Tie Down Mavin

Just wondering? I don’t use either, just a question.
Seems people, not all people of course, that use tie downs use them all the time unless showing. Seems a bit harsh and useless, it looks fake to me and doesn’t it build up the wrong muscles in the neck anyways? Depending on the judge of course, wouldn’t you get marked down for having the wrong head carriage?
I’m talking about the single or double straps straight to the breast collar, girth or back legs from the bridle that forces the head down.

The people I have seen use martingales use them when first starting to train a proper head carriage or use them all the time unless showing. I understand why you would use them when first training, especially if you are putting your hands lower to help the horse understand what you want and he isn’t getting it. But why wouldn’t you try putting your hands down low, almost straight and asking for the head to tuck instead of using the martingale? To lazy?

So do you use them? Always, never? Do you think they’re pointless or that you need them always? Why do you use them if you do, or under what circumstances do you use them or why don’t you?

Thanks for answering! No harsh comments, the description is going on others opinions and words, I haven’t chosen a side for obvious reasons as the occasional answerer turns into a know it all ass hat.

@Ally – A training fork IS a running martingale. FYI

Tie Downs are used by people who don’t know or don’t care about the way their riding affects the horse’s way of going. It’s those big bits, rough hands, and bouncing seat that make the horse toss its head in the first place.The creature is trying to escape the inescapable pain in its mouth and back. so of course the response of the ignorant is to add further punishment in the form of a tie-down, often with a thin cable, wire, or chain across the nose that leaves a mark and sometimes blood after each ride.

The ‘roper’s tie down’ at least has a flat noseband to ‘allow the horse to lean into it’. Of course, if the rider was a bit more focused on his horsemanship than throwing his rope, he could probably work his horse just fine without it needing to ‘lean into a tiedown’.

Standing martingales are an English tie-down, but at least they aren’t usually adjusted so tightly.

Running martingales are a more humane option because they only act on the horse when the reins are in use. They change the angle of the pull on the rein. If they’re adjusted correctly, they only come into play when the horse’s head is out of position.

I’ve used a German martingale or Market Harbrough on horses that want to root out, when the owner just wants a quick fix and doesn’t want to bother actually learning how to ride correctly. It acts as a draw rein, but only when the horse’s nose is up or forward out of position. I adjust it so the pulley action stops when the nose is in a normal, relaxed position. I don’t use it to teach or force a headset, only to stop the extreme opposite of a headset and get the horse started carrying itself a little better and developing the correct muscles for better posture.

They do have semi-legitimate uses, but the mark of a true horseman is the ability to teach a horse all the right things, none of the wrong things, and do it without excess gear like harsh bits, tie-downs, tight cavessons, chambons, martingales, draw reins, specialized shoeing, etc

I don’t use them but I’ve noticed from barrel racing and just watching a lot of the horses falling are from horses not being able to have their head and can’t properly balance themselves and people not sitting right. Is my thinking wrong or am I right? What do you think of tie downs?

You are right. Horses use their head and neck in maintaining their balance and with their head tied down, it is dangerous and deprives them of their natural balance.

Tie Downs are just another mechanical device used by lazy people who lack abilty to properly train their horses. They are looking for a shortcut so they think a temporary and artificial mechanisn is OK as long as they seem to get the results they want at the moment. They don’t care about the well being of their horses or the fact that they are putting them at great disadvantage and danger of being injured. But that is just my take on it.