What would influence you're decision to us a martingale

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Kezzabell2

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I used to use one on my boy but my instructor took it off as he thought it wasn't helping

So i wonder why people decide to use them?

I'm seriously considering going back to it but don't know if I am right or not
 
Beausmate said:
How often my horse smacks me in the face is what influences me to use one! :D
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Ditto! A standing martingale can be a useful preventative if you have a horse that is liable to suddenly through their head up, out hunting for example, if you have to queue for a fence. I am not sure if they are allowed for competitions now.

Running martingales alters the action of the hand/bit, but can have its uses. I am not that fond of them.
 
haha, cant say I've ever been hit in the face! though my mare used to be pretty good an emergency stops, I've nose butted her neck a few times haha!

so my boy likes to rear and before hand will often toss his head about, would you use it in that scenario?
 
I had a little racehorse once, and she was a bit sharp sometimes, turning round at the start of the gallops, an observer told me I was quite brave to ride her without one [am not brave so put one on till she settled down].
I much prefer a running martingale/irish martinagale to a standing martingale. If they are going to rear, I think it may be because they are being held back when they want to go forwards, and it becomes a habit. So if they are getting frustrated, kick on!
 
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we don't use one because simply don't need one! He doesn't chuck his head up so no need for one :)

Plus he likes to play with things and when he wore a normal martingale as a 4 year old he kept trying to chew it - which he also tried to do when we then put a bib martingale on. easier to ride without!
 
I used a running martingale on my old mare for a brief time. She had issues stopping and I was told it would help by the XC trainer I worked with at the time. It didn't, she still got the bit in her teeth. But what it did do was make it impossible to do a one-rein emergency stop because I couldn't pull her head around by taking the rein wide. The only reason I got her stopped was she had to slow down to go up a steep hill to get home and I bailed. For some reason she would always stop and wait if you came off so...

I have never and will never use one again because of it.

I think in the very early days with that mare we used a tie down exactly once, which is similar to a standing martingale, because she would throw her head up to avoid you. Plus she would rear. She tried it once with the tie down and bonked herself so she never tried it again.
 
An experienced person telling me I need one (not as has been the case in the past 'ooh, he's big, I can't believe you ride without a martingale!')
Why has your instructor told you it is not doing anything? Maybe get a video to see if it comes into play at all? Why are you thinking of going back to it?
 
A good pair of hands and an independent seat are much more important than training aids, we see a lot of show jumpers relying on these aids but there are some good riders out there who don't use them, you won't see the top international eventers working their horses on the flat with martingales.
The whole point of producing a horse is to end up with one which is responsive to the rider with minimal interference and the lightest of aids.
 
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Batgirl said:
An experienced person telling me I need one (not as has been the case in the past 'ooh, he's big, I can't believe you ride without a martingale!')
Why has your instructor told you it is not doing anything? Maybe get a video to see if it comes into play at all? Why are you thinking of going back to it?
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It was last yr. He reared up in a lesson anf he thought the martingale wasnt helping. Then found out he was injured so he's coming back into work but still rearing on occasion
 
I don't use one for flatwork or if I'm going out for a quiet hack but I do for fast/group hacking, cross country and jumping as he gets rather excited. I use a hunting breastplate with a running martingale attachment which is fitted so that it only comes in to play when his head's where it shouldn't be.
 
i dont tend to use one, my mare doesn't tend to throw her head around, i have one lying around and every so often put it on for xc to see if it makes a difference, which i have now decided it doesn't so i've taken it apart and just use the neck strap!
 
Bonkers2 said:
A good pair of hands and an independent seat are much more important than training aids
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This. I don't understand what sort of riding style someone must have that would cause their horse's ears to be literally up their nose.

A soft, quiet pair of hands and correct schooling should be able to remedy any head-chucking problems.

The flash and martingale combo are certainly on trend in the UK.
 
Never, unless it was smacking me in the face with its head, which suggests to me that someone somewhere screwed up its training. I hate riding in running martingales. I feel this thing between my hands and the horse's mouth. It's horrible.
 
I did for a while as young pony used to head toss and grab contact as he was impatient waiting for road. He learnt to settle so no longer needed.
 
I dont school with a martingale.

However I nearly always hack with a correctly fitted running martingale and a breastplate as a grab strap.

I hack in a busy environment, and I consider the martigale a useful tool to keep the horses head within certain parameters, and to help ensure I retain control in an emergency. It makes it that bit harder for horse to stick it's head up in panic and shoot off.

Personally I take a breastplate (grab strap), fluorescent tabard, running martingale, mobile hacking - is just the precautions I want to take.
 
Its all very well taking the idealistic view on training aids and saying seat and hands will solve anything. I didn't use a martingale (or any other so called gadget) for 25 years. The new horse is hacked out in a running martingale however, for safety reasons. Correctly fitted, they will not come in to play without good reason. His and my safety comes first and it has no effect on the contact when used properly.
 
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I don't use one on my current horse as he doesn't need it although he did have one initially on instructors advice. I used one on a previous horse i loaned as she used to put her head up above the point of control and ****** off with you. The martingale prevented her from doing that.
 
Everyone who has said they use it for safety does so because the horse's head goes in the air before running off and it prevents that. My problem with it was that a horse doesn't have to stick it's head in the air to run off. My old mare would take the bit in her teeth and go flat out (after we cured the head tossing), and then it interferes with regaining control. And I've known others that did that too, no warning. I think they actually make you less safe because they make it impossible to do an emergency stop or even just putting them into a small circle.

Maybe mine was incorrectly fitted, but I wouldn't try it again. And that's not idealistic, that to me is safety.
 
I backed my youngster when he was 3 and a half, he was very easy, never used a martingale, hacked out, and schooled without one then we had a school in the arena one day, and the horses in the field opposite were having a hooley, he got excited and his head came up and smacked me in the face, breaking my cheekbone. He's had one on ever since and it makes no difference if fitted correctly, I'm sure he's never noticed it's there, and it certainly doesn't prevent me doing what I need to do to ensure he's a well rounded individual, and the rest of my face should continue to look symmetrical when he gets overly enthusiastic, as youngsters do!
 
I'm not sure why they would stop small circles; the horse I use one on is not long off the track and one of his habits was dropping a shoulder and spinning as his way of napping. I wasn't using a martingale initially, but I can just as easily spin him back the right way with it as without it. I would guess that if this is an issue the martingale is too short.
 
I use one for my 7 yr old daughter & her pony he has a running on reason for he throw his head up, for more control for her & its a extra strap to grab onto if she needed one
 
I put one on my pony when I went colt hunting. He used to get so excited and spent the first part throwing himself about. Just meant that my false teeth were not in danger of being broken!!
 
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