martingales

[Jasmine Cave <toppere@siu.edu>]

After reading all of the martingale posts it sounds like many were not
adjusted correctly. They don't hold a horses head down when set right.
When the horse is holding his head in a normal relaxed position the
running martingale rings should be able to reach the horses throat,
right where the throatlatch on a bridle would go around. the standing
martingale should reach the same spot, but instead of the end of the
loop touching it should be where the stiching of the noseband loop is.
this makes the standing about an inch looser. The martingales don't hold
the head down, but prevent the head from going up so high that the horse
could hit the rider or hurt their own backs. So it is still up to the
rider to get the horse's head down thru training or a different saddle
or bit or chiro or whatever. The martingale either standing or running
simply prevent the horse from raising their head to an exstream.