Best for my horse standing martingale or running martingale?

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MarieBlackwell

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Hello,
My horse is an ex polo.
At the moment I am riding her in a standing martingale. But her saddle is slipping back so I need to get her a breast plate.
I was looking at breastplates and noticed you can get them with running martingales but not standing.
She throws her head up in canter when riding and once her head is up she's very strong to stop.
What is the difference between standing and running?
Would I be able to buy a breast plate with a running and still be able to control her or shall I just buy a separate breast plate that doesn't come with a running and keep using a standing?
Haven't tried her on running as standing has always worked but willing to give running a go if people think it would still be okay, she's a brilliant horse other than cantering with her head high but that could be because of polo to stop herself getting hit.
Thank you in advanced.
 
The head in canter is almost certainly to do with polo. You could buy a breastplate, most come with a running attachment that unclipped, then buy a standing attachment separately. I would double check the saddle fit if it is slipping under normal riding circumstances too, as it may need am adjustment or pad( and then you wouldn't have the martingale /breastplate dilemma)? :-)
 
Use the running attachment, simply slip the noseband through the rein rings.'convert' it to a standing.

The difference is that one acts on the nose, the other on the mouth via the reins. If she 'leans' on the martingale a lot of the time I would definitely stick with the standing, otherwise with the running she will be leaning on her mouth all the time, rather continuous pressure on the nose than the mouth - just in my humble opinion :)
 
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I'm on a polo team and the head up is definitely due to her polo career, they all do it to balance themselves ready for turns and to stay away from sticks down low. I would do as above with the running martingale on the noseband, depending on what you want to do with her you really need to try to train her head a bit lower, I assume you have experienced asking her to turn and getting a flat out spin. Try her in a running too though, she might respond better and if not pop it over her noseband
 
I had the saddle fitted I think it slips because she narrow doesn't slip to much.
What would you think is better running or standing? As if running is just as good I will give that a go. Some people say running is nicer for the horse but others disagree xx
 
I've previously had a very hard pulling ex polo pony that had his head up much of the time. The thing I found helped most was a market harbour martingale. Not cheap as they have special reins with rings on. Best thing is, if correctly fitted, the martingale only comes into play when head goes too high - there is no 'tying down' effect. Worked a treat on ours and encouraged him to go in a different way. Made him much pleasanter to ride, much easier to stop and safer to jump. They're great ponies!
 
Are you having lessons OP?

I say that as in theory, you don't want to be relying on a piece of equipment like that long term. I know this doesn't always work and some horses are set in their ways but I'm not a huge fan of things like Market Harboroughs. As someone says above, you want to be schooling her to carry her head lower.

If she has alot of muscle under her neck from carrying her head so high, I would be sticking to walk and trot until that is balanced, soft, and she can consistently lower her head. This should build up the muscle on the top of her neck and back making it then easier for you to canter with her head lower and with much more control without the need for a martingale.

Again, I have no experience of Polo Ponies, my experience comes from my ex racer who threw her head up like that in canter leaving me with no control. This is what I did to rectify the problem and it worked. Took a long time for the correct muscle to form but the horse and rider both find it easier long term.
 
MarieBlackwell said:
So you think standing is better for the horse than running? Could you please explain why as I'm in two minds thank you xx
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The standing martingale socks her one on the nose if she throws her head up,it only works when she throws her head and releases when she laces no pressure on it. The running martingale acts on the reins, levering the head down, it changes the angle of the bit in the horses mouth, increasing pressure on the tongue and on the bars - the rider has to be very quick to give with the hands the moment the horse drops its head.

I would be inclined to work in a Market Harborough as it prevents the horse getting its head too high and has its own release as it can be adjusted, when the horse has its head lower the MH doesn't do anything.
 
If the standing is working then I would stick with that. As enfy said you can use a running as a standing just put the rings through the noseband. I would try a gel pad rather than a breastplate though eg acavallo or geleze. I prefer these as breastplates can be restrictive. I use one everytime I ride even though saddle doesn't move as my horse prefers it.
 
Just a word from left field here...have you tried her bitless? I ask because I have a south american criollo who was very head high and hollow and evasive, and switching to bitless gave me a different horse. For lowering the head I did pressure/release with an english hackamore. You will find that she neck reins and goes from body weight, including stops, so you shouldn't need a strong bit.

A running martingale will give her something to fight, don't know much about standing but they always seem dangerous to me. What if the horse stumbles and needs to throw her head to balance?
 
MarieBlackwell said:
Hello,
My horse is an ex polo.
At the moment I am riding her in a standing martingale. But her saddle is slipping back so I need to get her a breast plate.
I was looking at breastplates and noticed you can get them with running martingales but not standing.
She throws her head up in canter when riding and once her head is up she's very strong to stop.
What is the difference between standing and running?
Would I be able to buy a breast plate with a running and still be able to control her or shall I just buy a separate breast plate that doesn't come with a running and keep using a standing?
Haven't tried her on running as standing has always worked but willing to give running a go if people think it would still be okay, she's a brilliant horse other than cantering with her head high but that could be because of polo to stop herself getting hit.
Thank you in advanced.
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This is what I am going through

I brought a standing martingale and it did nothing to stop the head going up, running ok but no solution. Many bits tried and so far I have her in a dutch 3 ring gag and on the bottom ring and it is the best so far. Schooling on her to change her pose but a work in progress.

I also brought a market harborough which helps too. I use this hacking as she throws her head back at my face.

I would say first get saddle checked as this is not safe or comfortable for the horse
next borrow a 3 ring and see if that helps

lunge or get a trainer to improve the head position and teach the horse to respond to the comand of holding head in a more normal position.

Oh to add the cheek pieces with clips were no good as the rotation reduced the pole pressure when bit attached
 
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Tnavas said:
I would be inclined to work in a Market Harborough as it prevents the horse getting its head too high and has its own release as it can be adjusted, when the horse has its head lower the MH doesn't do anything.
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snap :D just seen this the same as mine lol
 
She's not to strong with her head only occasionally, just need to try out a running as I need to buy a breast plate and I want it to be nice looking and they seem to come with running but not standing so was wondering if running would be just as good a standing. X
 
She wouldn't stop if she didn't have a bit. I've used the wrong bit on her before and had no breaks. Seems like there's mixed opinions with martingales
 
Landcruiser said:
A running martingale will give her something to fight, don't know much about standing but they always seem dangerous to me. What if the horse stumbles and needs to throw her head to balance?
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If correctly fitted they do not restrict a horse - a running martingale can be more restrictive as it involves the rider allowing with the hands to free the head.

I teach all my horses to jump wearing a standing as I'd rather they socked themselves on the nose than get jabbed in the mouth by the running should they throw their head.
 
Take all the gear off, if there is nothing there she cannot lean on it. After years of being tugged around the polo field she is hardly going to rehab quickly. The lump of muscle she will have under her neck will take a good while to break down.

The cob I bought a few years ago had been ridden in a too tight running martingale and had an impressive upside down neck. All I did was lots of hacking on a long rein encouraging the horse to seek a forward contact, walking up hills forces them to use their body correctly, don't let them rush though. The equi ami is a useful bit of kit, especially when used in walk over raised poles.

The only way an upside down horse will drop its head is to be taught to lift the wither and back by engaging the hind quarter. School the back end and the front will come good.
 
MarieBlackwell said:
Hello,
My horse is an ex polo.
At the moment I am riding her in a standing martingale. But her saddle is slipping back so I need to get her a breast plate.
I was looking at breastplates and noticed you can get them with running martingales but not standing.
She throws her head up in canter when riding and once her head is up she's very strong to stop.
What is the difference between standing and running?
Would I be able to buy a breast plate with a running and still be able to control her or shall I just buy a separate breast plate that doesn't come with a running and keep using a standing?
Haven't tried her on running as standing has always worked but willing to give running a go if people think it would still be okay, she's a brilliant horse other than cantering with her head high but that could be because of polo to stop herself getting hit.
Thank you in advanced.
Click to expand...

You need to do a lot of lunging/schooling with side reins or pesssosa or similar along with lessons or trainer schooling to achieve your goal.

As I said mine has been allowed to go head high all her life so far and has muscle build up in the wrong place, it has been a rough 8 months but now seeing benefit of all the schooling she has had. The last issue is hacking as she sees things around her and wants to look at and go high carriage, I tried many bits and was againts dutch gag as it did nothing for the boy, I went into middole ring last week and found not enough leverage so on Sun I put on lower one and definatly found improvement along with the running martigale.

I am changing one thing at a time to work out the right combination, and this week I swap running martingale for the Market Harborough. I would definatly work out the right combination for this horse for when hacking, and would not ride without something there or you will put yourself in danger of being smacked in the face etc
 
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Without sounding nasty to the OP, I would go and do some reading up on the subject of martingales, how they work and most importantly, how to fit them. This is very basic tack and if you don't understand them, I certainly wouldn't go trying any other bit of gadgetry which are infinitely stronger and more hazardous if used incorrectly. I've seen novice owners fitting draw reins and worse when some decent riding lessons would have been way more benefit to both them and the poor horse.
 
Standing, I would be wanting less pressure to help her relax, not more. A running martingale also interferes with schooling as it impacts on the rein position and action of the bit.
 
I can't take the martingale off as she won't be able to stop as she puts her head to high and cannot feel when I tell her to stop so that is a no go until I have schooled her enough
 
I have read up on the stranding and running and they both do different things. Each website and horse shop or any person I've spoken to all have different views on standing and running. Some say running is more harsh and some say running is more restrictive so I thought about asking a horse website to find out what the majority of people thought. And if anyone else has ex polo they might be able to help.
 
if you're on facebook there is a 'schooling ex polo ponies' page, ask on there.
ex polo ponies are different to ex racers. they are used to having a martingale for one but they arent usually 'without breaks' as polo ponies need to be able to stop on a dime (i know the ponies i ride can go from gallop to halt v easily).
 
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