06/12/2025
Have you ever given much thought to your girth points setup?
Traditional old english saddles would have three girth points.
And we were taught to use the front one and a rear one.
Why?
Because traditional saddle construction (and I mean back when saddles were put together using tacks, and webbing was jute) would have a front web across the tree (1"wide) for the first point. And a second web, also across the tree (2or3" wide) that the rear two points were on.
Blue circled area.
The idea was, that if the girth was attached on two independent webs, then if a web broke/perished/came loose, you would still be safe enough on a single point to allow you to come to a safe halt, without the girth dropping off and it all going badly wrong.
Saddle construction and materials have changed significantly over the decades.
Many saddles now offer several girthing options, designed to help you put the saddle in the best balance point for your horse, although your saddlefitter will usually have to move and restitch the points for you.
Some brands have a loop system so you can do this yourself.
Although I am seeing a large number of saddles in the dressage market that are set with a point strap (this anchors a saddle very securely down at the front. Not always a good thing) and a swinging rear balance strap. Which kind of works. But often it just swings to where it pulls and doesn't actually give you much adjustability.
It's a fairly common workshop job to be asked to tweak these systems and give them more versatility.
