overhead martingale

Question

overhead martingale   hello ma'am, are you aware of OVERHEAD MARTINGALE? to be frank, even i haven't come across such kind of a martingale in internet. it starts from under the girth, passing through the bit ring and over the head. i have attached its image. may i know this martingale's uses?

today, i have seen a trainer using this equipment on a 2 year old thoroughbred rig preparing for the race. please explain me if you know ma'am ! ! !

Answer
Rohit,

This is another shortcut people use...a device that pulls on the poll and the mouth of the horse to force him to keep his head down.

If he tries to raise his head, pressure will keep it in place.
It is, of course, uncomfortable on the horse and does not solve the CAUSE of his rasing his head..just temporarily solves the problem of keeping him in better control.

I woulld and have never used  this myself...I would train the horse correctly and make certain that the rider had an independent seat and good hands.As you know, a horse uses its head for balance. I would not want to be riding him if he stumbled and needed to use his head to keep from falling. This would restrict his being able to recover.

Again, though, this type of device is fairly common. Our western "trainers" in the States who are incorrect will use "head setting" devices such as this.

Mitzi