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 Expert
Posts: 1286
  
Location: Mississippi | how exactly do you measure for proper cinch length? Where should the buckles be located on your horse - I think the cinch I am using now is too long but I've seen many different opinions on how one should fit - what is your preference? |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 629
| I have always kind of guessed, and I think got lucky. I like my cinch to sit centered under the belly, with about 2-4 inches of horse showing between the top of the cinch and the bottom of the pad.
My 13.3, very stocky, 900lb quarter horse mare rides in a 30" cinch. My 14.2 lean, round withered mare rides in a 32". |
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 Born not Made
Posts: 2937
Location: North Dakota | I think it's a bit of personal preferance. And it depends on your saddle too.
I tend to ride with longer cinches. My horses either take a 34" or a 32".
For Shotgun, I wish I had a 33" because that would be perfect. On his "fat" days, I feel that a 32" is too small. But if we are at a long day show and he sucks up a bit, then the 32" is just right. When winter rolls around, I'll probably switch back to a 34".
This is a 32" on him. He turned 4 this year, and I haven't actually measured him in a while but he must be about 15.2 hands now.
For Red, he's a bit slimmer and trimmer this year than he has in the past so a 32" has been working well for him (pictured). He's 15.2 hands and 1,200 pounds. When winter rolls around, he most definately needs a 34".
Versus this picture I noticed of Chayni Chamberlain and FloJo. I noticed it because I saw that their choice of cinch sits WAY lower than what I normally place mine at.
Edited by r_beau 2015-06-11 10:43 AM
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Red Bull Agressive
Posts: 5981
Location: North Dakota | r_beau - 2015-06-11 10:42 AM
I think it's a bit of personal preferance. And it depends on your saddle too.
I tend to ride with longer cinches. My horses either take a 34" or a 32".
For Shotgun, I wish I had a 33" because that would be perfect. On his "fat" days, I feel that a 32" is too small. But if we are at a long day show and he sucks up a bit, then the 32" is just right. When winter rolls around, I'll probably switch back to a 34".
This is a 32" on him. He turned 4 this year, and I haven't actually measured him in a while but he must be about 15.2 hands now.
For Red, he's a bit slimmer and trimmer this year than he has in the past so a 32" has been working well for him (pictured). He's 15.2 hands and 1,200 pounds. When winter rolls around, he most definately needs a 34".
Versus this picture I noticed of Chayni Chamberlain and FloJo. I noticed it because I saw that their choice of cinch sits WAY lower than what I normally place mine at.
bl
I have a 34" cinch on my guy and it sits about the sam as Chayni's, maybe just a tiff higher. I probably should have gotten a 36" but I don't think the current length is hurting anything. Westen cinches confuse me, I'm used to english! |
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  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | I prefer mine high like the top 2 pictures and have had ones like the bottom picture sore a horse and eventually start to make them ****y. I assume it is because that vein runs right close to there.
Edited by wyoming barrel racer 2015-06-11 11:20 AM
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Expert
Posts: 1286
Location: Mississippi | thanks, somewhere I read 3-4 inches above the elbow is where the buckle should sit but when I measured that way I was coming up with a really small number. I know there is a vein somewhere in the girth area that we don't want to buckle to press into but not sure exactly where that is :) |
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Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | turtleaut - 2015-06-11 11:46 AM thanks, somewhere I read 3-4 inches above the elbow is where the buckle should sit but when I measured that way I was coming up with a really small number. I know there is a vein somewhere in the girth area that we don't want to buckle to press into but not sure exactly where that is :)
You can actually see the vein on Chaney's grey horse in those pictures and after seeing that, her girth is plenty long as the buckle of her girth is quite a bit higher than the vein. If you see that, maybe you can find it on your own horse. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1035
Location: TN | I use a 30" roper style mohair blend cinch on my 15 hand boy and it never gets him sore. As a kid my parents always seemed to have longer cinches, but we were told by Dennis Mooreland that most quarter horses will use a 28, 30, or 32 inch cinch. He also says you should allow 6-8" between the d-ring on the cinch and the d-ring on the saddle. |
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Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | KatieMac88 - 2015-06-11 12:11 PM I use a 30" roper style mohair blend cinch on my 15 hand boy and it never gets him sore. As a kid my parents always seemed to have longer cinches, but we were told by Dennis Mooreland that most quarter horses will use a 28, 30, or 32 inch cinch. He also says you should allow 6-8" between the d-ring on the cinch and the d-ring on the saddle.
I think most of ours are 30" and 32" and we use a 28" on 2yr olds. |
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| KatieMac88 - 2015-06-11 1:11 PM
I use a 30" roper style mohair blend cinch on my 15 hand boy and it never gets him sore. As a kid my parents always seemed to have longer cinches, but we were told by Dennis Mooreland that most quarter horses will use a 28, 30, or 32 inch cinch. He also says you should allow 6-8" between the d-ring on the cinch and the d-ring on the saddle.
You are so right .. Dennis knows his business and produces very
high quality tack that will last a life time ... us old folks will also
know him as COWBOY TACK when he was rolling high and did too
many sponsorships and went defunct. His come back as DM TACK
is doing well!!
Always buy the cinches with the squared flat top buckle dees ... this
gives you a straight pull and even pressure at the top of the cinch
thru the entire cinch.
I also recommend using a roper cinch on barrel saddles ... they are
so tiny and most are poorly designed for weight distribution they
need all the stability they can get with a wider cinch.
Here is how to make your measurement for different saddles.
Tools needed... a pair of scissors, 4 ft piece of binder twine or
string, tape measure
Saddle your horse as if to ride to compress your pad.
Carefully take your cinch completely off without moving the saddle.
Tie one end of string to the off side and stretch it firmly under
horses belly and thru the near sided Dee of your saddle.
Now cut the string off at the bottom of your near sided Dee.
Go to the off side and cut string off at bottom of the Dee.
Now cut 16 inches off of the string you have left ..
Measure the string you have left ..
If it measures an odd number like 29 or 33 .. add an inch and
order a 30 or a 34.
Here is the cinch I have bought for years and use them on
every type of saddle .. note the square tops on cinch buckle,
stainless steel hardware, and the 31 strands will lay flat on
the breast bone due to the good retainer on these cinches.
Look at this link .. it has the above cinch and a picture of
what both sides of your cinched up horse to saddle should look like .....
pay attention to the pictures ... his logo patch belongs on the off side
of the horse ....>>>>>>>>>>>>
ALSO .. note there is a trick to securing your off side leather strap to the cinch.
Run your strap thru the cinch first and even the ends equally. ...
Now run the leather strap up and over your saddle Dee and back thru
the cinch buckle and tongue it in place 6-8" in length .. tuck ends in
the logo patch. This gives you double strength on the off side with no
ends sticking out to rub your knee ... lol
http://www.dmtack.com/products/11cr-dm-roper-cincha/
I also recommend using leather latigo straps on both sides to
allow a small amount of expansion along with the mohair
to give you horse a little breathing room but not losing any
stability in your saddle ...
Edited by BARRELHORSE USA 2015-06-11 2:11 PM
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 A Lady with Fight
Posts: 2701
Location: NC | I believe there's an elbow rule.
I use the hubby rule. He uses 28 roper cotton/mohair so I use the same. It works so I guess he did something right. Lol.
I also use cinch straps on both sides. I know some people don't like the 'bulk' but I've never noticed a difference. I use nylon straps. They just seem to lay flatter for me and easier to mess with.
Edited by hlynn 2015-06-11 2:14 PM
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 Expert
Posts: 2041
Location: home for the winter...what a dumb idea | I like to have my cinch sit in the pocket right above the horses elbow...about 6 " from the saddle...I ride just about everything in a 28" |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | I was about to make a post about this yesterday. I plan on getting a new cinch and right now I'm riding in a 30 and it's probably a tad long. It's not terrible but after seeing the pictures I can probably go down to a 28.... Right now his cinch is centered in the middle but as you can see it's goes farther up on his near side and it's lower down on his far side. I'd prefer the cinch to lay right in the middle of where it's at on both sides.
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Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | Or maybe I need a 32" to even it out. That's probably it. I'll measure tomorrow. |
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