RC: Girth on Sports Saddle

[Roberta Jo Lieberman <woik@home.com>]

<...my Sport Saddle tends to slip forwards, ending up over her withers. 
When I position the Sport Saddle on her back, just behind the scapula,
the girth is falling a good 4-6 inches back from her elbow.  I tighten
it in that position, but it
naturally tends to creep forward till the girth sits just behind her
elbow, and
the saddle is perched on the wither. Any ideas?>>

Hi Beth,
The solution for at least two people I know of (myself and my riding
partner Kathy) is to purchase the double-rigging girth system from
SporTack -- consisting of a mohair girth and two biothane straps on each
side (one in the regular position, the second on the ring midway toward
the back) held in place with Chicago screws glued for safety. This keeps
the girth, which will be positioned slightly further back than a regular
girth, from slipping forward. It solved the problem of chronic elbow
galling on Kathy's horse Dan, who has extremely sensitive skin. It
solved the problem of fore-and-aft saddle slippage on my mare April, who
has a very flat back, low withers and round barrel (you can imagine
where the saddle ended up going downhill, even with snug girth and
crupper). It also keeps the saddle much more stable laterally -- another
problem with Sport Saddles. We're both completely "sold" on this system.
I know some people on the Sports Saddle Onelist have made their own;
perhaps they will respond with details. 
Good luck!
Bobbie and April (who had to sit out Geo Bun Buster -- anybody have news?)