>I
have had some personal observations of potential wrecks with extra equipment on
horses, but it happened to me more when rounding up cattle. Then we are
not traveling "Trails," but going on cattle and deer paths.
Likewise, if something spooks your horse or if he
is pushed off or falls off the trail for any reason, and the terrain is brushy,
you've now put him at risk by having extra "stuff" on him to catch and
snag. In my experience, stirrups are one of the most common hangups--but
they will often come off if hung up. Your branch under
the girth sounds scary--but breast collars,
properly adjusted, are nowhere near as tight as girths, and so are
even more of a hazard for such incidents. Most breast collars
these days tend to be biothane or similar material--and that stuff is hard to
break!
