# Cinch sores...



## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

What causes them? How do I get rid of them? 

A few of my horses at camp are having issues with cinch sores and I've been trying to get them to heal but they just don't seem to want to. Even Lacey has one that just won't go away. So I need help. 
I need these horses to be working too, I can't just give them time off either which really stinks. I'm going to try to give them as much time off this week as possible to hopefully heal but they will probably still have to "work" for at least 3-4 hours (as opposed to 6-8 hours) every day unless I get super lucky. 
I've been riding Lacey mostly bareback and that's been good to her sore but it opened back up again on Thursday when I had to use a saddle. The other horses however don't have that option.

Are felt cinches or string better? Currently I'm using mostly string but the mare (and Lacey) that has it the worst is in a felt cinch since she's too little for any of the string ones I have on hand.


Thanks!


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## flytobecat (Mar 28, 2010)

My horses will get rubbed raw once in a while, because the cinch is too tight or the saddles is too far forward. Usually it isn't bad though & I'll just take the day off until raw area heals.
I have known people to put Fur a Zone or a gall salve on the horse & still ride without problems. 
I don't like the rope cinches because the skin can get caught in between the ropes & get pinched.
I prefer the fleece or sheep skin (if you can afford it) cinches. If you have to choose between the rope & felt. I'ld go with the felt. Make sure the felt isn't caked with sweat, because that can irritate the skin.
I was also told to stretch each of the horse's front legs forward after they are cinched up. Supposedly that stretches the skin out underneath the cinch so it doesn't pinch.


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## Gidji (Dec 19, 2008)

Well ideally rest and treating the sores with a wound cream etc would be the best, but if you can get these horses using clean cinches and remember to stretch their legs when the cinch is on, it might stop them from flaring up. Couldn't you rest some of them, whilst the others work?

And assuming your posting this from camp, I want Lacey photos!


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

I'll try stretching their legs forward, that might be it. I'm sure the cinches are a little tighter than they really should be, but any looser and the saddles start slipping around on the horses, especially that one mare. She is super wide in front and narrow in back so the saddle is continually sliding back way behind her withers, which I'm sure doesn't help. I found her a breastcollar yesterday to keep the saddle forward without tightening it so much, hopefully that'll help.

It's really hard, some of the saddles I have to use don't fit their respective horses very well (too many Semi-QH bars when I need QH bars) so we're having a lot of slippage. My plan is to play musical saddles with the really badly non-fitting ones on Monday and see if maybe switching saddles around would help...

I would just use other horses but I need to use 8 horses on a daily basis out of 13 and 5 of the 13 are wrangler only (so kids can't ride them, either they're having kicking issues, slow-ness issues, injuries, or they're super green, or they're Lacey and she's weird with people other than me) and the horses that have sores are ones that are kid safe so they need to be used. If that makes any sense...

I want Lacey photos too! Haha I'm going to get some this week. My camera was having weird issues (I kept getting evidently bad batteries for it since I went through 4 sets of batteries and none worked, then today my dad got new ones and my camera worked again) but now it's back! I'm gonna try to get pictures of all my trails and all the horses and Lacey and give you all the full picture.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

I went through this for 2 years with Wildey.

Shave.clip the girth areas - Excess hair balls up, catches in the girth, and just makes everything worse.

Make sure the girth area is clean, and wash all sweat off after each ride.

Use some kind of wound salve - Smrobs reccomended one on here not long ago that is intended to be used on horses still working. Gall salve maybe?

If you use a girth cover, ONLY real sheepskin, or a flat material - Fake sheepskin is terrible.


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## Saddle Gal (Nov 18, 2008)

If the sores are happening on more than one horse then it's unlikely to be the horse. I'd take a look at your cinches (string cinches are fine if they're in good condition) and your cinching technique. I'd guess it's one or the other, or a combination.


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## flytobecat (Mar 28, 2010)

Saddle Gal said:


> If the sores are happening on more than one horse then it's unlikely to be the horse. I'd take a look at your cinches (string cinches are fine if they're in good condition) and your cinching technique. I'd guess it's one or the other, or a combination.


Cool link


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

If the cinches are old, dirty, and stiff, then they will continue to cause galls and get worse and worse. Make sure that the cinches are in good shape. Some horses do better with string (mohair is best) cinches and others do well with felt or wool cinches. Once you have got the problem that is causing the gall worked out, you can use this and keep working them. I just put it on the galls before every ride and then after I rinse them off every day. It protects and helps to heal them while allowing them to keep working. I wear galls on my trainee horses and this has been my lifesaver.
Gall Salve, Wound Cream, Bickmore Health Care

You can probably find a can of it at the local tack or feed store.


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## AngelWithoutWings54 (May 24, 2010)

Try putting a piece of gauze over the sore when you have the cinch (I call it a girth) on. It stops the girth from directly touching the sore, so it stays cleaner.


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

Our mares have haven't had any sores since I switched from string to neoprene. It seems to me that neoprene grabs better, no hair gets caught, I can tighten less and not have any slipping/rubbing.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

I use wintec anti-gall girths and Wildey still galled - I find the best were the shaped ones that were cut away a bit behind the elbow - It helped, but we didn't get rid of it until we started clipping that area as well.


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

Thankfully I was able to let the horses with issues rest all week so now they're mostly healed. I also put breastcollars on the saddles of the horses with issues so I wouldn't have to tighten as much to keep them in place and that seems to be working pretty well with Lacey at least. The other two horses were out all week so I don't know if that will help them, but hopefully it will!

Thanks for the suggestions! I will definitely see what I can do about getting that anti gall cream stuff! 
I'll also see what I can do about cleaning all the cinches since they are pretty gnarly.


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