 |
| by Clément Bucco-Lechat - Own work. Licenced under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons |
As with many pieces of tack, there are those who use the bib martingale because of the look, rather than for any particular practical reason. For others, however, there are some legitimate reasons why a rider might choose the bib martingale over the more standard running martingale.
The construction of the bib martingale results in no loose straps. For a mouthy horse who will sometimes over-flex, this means that there are no straps that the horse could grab onto and potentially catch in the mouth. For a horse like this, the bib martingale not only protects the martingale from damage by the teeth, but it can also prevent serious accidents associated with the horse getting caught and panicking.
 |
| by Clément Bucco-Lechat - Own work. Licenced under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons |
In the racing world, bib martingales can also act similarly to an Irish martingale in keeping the reins from potentially flipping over the head, though that is an unlikely occurrence in the jumper world.
One downside to the bib martingale is that it prevents the rider from using an opening rein (moving the hand away from the neck in the direction of a turn without pulling back) because the reins are held close together by the bib. It's possible that in some instances the rider might find it easier to keep the horse straight due to the channeling of the reins in this manner, though steering might be negatively affected.
Because the bib martingale is essentially a modified running martingale, it should be adjusted in the same way as a running martingale (as a rough guide, it should be long enough for the rings to reach the bottom of the throat latch when the martingale is pulled up with the horse standing relaxed).
 |
| by Clément Bucco-Lechat - Own work. Licenced under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons |
They're also very useful on those giraffe-type horses who raise their head and suck their neck back into the rider's face--the bib prevents them from getting too pretzeled.
ReplyDelete