Re: Girth Tightness

["Linda B. Merims" <lbm@ici.net>]

Angie (rides2far@juno.com) said:

>There's an article in this month's copy of "The Horse" about girth
>tightness in relation to performance.  According to the article,
>overtightening the girth reduced performance in racehorses by causing
>earlier fatigue.  They found that the average racehorse groom was
>tightening the girth to 29 lb. pressure. (13 kg)  They worked 10 horses
>on a treadmill with girth pressures of 11,22, 33, and 44 lbs.  They said
>11 lbs. was a little too loose, anything over 33lbs. was very tight.  44
>lbs made it difficult to get your fingers under the girth and would 
>leave an imprint when removed...

Aha!  I *knew* I'd find a use for that 1-50 pound farm spring
scale I got at the used tack sale!  (Like the spring scales
fishermen use to weigh fish, only heavier duty.)  The only problem
is finding a time to measure when my horse isn't "blown up."

Linda B. Merims
lbm@ici.net
Massachusetts, USA