surprised it was this much!). We went up into the Heights, along Loop Road, and down the pipeline and back. None of it is very taxing. It's actually a great place to just let 'er rip and get some speed work in. After the ride, I noticed Q had a small gall (smaller than anything to date, about the size of my pinkie finger from tip to the second joint) on her right side. Hmm. I looked at the girth and noticed the reason: I hadn't cinched the cover to the girth tight enough and the girth was hitting her right at that point (on both sides, but moreso on the right).

Quick, easy fix. But damn, it would probably throw off my whole weekend re: results of how this girthing combo was going to play out over legitimate terrain. The gall definitely wasn't bad enough for me to throw in the towel for the whole weekend's riding (just enough of a hot spot that the hair had rubbed off), but I knew it would alter my results of my testing. The gall looked really amazing the next morning with no swelling and such a later stage of scab than I anticipated; if I hadn't known better, I'd have thought it was days old instead of hours!

The second day's riding had a lot more elevation gain/loss over the 18 miles we traveled (+1900'/-1800'; okay, admittedly not as much as I'd anticipated, but I'm guess this isn't surprising. We basically ascend out of the valley floor and then stay up in the plateau of Dolly Sods). This day included a 2.5 mile downhill at the end though.

For this day's ride, I had fixed the girth cover issue and I tightened her girth one more hold. Immediately following the ride, Q had no swelling, galls, soreness. The previous day's gall hot spot looked great! It hadn't been touched by the girth much, if at all based on it's appearance. However, the following morning, Q had small, equal swelling on both sides of her girth area an inch or two behind her elbow that was about 2½ inches vertically and ½ inch wide; so relatively minor - especially compared to swelling from October. She wasn't reactive to the swelling either unless I really pinched it. And, all that swelling was completely gone and she wasn't reactive to the areas by Monday. More evidence that it was minor based on past experiences where swelling and reactiveness lingered longer.

So, are we out of the woods yet? Nope. But we're definitely getting there, I think.

I'm going to add baby powder and/or body glide (I feel like that needs to be an "or" vs. and?) and I've tightened her crupper up some more based on observations on our Monday night ride this week (mountain sprint sets). No Frills will be a big tell. Fingers crossed that I've arranged the puzzle pieces to fall into the proper places for success.

18 comments:

  1. I love Body Glide, but yes, it is an either or type of thing. The paste that using both would create would be so messy! Gem tends to go bald this time of year due to her loose, shedding hair but it looks like you shaved the area. Short backed horses with a forward girth groove are really frustrating. I am glad the new girth is working for you.

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  2. I haven't had much luck with the TSF girth. It works as a girth, but I don't find that it really keeps my saddle back at all. Of course, I'm riding a downhill mule so it's a lot to ask of a girth. Good luck with finding a solution.

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    1. Mules have the trickiest body types for tack! They are the best partners though when you know how to work with them (which I don't, but I do dream!)

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  3. every rider now and then comes across equipment failures and issues (i certainly have!) - but it never ceases to amaze me how absolutely precise endurance equipment must be. like, it's crazy to think of how much hour-long riders can get away with compared to distance riders... anyway, good luck getting it figured out

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    1. You're right! Hour long on the flat can get away with a LOT compared to a 25 miler. And 25ers can get away with more than a 50. And 50s can get away with more than 100. 100...you gotta have your shit DIALED. It's definitely tricky!

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  4. I've been thinking about getting the TSF girth for awhile. My County Logic girth is similar, but it's probably 12 years old at this point and needs to be replaced. And there is a new model of the girth now, which has a fascinating design. It's got three parts that flex in the middle - so cool.

    I'm not sure if you've seen them, but Dover is offering a line of Mattes girths. I think there are three or four different shapes meant to address different girth lines relative to saddle placement, which I thought was a good idea. All come with sheepskin liners. They are pricey but if this girth ends up not working, you may want to look at those.

    One penultimate thought. You mentioned Q and neoprene don't mix, but what about plain leather? That might solve the bunching problem you had with the sheepskin.

    And finally, is there any room to use a different girth size? The reason I'm asking is because I wonder about the possibility that where the buckles are is just not working for Q's body and maybe moving them up or down could change a friction or pressure point. In fact, you could have 2 girths, slightly different lengths and swap them out at holds to change the feel a bit and see if that prevents the swelling. I've been contemplating something like that for Nimo as a way to address potential tack issues on longer rides. Because sometimes I'm not sure that it's a case of the tack item being wrong for the horse so much as it is the sameness of anything over 50 or 100 miles.

    Anyway, good luck! Hope to see you at No Frills!

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    1. Yes to no frills!

      Great idea on the different lengths! This is a 24 which is what her it her girth was. I will have to check my billets to see if I could go any longer...not sure I can. I don't think shorter would work. You've got my mind whirling wondering about options now though! :-)

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  5. Very frustrating! Hope you figure something out soon (I love my TSF girth but it doesn't have to do a lot more than hold the saddle on while I mosey around)

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  6. Definitely "or" with the talc and Body Glide! I wouldn't mix those + sheepskin! Body Glide with sheepskin works fine though: just brush out the girth cover when the sweat dries or before your next ride to get the product out. :)

    I love Gail's suggestions. All of them are spot-on! I had looked at the Mattes girths first, before going with TSF. What had swayed me was the price. Definitely something to keep in mind though! As well as the different-sized girths suggestions. I've heard that one before too!

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    1. Body glide it is. And yes! It's great to have so many options and friends to help bounce them off. :-)

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    2. Body glide it is. And yes! It's great to have so many options and friends to help bounce them off. :-)

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  7. My previous horse was a tiny, short-backed horse with a forward girth groove and I had all sorts of trouble with a standard saddle/girth set-up on her. The saddle would end up too far forward on her whithers and her elbows would chafe pretty badly :( (no galls, just chafing)

    I initially solved this on my dressage saddle because the points (girth billets) needing replacing anyway, and the saddler I was using explained that moving the attachment placement of the points onto the tree would change how the saddle sat. Completely fixed the issue, and the saddle would just stay where it needed to! Any chance you can get this done on your saddle??

    The best solution was finding her endurance saddle though - it had self-adjusting "Y" attachment of the girth points to the 'tree' (is that 'centrefire'?). I could use that on her without a breastplate or crupper and it would stay put scrambling up and down all sorts of country. (I still recall finding that saddle like there were sounds from heaven in the background...) Good luck with your tack adventures!!!

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    1. Yes, that is centerfire! Was it costly to have your saddle adjusted as such? I think that would be an easy fix...but I'm not sure how it may change the fit of the saddle as it moves with her back being treeless and all...?

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    2. Ah, cool. Yes, centrefire is great!

      Well, it wasn't too pricey to get new points put on a different place. But just to clarify, the dressage saddle was 'normal' single attachment (not centrefire). All up, including adjusting the flocking, I think it was about $300 (saddle was about $2500 second-hand).

      And yes, I'm not sure how that would affect the fit, I don't know about moving the points on a treeless because it would possibly change the distribution of pressure from the girth? Having said that, the centrefire rigging I have is on a flex-tree saddle (which has a flexible foam tree), so it could be possible?

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  8. I'm pretty sure Chrome's Aussie saddle has centerfire rigging and I love it! I've gotten so used to it that other saddles just look weird to me. Our western saddle puts the girth up against Chrome's elbows. I hate that. I hope the new girth continues to work out. Q is the first horse I've ever heard of to have swelling from the girth. Have you tried stretchy (like those elastic girths) vs. not stretchy? Maybe she needs more give? Fingers crossed it works out for the upcoming ride!

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    1. Previous girth had elastic on both sides. This girth has no elastic. I think too much give before was allowing too much movement and thus friction.

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    2. Previous girth had elastic on both sides. This girth has no elastic. I think too much give before was allowing too much movement and thus friction.

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    3. So the girth is moving? Does your saddle rock side to side? My girth didn't move side to side and I leave it fairly loose. How tight do you have the girth? Hmm... That's a tough one.

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