Category: Girth Pain

Cinch woes!

8/3/2014

When you are purchasing a cinch, make sure that it is balanced and the center is actually in the middle of the cinch.
In this photo, we have a 27 strand Rayon cord roper style cinch with the center Dees attached with nylon webbing wrapped with brown rayon cordage. It has sewn leather reinforcements. As you can see, the center is not sewn straight.

I've measured a 32" cinch of this style and brand that stretched to 35 inches after 20 minutes of use on a horse. That's 3 inches! Many times our horses get blamed for holding their breath or bloating during saddling, but rather the cinch actually stretched.

Here you can see another Rayon cinch of the same style and brand, that has stretched out of shape after use. Look at how center is now even more crooked, and the cinch buckles are no longer even. This imbalance could easily attribute to girth pain and a cinchy horse!

I found this video on Youtube depicting the same cinch that literally tore apart broke with a 6 yr old little girl riding her horse.
http://youtu.be/rvfM6RP6LZw

There can be a couple reasons for this problem:

It could be that the machine stitching was too tight causing the thread to cut through the cord.
The cinch was purchased in the fall and not used all winter, it could have rotted, although that usually doesn't occur with man-made materials such as rayon cordage.

This is a nickle plated cinch buckle that has split at the weld. A little more time and pressure under use and the split would separate even more allowing the buckle tongue to displace. The latigo would no longer be buckled and a wreck would follow!

This is an import H Roller buckle. Notice how the narrow roller bar has bent. This is on a Classic Equine Roper cinch. Interestingly, this cinch was purchased to replace a cinch where the roller broke out of the buckle. We will not be carrying these H Roller Buckles.

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Is your horse rough to ride?

8/3/2014

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Do you have a horse that is really rough at the lope or canter? One who is short and choppy at the trot? The kind of horse who will jar your teeth out?

We now have several documented cases of these type of horses becoming comfortable and smooth to ride with the use of a custom fitted mohair cinch! This is an exciting and surprise benefit. Read my blog post about cinch fitting, then send a message if you have questions!

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Why Mohair?

4/20/2014

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Mohair is the lustrous and strong hair of the Angora goat. Often labeled "the diamond fiber" it's distinct properties have made it a highly desired fiber for clothing and home furnishings. Angora goats evolved on the Anatolian Plains of Turkey and goats were highly regarded and jealously protected from exportation until the sixteenth century when the Angora goat was introduced into Spain and France. However, a small flock of seven does and two bucks were introduced to the United States in 1849. Since then the USA has developed into one of the two largest mohair producing nations in the world with an annual production of two million pounds. The mild dry climate of SW Texas is the primary mohair region producing 90% of our total USA mohair from a herd of 200,000 goats.
The spinning process is the twisting of the mohair into single yarns. When two or more of these single yarns are twisted together, they form "ply yarns", which are stronger than singles. For cinch making, generally, we use 8-ply cord for the cinch body, and 2-ply yarn for designs. 8-ply mohair cord averages 1/4 inch width.
Prior to the development of synthetic fibers such as rayon, which doesn't "breathe", mohair was the obvious traditional choice for horse cinches. As the American consumer becomes more aware of environmental and quality issues, today's horseman have rediscovered the benefits of mohair for cinches, breast collars, mecates, and reins. Today's consumer seeks quality at reasonable price and products that will last and perform. Hand crafted mohair tack meets these demands.

Benefits of Mohair and its Care

Only American 100% Mohair is used in our Copper Canyon Cinches.
Mohair is a natural fiber that doesn't weaken or stretch when it gets wet, it's stronger than wool, and it's said that Mohair is stronger than steel in comparable diameters. It is long wearing, and is naturally soft.
Mohair wicks moisture and sweat, helping to keep the horse's girth area cool and dry resulting in comfort.
Mohair doesn't weaken or stretch when it gets wet, resulting in a long lasting product.
Mohair is resilient, it does not easily crush or become matted.
Our horses seem to enjoy the smell and comfort of mohair. Mohair cinches are very beneficial to "cinchy or galled" horses
Mohair yarns & fabrics soft luxurious feel with a rich luster and shine.
Because mohair is composed of protein it has a high affinity for color tint dyes being absorbed completely through the fiber, giving rich and long lasting hues that have an unmatched clarity and a halo-like glow. Custom color dying will be available soon.

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Fitting The Cinch

4/20/2014

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All of us know that cinches come in various lengths. But what length do we need?
A cross section of your horse's heart girth/barrel shows this part of the body is oval shaped. Generally the widest point is midway between the top of the withers and the chest floor (see diagram).
Your western cinch buckles should be 2-3 inches above the point of the elbow, yet below the widest point of the heart girth. This measurement gives you the length of cinch needed.
*To simplify measurements for everyone, the Length Measurement should be taken from the outside edge to outside edge of the buckles. ~Leslie

Now observe your horse's heart girth and barrel conformation from the side. Look at the chest floor just behind the elbow.
#1- Is he streamlined and tucked up like a greyhound as in the photo on the left, with his rib cage getting smaller towards the flank? This horse shape may benefit from the use of a breast collar.
#2- Does he have a level floor of heart girth as in the center photo? This body type is easiest to fit, girth width consideration are based on the saddle riggin.
Or #3- does he have a grove where the cinch would lay as in the photo on the right? with a well sprung rib cage that is wider than the heart girth area? This horse needs extra attention that the cinch doesn't slide up towards the elbows and cause extra pressure on the scapula.

Saddle your horse and observe where the latigo and cinch lay as compared to the riggin of your saddle. After riding, again check how the cinch lays. Does it lay vertical directly under the riggin, or slanted forward?
If your cinch slants forward, as in this photo, then it is pulling your saddle forward while riding, putting pressure on the scapula (shoulder blade) and exerting excess pressure to the bottom of the heart girth, and causing excess friction of the hair and skin.
In this photo we have a 3/4 rigged saddle with a store-bought roper style (supposedly) 100% mohair 36" long cinch that is 3.5" wide at the buckle. It has leather reinforced center Dee rings. When we removed this cinch and measured the length it had stretched to 39 inches! This tells us it is a lower percentage of Mohair.
The vertical tape measure is being used as our plumb line because it was quite windy and we couldn't keep a string from blowing! The wider horizontal tape shows that the plumb line is 1-1/8" off center.
When using this cinch, it is tightened several times during a ride and the saddle has a tendency to roll. This horse has been quite crabby (cinchy) due to girth pain while being saddled even though he routinely receives bodywork and physical therapy.

Because of our above measurement of 1-1/8" off of the center plumb line, we know that we will need to double that number and add it to the width of the cinch at the buckle.

So 1-1/8" + 1-1/8" = 2-1/4" or 2.25"
then
2.25" + 3.5" cinch width @ buckle = NEEDS 5.75" wide cinch.

As you can see in this picture, we have changed cinches to a 23 strand hand tied 99% Mohair cinch that is 34" long. The plumb line now hangs vertical and dissects the center of the riggin Dee and the Cinch Buckle. The center Dee rings are tied in (no leather or nylon webbing material). This horse never flicked an ear while cinching up, standing pleasantly while being saddled. After initial cinching, but not overly tightened, the saddle never rolled, even while riding up and down steep hills and ponying colts. He moved out much more freely. ~Leslie

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Cinch woes!

Is your horse rough to ride?

Why Mohair?

Fitting The Cinch

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