Rehabbing girthy horses
Rehabilitating a girthy horse can be a long process. The most important thing is to address the cause.
Even subtle signs of discomfort during tacking up should be taken seriously.
Girthy horses are everywhere. Unwanted behaviour during tacking up is sadly so common, many riders don't even notice it anymore. There are many reasons why a horse would misbehave while being tacked up and the most common one is pain. When dealing with a girthy horse, our first priority is to find the source of the pain and address it. This might be pain coming from an ill-fitting saddle, a subtle hindlimb lameness, a back issue, a suspensory issue... the list goes on. I recommend doing a full veterinary check-up, followed by a thorough manual therapy assessment.
In some horses, addressing the pain will make the issue go away. In many, it won't. If the problem had been something that the horse was struggling with for a while, a longer period of rehabilitation will be needed before we ask the horse to carry us again. This involves regular soft tissue release as well as creating functional movement patterns and building core muscles. If we simply put a saddle back on a weak back, the problem will only come back. After the period of movement rehab and muscle building, make sure to have the saddle checked again. If your horse has built muscle, chances are the saddle won't fit anymore.
But even after all of that, some horses might still display unwanted behaviour while being tacked up. This has to do with the fact that trauma very often gets stored in the body. Because the horse experienced pain every time the saddle went on and this went on for a longer time, his body will learn that saddle = pain. This pattern might persist even after the issue has been resolved, so the horse still displays unwanted behaviour. Now your task is to rewire the nervous systems' response to the saddle. This means you need to show the horse that the saddle is actually something comfortable. We will delve into how to go about doing that next week. In the meantime, the next time you tack up your horse, really closely observe his behaviour. Does his facial expression, his demeanour, his behaviour change at all when you're putting on the saddle and tightening the girth?
Associated content:
https://www.thefunctionalhorse.com/blog/girthiness-is-never-normal