Surcingle the withers area. It usually has padding to relieve pressure on the horse's spine. A variation of this design is used for equestrian vaulting. Many trainers first teach a young horse to accept girth pressure by strapping on a surcingle before a saddle and girth. The surcingle is commonly used for longeing, often as a base from which to attach training equipment such as side reins, overcheck, lauffer reins (sliding side reins), or chambons. A surcingle is also important in long lining or ground driving, as it provides rings for the long reins to run through. Double longeing, using two
Girth (geometry) Girth (geometry) In three-dimensional geometry, the girth of a geometric object, in a certain direction, is the perimeter of its parallel projection in that direction. For instance, the girth of a unit cube in a direction parallel to one of the three coordinate axes is four: it projects to a unit square, which has four as its perimeter. The girth of a sphere in any direction equals the circumference of its equator, or of any of its great circles. More generally, if "S" is a surface of constant width "w", then every projection of "S" is a curve of constant