Re: pro/running martingales

["S. Brown" <sbrown@wamedes.com>]

> Well lo and behold, after a month of
>conditioning, his head carriage is creeping higher and higher, he starts
>hollwing his back and crabbing. Imagine that! 
>Yes, I agree We could go back to basics, but it can be extremely difficult to
>"keep" that frame on the trail under the best of circumstances. I put his
>martingale back on, had a bit change a month later, and he is back to
>travelling square, collected, and with a much more comfortable head carriage.
>I did not have to "force" his head down with it; as a matter of fact, he
seems
>to like the security he gets from a running martingale. I for one intend to
>keep mine on!

A couple of thoughts come to mind here...and they're primarily related to
how the horse develops his muscles during training and which ones he develops.

When a horse is trained with a running martingale (which is all too often
adjusted too short), they learn how to avoid the effects on the bit.  Since
the running martingale actually *changes* the action of the bit when it's
adjusted a bit lower than horses normal head carriage height, the horse is
"strongly encouraged" to come behind the bit...which may appear to be
collection.  You can tell in dressage competitions which horses were
trained with them or with side reins -- they have a well muscled underneck
and a hollow back -- they have learned to lean on the bit to some extent
and to use it for balance.  (One of my biggest pet peeves. ;-)  I'm
currently retraining 4 horses with this problem -- one of them being a
Standardbred that had a well developed underline as a result of her racing
days pulling a cart.  Different scenario but same result.)

Here's how it goes IMVHO:  
Horse is green and the rider has unsteady hands (or holds them TOO strongly
during the walk or canter and not moving with the horse's head motion.)
The horse, in order to avoid being poked (or in reaction to being poked),
throws his head up and changes the action of the bit so that it's not
hitting him on the roof of his mouth.  Also, Arabs (and other breeds as
well, but more frequently found in horse with smaller muzzles) often have a
lower palate which doesn't accommodate a regular snaffle all that well --
they frequently do better in a double jointed one (ie the French
link...and, if you need more serious control, the Dr. Bristol...which looks
similar but has a much stronger action.)  As a general rule, when a horse
encounters this discomfort, he will throw his head to the sky to and lessen
the pain...and, as a result, creating tension in their back, hollowing
their back, and going on the forehand.  They will end up with a backache
and a bad attitude and the rider ends up frustrated and tense...and nervous
because what they think is supposed to work...doesn't. ;-)  They're also
not terribly excited about the lack of control they feel they have.

On goes the martingale to bring the head down and put the horse in a frame
(and, like I said before, is very oftentimes adjusted a bit too short.)
This changes the effects of the bit -- it's now pulling down on the bars of
the mouth and tenting into the horse's palate.  To avoid this discomfort,
the horse does the only thing it can do and that's to bring his head down
and come behind the bit.  He feels as if he is relaxed because he stays
just off the edge of contact (read "pain"), thereby not pulling on the
reins.  When he does this, he is using the underside muscles to support his
head and drive his forward motion.  The longer this goes on, the more
upside down his muscle development becomes.  Then, when you take the
martingale off (or side reins or draw reins), his strong underneck muscles
take his head right up and he can, once again, escape bit contact.  Back on
goes the martingale.  Whew...back to control and a relaxed
horse...well....not exactly. <g>

A horse that develops a strong underline and weak topline will USE the
underline muscles since they're the ones that will hold his heavy head up
the easiest...thereby encouraging their further development.  It starts out
fairly inconspicuous because it *looks* like the horse is in a good frame.
You will even see this in upper level dressage where the "training aids"
come off for the warm-up and ride at a competition but the over-built
underneck muscles will still be apparent.  To fix this problem, the horse
has to be trained and conditioned to use his topline (which can only be
done from the rear forward.)  When he gets to the point where his topline
is stronger than his underline, he will start to be able to carry himself
with an elevated back and neck...and creating that nice frame we all like
to see -- the head comes down as a result of the horse being able to
elevated his back and the base of his neck.  Here again, continued use of
that muscle group will strengthen it further and the "formerly strongest"
group will atrophy a bit.

Another factor that enters in here is constant, solid contact on both reins
at the same time.  This allows the horse to use the bit as support and
balance rather than his topline.  I have one schooling horse that will tell
on a student the instant they hold both reins with a strong grip instead of
one rein being a giving, communicating rein -- his head will fly right up.
This  occurs when the rider loses balance and uses the reins for
support...or just forgets and starts to "water ski". ;-)  This horse is
very forward moving and it's often difficult for some riders to let the
horse go forward -- they fear going too fast and losing control.  When the
head is up, it's actually much more difficult for the rider to have control
or brakes.  Also, when the rider uses the reins primarily for breaks
instead of the seat and weight and *half halts*, the underside muscles will
come into play even more.  It's a bit of a vicious cycle.

Sue

  


sbrown@wamedes.com
Tyee Farm
Marysville, Wa.