Re: Running Martingales

[Lynn Kinsky <lkinsky@silcom.com>]

>In a message dated 1/9/99 4:05:57 PM Pacific Standard Time,
>horsetrails@inficad.com writes:
>
><< I've seen two horses in the past year go down because of trips with a
> running martingale on.  Don't know if any martingale is safe on the trail.
>
>
>                                   Cheryl Newbanks >>
>
>Cheryl makes another excellent point here.  With a running martingale, a rider
>has so much leverage that unless one can overcome reflex and "throw slack"
>when a horse gets into trouble, it is VERY easy to confine the horse's head so
>much that they cannot overcome a trip and will go down.  With standing
>martingales (tie-downs) I have seen MANY horses take nasty falls--the rider
>has NO control over what happens with these--but the same effect often happens
>with a running martingale in a clutch.  Again, to me these are training tools,
>to be used carefully and in specific circumstances, but NOT something to be
>part of day-to-day tack without VERY good reason.
>
>Heidi

And don't even think about taking your horse into water with a tie down on
-- that's a drowning waiting to happen.


Lynn Kinsky (Santa Ynez, CA)
http://www.silcom.com/~lkinsky