How to Measure for a Cinch

If you own a horse, you will sooner or later need to purchase a new cinch for your saddle. That purchase may be needed because of a worn cinch, the need for a second one to accommodate a horse of a different size and type or to have a clean one for the show ring. In addition to deciding on a particular material and type for your cinch, you will need to purchase one of the proper size which means knowing how to measure for one that will hold your saddle securely in place.

Things You'll Need

  • level area
  • your horse
  • measuring tape
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Instructions

  1. Measuring for a cinch

    • 1

      Stand your horse on level ground, squaring him up as much as possible.

    • 2

      Measure the horse's heart girth by running a measuring tape around his body from just behind the withers down one side to a point approximately 2 inches behind his forelegs,around the belly, then up the other side to the starting point. Your measuring tape will appear to be at a slant, but this will measure the deepest part of the heart girth and the area where the cinch will lie.

    • 3

      Divide the measurement found in Step 2 by 2 as the cinch will be on the lower half of the heart girth only. For example, if the measurement obtained above is 75 inches, divide this number by 2 to get 37.5.

    • 4

      Subtract 3 inches from the number obtained in Step 3. As an example, subtract 3 from the sample answer of 37.5 obtained in the previous step to obtain a 34.5.

    • 5

      Determine the even number closest to the number obtained in Step 4 as cinches come in even-numbered sizes of 2-inch increments. If the number you obtained in Step 4 is equidistant between two even numbers, round upward. For example, if the number obtained in Step 4 is a 35, it would be best to round up to 36.