Avoiding Girth Galls
Girth galls are ugly, painful sores caused by the cinch (girth) being placed in the wrong position or by a worn, damaged, or twisted cinch. Galls are a man-made problem and an injury that is definitely avoidable.
The most common cause of girth galls is positioning a saddle too far forward. This seems to be a an all too frequent error made by riders. A saddle that's positioned too far forward causes a variety of problems, including soreness and impaired movement. But girth sores are probably the ugliest and most painful of the problems.
With the saddle positioned too forward, the front edge of the cinch pinches the skin where the horse's elbow meets its barrel. After a period of time under saddle, the skin will be rubbed raw, leaving a weeping sore. A cinch that is twisted, not lying flat, or is damaged and uneven can also cause galls.
In addition to causing your horse a lot of pain, galls will put your horse out of action until the skin of the wound closes. Care includes cleaning and covering with a thick protective ointment.
There are some good practices that will help avoid galls:
- Position the saddle in the correct position which will have the saddle placed on the horse's back so that the cinch falls about four inches behind the elbow.
- After saddling and tightening the cinch, pull each of your horse's front legs forward to make sure the skin isn't bunched under the cinch.
- Consider your cinch choice. String cinches and contoured cinches which are shaped to avoid the elbow, are both good choices for avoiding galls.
Read more about Saddle Sores.
Filed under General Saddle Topics, Saddle How To's, Saddle Parts by Saddle Sense
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Comments on Avoiding Girth Galls »
You are so right about string girths being one of the best choices to avoid girth galls. You can certainly buy a more expensive, hi-tech girth if you want to, but they aren't necessary. Plus, string girths are so much easier to clean.
I use the contoured leather ones for shows but much prefer the string version for all other uses. I even have one for my English saddle. It's got to be a million years old by now and still chugging along happily.
I think another cause for sores is a girth that's too loose. Out of a mistaken feeling for kindness or forgetting to tighten it up after walking a few minutes, some people leave them too loose which causes excess movement and rubbing. Dangerous for the rider too!
When you first start saddling a yearling or two year old, they can also be a bit sensitive. Just keep an eye on that area and saddle times short but frequent. That will always do the trick.
Carol