How to Girth a Sport Saddle

The most common mistake with girthing this saddle is with using the English billet strap method, which is simply to put the buckle into a hole of the cinch strap. That method will not get the cinch tightened enough to keep the saddle on the horse securely. Also, trying to finish the end of the cinch strap with a western knot doesn't work either because the D ring isn't big enough to accommodate the knot. The knot is sometimes referred to as the Texas T, bow tie or western knot.

The customer does have a choice to order a larger cinch D ring for their saddle, BUT it is considered custom and the 100.0 fee applies. This will allow you to use the knot method for your cinch. An advantage to using the method below is that it creates less bulk under the left knee flap.

The method used to cinch the Sports Saddles starts out like that of any other western girth method. However, the buckle on the girth needs to be used to complete the cinching rather than finishing with a knot at the upper D ring. Follow the procedure illustrated below. Please note: Becasue the D ring is small, you will find that the tie strap can only go through it no more than two or three times. But then you may find that there are no holes to use. So, it may be necessary to create more holes up higher into the strap, between where the nylon tie strap is attached to the ring and where the first hole begins. This way when you take the tie strap twice through the D ing there will be holes for you to finish the job.

Step 1 – Put the cinch strap thru the girth ring, but keep the strap loose at this point.

Step 2 – Now go up to the upper D ring and put the strap thru there and bring it on down to the girth ring.

Step 3 - Put the cinch strap thru the large girth ring, now for the second time. Now pull the cinch strap up snuggly.

Step 4 - As you pull the nylon strap upward to tighten the girth the strap will slide easily. The nylon strap slides easily on itself unlike the leather cinch straps, which tend to resist sliding easily due to moisture.

Step 5 – Put the pin from the buckle into the desired hole but do not let the pin just stick out to the side. If the pin is left like this it could slip back out of the hole.

Step 6 – to get the pin to sit firmly up against the nylon cinch strap, put your finger under the outermost nylon strap, grip it and tug outward. This will “seat” the pin up against the nylon girth strap. If this leaves the strap with too much play in it than put your fingers under the entire nylon strapping and tug outward on it to make the final adjustment.

Steps 7 & 8 - What do I do with the excess cinch strap? You may not have enough strap left to store the excess through the leather keeper found on the Trail models. You can drape the excess over the Skito pad's keeper strap on either side of the cinch.

Or, if you have a neoprene girth you can double-up the excess and tuck it away inside the pocket of the girth. If you are using the girth that came with your saddle (sorry, no picture) you will see a three inch wide open ended pocket on one end of the girth. You can place the excess into this pocket if the girth was arranged so the pocket is on the girthing side of the horse.