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What happens if horses girth is too tight? (Explained)

A horse girth that is not too tighten

Those who have been into the horseback riding industry will always agree with me on this, having your whole saddle stable when riding is one of those indispensable things. Not debatable.

The whole concept is simple here, you need to have your entire saddle stable when riding, it should just stay at its right place without any disturbance. The sooner you discover this the better. 

And this is where the aspect of having quality and standard horse girth comes into place. With the right set of horses' girth, your saddle will remain stable and your horse will be very comfortable. We have seen it frequently.

Let’s face it, having the horse girth is one thing and knowing how to make it fit clearly is another. To put it simply, you must always ensure your horse's girth fits nicely in a way that it won’t be too tight. 

We constantly get asked this a lot, like hey what happens if a horse's girth is too tight? 

The response is very simple, once the girth is too tight, it will make your horse uncomfortable, disturbing the entire saddle position and might impact the overall horse's skin (Horse sore). 

“Let’s get this straight, Girths are important to get right. If your horse is pinched or rubbed by a sub-standard girth, they’re not going to be happy and their performance will suffer.“

(Saddle Up & Ride)

Kate Ballard Professional Saddle Fitter and member of the Society of Master Saddlers says in one of its articles that “Always make sure your girth is tight enough to safely ride, but not so tight that it is causing your horse discomfort.”

And we can’t emphasize that enough.

How to tighten a Girth

Once you get it right that part of the girth tightens, your whole what happens if horses girth is too tight disappears. Your horse will start to feel more comfortable and the entire saddle will remain solid. 

Alright, here are a few tips when it comes to how to tighten a girth.

  • Set your girth properly in a way that it won’t affect your horse's breath. 
  • Ensure the girth is properly fitted from each side. 
  • It is important to make sure that the saddle is tight as possible but not too much tight. 
  • And the other thing is, don’t over tighten. Ideally, put your hands between the girth and the side of the horse and just pull.
  • If the horse still has problems with the Saddle slipping up again, keep adjusting the girth until it settles. 

Why is my horse sore in the girth area?

And this happens a lot, you find people complaining about their horse's soreness in the girth area, the reason might be very straight, it is due to the improper girth fitting at the saddle area.

“Girthiness" can be caused by painful withers, which commonly result from ill-fitting saddles, from girth galls (sores) and from abnormal sensitivity of the chest behind the elbow.”

Says the Animal Mrt in the article “Girt Pain”.

The solution to this is very simple, make sure you will fit the saddle and do a proper girth tighten. Make sure it is not tightened too there. The sooner you understand this the better. 

Final Thoughts:

The whole idea of what happens if horse girth is too tight has in many ways well explained in this awesome article but to have your horse much more comfortable you need more than that. 

My point? you simply need to pick the best quality horse girths around to make it very possible. And guess what, we have got you covered here at Saddle Up & Ride.