WHAT IS A girth? Basically, it is a belt that goes under the horse's body to secure the saddle, rather like a person wears one to hold up their trousers or shorts to prevent them from ending up around their ankles on the floor.
Originally the girth was merely thought of as a tool to hold the saddle in place and keep it still, but since Dr Russell MacKechnie-Guire's groundbreaking research on racehorses, this ‘belt’ has been looked upon somewhat differently.
Russell wrote in trainermagazine.com: “It seems that the girth has the potential to be more influential and important than has ever been imagined. Indeed, the girth's impact on equine locomotion has been reported to be so great that authors of a study suggest the girth and its fit should be considered by a veterinarian when evaluating a horse for poor performance.”
Indeed, the research pinpointed that high-pressure areas from girths were localised behind the elbows and not on the sternum as
