Re: RC: Re: Re: Training ride today

[Abby Bloxsom <goneriding@snet.net>]

Karen Sullivan wrote:
>  A year or so ago I talked to Sheila about a gelding she had for
> sale........she told me all about how her potential trail/saddle horses
> often get sent out for training on a working cattle ranch........come back
> in 30 days a very well trained, sensible horse.
> 
Was this relevant to the gimmick thing?

> If she uses a running martingale, I figure she knows what she is doing!
>
Of course, if I talked to her about it and she said she uses a RM to
"teach the horse it can't evade the bit" I'd say she was full of crap
and didn't know how to use her hands too.  Somehow I doubt she'd say
that.

> As far as the old arguments on if martingales are gimmicks; all horses
> should be able to be ridden in snaffles or rope halters; this stuff is all
> crap!  All horses are different and have different back grounds.
> Some do NOT have the mouth shape or are comfortable in snaffles!
> 
> Some horses LIKE curbs!

Who said all horses should be ridden in snaffles or rope halters?  Being
a good trainer is partly about being able to figure out what the horse
*wants* and then teaching him *his* way.  I've never known a horse who
really *wanted* a running martingale.
> 
> Bottom line, no one has the right, or it is any of their business to judge
> what I use to ride MY horse!!
> 
Excuse me, but I have the right to judge anybody for whatever I want. 
If I think they're an idiot because the first thing they say for a horse
who carries his head too high is "get a running martingale" then I am
perfectly within my rights as an American.  I can also think someone's
an idiot for not wearing a motorcycle helmet if I want.

AND if I choose to contribute rational training advice based on a
maximum of empathy for the horse's perspective and a minimum of Stuff
Attached, I'm sure that there are some people out there who will
appreciate my perspective.  If the other idiots want to go get a running
martingale because 34 people from Ridecamp emailed them and said that
was The Cure for High Headedness, then they're perfectly within their
rights.

But I don't have to respect them for it.

> BTW-taked last week to a client of a very well respected trainer in my neck
> of the woods-she rode out her 3 year old paint with us-very nicely trained
> and calm. She had a running martingale that did not come into play unless
> the horse REALLY raised his head.  She said this trainer routinely used
> them, didn't want the horses to learn they could poke their nose up in the
> air........
> 
Lazy trainer.

> Frankly, I have seen many more horses that could benefit from one, than I
> have seen abuses from them!

It's not about abuse, it's about having *things* attached to the horse
to fix "training problems" that are really about a rider who needs to
look more closely at the way they ride and understand more about the way
a horse works.

As a matter of fact, I had about an hour this spring where I thought I
was going to need one for a mare I was riding in the last 5 miles of her
first 25 ECTRA ride.  Went home, went back to work with the bit again
(instead of the hackamore) and voila - had my regular horse back, with
no RM, just re-attending to the basics.

I thought we were all done with this thread.

-Abby