At the barn I ride at, the trainerd are adiment about no one using a loose ring bit with a standing martingale (running is ok). Why is this? One said that it created a “gag effect”. Is this true? How does this combination work together to create such an effect? And why is a running ok?
A standing martingale has no affect on the bit. It attaches to the noseband.
Because they aren’t as educated as they think they are.
Sounds like non sense.
News to me. I rode with loose ring and standing for years showing rated, cliniced with some big names too. Think somebody would have said something if it was creating a gag effect on a horse that didn’t need it.
Niether one of these martingales, properly adjusted, does anything much, just help the horse a little to stay balanced or keep the rider from getting smacked in the face by the top of a horse’s head. Many get by just fine without them.
Trainer is simply wrong on this one if you understood her correctly.
I have never, from all the trainers I’ve ridden with or instructors I’ve taken a clinic with, heard anything like that. If that’s what your trainers think they are very, very wrong.
In Pony Club in Australia, standing martingales are illegal, because the horse can not lift it’s head if it is going to fall.
A running martingale when correctly flitted does not affect the horse if it is behaving. The rings when pulled tight should reach to the wither or within 10cm of the wither and there should not be a ‘v’ from the rider’s hands to the bit.
You should not have a martingale on with a gag bit. A gag bit lifts the head. The martingale keeps it down. What is the horse supposed to do. The one with those 2 contraptions on galloped into a tree on the cross country course at our ODE.
Malarkey.
SuzieQNutter, as I read the OP, she’s using a plain, loose ring snaffle-- not a gag. Some looney toon at OP’s barn (Another client? A trainer?) suggested that the standing martingale connected to the noseband created some sort of gag effect with that particular bit specifically.
I understand that some prefer one type of martingale to the other for a whole host of valid reasons, but this particular one is just hooey. Sounds like “trainer” needs to educate herself.
My FEI rider uses a loose ring with a standing every day when not showing. So do I when I ride his horses.
Yes I read that and understood what was written. As a gag had been mentioned I wrote what I did for those who don’t know who read this thread. As a gag and martingale shouldn’t go together.
I have no idea how to turn a loose ring bit into a gag.
Thanks guys! I had my doughts about the validity of that idea. But I definitely didn’t want to say so to them, especially where I was a working student. They’re good trainers, but not everyone is perfect! That’s why it’s good to pull your information and tools from many different places 
This is one of those opportunities to make a judgement on the overall competence and training knowledge of your “coach”. Make good use of this information.
Good trainers generally don’t make up stuff that is completely untrue/illogical. Just sayin’.
[QUOTE=haybaby15;8290792]
They’re good trainers, but not everyone is perfect![/QUOTE]
I would have real difficulty considering a trainer who spouted such outlandish nonsense to be a good trainer. This is ignorance on a very basic level. What else are they telling you that’s wrong, but you just haven’t figured it out yet?
I also do not see the danger of a standing - except while hunting where it is
advisable not to use one in case the horse needs that fifth leg to save himself
and needs freedom of the head.
I think you probably have your answer! That combination does not create a gag effect, and if you were understanding them right, then I would be weary of “Learning” more info from them. I would definitely ask your trainer again to clarify what she meant, and perhaps there was a misunderstanding. If there was no misunderstanding, it might be time to look around for a new barn. Even if you like that setup, anyone who thinks that is a gag is not someone I would want to impart a ton of valuble info from. Good luck!
[QUOTE=NancyM;8290802]
This is one of those opportunities to make a judgement on the overall competence and training knowledge of your “coach”. Make good use of this information.[/QUOTE]
This^^^
[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;8291089]
I also do not see the danger of a standing - except while hunting where it is
advisable not to use one in case the horse needs that fifth leg to save himself
and needs freedom of the head.[/QUOTE]
A horse can fall without being out hunting. A horse can stumble at the walk and then try and save itself. It can trip and try and save itself. It can fall in showjumping as well as a fixed fence. At pony club or any where you can be t boned or run up behind by a rider on an out of control horse.
Horses do not fall every day. It is for that 1/100th of a second that might happen one day.
