What is the difference between standing martingales and running martingales ?

Question

What is the purpose of each?

Answer 1

A standing martingale attaches to the girth and the horse's noseband (underneath their chin).

A running martingale attaches to the girth and the reins.  

They're both supposed to keep the horse's head down.  Personally we only use standing martingales and I don't really see a reason to use a running martingale.  I suppose the running martingale gives the horse a little more leeway... if the horse throws his head up with a standing martingale the martingale will stop it at a certain height.  With a running martingale the martingale would be pulling on both the horse's mouth and your hands.  I guess the running martingale is supposed to be working off of the bit while the standing martingale just provides a limit that the horse can't pull beyond.

Thanks Newmarketsalsa - That explains why I prefer the standing martingale... because I use it to jump.  I had always used the standing because I learned to ride at a hunter jumper barn that always used the standing.  It's nice to finally know why ;o)

Answer 2

I have to say I am the opposite of the first answerer in that I much prefer to use running martingales!  But it is all down to personal choice!

If a running martingale is fitted properly it should not pull on the horses mouth unless he throws his head high in the air.

Both pieces of tack are basically for the same purpose -  to stop the horse throwing his head to high in the air and evadng the instructions of the rider.

The difference between the two is that the standing martingale is a single piece of leather that runs from the girth to the horses' noseband, whereas the running martingale starts out as a single piece of leather, but when reaching the horse's chest it forks and each piece of leather attaches to the reins - there is a metal ring on the end of each piece which the reins are threaded through.

The standing martingale should not be used when jumping big fences as it can restrict the horses head and neck movements.  Running martingales are much more forgiving as they allow the horse to stretch his neck.

Have a look at this article to find out more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martingale_...