Standing Martingale's

[WelshJumper]

Would you use a standing martingale for showjumping?

I dont use them, as i think it stops the neck from streching out when in take off/flight. Especiially if over tightend!


{Have neave done a poll b4 weather it works or not!!
:eek: :eek: }

[Colorado Sunset]

Nope , I hate them! Anything that forces a head not to move i dont particularly agree with. A running martingale is hardly ever a restriction, it moves the action of the reins down level with the bit if the horse sticks its head up, but with a standing martingale there is no "allow" in it. I wouldnt use it for flatwork let alone jumping.

Also, if the horse spooks he cant put his head up and look at the scary object, helping him over come his fears, and if he rears up or does something akward id prefer the horse to be able to move his head wherever in order for him to regain his balance.

Sorry about that!, I dont really like the things!! :D My friends horse something similar and has reared up and toppled over because of it!

Jo

[kgj66]

i sometimes ride a pony who wears one. It only restricts her head from going completely vertical which she has done without it-she is used for children when necessary and in rides so she does jump with it-and its fine, it is loose enough that it doesnt resrict her head too much.

However we have discovered the reason she puts her head up is due to pain and so when shes ridden with a new saddle we'll see how she is-if she's ok then the martingale will remain off her, but if she still messes with her head then a running martingale just isn't enough.

[Tor&Warrior]

Show Jumping in terms of actually going out to competitions I would prefer to have the horse schooled and jumping well enough at home that it wasn't needed before I attempted competition but that can't always be the case.

At home Show Jumping, if needed, yes I definetley would. Fitted correctly they do their job very well. They are obviously only for certain cases where there is no other option. When I bought Flyte he was dangerous to jump, dangerous to the point if it hadn't of been sorted it would of been a matter of time before he did serious damage to either himself or his rider. It ment the difference between it being possible to re-train him or him being labelled as dangerous to jump for the rest of his life. His problem was purely because of previous bad riding and training and by jumping him in a standing we were able to re-train him and he's now wonderful and can be jumped in a head collar (mean that literally too!). We never jumped big, 2ft6 max which is tiny for him, and the standing was fitted correctly and never did it restrict his ability to jump. Yes it did restrict his head movement to a point, but isn't that what I wanted (!!) and only when it went higher than would be safe. I choose against a running martingale because it would put the pressure on the bars of his mouth which is the last thing I would of wanted as it was his mouth he was running away from. His problems all origanated purely from being ridden by a novice, in an extremley harsh bit with extremely harsh hands. Had I put him in a running on everytime he shot his head up it would of pulled on his mouth and just confirmed to him what he was scared of in the first place and we would of never got anywhere. He no longer needs it and will never again but I think it was a very useful tool in his re-schooling.

I personally do like them and think used correctly they are very useful. Esepcailly on a horse that REALLY needs a martingale because its head carriage is a real issue, NOT just stuck on a horse/pony as an extra piece of tack like running martingales often are. As very often high head carriage/head tossing is a result of tension/fear in the mouth I think when a running is used it is just going to make things worse! On a horse that really need a martingale I would rather have a standing, I very much dislike the action a running has on the mouth and that it also interfears with the reins and contact.
Of course, apart from in certain cases, they should nearly always only be used to re-train and school, not forever.
As for having no give, if theres a worry the horse may react badly to this you can get standing with elastic inserts. Although I presonally prefer them without and think they do there job better.

Tor

[jUmPingIsLifE]

would much pefer have the horse schooled so that you dont need to use one, but i dont gringe when i see them on a horse either. i get mad when seeing young green horses in them sometimes because i feel strongly if they are just learning putting one on wont really teach them much it just forces them to comply with what you want.

I have also seen horses jump 5foot jumps using head, neck and back perfectly when wearing a standing martingale. one of the horses we used in our 'chase me charlie' game wears a standing martingale and we had it on tape and he looked fine over jumps, nice bascule over the fence.