Voltaire Design Hunter Girth Review

I have been on the hunt for the perfect girth for my horses. And I thought I found it with the Professional’s Choice SMX girth. But when Lynda and I went to the Colorado Horse Park a couple of weeks ago, and I stopped in at the Voltaire Design booth, I knew I had found what I have been searching for. The Voltaire Design Hunter Girth is what I have been searching for, and I wanted to share it with you.

And part of the reason I wanted to write a review of this girth, besides the fact that it is incredible, and comfortable for my horses, is that I have not been able to find any reviews of it, even on Voltaire-Design website.

I mean, if you are going to be investing a lot of money into a piece of equipment, you want to see reviews of the product right? And while I can find tons of pictures of their saddles, girths, bridles, and other tack that they make, I have not found anyone talking about these pieces of equipment.

So hopefully this blog post will give you some more information, in case you were thinking about purchasing this girth.

But before I dive into the review, let me share with you why I decided I had to have this girth…

First, I had no intention of buying anything while I was at the horse show. Ok, maybe I did, but it wasn’t a new piece of equipment. I mean I have been trying to downsize what I have, and have been selling things like crazy on eBay lately. But Lynda and I were early to the show, and the Voltaire booth was open, and a smiling face was beckoning me to look at the beautiful Voltaire saddle that was sitting out. So we walked over to the booth.

The Voltaire’s rep, Kate, was so kind, and really a wealth of knowledge. Not only about Voltaire products, but really about all kinds of different brands. She is really good. Not only was she knowledgeable, but she was nice and relateable too. I felt like I was having a conversation with a friend, not someone I had just met.

The Voltaire Design Hunter Girth

And then I saw it, the girth. It was hanging on the back wall of the tent, and while it didn’t seem like anything special, it was a girth for goodness sake. I reached out and touched it. And as soon as I did I was like, “WOW”.

This was the softest, and most pliable leather girth I had ever touched.

I have never felt leather like this.

And Lynda was staring at me, she knew I would be buying the girth. But even she said when I bent the leather between my fingers, her jaw dropped a little too. And she doesn’t even ride English.

I asked how much, and Kate told me it was $350.00. Yikes. That was more money than I had ever spent on a girth before. So I told her I would be back after I had saved a little bit of money, in order to buy it. I was plotting in my head of how I could afford this. It wasn’t too hard, because I had been selling my stuff already on eBay and already had just about enough money to buy the girth. (f you haven’t looked at my eBay sales page, go look!) And as luck would have it (I like to call it luck) we are incredibly short staffed at work, so my counter part Sarah and I have been doing the work of 5 RN’s. Meaning, I have a lot of over time on my paychecks right now.

Buying The Girth

And while I had intended on buying the girth last week, they didn’t have the horse show, so my purchase would have to wait. But thankfully, today is Saturday (Sunday when I published the post) and Lynda and I would be making our way to the Horse Park to watch the Grand Prix.

I had already cleaned the barn, and gotten my chores done in anticipation of getting to the park a little early to buy my beloved new girth.

And I even measured Frisby, and Ethan, to make sure I bought the correct size. (the video of how to measure for a girth will be coming out on Monday on my YouTube channel)

We got to the Voltaire Design booth, and of course were met by a smiling face.

They also had their new Blue Infinite saddle out, and I got to give it a try. I have never sat in a Voltaire saddle. And the moment I sat in it I liked it. I didn’t ask how much it was. That will be a goal for another day.

And while I bought my new girth (yes!) I had also decided to buy a container of the official Voltaire Hercules Leather Balsam for my new girth, along with all of my other tack. Unfortunately, the leather balsam would not be available until next week. So I will have to go back and pick it up during the week, or next Saturday when we come back to the horse park for the next show.

Voltaire Design Hunter Girth Review

I chose this girth, not because it’s a hunter girth, but because of how awesome it felt in my hands.

Like I said the leather is the softest and most incredible leather I have ever felt. Have you ever bought a leather girth that is this flexible from the first time you brought it home? I haven’t, unless it’s a nylon girth.

The stitching is also incredible.

And I LOVE that is has elastic on both sides. This way I can girth up my horses evenly on both sides. And there is give with the elastic making it more comfortable for the horse. And the elastic has just the right amount of stretch. Not too stretchy, and not too stiff. It is just right.

Another selling point is the roller buckles. These buckles makes tightening the girth even easier.

One day I will be talented enough to figure out how to tighten my girth when I’m in the saddle. #goals

And tucked away between the incredibly soft leather of the girth itself is a memory foam panel. This helps the girth to be more comfortable for my horses, and I am all about keeping my horses comfortable.

I am all about comfort, for both myself and my horses. And this girth delivers. Ethan usually tosses his head or dances around when I tighten the girth with other girths I have used, showing me that he is uncomfortable in the tack.

But with the Voltaire-Design girth, no head tossing at all when the girth is tightened. Something to keep in mind, the girth is a little shorter than my other 52″ girth, but I am confident it will have a little stretch and loosen up once I really break it in.

After my first ‘test’ ride, I did notice a difference in how both of my horses went in the tack. I am really happy that I made the decision to buy it.

Caring For A Top Quality Piece Of Tack

And once I was done testing out my new girth, and I was assured I had done my measuring correctly, I cleaned it, and then gave it a good conditioning treatment with the leather balsam that I have now while I wait for the Hercules Leather Balsam to be back in stock. I am really excited to try it out, I heard it smell incredible.

I am looking forward to using this girth a lot with both of my horses so I want to make sure it lasts, and I take care of it. Kate told me to clean the girth to remove the sweat and dirt, and then depending on the time of year condition it with a leather balsam, preferably the Hercules leather balsam, but Passier or Effax would be ok to use too.

And something else worth mentioning is the return policy. Kate, the rep, told me to try out the girth, and if it doesn’t fit I can bring it back to exchange it for a different size, just be sure not to condition it until I was sure it was the correct size.

Is It Worth The Price?

Like I said earlier, this girth is $350.00. And yes, that is a lot of money. But, the quality, workmanship and passion that goes into every piece of equipment that Voltaire-Designs creates, the girth is definitely worth it in my opinion.

I want my time with my horses to be enjoyable. And I want my horses to be comfortable while I am riding them, so we can all enjoy our time together. You can’t put a price tag on that. So to me, yes, this girth is worth the price I paid for it.

It may be psychological, but I also find that if I really invest in my equipment, I actually ride more. It’s like I have to get my monies worth out of the tack that I have bought. So I find that I ride more. Even in anticipation of getting this girth I found that I rode more. Not sure how the horses feel about that.

And also downsizing to only keep what I really need to ride with also is helping me to come to grips with the purchase of higher quality tack. If I have more invested in the tack, as far as money goes, I find myself caring for it even better.

And while I am improving what I have as far as my tack goes, and having fewer pieces of equipment but is the highest quality, I make goals for myself. When I achieve something that I have been trying to accomplish, and dedicate myself to it, I like to have a reward (don’t we all?) to work toward. This girth was my reward to myself for downsizing my tack collection.

I only need maybe two girths, three at the most. And I had way more than that. Having less tack means I can focus on getting the best quality tack that will last a very long time.

So long story long, yes, the Voltaire-Design Hunter girth is worth the $350.00 I saved up in order to buy it.

So if you want to check out this girth for yourself, I highly encourage you to find one in person. That way you can ‘feel’ what I am talking about here. Voltaire-Design has booths at the big hunter jumper shows. Or you can visit their website here if you are not able to get to a horse show to see it in person. Ad you can look at their incredible saddles, even this one with a Swarovski crystal logo

And if you are reading this blog post after Monday, June 17, 2019, I have a video review of the girth on my YouTube channel.

I know it’s not the same as seeing it in person, and touching it, but maybe it will give you a little more of a view of the girth so you can see how awesome it really is.

And just in case you want to save this post to your Pinterest Board of awesome horse tack to dream about, or purchase in the future, here is a great image for you to do just that!