Expert: Jels - 6/20/2004

Question
Hi!
Got 2 horses which I ride quite a lot. I was just wondering:

1:  how tight should the girth be? I'm afraid that if I pull it real tight that I might hurt the horse, but if  I don't, I'm afraid that I might fall off saddle and all .

2: If you are on a horse, is there anyway that you can calm it down if it's stressed?

3: do you have any tips on getting a horse to go from a gallope to flat out running?

Thanks for listening, hope to hear from you soon.


Answer
A girth is perfect when you can still pull it away from the horse and fit a finger between the horse and the girth.  It is too loose when you can fit your whole hand between the girth and the horse and it's too tight if you can't fit your finger between the girth and the horse.  But remember that it is safer for the girth to be tigher instead of looser.  To calm down a stressed horse the best thing to do is be calm and sit quietly in the saddle, don't jerk on the reins or kick it, it will only make the horse more worried, talking soothingly to the horse also helps.  And as for your third question, from what I know a gallop is a flat out run.