Product Review - Prolite Girth

So a lot of people (including myself) have been waiting in anticipation for the new Prolite girth to come out. I've had mine for a couple of weeks now and have been using it on both my saddles since. 

The new girth is the only real copy of the Fairfax girth, which we have already heard a lot about. So in theory it is the same girth (but synthetic) at a fraction of the price, which is why I was eager to try it. 

Prior to this, I was using a 28" leather girth on my jumping saddle and a 26" synthetic girth on my dressage saddle. Emmie is VERY girthy with both of these (and anything else I've had her in for the past 7 years, including fleece lined long girths with my old two-flap jumping saddle). I also got the narrow gauge version as when I measured between her front legs she was on the smaller side of 20cm and I was wondering if this was the issue I've had with other girths before (girthyness, and she gets girth galls very easily). 

I bought a 28" in the prolite, and glad I did because there is no way a 26" would have fit. I could even have had a 30" quite happily. I was pleased with the fit when it was all done up. It was stiffer to begin with, but the lining is so beautifully soft with it being the prolite material. Very squishy! Some of the stiffness has gone with a bit of use, too. 

After a couple of weeks using it - I definitely feel it makes a difference in her shoulders, she does feel much looser. Initially I didn't think there was much difference, but she's gradually getting better. She is significantly less sore in her pectorals and is less girthy as a result. She now only puts her ears back when I do the last tightening - with previous girths I was dodging teeth even as I went to put the girth on to begin with, never mind when coming to tighten it! 

Overall I would say I'm really pleased with the purchase and would recommend it to anyone who was looking at a Fairfax but didn't want to spend the money. She seems happy with it which is the main thing. Now I just need them to make a short stud girth! 

Edit: February 2016

I've had a lot of views on this review, so I just thought I'd add an update on the use of this girth. 

Unfortunately Emmie's girthiness returned with great vengeance. I do think she improved with the girth initially but she gained a couple of sores, which I think were due to the synthetic material staying quite hard. I should state here that nearly every girth I've ever used on this horse has marked her. She also started getting sore in her pecs again. She was diagnosed with ulcers in Dec '15, which may have contributed to her girthiness getting worse.

November 2018 

I ended up selling the girth after a few months and now use a Jeffries Elite dressage girth. I have found central elastic works better for Emmie. The prolite has no elastic so there isn't much give to it. Even though it ended up not working for me, I thought I'd leave this review up so people can see how it worked for me (or not, unfortunately!) over time.