Re: RC: Neoprene Girth

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated Sun, 12 Aug 2001 11:36:43 AM Eastern Daylight Time, "Lisa P." <bludoglady@juno.com> writes:

>  I know a lot of you have Arabians, so I wanted to ask about this. My
> local tack shop,(Ruff's I'll put a plug in for him! LOL) told me a lot of
> Arabians have problems with girth sores in summer. He suggested going to
> a Neoprene girth, as sheepskin (or fleece girths) would get sweat and
> dirt causing friction and sores as well.

Well, having had Arabians for 30 years, and having had a couple of PNER mileage champions in that time, my personal experience has been that the ONLY horse I've had girth sore problems with turned out to be allergic to neoprene, and the solution was to go with a woolback girth.  However, a great many folks use neoprene girths and do just fine.  Whether one uses a fleece girth OR a neoprene girth, the main things are to make sure that the saddle fits properly so that the girth is in the right place (does not bunch up, or rub under the elbows, etc.) and to make sure that both horse and girth are CLEAN.  Slathering on Desitin if a horse has any tendency to have a problem also helps.

I do think you are wise to get away from the leather girth for endurance, though.  I've also seen some pretty bad problems with string-type girths.

Heidi