viola
Well-Known Member
great post Viola!
Thank you
great post Viola!
That's a fantastic post!
I have tons of tack on my jumping bridle - cavesson and snaffle, but sheepskin on the noseband, a five point breastplate with martingale and a neck strap.
Mine KNOWS when he jumps without a martingale, as we discovered, and throws his head in the air and almost breaks my nose. With the martingale on he doesn't do anything silly, so that's why we use it.
If I didn't have to, I wouldn't - I'd rather spend less of my life tacking up/untacking/ cleaning tack...
I don't see what's so wrong with a running martingale as if you don't need it it doesn't do anything? I think of it as v. different to a restrictive noseband in that respect. I don't see it as a problem for the horse, just more damn tack cleaning...
I wear one .
My RI disagrees with you Turks. The other week he was watching how my horse reacted to the additional pressure being exerted on his mouth by the martingale attachment, so he took it off, and my horse reacted very positively to it's removal - I only had it on because it was part of the breastplate. If your horse throws it's head up in the air (like khalswitz's does) then by all means use a running martingale, but if not, then why would you?
Thanks JB. I use a running martingale as my youngster has been known to stick his head up in the air if he gets overexcited so its my safety net! I hoped that it wouldn't do anything (other than offer a neck strap) for the times when his head wasn't sky-high. Are you talking about a correctly fitted running martingale? I can't see how it does anything at all if not needed. Am I missing something here?
I'm of the opinion that less is more and certainly aim to reduce but I want to stay in control in the meantime
Fwiw, I'm also a horse hippy, my horse has no noseband, snaffle, no shoes and a loooong mane and tail, despite not being a native, or Iberian. I think she looks pretty, I don't care what she's 'supposed' to look like .
Of note, William Funnell on YouTube says most of us have the cavesson too low. It should sit just (1cm or so) below the site where the curve of the cheek meets the jaw (hope this explains - he just pointed to it!). He said its painful for the horse if you site it elsewhere and that's a very common problem. Having watched him I hoiked mine up a good hole or two
I would like to see BD ban all mouth closing nosebands, I don't understand why they are allowed. i take advantage of one sometimes if I think the horse is likely to try to evade in the additional stress of competition.
When you look at horse's head and neck muscles and realise how tongue muscle eventually connect to front legs' muscles via neck muscles it is worth asking a question: "How much a mouth problem is really a mouth problem and how much it is a body development process"? How much of a mouth issue is our own "let's get there faster" problem? When I school a horse I always try to tighten demands on myself as a rider and trainer first, polish my seat, my hands, my arms before rising standards for the horse's work.
I'm currently dealing with the after-effects of major jaw issues, and can't believe how intrinsically everything is linked, and how key the jaw/jaw motion and poll are to the whole body. A disjointed chew, combined with muscle issue and pain in the jaw joint, translate to major poll issues - which affect basically the whole body.
Seeing the tightness and soreness points in my gelding caused by the poll being offset and tight, there literally isn't a part of his body that isn't affected - from the obviously stiff neck and inability to build topline, through to tension in the back, the hindlegs being unable to step under so ensuring muscle can't develop in the back end, weakening the back further, letting the abdominals drop....it's such an all encompassing issue.
So to those who strap a tense or moving mouth shut with a flash (and I share the frustration about bridles not being sold without them! and the amount of instructors who've told me to use them...), find out first what that is doing to the rest of the horse....
I've looking for a new share at the moment and am frustrated at how many (all) of them wear a flash. Most have it loose enough to allow some chewing/jaw movement though, would that make it pointless? I don't like to get into a discussion about why their horse is wearing a flash though when it's the first time I've met them. Perhaps I'm just being too british and should go on a crusade...
I'm currently dealing with the after-effects of major jaw issues, and can't believe how intrinsically everything is linked, and how key the jaw/jaw motion and poll are to the whole body. A disjointed chew, combined with muscle issue and pain in the jaw joint, translate to major poll issues - which affect basically the whole body.
Seeing the tightness and soreness points in my gelding caused by the poll being offset and tight, there literally isn't a part of his body that isn't affected - from the obviously stiff neck and inability to build topline, through to tension in the back, the hindlegs being unable to step under so ensuring muscle can't develop in the back end, weakening the back further, letting the abdominals drop....it's such an all encompassing issue.
So to those who strap a tense or moving mouth shut with a flash (and I share the frustration about bridles not being sold without them! and the amount of instructors who've told me to use them...), find out first what that is doing to the rest of the horse....