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20 S U M M E R 2 014 U N TAC K E D EDITOR'S PICKS "Kept secret to give a competitive advantage to Team GBR." "Something completely new." "Up to 33 percent improvement in forelimb protraction and general range of motion of every elite horse we tested." With claims like that, how could I not be intrigued by the new Fairfax Performance Girth? e premise behind this innovative piece of tack is that it's designed to alleviate the worst pressure created by a normal girth during movement. Vanessa Fairfax, of Fairfax Saddles, was watching a horse free jump one day when she noticed that it jumped differently depending on whether or not it was tacked up. Fairfax, a member of the Society of Master Saddlers, placed a Pliance pad—nor- mally used for testing pressure under the saddle—under the girth. She discovered the greatest pressure zone is behind the point of the elbow—where horses tend to develop girth sores— not in the middle of the horse's sternum as one might imagine. So she set about designing a girth to avoid that band of pressure. Fairfax also lined the girth with Prolite—a high performance pressure-absorbing material commonly used in therapeutic half pads—in order to create a cushioned buffer zone that guides the muscle bulk under the girth. Centaur Biomechanics, a company that specializes in horse- and-rider performance analysis in Great Britain, tested the girth. ey evaluated pressure distribution under normal girths versus Fairfax girths using a pressure mat on jumpers, eventers and dressage horses. e results showed that the Fairfax girths created a significant reduction in pressure and allowed for 6-11 percent greater forelimb protraction (forward motion), 10-20 percent greater hindlimb protraction and greater carpal (knee) and tarsal (hock) flexion. Will Connell, Great Britain's World Class Performance Di- rector, asked Fairfax to delay the launch of the product until after the Games in London in order to give his riders an edge. Sounds amazing, right? But what was my personal experience with the girth? e horse I ride most frequently is a tense off-the-track or- oughbred who competes at the preliminary level of eventing. Like many OTTBs, he can be funny about girthing, so I usually tighten his girth slowly and stretch his front legs out before leaving the barn in order to make the process as comfortable as possible. I decided to skip the leg stretches when I tacked him up with the Fairfax girth to see what happened. He walked out with a free, open stride, cheerfully allowed me to mount and didn't give me the cold-backed, humpy feeling I sometimes get if everything isn't exactly right in his equipment. at first ride in the new girth wasn't magical, but he cer- tainly felt good. I've used the girth for several months now, and while I wouldn't say it's been a game-changer, I think he likes it and is more comfortable in it. is was proven to me at a recent event when I rode him in a different girth for my warm-up and dressage test. (My Fairfax girth is brown, and my dressage saddle is black.) When I saddled up for cross-country, he just about squealed in protest after two rides in the wrong girth. Did the Fairfax girth turn my horse into an Olympic cham- pion? Of course not. Do I think it's an excellent product that would help a sensitive horse perform better? Absolutely. At $395 for the short girth and $450 for the longer version, this is an investment, but the quality is good, and the science behind it is real. ey come in black and brown, short and long, narrow and with stud guard. I got mine from Advanced Saddle Fit, advancedsad- dlefit.com, one of the few U.S. retailers. Colleen Meyer was happy to discuss options and fitting with me, and she sent me a copy of the Centaur Biomechanics study. You can also visit the Fairfax Saddles website to find a retailer: fairfaxsaddles.co.uk/stockists. —Sara Lieser, Managing Editor The Fairfax Performance Girth