Martingales in Ponyplay


Pony Play Tack: Martingales for Head Control of the Human Pony

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Photo of bio-horse with standing martingale with arrows and diagram illustrating the parts of the standing martingale for pony play

A bio-horse wearing a standing martingale. Photo by Polo_070922_16; derivative work by cpony (crop & addition of arrows & text). License: CC BY-SA 3.0

A martingale keeps a human pony's head down by connecting his bridle to his girth (waistbelt of harness). It can prevent head tossing and keep him on the bit. There are two main types of martingales:
  1. Standing martingale
  2. Running martingale

Standing Martingales

The diagram on the right illustrates the parts of a standing martingale on a bio-equine.

The standing martingale is usually a simple strap which connects the chin strap of the bridle (noseband of a bio-equine bridle) to the girth/waist strap of a pony's harness (also the girth for a bio-equine). In bio-horse riding, the strap connecting the bridle to the girth also goes through a loop around the base of a bio-horse's neck to keep it stright and prevent it from moving out of place.

Thus, the pony's head carriage is always limited to the length of the strap connecting his bridle to the waist belt of his harness. If the strap connecting the bridle to the girth/waistbelt is adjustable, then you can control how much his head is held down.

Running Martingales

The running martingale also attaches to girth or waist belt of a pony's harness. However, instead of a single strap attaching directly to the chin strap of the bridle, the running martingale forms a "Y" with each arm of the "Y" terminiating in a ring. One ring encircles each side of the pony's reins. Thus, the tension and position of the reins dictate how much the pony can lift his head. The diagram below illustrates a running martingale on a bio-equine.

The below diagram illustrates the parts of a standing martingale on a bio-equine.

Photo of bio-horse with running martingale and diagram highlighting the parts of the running martingale for pony play

A bio-horse wearing a running martingale. Photo by Tsaag Valren; derivative work by cpony (crop of image & addition of arrows & text). License: CC BY-SA 4.0

Martingales are great tools to keep a pony from tossing his head, but keep in mind that in some cases you will want your pony to keep his head up high, and in those cases, a martingale will be do more harm than good. It all depends on the flavor of ponyplay you want.

If you are looking to try out a martingale, a simple buckling leather strap is a good place to start: thread it through the chinstrap of his bridle and then through the waistbelt of his harness, tighten to the desired degree, and then buckle it and begin your training session!