Girth lengths: how to measure at home

Martha Terry's avatar
By
Published In How-to
How to measure horse girth
A girth should have at least two holes above and one hole below
(Image credit: Alamy Stock Photo)

Of all the essential parts of a horse’s saddlery, the girth is often the most overlooked item. Knowing how to measure a horse’s girth correctly is vital for your safety – this is not a piece of kit that you can muddle through if it’s a little on the small or large side.

The most straightforward method of making sure you buy the right size, is to measure your old girth if it fitted correctly, or – if it’s a new horse or a new saddle – to try a friend’s to see what length fits your saddle and horse best. Your girth should naturally fit around the middle hole of the straps, to allow room for tightening a few holes – going up evenly on each side – and also to be able to do it up gradually.

Martha Terry
Martha Terry
Features editor

Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.