Crupper Advice

[JD Becker]

I am looking for a crupper , in over 50 years of riding I have never
used one so any advice on crupper training will be welcomed and also who
has the best crupper on the market ? I have a highly sensitive mare and
am hoping between adjusting my Specialized girth straps to a new
position and a crupper I can eliminate her under the armpit rubbing
issues . Thanks for any and all advice.
Drin Becker
Mtn Region

[chi...@aol.com]

I have always used a crupper and breast collar since it allows me to ride with a slightly looser girth and I notice a definite difference in my saddle slipping on hills.  My personal preference is for a leather tail piece, but always keep it clean and oiled.  I got mine years ago (maybe decades ago at this point) from a catalog I believe was called Owl Creek, but don't know if they're in operation anymore.  They said the tailpiece was "amish made."  With the horse I'm using it on right now, I started out with it fairly loose, and lunged him to start, since he tends to be very reactive to anything new.  I was able to snug it up fairly quickly.  I've found it does need to be fairly snug under the tail since it will "give" when you sit in the saddle, and if it's too loose, you won't get the effect you want.  Hope this helps.

I am looking for a crupper , in over 50 years of riding I have never 
used one so any advice on crupper training will be welcomed and also who 
has the best crupper on the market ? I have a highly sensitive mare and 
am hoping between adjusting my Specialized girth straps to a new 
position and a crupper I can eliminate her under the armpit rubbing 
issues . Thanks for any and all advice.
                                                              Drin Becker
                                                              Mtn Region

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[Shannon Loomis]

I never ride without a crupper, even on the flattest of trails. I have found that the crupper usually does not bother the horse as much as the act of lifting the tail to put it on. My daughter's mare really hates having her tail lifted and shimmies around, but once the crupper is in place, she doesn't care and you can tighten it as much as you want. I had a leather Amish crupper when I first started using one, but found it harder to keep clean and had more rubbing issues than the newer smooth synthetics, but I am lazy and probably didn't put as much effort in as needed. My absolute favorite is Running Bear Farms crupper - I think I have a half-dozen of Teddy's cruppers! Zilco makes a decent crupper that works as well but the hardware hasn't held up. My Zilco crupper is only a season or two old but the hardware has corroded, while I have a couple from Teddy that are 15+ years old, and the metal still looks perfect. I don't like cruppers with the cheap plastic tubing covering the tailpiece. I just bought one with soft squishy neoprene on it, it looks comfy, but haven't done more than 17 miles at once to see if it rubs, but the mare seems happy with it and she gets rubs in her pits very easily.

Shannon in Mountaineer country
Sent from my iPad

[Raven]

Huginn's is Zilco, Rothadis is American Trail Gear and Dixie is Beta.
Love the Zilco! :)

Raven
Lucy & Stella & Hazel, the Girl Doggies
Huginn, Rothadis, & Dixie Chick, the Back Behind the Barn Ponies

I ride a pony, cuz heart is not measured in hands.

My Blog
http://iceponytrekking.blogspot.com

Respect ALL Earthlings. We are all animals of this planet. We are all creatures.

[Ranch]

Drin:

I have used a crupper for about 25 years, ever since I witnessed a bad wreck
on the MN State Forest Trail hill*. I like the standard rolled leather
crupper, obviously biothane. I did use the old Ortho-Flex padded ones for a
few years. They work fine but are not really any better IMHO. Some of my
saddles have come with cruppper attachments, others no. On the one's with
no built in attachment, I either screwed a D ring on the tree, or riveted
one on the skirt. Not a big deal, and much better than the straps that
attach to chincha. Any tack repair person could do the same.

As for training, it has run from laughingly easy, to a few sessions. I
saddle up the horse. Attach the crupper to the saddle, lift the tail, put
it under the tail and clip or buckle. Rather loosely. Then I reach up and
tighten it. When the horse stops reacting, I jerk it a few times. If no bad
reaction, mount up and jerk it. If no reaction ride on. This has been the
case with a majority of horses.

If the horse reacts to jerking badly, I terminate the session after 15 min.
I do not have patience for long training sessions. On a few bad horses, I
have set up an old saddle, a crupper, and a short bungee to provide constant
tension. The horse can then be let loose to buck and be stupid for an hour
or so. Usually, after one session the horse can then be saddled, cruppered,
and tied to eat grain. Periodically, I walk up and jerk the crupper (untie
the horse first, or use one of the attachments that allow a pulling horse
some more rope). Within a week they are crupper broke and ready to ride.
As I said before, I do not have the patience to work on long training
sessions, so I figure 5 or so lessions that don't really take more time than
my standard routine are a good way to go.

I am one of the worlds biggest fan of breast collars and cruppers. I have
seen to many wrecks where saddles ended under horses. Usually by the time
the horse is found, the saddle is toast and the horse has some bad injuries.

Ed
Ed & Wendy Hauser
2994 Mittower Road
Victor, MT 59875

[chi...@aol.com]

I think the leather vs synthetic depends entirely on what the horse will tolerate and what the rider likes.  The horse I started using a crupper on was very sensitive skinned, and I couldn't use anything synthetic on him (biothane bridles were fine as long as I was sponging, but once I was done, off they came and on went a leather halter with sheepskin tubes).  With him, heat would build up and he'd blister...saddle pads, girths, and crupper.  My present horse would probably be fine with synthetic, but I have the leather one, and it's still in excellent shape.

-----Original Message-----
From: Shannon Loomis <shannon...@yahoo.com>
To: ridecamp <ride...@endurance.net>

[Kathy Sherman]

I just use a leather one, but I cover it in either sheepskin or fleece
material due to slight rubs, and wash as needed. If I'd known more
when I bought it I probably would have bought the Zilco or leather
filled with flax seed. I know some riders who use the leather ones
filled with flax seed and have been told they don't need a cover even
with sensitive horses. I have many friends that use the Zilco and have
never had a rubbing issue.

Kathy

[Jonni]

Start with doing lots of rubbing her under the tail. My horse will
actually lift his tail when I scratch him around the top and on the
sides. Put your hand or arm under the tail where a crupper would be
and see if she clamps hard or not. Then you can take a soft cotton
rope and work with her around the tail like a crupper from the ground,
and see if she reacts or clamps or panics. If not, I bet she will be
easy to break to a crupper.

Look at how the crupper ring is attached to your Specialized. Make
sure its real secure. They had a few that pulled out, but I think
they fixed that issue.

I too, always ride with a crupper and breastcollar, even tho I'm in TX
where we hardly have many hills. I've just used them for years, and
don't think ab out not using them

Leather is great if you make sure to keep it clean. Hubby uses an
Orthoflex one on his horse, as his tail placement is real high, and
that fits him best. I like the nice shaped ones that are made out of
the plastic tube. I did not like the Zilco as much. Had seams where
the buckles were sewn on that rubbed one of our horses. You may have
trial and error to find one the fits your horse best.

Hope you get things fitting and working to eleminate the girth
rubbing.
Jonni

[ride...@juno.com]

Love my cruppers. Not big on overtightning girths so I use them unless I'm on pancake flat land. I LOVE the Ortho-Flex crupper. I've had several others come with tack that came with horses, etc. and I end up giving them away. I've never had a horse object to my OF. It's just a round rope inside a neoprene sleeve. Only problem I've heard anyone have was someone who tried to put vasoline on it to keep if soft. It ruined it. I still use the one I bought in 1990.

Make sure you realize it doesn't have to be tight on the flat. When the horse tucks his rump to go downhill that will take up the slack so it should have some slack on the flat.

Angie McGhe

____________________________________________________________
53 Year Old Mom Looks 33
The Stunning Results of Her Wrinkle Trick Has Botox Doctors Worried
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4fc2eb0cebce3327b6est01vuc

[Linda K]

I like the cruppers that fasten to two Ds on the saddle rather than
one. The two seem to balance the saddle better and I had a wreck once
when the one center D for the crupper popped out.

[deser...@aol.com]

Hi Drin,

I like the Ortho-Flex cruppers myself.  I have never used one that had a molded tailpiece, to me it seems like they might rub if they don't fit perfectly. 

One thing about crupper training, I would advise NOT putting the horse on the lunge the first time, or turning it loose in the round pen.  My friend''s Arab mare did not, does not and will not wear a crupper.  My friend started her in it in her usual fashion, which involves putting the crupper on fairly loosely, then turning her out in the round pen to let her fell it and work it out.  The mare RAN for 30 minutes, mostly on her front legs, as her hinds were in the air kicking and bucking frantically.  We couldn't get the mare stopped, and she did herself some leg damage from it.  That mare absolutely HATED the crupper, or was totally afraid of the feeling of it.  She was in an absolute panic in the round pen, I have never seen a horse act that way before in over 25 years of horses. 

My advise would be lots of playing with the tail dock, laying things under it that would fall out if the horse panicked.  Keep total control of the horse the first time, and if necessary, have a helper.  Although there were two of us there, and it did no good.  We could not get that mare to calm down enough to even get the crupper off until she was totally exhausted. 

Understandably, most horses take to a crupper with no problems.  My friend had introduced several horses to the crupper at that time, and we were totally unprepared for the mare's reaction.  She is the one out of 1000 horses that really has a problem with it.  A slower intro would have helped, more time letting her experience the feeling of the crupper pulling on her before she was turned loose.  Anyway, good luck with it.
jeri

-----Original Message-----
From: JD Becker <jkn...@smtel.com>

To: ridecamp <ride...@endurance.net>
Sent: Sun, May 27, 2012 2:52 pm
Subject: [RC] Crupper Advice

I am looking for a crupper , in over 50 years of riding I have never 
used one so any advice on crupper training will be welcomed and also who 
has the best crupper on the market ? I have a highly sensitive mare and 
am hoping between adjusting my Specialized girth straps to a new 
position and a crupper I can eliminate her under the armpit rubbing 
issues . Thanks for any and all advice.
                                                              Drin Becker
                                                              Mtn Region

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