Running vs Standing Martingales, Pros and Cons

[equestrian3241]

My horse has a back habit of swinging his head up when I ask him to slow down or halt. Its his way of avoiding the bit. I'm considering getting him a martingale. Which would be better, a running martingale or a standing martingale? I'm doing dressage and jumping with him. Any other ideas or comments would help. Thanks!

[connieD]

not sure i can be much help but if your hoping to do dressage you wont be able to use a martingale at all. take it you have had teeth back, saddle checked etc, if you have then maybe just have to stick with the schooling.

if he is only doing it when you ask him to stop it may be something you can correct himself.

a standing martingale attaches to the nose band and stops any movement above a certain point, he will still be able to get his head up so far though, and the same goes for a running martingale that is attached to the reins.

a standing martingale appears more servere to me but i may be wrong:confused:

[BeachRiding]

If you are doing jumping you would have to use a running martingle, in a standing they can't get their balance and can flip. Sounds to me like it might be his teeth or saddle. I would get a lesson too as if you are not asking him correctly or are asking too fast that would cause him to throw his head.

Eliminate everything else before going for a quick fix.

[Bay Mare]

As others have said try and find out the cause first.

Look at physical/back issues, tack issues, rider issues - how are you asking for the transition? Do you lighten your seat or are you going heavy on his back? Are you pulling on the reins? Do you release the pressure at the try? Do you give him a signal that you're going to be asking for the transition?

A running martingale can be useful when jumping, hacking etc, you can't use one for dressage though.

The best thing that you can do is to try and find and fix the cause and work on correct schooling.

Read the 'Kinder Way' section of New Rider, it will give you a good idea of the what you should be doing with your own body when riding in the different gaits.

[Skib]

To add to what Bay Mare says.
I have watched mark rashid at a demo deal with at least one horse that halted with its head right up. He always looks at the physical first - the horse's body and the tack.
(Recently Rashid has introduced a new bit for horses with mouth/head problems but on the whole he is a trainer who uses the rider's own kit and isnt bothered by what they come with - unless it is directly bad for the horse.)

But once that is dealt with he has another approach. I am not saying it is right for your horse but I am going to post it because it provides an alternative.

My horse has a back habit of swinging his head up when I ask him to slow down or halt. Its his way of avoiding the bit.

Rashid's interpretation is that horses like to please. His assumption is that the horse who exhibits a bad behavious often does it because he (the horse) thinks it is what is required. He is not being nauighty or avoiding anything. rather he wants to please and the job of the rider is to:-

Work out whether anything in the original training, or in our behaviour, cues etc, has given the horse that wrong idea that we want the head up. If so, deal with that first.
Like watch what we do with our hands in halt? If we tend to raise our hands just a fraction as we increase contact, or at halt, that is likely to signal to the horse that we want the head higher. It is not a massive issue. Horses pick up on very tiny things.
I'd also look again at your aids for slowing and stopping. The way I am taught to ride does not often involve increasing contact to slow down.

Just looking at the way we ride may be enough to get rid of the problem. But it is more likely that (second step) we need to re-educate the horse to show him that it is fine for him to slow or stop with his head down.

Only when you have done that can you re-introduce the concept of contact and collection. Remembering that you dont start at the head end. The aim is to get the horse carrying his body better, supporting himself and bringing his hind legs under.

Having a horse that stops with its head up may be worrying to the owner as it is a very visible mistake. But in fact it is not as hard to put right as a horse that leans on the rein all the time.

If you want some more info on how Rashid dealt with the horse that stopped with its head up, I will look up my notes and see if I have anything.

[Bay Mare]

Just looking at the way we ride may be enough to get rid of the problem. But it is more likely that (second step) we need to re-educate the horse to show him that it is fine for him to slow or stop with his head down.


That's a very pertinent point! We're coming across some stuff with with Saff at the moment hwere we have to let her know that it's 'ok' to do 'x', 'y' and 'z'. She's a bit of a worrier, bless her, and tries hard to please but sometimes you need to reassure her that it's ok to make mistakes or not understand. She doesn't like making mistakes :D

We tend to focus on the physical and tack but sometimes we have to take a hard, long look at ourselves and the effect that we're having on our horses!

[Iron Maiden]

Just to add a comment on standing martingales, I'm not a fan at all - in your shoes I'd try to encourage the horse to relax long & low into transitions, and a standing will be too restrictive to allow the horse complete freedom to stretch. Seen too many horses rear in them too!