Dr. Audrey DeClue is a graduate of Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine. She is an equine private practitioner whose passion and focus has been diagnosing, treating and rehabilitating “mystery and unsolved” injuries, lameness, and performance issues in the horse.
I first came across Dr. Audrey DeClue when I found her podcast “Why are horses girthy or cinchy” - https://declue-equine.com/episode-27-why-are-horses-girthy-or-cinchy/ while doing a Google search for girthiness in horses.
Obviously, a topic I’m obsessed with so I had a listen. Great stuff there!! A must listen for anyone with a horse. After listening I knew I had to reach out to Dr. DeClue and offer to send her some Tapestry Comfort Girths to try on her own and clients' horses.
I never expected the detailed chart that she would send to me after her informal 8 week trial. Here are the results summarized below. In a nutshell, the Tapestry Comfort Girth improved or resolved the girth issues of all 42 horses in her study.
In summary -
- Total number of horses: 42
- Number of disciplines represented: 12 – both English and western
- Number of Breeds represented – 8
- Types of girths used horses before the switch to the TCG – neoprene, neoprene with elastic, mohair, shoulder-relief, leather and fleece
Top clinical signs with original girth – percentage of horses exhibiting
- Girthy – 81%
- Tail Swish – 21%
- Bite at cross ties or pulls back – 31%
- Ribcage Pain – 26%
- Other -19%
Movement under tack with original tack
- Choppy and stiff – 62%
- Anxious, rushed, tightness in initial movement – 31%
- Other issues – 19%
Movement after switching to a Tapestry Comfort Girth or Cinch
- Issues resolved and improvement overall – 88%
- Better but not all issues resolved – 12%
The takeaway is that the girth is an important and integral piece of equipment for your horse. Not just a piece of tack that just holds the saddle on.
You can contact us for the full report - you'll be impressed!
Happy Horse. Happy Rider.
