Chris Joyce--Additional education/knowledge/understanding

Above is an amateur rider(not paid to train) with a beautiful ride. You are not going to like this Dick but at the end watch her "drop the bit", and watch the horse "search for it." The horse quite feeling the minute pressure of the bit, and as the legs were not pushing him into it, his mouth/head went looking for it. He has been trained to not fear the bit, to actually seek comfort/guidance in it and the reins. After many years of that training, he can go "naked" not because it is more difficult, but because the has become good at it after many years. As she is an amateur rider, you will note at 410 and 414 the horses mouth open momentarily. She bumped his bars by asking for the stop before she had him set up to do it. She over anticipated which startled the horse. No big deal common amateur mistake.


Chris Joyce--"Harnesses with taught side reins on the sides pulling the nose in, overchecks pulling the head up, and martingales pulling the head down are a whole different story. I have no appreciation for these harnesses, UNLESS the reins are not pulling unnecessarily on the horse's mouth, nor will anyone ever convince me that that is appropriate."

I think this past week has been great for learning. I use horses, because if I used cat acts, elephant acts, etc. Somebody would know somebody, and there might be misinterpreted hard feelings. But it is irrelevant as all animal training is the same. Chris Joyce has a horse, Dick Flint does not. Chris objects to a martingales, while Dick doesn't mind as long as others use them, but a liberty act with one is not as good of an act without one?????? Dick without a horse says he doesn't know what one is or it's purpose. Chris, who has a horse does not like martingales pulling the head down. They don't "pull the head down", they keep the head from going "up". Over checks don't "pull the head up", they keep the head from going "down." Side reins don't "pull the nose in", they don't let the nose go "out." The over checks, side reins, and martingale are a riders hands and legs, which a liberty horse works without.

Madame Col.--"As for the running martingales on the Roman Riding horses, I would say they are a necessity because of the position of the rider. All the cues to the horses are made from the very high "up" position making it very difficult to maintain control. Something has to be there to counteract and modify the "up" action to keep the horses under control."

Dick Flint--"Well, I had to remind myself just what the martingale is but I've never known of the variations. Though the postings of the other roman riding acts were dark, they all seemed to have a martingale on most if not all their horses. Obviously, I can't tell which type.
I've been coached to regard liberty horse acts with them as less than those that have just a halter."

Dick--A standing martingale does not move on the horses bit. It holds his head in one place. A running martingale moves on the horses bit. It allows you to control his poll with pressure from your little finger. With finger pressure and push from your legs you can bring the nose in and
the poll up to teach collection.

The horses above and below have on over checks(riders hands, legs) side checks(reins) and martingale(riders hands, legs)

Do we see any of the discomfort that the horse with no saddle or bridle, below displayed in any of the clips? This horse is ridden by a pro is ridden on a tighter rein(less experience) while the horse above ridden by an amateur is able to be ridden on a very loose rein(more experience)