Medicine Lodge Valley, Dillon, Montana

Running Martingales

What a running martingale looks like in use

When the downward action of the martingale is in affect it does not lower the whole neck starting at the chest, but rather puts downward tension on the poll and jaw joint , and pushes the front section of the horses head to push out and up.  The opposite of what the rider wants.

If the rider would have arms this long it would replace the running martingale.  Both the horse and rider have a pulling match.  The horse raised the head for a reason and will fight as much as possible.  The reasons vary why the horse does it.  Could be that the horse wants to ignore the rider and grabs the bit, or it could be that the horse has some discomfort associated with the rider or pain in the body.  Sometimes conformation limits a horses ability, but the rider wants more than is capable.

At this time I did not include the effects of the rest of the body in the illustrations.

© Donna Hildreth 1998 - 2009
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